Hosai Mojaddidi – Purification of the Heart (Part 4)
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AI: Transcript ©
Bismillah you love mon Luffy games
and
I want to ship an MBE when we're setting and say the WeMo nano Have
you been on from it? So a lot of you have said him while he was
talking about some of the Sleeman Kathira Cinemag Omarama De Lisle,
but again.
So this is our fourth class of purification of the heart handling
that we've covered, I believe the first maybe five or six diseases,
but we've got quite a few to go. So we're gonna try to cover a lot
more today in Charlotte and move through some of these quicker and
there are shorter, shorter sections here. So we're gonna
start with inshallah blameworthy modesty on page 36. So let's go
ahead and
get to that section. And again, as we have been, we'll read from the
actual poem, and then jump into the discussion this minute, so
verses 67 to 72 of blameworthy modesty.
As for blameworthy modesty, it is that which prevents one from
denouncing the condemned bubble or form or from asking a question
concerning a matter relating to religion and the like. For this
reason, it is considered a harmful quality. As for noble modesty, it
is such as the chosen ones behavior than it married, Zainab,
when he fed his company to their full from his wedding feast. And
they all left except for three, they lingered, yet he did not
request that they leave such modesty is a most excellent
virtue, had modesty been a person, it would have been a righteous
one, and would do nothing but good in whatever it did.
So, blameworthy, modesty, again, this is whenever you are
prevented,
from your own, you know, trepidation, hesitation shyness,
of asking important questions that affect you that affect your
spiritual growth,
or acting, you know, in, in, in a situation that requires action,
right. So if your own if you stand in your own way, because you're
too worried about maybe your image or, you know, other people's view
of you, then you won't act right. So there's this residue, you know,
it's a lack of courage, basically. Right. So if you read again, in
the definition here, in general, modesty is something praised in
Islam and is considered virtuous. Modesty becomes blameworthy if it
prevents one from denouncing what clearly should be denounced, such
as tyranny or corruption. So if you see an injustice, something
happening in front of you, let's say in your, you know, workspace
or at school, you know, we have to teach children right? In there's
obviously, you know, with wisdom and not every situation, you don't
have to be reactive, necessarily, we're not talking about
reactivity, we're talking about, at least having a response. And
that response can take time to form you know, you might go back
and deliberate, get advice and think about it. And then you might
go back and say, you know, what, I need to speak up this injustice is
not acceptable. I don't agree with it. So this is wisdom, right. But
the fact that, you know, that it's important to do that, instead of
just remaining silent, or turning a blind eye. That's what
blameworthy modesty is. And usually, the reason why people do
that is because they're prioritizing something else above
the right course of action. And it's likely they're, they're
prioritizing themselves. Right? The ego is involved here, there's
either, you know, a concern, again, about image reputation, I
don't want to compromise maybe my position or my status with people,
I don't want people to not like me, right? We we definitely have a
problem with,
you know, people pleasing to the point where we can actually, you
know, look away when something is happening, right, that should
should, that requires people to step in and say that's not right.
And unfortunately, you know, we see this now all the time on
social media, right. It's a horrible, you know, epidemic, I
would say, because it's there. It's happening all the time where
people are on their phones, and they're recording. grave injustice
is happening right in front of them, but they're not willing to
put themselves on the line. They're not willing to get in
front of the camera. Right? Because to get in front of the
cameras, put yourself out there to be vulnerable. People can identify
you people can see you. Or maybe you don't want to get it
act physically, you're scared, right? There's a fear that I'm
gonna get injured some way but you are willing still to watch. Right?
That's disturbing. And so we definitely see a problem with
that, right.
And then there's a chapter here, which is important again to
consider, there must be agreement. However, among scholars on what is
condemned rubble. One cannot, for example, declare decisively that
something is considered condensable if there is a
difference of opinion on it among the scholars, scholars not
knowledgeable of the plenitude of juristic differences rarely
condemn others, they refrain from such condemnation, not because of
modesty, but because of their extensive knowledge and scholarly
insight. Unfortunately, many people today are swift to condemn,
which creates another disease, self righteousness, this is very
important, because we can't just take matters into our own hands,
you know, everybody has an opinion these days. And everybody thinks
that they know what is really right, and what is really wrong.
And when you do that, this is, you know, a form of like, you know,
like vigilantism, right? It's like, I'm just going to take
justice into my own hands, and do what I think is right. And this is
not part of our deen, we have, you know, we have to look and defer to
those who are amongst us who can help us understand if something
truly deserves to be condemned or not. And so we defer to the
experts with regards to to, to that.
And, you know, the mention of, you know, self righteousness is also
important to reflect on, you know, personally, like, think about, do
you, when you are condemning something, is it more about right
and wrong? Or is it a feeling of superiority? Right, this is where
you can actually see whether or not you know, this disease of the
heart is misplaced, right, that you are the you're, or that you're
your concern, or that you're, you know, outrage over an issue? Is it
is it? Is it really because the issue is wrong? Or is it more that
it makes you feel good to be on, you know, their finger wag or, you
know, like the one who wags the finger and, and is condemning
other people, because a lot of people now enjoy that, especially
right, if you look at social media, this is where we see it
happening a lot. There's a lot of critics, a lot of people who think
they know what's right and wrong, and they're, you know, we have a
canceled culture. You know, as soon as someone makes a mistake,
it's like, let's tear him down. Where does this come from? It
comes from this disease of self righteousness, right? So there,
it's tied in there. But it's mentioned for that reason. And
then he goes on to say the blameworthy modesty results in
timid failure to denounce what unequivocally deserves
denouncement or to ask about important matters from those who
are knowledgeable. And this is, you know, regarding,
you know, knowledge acquisition, it's so important, especially for
us, as women, and children, you know, in our community, for us to
be able to empower, you know, certain groups to be able to speak
up, because sometimes it seems that, you know, that we don't
have, we're not encouraged to do that as often. And so you see
that, you know, happening a lot where people just because they're
afraid to speak up, or they've been told or conditioned to think
that they shouldn't speak up, right, that they don't ask the
necessary questions. And then, you know, if you're left to your own
devices or thoughts, you might come up to your own conclusions
about certain things or get the wrong information. So when you
have an opportunity to ask, it's so encouraged to ask and that's
why this hadith of that Aisha related. It's so important, the
best women are the women of the unsought because modesty did not
prevent them from learning the religion.
A woman once came to the Prophet lism, asking a specific question
about menstruation. So again, let's think about that for a
second, you know, how likely would that ever happen in our community
nowadays, right? Can you imagine a woman feeling empowered enough
that if she was really curious about her cycle, that she would
actually openly go to the Imam, you know, we're a leader, male
leader, and ask a question, most likely not right? And it's because
we are, again, culturally conditioned to think that certain
questions are not right to ask. It's not appropriate. But if it's
affecting your practice of the dean, and it's really serious,
then you do have to ask right, and not worry about oh, how am I gonna
look people are gonna laugh at me because I think I'm weird. I'm
awkward. You know, that concern of what people are gonna say,
is secondary. It's not it's not an
Warden, it's more a matter of if it's affecting your practice of
your faith. That's, that's a priority and you should seek
clarification. And of course, there's ways to do it. You know,
where you can still be subtle about it, but the fact that it
happened so openly, you know, and with the prophesy centum tells us
that we should feel empowered to ask whenever we need
clarification.
Welcome to all who came on.
So we're on page 37. And we're talking about blameworthy modesty.
We're on the second paragraph.
And then, the, the Imam then speaks on the third paragraph
about virtuous modesty, which is rooted in generosity and kindness.
And this is an acceptable kind of modesty. Right? And he uses the
example of when the promise was said and married. Zainab. And how,
you know, it's typical, you have a feast, you have guests over, and
some of the attendees lingered right, three in particular, and he
tried to give them hints, like, okay, we're getting laid, you
know, and I've been, I'm sure we've all had situations like
that, right. Where it's past midnight, you're yawning
excessively.
I know people who've actually gone and gotten dressed in their
pajamas.
Like to really give a clue, like a hint, like, okay, it's really
late, right? We need to, we need to end this. But sometimes people
are so excited, you know, they're happy, and they're, you know,
maybe they're night owls, you know, and they don't really look
at time like that. It's just like, hey, we're all talking
everything's, you know, flowing, why, why and a good night, they're
not realizing that they might be, you know, imposing on someone. But
if you don't speak up, and you still entertain your guests, and
you're still gracious, this would be a noble quality and a prophetic
quality, because this is what exactly what the Bible says.
So he talks, he just gives you that difference to know the
difference between the two.
There's a section that's also important, this verse applies. I
mean, on the on page 38, at the end of that top paragraph, it says
this verse, and the most part that have revealed this verse when that
whole incident happened, right? It's chapter 33, verse 53,
believers, when you are invited, then enter. And when you have
completed the meal, disperse and do not linger on for conversation.
This used to hurt the Prophet that he shied away from telling you,
but God is not shy of the truth. So that's just, you know, general
Naseeha, that we should have added when we're visiting people and be
mindful, you know, of their situation, if their children have
to work the next day. Some people have early shifts, and they have
to be up, you know, or they might have health issues. So this is
more for us to reflect on when we're in those situations, to make
sure that we're being cognizant of these things. But the you know,
then he goes, it says that this verse applies, in particular, to
visiting people whose obligations and time constraints are greater
than others, such as statesmen, and scholars, they may also feel
shy about cutting visit shorts when they are the hosts. So if
you're ever in a position of, you know, visiting with high level
people,
even if they're very gracious and generous, and offering, because
that's so nice, they want to honor you, you should know that that is
that is not an invitation to overextend, you know, the time
with them and overstay. But rather, it's just they're showing
this beautiful modesty. And your other job should be to say, thank
you for the time you've given me, but we're, I'm not going to, as
they say, milk it, right. We're not I'm not going to linger here
and stay and over overstay my welcome. So it's just gentlemen
see her to be mindful of people in those positions. And I would also
add to that anybody who's working again,
in high pressure, high stress jobs, if you know that, that's
their situation, where they have very limited time, on the weekends
or, you know, to socialize, that even if you enjoy their company,
to prefer them over yourself, because it's likely that they're
working long shifts during the week, and their time is very
special, right? You know, their free time. And they covered that
time. So you don't want to take too much of that. And I would say,
as Ramadan is nearing, we should really think about this, because I
know and I've heard so many complaints over the years of
people being in those really difficult situations, when if they
are, you know, served and they want to get to the masjid. But
people are still socializing, you know, and their kids are in and
around and everybody's talking. And they're like, oh, you know,
they're prevented from going to the masjid and they feel shy to
say to their guests like, Okay, it's time to wrap it up. Right
because people are at different levels or something.
People who are very like scheduled. And it's like, as soon
as the thought is over, I'm making will do, I'm out the door. And
then there's other people were kind of like, today,
you know, a little tired, I might just stay back. So if you have
guests that are of, you know, from all these different backgrounds,
you are going to likely be in a situation where you do have some
people who are, like you ready to leave and really take their time,
especially in the long run very seriously, or, or others who just
kind of are lingering and enjoying the company. So how do you handle
that situation? Let's let us reading, you know, these verses
and this advice, just be mindful to say, even if it's so nice, you
know, I'm chatting with people I haven't seen in a while, you know,
and sometimes we are invited to these bigger doors, where it's
like, you get to see people in the community, you might not regularly
see that you have to prefer the
the needs of the host, I just actually recently wrote an entire
Facebook post on the end of a visiting people and this was
mentioned, and I do encourage people just as general, like, if
you're invited somewhere, and they don't tell you when the end time
is because you know, invite starts at seven 630. That's usually how
it goes. Nobody likes to impose or, you know, put an end time
because it just seems restrictive. But we should ask, like, what when
do you you know, what time do you want to end it by? Let me know.
Because that way you get a good sense of are you at someone's home
who's like, Hey, stay around for as long as you want, we can go to
you know, two, three in the morning, if you guys are up for
it. Or if you're you know, dealing with someone who's actually much
more scheduled and wants to, you know, ended up have a cut off
time. But if you ask it takes that pressure off of them. So this is
just a good practice of showing consideration to your hosts, and
also giving them that space to be able to say, Yeah, I would
actually prefer if we can, you know, start winding down around
this time. It's just a nice, you know, mutually respectful way of
handling an otherwise awkward situation. Right.
Okay.
All right. So any questions about blameworthy modesty before we go
on? And I mentioned for those of you who walked in a little late
that because we're kind of behind we're going to try to move the
through these quickly. But I don't want to deter you from asking
questions if you have any.
So
let me just look at my notes here.
Yeah, so the cure for this right because we also want to know how
to if we have this,
how to protect ourselves or overcome it is to practice more
courage and to remember to always prioritize the pleasure of Allah
subhanaw taala right before yourself before what other people
you know, pleasing other people, we should always aim to seek to
please all of us upon them in every situation. And when you have
that lens, then it should, you know, give you the courage to
speak up in times where where you would otherwise maybe you know, to
stay a little quiet
there's a hadith reported by pura Eben Helios. He reported that we
were once with the Prophet sallallahu Sallam when modesty was
mentioned to him. And they said O Messenger of Allah is modesty,
part of faith. And the bulbs listen him said rather rather it
is the entire religion. Then he said Verily modesty, abstinence
reticence of the tongue, but not the heart, and deeds are all part
of faith they bring gain in the Hereafter, and loss in the world.
What is gained in the hereafter is much greater than what is missed
in the world. So that's a pretty again, you know, great message
about just how all of those things benefit us. Right in the long run,
that even if we might suffer a little bit of shyness or
embarrassment in a situation momentarily, in the long run,
there's great benefit and that's how you have to look at
blameworthy modesty that I need to overcome my hesitancy or shyness
because
it might be uncomfortable socially for a few minutes or moments. But
at least I will. I'm putting the pleasure of last month before
myself and in the long run that benefits me. Yes.
Oh, sure. From that heavy, sure. Okay. I can repeat that the
question was to repeat the quality so they he said that verily
modesty, abstinence reticence of the tongue, but not the heart and
deeds are all
Part of faith they bring gain in the hereafter and loss in the
world. What is gained in the hereafter is much greater than
what is missed in the world.
All right, so the next section is on page 39. fantasizing.
So we'll read from verses 73 to 74. The hearts engagement in
matters that do not concern it is only forbidden when it pertains to
the prohibited such as fantasizing about the beautiful qualities of a
woman. And I would add, you know, as Orman, right, it goes both
ways, or dwelling on the faults of Muslims, even in their absence.
So the next disease is when one's heart is engaged in matters that
are of no concern to him. Again, for example, reflecting on things
that are prohibited such as lustful fantasizing. So
fantasizing can occur in three different situations. Again, the
first one is lustful, fantasizing. And this can work both ways,
between men and women, right? Just thinking about someone coveting
someone that is not for you, especially if you're already you
know, married, or in a relationship, this would be even
worse. But just having those thoughts about someone is
completely forbidden. And even, you know, this is common, I think,
knowledge and in across all, you know, traditions, but the Catholic
tradition actually teaches, and I thought this was just, you know,
worthwhile to mention that everyone who looks at a woman
lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Right. And so just considering that, and it's similar to the view
of, you know, adultery of the eyes, right? In Islam, we have
that concept that you can, adultery comes in many forms,
right. And you can have that with even just your eyes by thinking
and about things that are inappropriate. So that would be
one disease, or, you know,
all good example of this disease, and other is imagining, or
thinking about the faults of other of other people, right.
And sometimes we can let our thoughts get carried away, our
suspicions get carried away, when we think of maybe people we don't
like, or someone we're having, you know, problems with, what we just,
you know, we kind of sit in that, you know, those thoughts and think
really bad thoughts and negative thoughts maybe based on actual
events or negative experiences with them, and maybe not, but the
brothers listen him said that
there is a tree in paradise reserved for people whose own
faults preoccupied them from considering the faults of others.
So that's, you know, that's how we should look at it, like instead of
stewing and thinking about other people's bad qualities, and then
which often leads to another horrible or even worse action,
which is Viva right, we don't usually just stay in our own
thoughts. When we have negative thoughts about people, we want to
share those thoughts. And now you're getting yourself in
trouble, you're getting someone else in trouble, because they're
comfortable once they start listening to that. So it's just
it's all toxic, right? But why not shift the focus back on yourself,
we have plenty of our own wrong actions and faults and things that
we can think about. So it's just a really, you know, good advice in
terms of
helping one with overcome that, that disease of always wanting to
think about the negative attributes of other people just
bring it back to yourself. And then the third example of
fantasizing as problematic is prohibited. So we have less will
fantasizing thinking about the faults of other people. The third
one is to fantasize about the nature of God's essence. Right?
This, you know, causes a lot of problems. Because whatever Allah
subhanaw taala has revealed about himself is clear to us. We have
the attributes of almost whether we know, but in terms of going
beyond that, right, and trying to answer questions that you'll never
be able to answer. It's literally impossible to answer the questions
about the essence of Vasanta it causes problems and then you know,
sometimes you have people
opening those discussions, you know, with other people who might
not have given things any thought but now there's doubt in someone
else's mind. So you got to think about, you know, is it wise? What,
what's the benefit? What's the benefit of talking about matters
that are not? You? We don't have answers to the only cause
suspicion and it's like an inroad. It's how, you know, this is how
shaytaan distracts us from our purpose by getting us caught
Caught up in thoughts that are, that are not helpful and that
they're, they don't really have any conclusion other than to be
fuddle you to confuse you to cause you doubt, to cause you
constriction. So that's why we don't give those thoughts when,
you know, you just kind of have to say how the banana sheath RGM I
know exactly what that is, you know, there will be a day in
Sharla, where our questions will be answered. And that's how you
have to look at it. Like not everything will be answered in
this world. And there's a lot of mysteries in the universe. There's
mysteries about everything, not just the laws essence, right?
Well, we're human beings, our knowledge is limited, we have to
be humble enough to admit that we're not going to always know
everything, but our deen and, you know, tells us that there will be
a day where all of the questions that we have, we will have answers
to. And so we just look forward to that, you know, we're not being
shut down. It's just saying, time and place, right, there's a time
and place. And in this abode, your knowledge is restricted, your
knowledge is limited. And there's benefits to that. I mean, there's
some things that I think, if we really think about, I don't know,
it's, it's frightening, you know, like, I don't want to really think
about certain things because it's to, like, you know, without having
tangible or actual evidence or answers or something to like, hold
on to something concrete, it does kind of, you know, spiral and take
your mind somewhere else, then I'll just give you one example.
Like black holes, right? If you actually sit and watch
documentaries, black holes are probably one of the most
terrifying things like I've ever heard on there. It's really, you
know, like, what is it? It's so but what's the point of, again,
spending your time thinking about black holes? You didn't? I mean,
we just know that they exist. And I'm sure scientists have, you
know, much more knowledge about exactly what they are, I don't
even have the language to describe them. But just what I know of
them, puts me in a state of, you know, constriction, but I know to
just be like, okay, Subhan Allah, that's just one of the, you know,
another mystery of the universe and
Hamdulillah, one day will, maybe No, maybe not in this lifetime,
maybe in the next lifetime, but I'm not going to, you know what I
mean, spend my time waste my time giving, getting myself worried.
And even another topic, which I know excites because I used to be,
I used to do a lot of work
with, with youth, I mean, I still do, but on specific topics they
always wanted to talk about, we're like gin, right? Gin, stories are
probably one of the favorite topics of all up, they'd love to
hear about Jim. But if you really sit and think about them too much,
it's a preoccupation, that distracts you, that will frighten
you, that will cause you a lot of problems and paranoia. And this is
how the mind is very powerful. So there's just certain things that
we should not think about. And that's really the gist of the
section, that their thoughts that if you give them too much weight
and wind, you know, they'll and run away with it, it causes you
more harm. So you should have the self restraint and the control to
say, don't have those answers. That's not beneficial. I'm not
going to think about that, and then move on. Okay.
That's a pretty short section, because it's, it's pretty self
explanatory that, you know, it's just we shouldn't we shouldn't
give it too much thought.
All right, any questions about
that section?
Oh, the cure is to thank you,
is to reflect on the attributes of us, that are already revealed to
us. And also to be humble enough to know your knowledge is limited.
Even when I was early actually
said that the way to excuse me, sorry, the way to word off
distracting thoughts is to cut off their source. So you avoid the
means that could create those thoughts. If the source of such
thoughts is not stopped, and it'll keep generating them. So again,
you sometimes it's your own mind, you know, looking into things,
doing those searches, being curious, you know, going, you know
what I mean, letting your suspicions sort of, take hold of
you. So you have to control yourself. Sometimes it's other
people, you know, you might have people in your life that like to
Dibble dabble in conversations and matters that they shouldn't. And
you should, again, I mean, tying in the previous you know, Section
have not have blameworthy modesty to tell them. You know what,
that's not beneficial. You know, let's not talk about that. That's
a perfect example of when, you know, you should actually prevent
harm not just for yourself, but also for the other person, right?
If you're talking about, for example, the attributes of Allah,
and you know, your, your friend is like, Yeah, I wonder about this.
And I wonder about that. And it's just not getting anywhere, one of
you has to say, Wait a second, you know, what, there's no benefit to
this was already revealed exactly what he wants us to know about
him. Let's not sit here and think about what he looks like, and this
and, you know, all those things we don't have answers to let's just
stop. That's, you know, responsible way of handling that
situation for yourself and for the other person, because you don't
want to, again, keep entertaining those thoughts. And then inviting
other people. Oh, yeah. What do you think? What do you think, you
know, you have like five people, and everybody walks away with
like, all this doubt. And, you know, you're you might be
responsible for that. So if you're curious, you know about something,
either ask, you know, a scholar, or someone who you think can help
you with those questions. But certainly don't take those doubts
and curiosities to public spaces and share them because this is,
it's not fair to do that, you know, to take your own burdens.
And then now make them the burdens of other people that's not
responsible. If you care about, you know, the getting to the truth
of the matter, then you seek the right source, and you pursue that
course of knowledge. Right. But you certainly don't like I said,
take those thoughts and, you know, give them when and then
burden other people with the same dilemmas that you're having.
That's just basic consideration. Right.
Okay.
Yes.
Right.
Right.
That's a very good question. So again, I'm just gonna repeat it
for those who are on the recording. The question was about
if you have people in your life who might, you know, kind of, you
know, again,
pose certain questions or make certain comments that, that you
reflect on later, you're not deliberately doing it, it just
maybe pops into your mind, right? And so, but it does cause you
issues. That's exactly what I just said, if that's the case, where
you start feeling constricted by something, then don't let those
questions linger, go to someone a qualified source, and say, you
know, someone mentioned this recently, and I'm being bothered
by it. It's like, you know, it's something that I want to, you
know, get it. Is there an answer for this question? Or is there you
know, can you explain it to me, but pursue, you know, the truth,
like, look for someone who can help you otherwise, you know, che
thought that's what he does, you know, he was was the is the little
whisperings of doubt the little, you know, inspirations to do wrong
things. But we can, you know, squash some of those things just
with truth, right? If you go to someone who's, who has the
knowledge, they may be able to give you one simple thing that
just settles all down. But if you leave yourself by yourself with
those thoughts, they'll just mount and mount. And it's a problem. So
that's why, you know, the previous section, again, is so important to
reflect on.
As questions, you know, if you're curious about something, and it's
bothering you, and it's causing you, those problems in your faith,
pursue the answer, don't just sit with it. Right. And hamdulillah
and I can I feel like when you're studying other traditions or
looking at, you know, especially if you talk to converts, right,
many converts who come to Islam, this is one of the the beautiful
qualities that they love about Islam is the door of knowledge is
never shut on them. They're never told, don't ask, we say ask but
ask the right sources. So I would say take your question to the
appropriate person and say, you know, this, can you please help me
with that and inshallah you will, you'll have no fear as long as
your intention is sincere.
Okay,
so we'll go ahead and move on to fear of poverty.
This is on page 41.
So, verses 75 to 77.
Fear of poverty originates in having a bad opinion of God
The Exalted and its cure is in having a good opinion. And knowing
that what God possess, possesses is never diminished in the least
by his expenditure from it, and that what has been apportioned to
you will reach you inevitably. One who uses his religion as a means
of benefiting his worldly condition is a sycophantic
hypocrite in his transaction, and he ultimately shall be the one
defrauded. So the next spiritual disease the memo discusses his
fear of poverty. Scholars have said that nurturing this fear is
tantamount to harboring a negative opinion about God the Exalted, who
has revealed Satan threatens you with poverty and he commands
commands you to immorality, but God promise you promises you His
forgiveness and bounty. So one of Satan's tactics is to keep people
is so occupied with fear of losing their wealth of this culminates
them in desperately clinging to their money, and depriving the
needy in themselves of the goodness of giving for the sake of
God. So, again, thinking about, you know, having a good opinion of
Allah's father, knowing that, as I was pointed out, says, Everything
is your distance is determined, it's already predetermined, and
you we all will get every single thing that's portioned out for us.
When you have that type of conviction, and clarity, then you
don't have you're not afflicted with this disease. But if you
always fear that, you know, whenever you give, you know, and
we talked about this, I touched upon it lightly when we did Baja,
right miserliness, if you feel that, when you're giving, you're
losing,
this is what's going to, you know, exacerbate this disease, right?
Because it's like, Oh, my God, every time I write a check, or
have to make a donation or give something up, or is a cat, you
know, it's, I'm taking away from my wealth, this will make you want
to cling on to it more and eventually not give, right. And
this is what people who are afflicted with this end up doing.
They're so afraid of being impoverished. And maybe, maybe
there is a reason for that. Maybe they came from a life of you know,
impoverishment at some point. Or they just really love their
wealth. It could be many different situations. But when you have that
fear, then yeah, you won't, you won't end up giving it all. And it
will cause you, you know, problems in your, in your life,
spiritually, because likely, you'll do other things to not just
not give, but you might even engage in certain wrong actions or
wrong things to get more wealth, right. You have such a fear of
poverty, that you're willing to maybe compromise your principles,
your morals, your ethics, the law, you know, people will do this all
the time. They do illegal things, because they're so afraid of, you
know, not having the wealth that they have or losing their wealth,
that it sends them down really, you know, slippery slope, their
negative path. So, you know, on the next page, we have
fear of poverty is an instrument of deception and a common cause of
misguidance.
The American humorist Mark Twain once remarked, I've had 1000s of
problems in my life, most of which never actually happened. A person
can grieve over a plethora of concerns and problems that he or
she may never have to face. These phantom concerns can be crippling,
wealthy people cannot be at peace if constantly worried about their
estate, and its potential loss. Many wealthy people enjoy no peace
of mind in their lives, lives are rife with conflict, contention,
and treachery. A Hadith states that anxiety is half of aging, and
another Hadith states that righteousness will lengthen your
life. One interpretation of this hadith is that people who are
righteous do not suffer anxiety, that tears down the body and mind
their content to do good deeds. And they trust in God. It is
usually the religious who are in a state of turmoil with hearts not
at ease. So that's actually pretty profound, right? That if you're,
you know, love of dunya fear of poverty, all of these diseases,
causes you this level of anxiety, it's clearly why because you don't
have trust in God, and that they go hand parallel hand in hand
together. If you don't have trust in God, then your mind starts to
deteriorate right? causes you to be paranoid, causes you to create
problems that are not real. And it just kind of, you know, it's like
a domino effect. Everything kind of just starts crippling you, but
you're filled with this state of agitation. So what kind of
enjoyment of life is that? You know, to have wealth that you're
so afraid of losing you don't enjoy it and to distract
So everybody that comes in your life, because you're worried that
they're out to get you, you know, they want your money. Like it
just, it's a horrible, you know, situation to be in. But it all
stems from the same root cause, which is you do not have trust in
God. Right. And so the opposite is also important to reflect on that
when you do trust in Allah subhana data, you no matter what's
happening, right? If you lose your job, and I know people who are
amazing, like they, they've been through a lot of hardships, but
they have this absolute yapping. And when they speak, it's like,
it's so palpable, you can feel it, they have no doubt.
I was surprised that will provide I have no doubt. And certain, and
sure enough, you know, next week, following week, a month later,
they get you know, an amazing opportunity. That's, you know,
that's the Hadith, I'm in the opinion of my servant, right. It's
proof of that. If you have a weak opinion of Allah's Ponte data, it
will only be confirmed to you. So if you actually doubt that things
will go your way and that you know, thing, then that's what's
you're going to see your whole life, he'll confirm it for you
because you have no faith in him. The opposite is true if you have
incredible faith in Him and you have a good opinion of him and you
always remember that even our hardships are meant you know for
goodness You know, there's a good underlying reason why we're going
through those things tribulations there's benefits to them in the
world and in the next life, then you always have this positive lens
with which you see your LORD with and he will confirm that with you,
he'll inshallah give you relief from your tribulations he'll
reward you with in other ways, it'll just you know, manifests
itself that way Yes.
Not like, I don't know. It's just like a feeling.
That's a very good question. And I'm glad you asked it because we
definitely don't want to come across to say that believers
cannot be afflicted with anxiety or that their your Eman is poor.
If you're afflicted with, with anxiety. These are, you know,
mental health issues and a lot of people suffer from these issues.
And that's why Al Hamdulillah our deen is so beautiful, because we
have literally where the problems lie syndrome gives us the odd to
ask us whether to protect us from anxiety. And these are things that
we should be doing every single day. So there are spiritual
protocols that you can take. But you know, this is also important
to mention that sometimes you might need to take a more medical
or mental health, you know, route in terms of managing the anxiety,
but it is not a measure of one spiritual state. If you're
afflicted with anxiety, so I want to make sure that's clear. This is
more it's just the dunya is a place where it induces anxiety. I
mean, if we're being honest, look around. There's you know, panic
and fear. I mean, right now we got Coronavirus, we got you know, all
these like the election year there's there's so much you know,
what's going to happen, uncertainty, that's a natural, you
know, those are natural causes of anxiety. So, it's not to say that
people who are anxious are suffered a lot. You know, they're
weakened. You know, it's just a matter of how do we manage and
cope for some people. Like I said, you know, doing those spiritual
Escada doors are really beneficial and I encourage everybody to look
into having a practice. This is from our scholars, they teach us
that we should always be doing a regimented you know, formulaic set
of prayers called a wizard, right? A wizard or a rod. This is a
litany of prayers that every single day you committed ly say,
and many of them include protective was for physical
against you know, physical harm, but also mental, spiritual well
being so being in the practice of that you will find just, you know,
I speak about this a lot and almost anytime I have the
opportunity, but in my own life in my own family, this is how we
start our day every single day. We haven't hunted enough you know
that the Bluetooth speaker that goes through the whole house and
my kids know soon as you wake up that's the first thing you know
after you go to the restroom whenever you go out the wind
because we want to start our day off with obviously the remembrance
of us Panther but also protective to us because the world we're
going to enter this place where
We don't know what's going to happen. But if we take, you know,
the necessary precautions that inshallah Allah was planned that
will give us protection and Sophia. So we have to really give
importance to saying our protective laws, you know, I
mentioned this even last week, being in a state of will do all of
this stuff is very important. And if you don't want to be vulnerable
to to harm, then this is how we protect ourselves. These are
prophetic guidance, this is prophetic guidance, it's exactly
what we are told to do not just pray five times a day, and looking
at, you know, the basic, you know, the five pillars as being the
only, you know, you know, things that we do know, there's more to
that we have daily dollar daily a QA, but all of those are because
this world is a place that's going to cause anxiety, and fear, and
all of those things. So how this is how we protect ourselves? Yes.
Very much in my
marriage
so important.
For you
can't,
I can't get
very, very
good
circuit.
And even I do like to say
that, all
right, whatever. So,
what I
like to try
and encourage you to
not allow this fear, it's not your actual property.
control, control, right. I mean, I think a lot of
a lot of people who have who are entrepreneurial, who are self
made, who are self starters, that's, you know, pretty common, I
think, issue that they deal with is that they went through so much
to get where they are, the idea of giving that up is panic inducing,
and it causes a lot of stress for them. So they hold on to that, you
know, it's a bigger problem. But I would say, you know, gentle
encouragement is really important, because we have to have empathy,
everybody comes from different place, you can be very practical
and pragmatic, and look at things from one lens. But if there's a
lot of emotional baggage there, or you know, something that's deeper
rooted, instead of, you know, coming at this, like, you know, in
a practical, pragmatic way, I would do a more emotional, you
know,
appeal, you know, to really be empathic and say, Listen, I know,
you've put your heart and soul into this. But, you know, let's
look at the future and what's best for us, you know, we're and I
mean, it's interesting, because I had a similar conversation with my
husband this morning, not necessarily about work, but more
about either just management of our time, you know, and I was
telling him, we both have to kind of look about look at look towards
our health in terms of not just physical health and well being but
also mental health, and making sure that we aren't doing things
that are compromising us. And we're not even aware of it,
because a lot of conditions, you know, there's no symptoms, and all
of a sudden, you get a diagnosis, and you're like, where did this
come from, but the red flags were there, and a lot of it is
behavioral, for example, and I was telling him specifically about,
you know, the phone, you know, and how we're so easily distracted by
this thing. We were just having a conversation, I said, you know, we
don't even know long term studies, you know, about what it's doing to
our brains, but yet, we're so tied to it. And I, you know, I do a lot
of work, so does he, we're on our computers all the time, but I was
like, we both have to scale it back. Because we don't know if
it's compromising our mental health, you know, so I've kind of
tried to take an approach that was more, you know what I mean, we
were a team. I'm not pointing a finger at you. I don't think I
know better, but in our interests in the best interests of our well
being our future or health, maybe we should do X, Y and Z. I think.
I mean, this is just general marriage advice. But I think
anytime you're in a situation where your spouse and you are on a
different page about something
It's much better to approach the problem from a we centered place
than a you. And I'm just admonishing you are direct.
Alright, you know, I'm telling you, because nobody likes to be
spoken to that way, right? No adult especially, you know, it's
just you get to a certain age you just, it's offensive, you know?
Right feels disrespectful, even if it's not with that intention, it
just comes across like that, like, I'm not a child, you know, I've,
I've worked for 5060 years and now you're telling me that I'm doing
it all wrong. Like you're discrediting me. And but we
inadvertently, even without any intention, sometimes may give that
impression. So I think it's really important to soften the language
to go back and to make this about both of us instead of you right,
and then when if you come from that approach, hopefully he'll be
more receptive because the ego isn't standing in his way you
know, but it's a lengthier conversation maybe we can talk
offline inshallah
yes
right just this will lengthen your life
Absolutely.
Dress such a beautiful
right, that's beautiful. And I agree 100% Is the Hatha is
definitely something that we need to make use of. I mean, there are
Sahaba, who they didn't make a decision. Without doing us, the
Hatha like it was that serious for them. But sometimes we only look
at it as major decisions in life. But if we were to actually use it
more, we would see, you know, the benefit of feeling just divinely
guided towards something. But I think there should be just a
clarification I want to make because sometimes people have the
wrong expectation of us the hada, for example, they think that is
the father is going to lead to the path of success that that
particular thing should lead to, for example, I'll give like a
marriage, you know, many people who complain about, you know,
their marriages will say, but I made us the Hata Why am I
miserable? Why, why do i Why did I end up in a divorce? Right?
Because they thought it's the hot moment, if I, you know, made this
thought that I was going to have the outcome that was the best in
terms of the material, worldly outcome, right? But it's the hot I
really is about what's best for me, you know, in terms of nearness
to Allah Spano. And sometimes you might have to go through a
difficult path, right? And then you come out from that, better,
you come out from that closer to all this pond data. So we have to
be very clear on the terms of as the Hadith that when we're asking
for guidance from Allah, Samantha, we're saying that if this is good
for me, and dunya and alpha, right, facilitate it for me that
what does that mean? In the long run? That doesn't necessarily mean
it's always going to be cherry able cherries, and everything's
gonna be perfect. Right? And it's gonna go swimmingly? It could be
that you're tested in that, but you come out much better person,
do you get what I'm saying? So I just wanted to I like to always
make that clarification because I think sometimes people don't
aren't aren't informed about the what is the potter really means,
but I highly encourage Absolutely. Doing it, because we should put
our trust in a spot that it's a an incredible gift that we've been
given. And we should make use of it more, but is that clear? For
everybody? Yeah. Okay. Yes.
Yeah, there's different, you know, interpretation or some people,
they, you know, they say that you'll get the, like, the
inclination, like towards one will increase, or the, the path towards
one will be more facilitated. Like if you if you're really at a
crossroads, because that's what it's the heart is about, it's
about coming to a place where you truly don't know what to do if you
already have bias. It's not gonna you know, you're leaning towards
one, right? So you're just that's just confirmation bias. This is
when you truly don't know and you're saying yeah, Allah. Let's
say you have two job offers. They both look really good on paper,
right? And it's like, I don't know what to do. Which one's going to
be better for me in the long run? I usually make it's the hotter
Okay, that's that's it.
prime example of when you should make us hotter. But if you're
already like, Huh, you know, the stock options of this one are
really good. And I get this bonus and that you didn't see you
already have bias. So you have to be really conflicted. But once you
do that, you might find that all of a sudden, your interviews for
one job are going awesome. And things are just United mean, like
things are going much faster and
it's coming to a decision, when you're at a real true Crossroads
without already bias towards one, you have to be really conflicted
about what to do, because you are putting your trust and all that.
But and then you know, some other just to answer the first question
you had. Some people do say a dream could be revealed to you. So
dreams might also reveal an answer to you. So the answer can come in
shape. It takes shape and in different forms.
Yes, yeah. The question.
Right.
Now could be anything? Yeah, she just Yes. Yes, absolutely. Yeah.
It doesn't have to be I'm sorry. No, I'm glad you asked. Because I
didn't understand it that way. But now I get it. It's not that you
have to be necessarily, you know, in a difficult position between
two things. It can be any guidance on any matter. Because doing
something or not doing it is also a choice, right? So it could be
two distinct choices or the choice of acting on something or not
acting, but at the end of the day, it's really the same, it's that
you're not clear about what to do. And you want a responder to
divinely guide you towards one.
Thank you. Thank you for mentioning that. Okay.
So, are we still in fear of poverty, right. Okay. So again,
the treatment for this would be to have a good opinion of Allah
subhanaw taala. Right. And, you know, just to further our
conviction, the proposition of said charity does not decrease
wealth, no one forgives another. But that was one of the increases
his honor. And no one humbles himself for the sake of Allah, but
that Allah raises his status.
And then in sort of the Toba, I was one of those take from their
wealth, a charity by which you cleanse them and purify them and
invoke blessings upon them.
And then this is just another beautiful Hadith. And uscib and
Madico. The Allah Han said that the prophesy centum was never
asked for a thing by one who may be who may who was about to accept
Islam, except that he would give it a man once came to the
Broadside system. And he gave him a herd of sheep filling an area
between two mountains. When that man returned to his people, he
said to them, oh, my people embrace Islam, Muhammad gives like
one who has no fear of poverty. Okay, so this is just an example
of the Prophet cinema's incredible faith in Allah, Samantha, that he
was always we know, the most generous, but he was willing to
give people to never, you know, you know, leave anyone with with,
with a feeling of sadness, even, you know, something of this
magnitude, because he had incredible faith and loss panda
that, you know, that it would be fine, and it all worked out. So
this is the type of level of conviction we have to have, when
it comes to our wealth, when it comes to being generous, that
inshallah we have that Yaqeen, that when we're doing things for
the sake of Allah Subhana Allah, it's never a loss. And then the
last point that I will provide, and that when our wealth when
we're giving, our wealth is being purified, and inshallah it'll also
be multiplied. Right? And that should settle, right, but having a
good opinion of a last point that is really the cure for this
disease.
And that's mentioned on page 43. The treatment, the cure for fear
of poverty is to have a good opinion of God. God states, I do
not desire from people any provision, nor do I desire that
they feed me. This is in chapter 51, verse 57. People who harbor
good thoughts about their provider, deflect insidious
whisperings about him, and the subtle provocations that create
irrational fear. His dominion is never diminished, in the least
when he gives to his creation all that they need. And if someone
else is given more, one should not harbor bad thoughts towards that
person. Wholesome thoughts about God express themselves in one's
contentment with what he or she has, and not in stretching one's
eyes towards the assets of others. The Prophet sallallahu sallam
said, contentment is a treasure that is never exhausted.
So hamdulillah just having, you know, being completely satisfied
with almost content and what he's given you and knowing that it's
always for your fan inshallah.
So the next chapter is a pretty lengthy one.
It's on ostentation.
So this is on page 44, will read from verses 78 to 86. Its root
cause is covetousness. And doing good works for the sake of showing
off. The cure for covetousness is also my cure for the next disease
ostentation. So roll up your sleeves if you want to set out and
cure what is at the root of all of these diseases and what
exacerbates them. I mean, that showing off is one of the
calamities of the heart, whose definition is to perform an act of
devotion for other than the creator's sake. Rather, it is for
the purpose of seeking some worldly benefit or praise from his
creation, or to protect oneself from the opposite, that is the
loss of wealth or dispraise. The worst form is that which results
in a sinful deed such as pretentious display a virtue, so
as to be entrusted with the wealth of an orphan. The next degree is
what is done for some worldly matter using good deeds as a means
to obtain it. Finally, showing off is that which is done out of fear
of the scornful gaze of people. It is cured by knowing that if all of
creation were to join forces to oppose you, or support you, they
would not be able to do so except by His permission. Indeed, he
alone possesses rewards for your actions in both abodes and He is
all powerful, the ever righteous and thankful.
So this disease, ostentatious via in Arabic, is the most nefarious
form of which is when a of which is when a person performs rites of
worship, merely to obtain a place in the hearts of others. In plain
terms, it is showing off doing something to gain notoriety. The
problem was referred to this behavior as the lesser idolatry,
the lesser ship, he also said, I do not fear that you will worship
the sun, the stars in the moon, but I fear you're worshiping other
than God through ostentation. And then he said, moreover, what I
fear most for my community is doing things for other than the
sake of God. So this is very serious. I mean, those words,
right, there should really, you know, sting in a way like I mean,
suffering a lot, may Allah protect us, but what I fear most, for my
community, right?
This is clearly a warning for us that we have to check our
intentions constantly, because this is where we're gonna get in
trouble, we could be doing a lot, and there are people who are doing
a lot. But if they're not clear on their intention, it's all for
naught, right? It's all for nothing. And it actually could
show up really harming them on the Day of Judgment, because it's like
your intentions, were not ever for what you thought they were. And so
you come up empty handed, thinking all these years, I spent
worshiping I did this, I did that. But if it was at the end of the
day, just so that people could look upon you, and praise you and
say, Oh, wow, you know, look how much knowledge he has. Or she has,
you know, look how much they they're always at the masjid. They
pray so much, or they read the Quran so beautifully. You know,
they have this and they have that.
You know, it's, it's, it's something that we have to really
think about. And I'll tell you personally, when I first came to
the deen, this was a disease of the heart that I never studied
this text until, you know, maybe two or three years into the dean
is when I learned of it.
But for those first few years, I was very active. You know, I did a
lot of public speaking, I was humbled a president of the MSA is
I was just, you know, doing this and this. And I remember I joined
a HELOC. What sisters had up at UC Berkeley, and there were some
sisters there who we still we were just you know, knew we don't I
don't think anybody really knew what we were doing. We're just
kind of happy to do it together, I guess. But they were very, you
know, we always building each other up. So I remember getting a
lot of, you know, comments about certain qualities I had, in
particular reciting Quran, they always wanted me to lead the
prayers. And I remember, you know, really enjoying it.
And I just was like, Oh, this is fun. And I thought, it's not
there's no harm, you know, I'm reciting the book of Allah. I'm
getting all these praise and accolades. And then I remember we
got to a point where we started competing with Quran memorization.
And so we were like, I think winter break happened was around
December, and we were going to come back and see you know, who
had memorized the most polar and it was a few sisters who were,
were kind of competing, but in that time is when
And I, I believe I came across Sheikh Hamza when he was teaching
this class. And I remember, I there was this class, there was
another class, but he definitely talked about ostentation. And I
remember sitting in that class, just so
I mean, incredibly embarrassed and humbled. But just like shocked,
because I never realized that all those years and all those efforts,
it was really about the praise of people. Right.
And, you know, he made a lot of comments that day that sort of
stayed with me, one thing he mentioned, which I, I always like
to point out, is that there's a two fold thing, because showing
off is, is you know, when you're actively doing something, right,
if you actively do something so that someone recognizes you doing
that thing, and then they make a comment, that is the absolute
definition. Yeah. But there's also another manifestation of the app,
which is when you prevent yourself from doing something, because you
think people might think you're showing off. Right? So when he
mentioned that I was my mind was blown. Like what? Like, it's so
when it says nefarious, that's what it means. It's so sneaky.
It's such a subtle disease of the heart. Because you think, okay,
yeah, okay, I'm not going to show up, I'm not gonna actively do
something. But if you ever stop yourself from doing something
that's beneficial, because you think, oh, people are gonna think,
Oh, here she goes again. Or here he goes, again, he's showing off.
That is also Ria. Why? Because in both cases, your preoccupation is
with people. You get it? That's the bottom line. When we say the
lesser Shahrukh, it's because you're not even thinking about
Allah subhanaw taala. Right, you're thinking about either the
praise of people, or the score, and if people do get it. So that's
why it's very sneaky. And that's why we have to constantly
check our intentions. So when I left, you know, that got this
class of ship Hamza, and we went back to the huddle class, I just,
I, I, because I knew I needed to work on this. I just said, I'm not
going to lead prayers for a while, you know, I'm not going to do that
until I cleanse myself from this. Because I just I recognized it so
much that all those years, it's like stuff a lot. What a waste.
What a man a lot, and I hope he's still accepts my efforts, because
I was ignorant, right? We have to have hope, you know, we shouldn't
ever despair. But I do look back on those years and stuff a lot.
But him the last since becoming aware of it. This is why and I say
it all the time, you gotta check your intentions, if you do
anything. What am I doing it for? Who is who's, who matters right
now, in this scenario? You know, who am I thinking about? What,
what comes to the forefront of my mind when I think of doing
something? Is it you know, people, you know, or is it almost data?
And that's how you, you know, check yourself? Yes, you have a
question?
You know, either way, like, it's kind of
where you're at right?
Right, right.
Right, don't be too, I guess it's like, I feel like an athlete also,
like, because of a person, right? Or another thought?
How do you handle that? Right.
Right, you're worried and having you know, those thoughts? It's a
good question. And I think, you know, whenever you're in those
situations where you're being put on the spot to talk about
yourself, I know socially, it's not comfortable, right? Because
especially in I think in certain, like, there, there's studies that
say this to women tend to have a harder time accepting, like, you
know, or being more open about what they do, or, you know, making
sort of statements about their achievements and accomplishments,
because we're, you know, conditioned differently, whereas
for men, it's a lot easier, men are more open, like, yeah, I got
my degree here. And I did this, and I did that, you know, and
they're kinda like it because, you know, it's just again, the way
that we're socialized between the genders. So there's a gender
difference there. But I think, again, when you're thinking about
trying to remove this disease of the heart, you want to think about
what is my the intention? If I'm honestly just answering a
question. Someone's asking me, and I'm just being honest about it
without, you know what I mean? Doing a humble brag or, you know,
kind of throwing other things in there. You know, if someone's
asked you about your career, then you you're going off into 10,
different tangents about other things you've done. Yeah, maybe
you're showing off a little bit. But if you're just it's very
matter of fact, you know, and you're answering because someone
asks you
If your intention is clear, you're just being truthful, right? So I
don't think you should overthink it to the point where it's like,
oh, you know,
I'm freezing and I can't eat, I don't even know what to do more
like every situation is different. But if I'm ever presented with
that, you know, question about an accomplishment, or in any way a
skill set that I have, that I just approach it as a matter of fact
thing. And I would also say, you know, if someone can, you know,
because people are generous, sometimes and flowery with their
responses, and they want to, you know, praise you and oh, wow, you
know, that you just say 100 Allah, like, it's all from Allah supplant
that and recognize, truly, genuinely that it is from last
month that if you take on your your skills, your qualities, your
traits, your talents, as though you had anything to do with it,
that's a problem, because you really didn't, it's all from ALLAH
SubhanA data, every good that we have this from him, and it can be
taken away like this. So when you really, truly understand that,
then you deflect praise appropriately. You don't sit with
it, and you don't encourage it, and you don't, you know, relish in
it, because it's, it shouldn't we should get to that point where
it's almost uncomfortable, you know, when people are praising
you, that's a good sign if you find discomfort, right? Like, I
don't want to hear that, you know, because it's uncomfortable
Hamdulillah, then you have the right, but if it's the opposite,
where it's like, yeah, you know, keep giving me that, that it's
maybe because you do attribute your good qualities to yourself.
And that's a whole other conversation, right? Yeah. So I
think just being very matter of fact, answering questions,
honestly, purifying your intention. I'm not trying to show
off here, but not running away from those questions, because
that's also awkward to write. Yeah, yes.
Yeah,
that's what I was just describing, right, there's a discomfort,
because you know, that it's not you. Like when people praise you,
and you see people taking compliments for like beauty, or
like, their looks. And like, really, you had literally nothing
to do with that. Nothing. Like, you know, if it was found that a
gave you, Gem Ed, that, give it to your parents, if anybody you know,
but even they had nothing to do with it. You know, I mean, it's
all from Allah. But some people will be like, oh, yeah, no, I
think you and you're just like soft. Oh, wow. Like that's, that's
a prime example of really delusion. But if even your, your
accomplishments, if we're truly being honest, you can keep going
back, and just connecting the dots of every single person or event in
your life, that opened the opportunity for you to do what
you've done, it all goes back to all of us that if he had not given
you the family dynamics, the socio economic dynamics you had, you
know, all those privileges that you've been given, the time that
you were born, that's, you know what I mean, all of that, you
wouldn't be where you are. So we just have to be humble enough to
admit that our faith in our good, you know, qualities or whatever
achievements we have, really, every single one of them goes back
to a restaurant. So when people are praising you, it should give
you that level of discomfort. It's a good sign. But I would say, like
I said, just you know, have the lamb I shot. It's all from all of
us. Learning to respond in that way where it really lets the
person praising you know,
you know, it's misplaced. I guess, you're being kind and generous
right now, just socially, that's what we do. But at the end of the
day, you should know because I know, it's not me. It's him.
Right. And that's just kind of where you leave the conversation.
I'm sorry. Did you hit your head? Yes. And then I'll come to you.
Right,
right.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right. And that's, you know, that's their prerogative. Some
people they might have had really, you know, difficult situations,
and they're paranoid. Maybe they just got the job and they're
scared, like, Oh, my God, if I'd say too much, but so we had to
also be willing to just see people where they're at. And if someone
just doesn't want to disclose class, leave them not to pry,
because that's another problem. I think we also, like get offended,
right? If people don't share. It's like, well, I just told you where
I work. Why don't you tell me where you work? You know, this is
an unfair conversation. But we have to have the emotional
intelligence to read every situation and say, You know what,
I'm comfortable. I have done it. I feel grounded. I feel stable in my
position. I am confident in stating it. But I can't expect
that from every single person and if I pick up a hint of hesitation
or fear or trepidation, I just
respectfully move on instead of making it awkward and really like
that's what do you mean that no Park? You know, you don't? Yeah,
because I've seen people in those situations feel very offended by
that. And I think that's just not being fair people are a different
stages. But I'm glad you brought that up because it's a good
reminder to know how to act in those situations, you know, for
yourself, but also to respond to other people. Yes.
When it comes to good deeds, leave us
leave us might want to avoid recognition and go out of our way
to stop other people from seeing us do.
Right.
It's actually addressed in the text, but I'm glad you brought it
up. If you're going out of your way to avoid to be seen, there
should be a level of balance because sometimes your if your
intention is what again, are in the right place, like well, let's
say you have a group of friends and you pray, but maybe they don't
all pray. If you're like, Well, I don't want them to know, I pray
because I don't want to seem like I'm showing off. Right? In that
scenario. Yeah, that's, that might help you. But wouldn't it be
better for you to say, hey, Allah, Allah knows my intention, like, I
want them to see me because maybe it'll encourage them. Right? So
that's different. Exactly. So that was that was. So this is where you
have to discern, every situation is different. If there's an
opportunity to teach, to guide to help encourage someone to do
something good, then in that opportunity, you might not need to
worry about being seen. But when it comes to, you know, your
regular practice, things that are that you do, it's actually
mentioned in the text somewhere, I'm not exactly sure where but if
you're doing something regularly in public, and you continue to do
those at home, that's a good sign, right? It's like a balance. Like,
I'm not only doing things to be seen, or I'm not only you know
what I mean? There's a balance, I'm consistent, right? But I would
say that it really has to do with the situation, but to check your
intention and say, Hey, is this a teachable moment? Could I
potentially encourage someone to do something? If so, then it's
okay, if they see me, because that's my Nia. My Nia isn't to get
their praise, I don't care if they praise me, right. So talk to
yourself before that, before you make the decision. For example,
charity, like, let's say you're at a fundraising dinner, right? And
you have the means to give, and you're looking at all these people
around you. And they're like, Okay, anybody, you know, could
anybody donate this amount and no hands go up. But you're like, you
know what, maybe if I do it, and I, you know, my friends will see
me or people will see me that are at my table. Maybe they'll feel
inclined to do it, Inshallah, we'll get this ball going. I'll
get you know, the reward of all of their good deeds, Allah, you're
the most generous, I'm gonna raise my hands first, you see, what,
where's your intention, your intention is to say, I'm trying to
benefit everybody ready for this effort that's happening. And I'm
not doing it because they look at me and go, he's so generous,
right? So a lot of it really has to do with that internal dialogue.
And if you can, play it out, and really be honest with yourself and
Inshallah, be confident that that sincerity that you're, you know,
speaking to yourself about is exactly what Allah Subhana Allah
is going to reward you for, you can't hide something from him,
right? So if it's true, that you're doing it for that
intention, Inshallah, you'll get that reward. Right. And that's why
it's so important for us to remember. But, you know, the, the
other part or, I mean, this is such a lengthy text module,
there's so much benefit, I hope you all read this. But you know,
the other thing, important thing to mention is also to increase our
good deeds in private, if you really want to protect yourself
from this disease of the heart, don't be the person who's only
super Muslim in public spaces, you know,
be the person who is actually you know, really mindful of God
totally. When you're by yourself, you know, you're in the car.
You know, and you're have time to be by yourself and you have
choices to make, am I going to, you know, pop in a CD and listen
to music or am I going to, you know, listen to it and make those
decisions based on you know, your true self, but don't be the person
that when your friend gets in the car seat, he goes to Quran, you
know, and it's like, yeah, it's just the center point and right
now, it's like, okay, yes.
Pressure apps because I'm glad the last few days is working. We had
young people
together and we'd you know, encourage
About a
week to take some good, whatever, what's good sometimes, but
sometimes I wouldn't know that I really did not feel like going on.
And the most sincere thing I could do was to pray at home. Right. But
then there's this other pressure, which is
burning, right?
Right, right.
That's a very good question. And I think we do have to honor our, you
know,
our natures because there are times where other factors are at
play, maybe you're tired, you know, this is where self
awareness, self knowledge, being really caring about oneself, to
make sure that you are always your authentic self is that is
important. Because if you ever do something, for fear, again, of
what people will say, when people think of you, you're not being
your authentic self, right, you're compromising. And then what that
could do is backfire. Because it could make you have a, you know,
shaytaan, this is how he works, he gets in our mind. So it's like,
the association with that action becomes a negative all of a
sudden, right? All because you capitulated to a situation you
didn't want to do for the sake of others. So I'm a big advocate of
really being authentic with yourself and saying, if I need a
timeout today, like, you know, I've been going to the masjid for
the whole week. But today, I'm exhausted. And I would actually
much rather and benefit more from being at home, I'm going to, I'm
going to rise, I mean, I'm gonna, you know, have the courage and not
have blameworthy modesty and say, I can't make it to the masjid
today, you see, because you're, you're at your, you know,
advocating for yourself in that situation. But also, you're
protecting yourself, you know, from, from residual harm or from,
you know, harm that could come later, when you suddenly are like,
not any want to bother anymore, or I want to drop out of going to
this youth group altogether, because the pressure is so
difficult, I don't want to deal with it anymore. You see, now it's
like all or none, right? And that's exactly what shade on does
is he can overwhelm us
to push us away completely. So you have to know if you are ever
overwhelmed in doing something, that that's also one of his
tactics. Sometimes we get into this binary, where it's like
shaitan only inspires to evil. But that's not true. He could tell you
to do something of lesser good. Or he could keep pressuring you
because He knows your nature, and you'll burn out real fast. You
see. So that's why you have to have that self awareness that says
I know my limits, I'm gonna just no, this doesn't work for me today
and have that constant.
And for me, it's always about I want to be true and honest and
authentic as much as possible, because that is the Prophetic
model. The problem was set him was the most authentic, consistent
person. And that's what we should aim to be when we fear other
people and what they're gonna think of us this is when we
compromise that authenticity, and then it plays out and other you
know, it harms us in other ways. So it's a very good question.
Thank you for asking that. How
Are there any other questions? There's much loss so much here.
The treatment on page 48, being aware of the harm associated with
ostentation is an effective treatment in itself. Since it is
human nature to avoid invites harm a show off is invariably
discovered, humiliated and then scoring and ultimately he's
bankrupt. Because insincerity is not acceptable to God. This is a
theoretical treatment that staves off on sensation. The practical
treatment involves intentionally veiling one's actions from the
eyes of people. So again, increasing your, your your deeds
in private. So that first section, you know, just to be aware, like,
people don't like the show off, you're probably that person if you
are the one who humblebrag a lot or her name drops, you know, who
shares over shares when you're only asked one question if you're
giving way too much information, you probably are that person that
people are internally rolling their eyes that and likely even
talking about. So socially, you're not doing yourself any favors by
being a show off nobody no matter how accomplished they are, likes,
likes that quality and a person but also you know, your
insincerity is is not accepted acceptable as long as that and
that's to me the greater determined right like suffer a lot
that you would you know, there's that hadith, right the Hadith that
the process and says are three people who on the Day of Judgment,
you know, common they they're expecting all of this reward,
right the the man who gain knowledge, the martyr and then the
wealthy person, and they all come expecting the reward
word for what they did, because you know, the knowledgeable person
why gain knowledge that I could teach? And the response they're
given is no, you did it you did it for so that people could tell you
that you say that you're the most knowledgeable, and you fought in
the battle and became a martyr so that they praised you, and that
you gave your from your wealth so that they could say you were the
most generous, just that when we felt that you got the reward for
what you did you get it, you got the reward, the reward was the
praise. That's why you did it, you got that reward. So stuff, they
ended up coming on the Day of Judgment, totally empty. And
that's like the worst scenario imaginable. And that's why, you
know, there's, we have to take this disease so seriously, because
the idea of working and toiling away and doing all these good
works, and then to come up on that day and have it all rejected,
stuff for Allah, like, That is terrifying, right? That no,
because we didn't do the internal work of checking that intention,
right. So checking the intention is very important. But the other
practical treatment, which is mentioned here, is intentionally
veiling, your, you know, deeds, you know, from other people in, in
this could be, you know, when you're, if you're in, you know, a
space in public space, you know, you don't need to always
do things openly, but also to increase your, your private, you
know, deeds, what you're doing at home, if you're someone who
inshallah memorizes Quran or prays, you know, then those should
be things that you do in the privacy of your home
on a larger scale than doing it in public spaces, right?
So just thinking about that, like, what's the, you know, how much am
I doing in public versus how much am I doing at home, and if there's
more effort at home, Inshallah, you're less inclined to not be
afflicted with this. But if you're doing more in public and less at
home, or you get lazy at home, right?
Then this is a problem. Like if you have guests over, and it's
like every prayer then you're reciting it and it's like, Let's
do GEMA and it's like, you know, right on time because you want to
you know, impress your guests, and you want them to know that you are
a house of praise, but then when they leave that fed your alarm
could be going off for like 10 minutes and you're snoozing,
you know and then you miss it stuff. That's a sign there's
definitely out there you know.
And then there's
it's recommended to recite often synthetic class, which affirms the
oneness of God and negates the possibility of there being
anything comparable to him. So you know, this idea of lesser should
we want to constantly re realign our intention, reaffirm our
intention that it's with its for the sake of Allah spawn data. So
asking a lot, for sincerity to increases in sincerity is very
important.
As for one's PhD, it can never be pure unless free of ostentation.
In the Quran, there are two words that point in sincerity more or
less and less. The latter is the active participle which indicates
that the agent of purification is external that is that it is a
blessing from God. You may have even Laemmle Josie, a 13th century
scholar said that if possible, it is possible for anyone to have
sincerity in what one does and in what one believes. Irrespective of
creed. However, being Mukhlas purified by God is reserved for
those who have a system of belief and deeds that are concordance
with what God has revealed. God loves this kind of human being
email hasn't been shattered the 13th century scholar once prayed,
oh God make my bad actions, the bad actions of those whom you
love, and do not make my good actions, the good actions of those
with whom you are displeased. So having that understanding like you
could be sincere but if you want to have that attribute of being a
novelist before God, that can only be attained by making sure that
everything you do is in concordance with what almost what
pleases us
right? And so because that's a quality that only He can give you.
And then he recommends memorizing say the list of rain which is a
beautiful da Aloma and it'd be
a funny one Abacha Why not after a while, I still thought I would
become Shari moss and not a boo
boo be then be filled in the hula for the novella answer and that's
an English translation right there. But the problem is that I'm
said that whoever says this when he rises in the morning and again
in the evening and then dies I
under that date where that evening will enter the Garden. I mean,
that's so powerful how, you know, we have to take these advices
literally like to say that and that's why the web, which I
mentioned earlier, if you do the word of the Latif by a mom and her
dad, or a lot of enjoy, I think they both have this, but this is
one of the dogs in that with these are standard, like we should all
know this die and say it every day, because of this promise, what
an incredible promise. Like, we don't know when we're going to
die. But if I say this every day Subhanallah I'm protecting myself
and I'm insured the garden, why wouldn't I do that? Right? So we
have to really give this wait.
And then if we go to page 50, and I'm sorry, the reverse poems
underneath that will read that first 49 scholars are of two
opinions about about seeking some benefit in this life through
worship as opposed to seeking only the hereafter, or even seeking the
hereafter or or worship seeking its delights. Is it sincerity or
showing off? Some also consider that merely taking delight in
people's awareness of one's actions is showing off, though the
star ematic did not consider that harmful, as long as the original
intention was based on the foundation of sincerity. So this
is a really good discussion, the rest of the text here that talks
about, you know,
about doing things for like your objective, right? If you're
worshiping Allah soprano,
what is your objective? Is it to gain his pleasure to gain Jannah
and all of the bounties of Jannah or to protect yourself from the
hellfire? Like, where does that in any way? Compromise one sincerity.
So it's a really good discussion on that topic. And I again,
encourage I hope all of you read, read that.
But on page 51, on the third chapter there, the distinctions
are made right even though it was it says that there are three types
of people, those who worship God freely Herat, and they do so only
for the sake of God and His pleasure. Included in this type
are those who are diligent in their worship to fulfill their
covenant of obedience to God. The second type is people who worship
like merchants to jet right, looking to get something out of
their worship. For example, a person of this type prays a
certain number of prayers in order to receive a known reward such as
a palace and heaven. Finally, the third type is those who worship
like slaves, I believe they do it out of the fear of punishment,
specifically fear of hellfire. So, you know, you guys have got to
figure out where are you right where are you at?
What would what how do you how would you define your level of
worship?
But yeah, there's there's a lot of content there. Mashallah. Very
interesting discussion.
I wanted to talk about the point of the mimetic made trying to find
that text.
So, there's differences of opinion, he mentioned that on page
52 and 33 between the scholars in terms of you know, whether or not
something is shidduch in terms of, you know, outward action.
So, I met even a bill where he said that whoever loves to do
something and loves to be known for it has committed adultery
should remember, Judy said that a person may engage in blameworthy
ostentation, even if no one is there to notice. So you see,
there's a lot of commentary from different scholars on what
constitutes ostentation, like even if nobody's there, but you still
have the wrong intention. You could still be afflicted with this
disease right? So it's not necessarily that you are seen by
other people but just having that desire itself is also assign him
the disease right.
And then
he refers to my medic on the very bottom paragraph and he calls him
a legend the star he says if we speak up scholars, Imam Malik is
the star okay? And then even Khalifa he's called the mama Azzam
right, the greatest Imam
Imam medic did not consider that epithet harmful as long as the
original intention was based on the foundations study. Okay, so
then I'm sorry, I'm the next section is what I wanted to read.
Imam Malik was once asked what do you say about a man who walks to
the mosque for the sake of God, but then on the way there thinks
to himself, I hope someone sees me walking to the mosque. So I love
this section because I think it gives us all hope. You know, as we
said, this is a really sneaky disease of the heart, but we don't
want to get too, you know,
like,
paranoid and start thinking, or every action
And indeed is our intentions are off because he gives us hope here
he says, My magic did not see this as harmful as long as the man
started out with sincerity, and then Ward's off such whisperings
so if you're, if your intention was not that, but then shake on,
inserted that thoughts somewhere along the way, as long as you say
all the members of the gym, you know, you're not afflicted with
the you get it. So it's a matter of where you what you do with
those thoughts, right? It should make you uncomfortable and you
should, you know, seek refuge from those thoughts. But if you started
off with total sincerity, you wanted to do something for the
sake of Allah, not to punish yourself or be too hard on
yourself, just because those thoughts into your mind. And now
you're thinking you're this horrible person, you're so
insincere and you're, you're committing shit, because it's less
of us. You know, this is how shaitan works. He wants to chip
away in our sincerity. So he'll insert thoughts. It's inspiration,
right? And so you have to know that's not originally from me,
because I didn't even think about that. It's now that I'm in the
middle or I'm in the process or I'm on my way to do it that it
suddenly occurs to me 100% once was, oh that I mentioned. Right so
gives us hope there.
And then even mode says that abandoning a good act out of fear
of ostentation, is worse than engaging in and ostentation
itself. So this is really important what I said earlier,
right, the two sides the two it's like, there's two sides to this,
if you just abandon the ACT altogether, this is worse because
now you're cutting off good for yourself and maybe for others if
they are going to benefit from that all because you're too
worried about something whereas if you just you know did it, push
past it for the in purified your intention in sha Allah, then it
benefits you and others.
So, one should not submit to an irrational fear that is perhaps
inspired by evil whisperings and thus deprive oneself of the
blessings of for example, congregational prayer, it is
better to continue with one's good deeds and to work to keep one's
intentions pure and sincere. So I remember he, yeah, that was
mentioned then back then to during that class, that if you have the
thought of not wanting to do something for fear of ostentation,
the response should be to do it. Anyway. Okay.
So don't capitulate to that thought, like, oh, people are
gonna think I'm a show off right now. I shouldn't do this. No, do
it anyway. Because you what you're doing is you're kind of like
pushing that thought out of your mind about other people and
hopefully keeping to your original intention, which was for the sake
of a lesson.
Is that clear?
All right.
Any questions about this? What is our time looking like?
Okay, so
I just wanted to read from notes here.
Okay, sounds good. It's all we've covered it all.
This is also chapter 18, verse 110, always found that it says
whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord let him do righteous
work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone. So
just another reminder about really purifying our intentions
to make sure that it's never there's it's never stained or
tainted, or mixed. You know, there's mixed intentions of trying
to please other people or get praise from other people that we
really truly are just concerned with all his father's pleasure
with this.
Okay.
The last section is really beautiful, because it kind of just
puts it all in perspective for us. Right, page 54. The essential
point about worship is that it should be done purely for the sake
of God. When one cleanses the soul of anything that tarnishes one's
intentions, one's knowledge of God will increase. As a consequence,
everything else in the world will grow insignificant. Imagine how
awestruck the prophets lesson and must have been when he saw Angel
Djiboutian
He said I'm in his true form, His majestic wings filling the
horizon. Then imagine worshiping God, the Eternal, the infinite,
the glorious to worship God as if one sees him is a characteristic
of excellence in worship sent, as the promise was said and taught
us. Seeking to impress humans is a pathetic exercise, an utter waste
of time and life, for humanity is in constant and total need of God.
If one wants to be close to power and authority, then one should not
chase men of position and station. Rather, one should seek closeness
with God, the master of the universe, the Creator of all
things, there is absolutely no power or might accept with him. So
that's a really beautiful ending, right? Just give us all
perspective.
All right, I'm gonna, let's go to relying on other than God shallow.
versus one of wonder 105 This is page 56. Fear of and desire for
other than my lord contradicts absolute trust in him the origin
of both of them, and I seek refuge in the mighty from every disease
is lack of certainty. What is prohibited from the two is that
which prevents an obligation from being fulfilled. As for it,
leading to the neglect of that which is recommended, then it is
considered reprehensible. In any case, flee in fear to your Lord
from both of them. The cure for both is to know that there is none
who can bring benefit or harm other than Him alone. So fearing
or desiring anything other than God runs contrary to trust and
reliance on God to look good. If one is obsessed with other mortals
his or her reliance on God is weak. This diminishes one's
certainty, a pain in God and certainty that everything good all
that is worth worthy of pursuit in time comes from none other than
God. The cause of many diseases of the heart can be traced back to a
lack of certainty, and an impaired sense of faith and trusting in
God. A person can be in pursuit of attaining benefit from people and
fall into the trap of neglecting his obligations, as well as those
meritorious acts that invite untold blessings and dimensions of
realizations to one's life. One needs to seek refuge and God from
the kinds of Fear and Desire that divert one's attention and
striving away from God. The Imams admonition is to always keep in
mind that God alone holds all benefit, and that only God tests
people and provides relief and provision. So, again, I think this
is very much tied in with what we've been talking about, of
having just a really positive and clear
understanding of Allah subhanaw taala and always purifying your
intention, intention, and relying and putting your, you know,
reliance on him having that trust, whether it comes to, you know,
fear of poverty, or Ria, or anything, if we have the right
understanding that of just making us proud that our focus, then we
protect ourselves, but as soon as we shift our focus to other
people, right, whether it's seeking their praise, or, or
relying on them too much, this is when we compromise our, our
European, our faith and a lot. And so really,
what, whatever position you're in, in your in your life, just
remembering that you can, you know, turn to people as a means of
helping, but your first line should always be Allah subhanaw
taala there are people for example, who
they don't pray their five daily prayers, right. But they are, you
know, struggling and they're going from here to there and asking
family members for maybe financial help or coming to the masjid and,
you know, seeking assistance here or, you know, signing up for
certain programs, but then they don't pray. Right. Do you see
that's a conflict? Because ultimately, whatever situation
you're in, if you want relief from that
the only one who's going to bring you relief is Allah subhanaw taala
right. So, we have to, you know,
know how to prioritize or or how to, you know, which which line of
course of action to take, and your first line is to seek, you know,
dependence on the last point that so this is why, again, increasing
your was increasing your prayers. Anybody who's in a difficult
predicament, whatever it is, if you're in a marriage, maybe that
you don't know which direction it's gonna go and if you're
financially having issues, if you're having health issues, you
we have to turn to a spot that first and increase our calling on
him because sometimes that's really what it's about. He wants
us to call on him. So waking up in the middle of the night, right,
increasing our thinking or remembrance.
All of that matters, we can act
Like, those are just voluntary deeds that we do. They're their
means to an end. And the end is to draw on your tosspot data, and to
prove to him that we do recognize who you are that you, you know,
dictate matters, that you know, for us and that you are who we
should rely on. But if we're not doing that part, and we're running
around scrambling, trying to find resonance solutions to our
problems here, and you know, imposing maybe on other people,
that we don't have a strong connection to us that we don't
have enough pain, that he can help us right. There's definitely
disconnector qualified scholars to talk to, because they can present
the
whole topic for you, I wouldn't be able to do that.
Yes?
Sure.
Sure, can you tell me the page or the reference to it?
Okay.
Sure, so you want more explanation on that? Sure. So, it's more like,
you know, those you love. Those who are less panda loves their bad
actions are probably on the spectrum. Not that bad, right? So
instead of leaving me to my own devices, I don't you know, I'd
rather you know what I mean.
Yeah.
With whom you are displeased? Because, again, if Allah subhana
is displeased with them, it's likely that their intentions are
probably not right. Like their intentions are probably not good
or pure, or they're they're they're doing something wrong. So
even if they present as being good deeds, if he's not happy with
them, that's that's a reflection that there's no sincerity there
thank you. All right. So I think HR will stop here we covered a few
right we got through did not get that's good. I was like we need to
catch up, otherwise we're going to be really fall behind. So
inshallah we'll work on the displeasure with Divine Decree
because it's also like for the end, actually, and I'm sorry, let
me go to the contents and I'll tell you for next week.
I tried it I'm trying to aim to do five to six if we can. So we'll do
displeasure with Divine Decree seeking reputation false hopes,
negative thoughts and vanity, let's just finish that first.
Content section. Okay. So we'll go all the way to vanity for next
week inshallah. And as we discussed, if we find that we are
you know, we need more time we're probably going to add maybe one or
two more classes to this, I hope you guys hope that's okay.
Okay, good. Yes.
Inshallah,
Inshallah, it's all whatever you know, we will look at because the
way the programming is done in MCC is a lot of it Yes, is driven by
what the community asks and needs and if there are certain subjects
or topics that you guys are interested in then that feedback
is really important. So if there's a specific text or topic that you
are interested in, let us know and we can explore options of myself
or maybe a more qualified teacher for this 100 up as I mentioned,
you know, she did give me permission to teach this so as
long as I have the permission to teach
they will do it
there are there's a lot
of inshallah we will definitely look I mean, I'm part of this
community, I love this community I love this community center, I'm
always
going to make myself inshallah available to serve it in whatever
capacity I can. And if that means doing more programs like this, I'm
happy and honestly honored to do it. I'm honored that all of you
are attending and that you come out on a Saturday. It's really
just awkward and I'm very humbled and and I'm happy as I said to be
to be here so we'll see about doing more inshallah. there any
other questions about anything?
Yes,
It's the Arabic is Manoj fnf Cebu fucka referable it's exact same
thing the one who knows themselves will know their Lord Right.
Right.
Right. But you want a more sure I love that I think it's one of my
favorite Maxim's I quoted often because it really is, you know,
it's it's a formula for success if you want to know all those
pantalla look at yourself first because there's a vast universe of
design, right that He has created us with, that proves his
existence, I mean beyond the universe that visit, you know,
visible universe that we can see just the human being. And the way
that we're operate, the way we were designed is just incredible,
you know, and you can look at this from a physiological biological
thing, but I also like to look at it from just personalities and
temperaments. I love studying, you know, human nature human behavior,
because there is just profoundness about it that just says
Subhanallah, you know, I mean, I can't I think about, for example,
there's what, 7 billion plus people on the planet, it's, isn't
it fascinating from like, just a
statistical sort of lens to imagine that we all coexist
relatively? Well, you know, there's conflict, obviously,
there's human conflict, but people get married strangers, complete
strangers, who don't know anything about each other. And then they
can have, you know, these incredible, like, love stories and
relationships, and then whole communities or, you know, families
are created from that, and communities, it's just when you
start thinking about how it was found that it created, the human
being to be able to do that effectively. And then also, you
know, just the amount of
growth and, and, you know, development, the knowledge that
we've been given to be able to do certain things, it's really mind
blowing, but reflecting on that on a macro level, and a micro level,
will ultimately conclude, I mean, you will come to that conclusion
like Subhan, Allah Allahu Akbar, right? Because who else could have
done this, right? This is just such a huge thing. You know, if
you really think about all of all of these things, again, from from
just focusing internally on the on, on the, on the design that we
have physically, but also on what we've been able to achieve over a
relatively short amount of time, it just brings you back to that
conclusion. So it's tied, if you want to know your Lord, start with
yourself. Start there, think about how you got here. Think about me,
for those of us who are mother's life, you know, we brought a human
being into existence, the miracle of life, all of that, how we're,
you know, it's just, it's just fascinating. So it's really a
matter of
it's a tool for contemplation, for thinking for reflecting that
ultimately, as I said, brings you to that point of Allah truly
Subhan Allah, and the fact that we know our Lord in such an intimate
way is so beautiful, and such a gift, handed out that we have to
be grateful for it, because there's a lot of people who do
have such a limited lens of God, you know, and it's so myopic, it's
just so tiny, they don't have a vast understanding of God, you
know, even though they might understand, okay, he's the
creator. But beyond that, what other tradition has level of
intimate knowledge that we have to know His attributes, right. And in
addition to the Quran, which is, obviously the Word of God that I
love, and I encourage highly for people to read the Hadith klutzy?
Because those are so directly, like it's almost more than
literally talking to us, right? In many ways, whereas the Quran is,
you know, there's storytelling, right, there's a lot of other, you
know, the way the style the style of the Quran, whereas the Hadith
puts your very targeted, you mean, if you if you read, some of them
are very, very powerful, but I just feel like we have such a
great knowledge of our Creator 100 of that, and we have to be very
grateful for that, that this is why one of the doors that we say
or we should say is of 100 of that, and then that within Islam,
you know, for the blessing of being Muslim. Really. And really,
like thank Allah because
it's such a it's a greatest gift that we've been given Yes.
Right,
well, you have to do the treatments. So that's why I have
to do it's not just a matter of diagnosing you got to follow the
plan, you know, so, in that's it
What we're doing here, we're we're bringing we're unearthing it,
we're bringing it all out, it's uncomfortable, but at the end of
it, it should be you we're proactively trying to fix
ourselves, right?
People, you're talking about others bolts of Bush, I am.
First I will I will get up.
And then I start, and then I started like,
and it just
realized, I just
did it many of the things that I just mentally check the checklist,
negative checklist
I check,
right. And instead, we just filed into
work for what,
when, what kind of exams, right, and then I just
really use it.
Or whatever.
Right, you start feeling guilt
is where the toxicity
or lack of self
right, the dive back on yourself. And that's exactly the point of
this. Because if you that's why language is so important, because
language helps us define things. So you might have all these things
going on. But once someone points out what it is, in clear terms,
right? Now, it's something now I'm aware of it otherwise, it's just a
passing fleeting thing. Or maybe I have no awareness of it. So when
you study a text like this, it's that's the power of it's like, oh,
I now have terms that are clearly defining behaviors that I can see
myself in. And now it's like a mirror, it's basically looking at
a very, very clear mirror. And you can't, you know, hide,
you know, when you're in front of a mirror, some years are very
unforgiving. But, you know, it's better to see the flaw now, right?
To me, that's what I'd rather be doing this now then, like I said,
end up on the Day of Judgment, God forbid, surprise, and that's one
of the, I think names of the day of judgments like the day of
surprises, like, oh, the build up because people come they're
expecting one thing, but then they get another. So we have to be very
software law. A lot. And one of the surprises on that day may want
to be pleasantly surprised, you know, but I don't want to be
blindsided. Surprised, you know, I don't want to be like what? You
know, stuff like that. Yeah. So
yes, I'm sorry. Do I see a hand on the men's side?
Okay.
Yes.
Right.
Perfect, right.
Absolutely.
Right.
Recognizing
Right.
Absolutely. And that's very, that's onpoint. And then that's
exactly why self awareness and doing all of this work is so
important is because it's a reminder that we are created weak,
that we do need our Lord. Without him, we don't have guidance. And
so that's why you know, attributing anything even guidance
to yourself is a huge flaw, like guidance is directly from last
month, you just because you did Hajj, or you came from a good
family, or you wear hijab, or you pray, you don't attribute that to
yourself, it's from Allah, right. And so every good is always
brought back that it's from him. But the more aware you are of
that, right, the more inclined you are to keep that connection very
strong with him. And this is where all of these other things like we
talked about the praise of people, the opinions of people just really
start to not matter as much. Because you realize, like, I just
I just need was approval. I don't need anything else from anybody.
And that
having that Subhanallah though, one of the beauties of doing that
is it will take care of everybody else, you know, if you make us
Ponta your focus and pleasing Him, all of your relationships, you'll
see there'll be facilitation in them. You won't be you know,
always between a rock and a hard place or struggling or doing this
and that because he will start to make things easy for you and
that's why people love Allah can
and they have contentment even if they have hardships or just like
hamdulillah because some it's all taken care of some way you know,
either they have peace with it, whatever is going on, or Allah is
facilitating it for them and they have ease right? But when you
align yourself with a lot that's the that's the you know the
consequence of that is that he will improve things for you but if
you don't and you're too worried about other people then just
aren't inshallah we'll go ahead and and the honest pentacle, a
homo behind the crescendo in that in Ireland dentists doctors are
going to break a law Holmes said it was said a moment and kind of
say that oh, no, no, no. Have you been on sort of the audio sinuata
it was Socrative sort of this theme and theater and just wanted
to head off matter him what I said in an incentive if you hosted a
Lilina am and I'm gonna slightly have you with us, I will help you
with that. So this
is Aquafina. woffinden in Shell. We'll see you guys next week.