Hosai Mojaddidi – Purification of the Heart (Part 5)
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Bismillah R Heyman hamdu lillah wa salatu salam ala Shiva MBA will
mursaleen said in our Mowlana Where have you been? Mohamed Salah
Allahu Allahu wa salam, wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa salam to
Sleeman. Kathira in Santa Monica are 100 Allah who are but I can't
do that now. Welcome to the fifth class of purification of the heart
Hamdulillah we are on the on page 58 of the text we're going to be
covering starting to today we'll be covering displeasure with the
Divine Decree.
So we'll go ahead and read the verses and then we'll get into the
discussion.
So displeasure with the Divine Decree occurs when one resists
God, the majestic and exalted in what he has decreed, for instance,
saying, I did not want this happening to me, or what did I do
to deserve this suffering?
The EMF speaks next of displeasure with the Divine Decree, a
phenomenon that should ring familiar. How many times have we
heard a person bemoan, I do not deserve this or why me or such
similar statements. Many people live with rancor in their hearts
because of what they have been dealt with in life. This attitude
towards trials stems from a denial of God's omnipotence and that God
alone decrees all things, we cannot choose what befalls us. But
we can choose our responses to the trials of life, which are
inevitable, his decree is but a command from him b. And it is, as
is repeated in the Quran, and many different chapters and verses.
Imam Abu Hassan said that there is a quality in people that most are
unaware of, yet, it consumes good deeds. And this is displeasure
with God's divine decree or other. So you know, we see this a lot,
right? It can be on even very trivial things like losing, maybe
your phone or your keys. Like, you know, people just kind of lose
patience, whenever anything happens to them that they're not
happy with and sometimes make those really irresponsible
statements, which is, they're not possibly realizing in the moment,
but really, if you if you say why me? Isn't that an accusation?
Right against you?
Against God, right? Like God, why did you choose for this for me? So
you're, you're accusing him of being unjust, in essence, right?
So this is why it's such a problem. And then it can be also
for other things, you know, big tribulations when people get
diagnosed, for example, with, you know, a particular illness, that
they may be, you know, are not happy with, I mean,
it could be a fatal illness, it could be something that
compromises their mobility or, you know, just something that
basically is an inconvenience to them. And this is the same
reaction, why me? What did I do to deserve this? So it's, again, a
rejection of God's decree.
Or it could be something. And I've seen this, and I think there are
people who struggle in to cope with loss on a much larger scale,
the loss of a loved one, the loss of a child, for example, is
probably one of the most the greatest tribulations that we can
experience right here. The loss of a parent, the loss of a spouse, a
lot of people struggle to understand, right, why did that
have to happen to them? And of course, she thought, you know,
this is what he does. He, you know, waits for us to be in those
situations, to come and cast doubt in our hearts about God's justice,
right? Yeah. And he'll put all these thoughts in our mind. You
know, you're such a good person, you do so much good. You've, you
have such a good heart. Why? Why do good things happen to bad
people or bad things, excuse me happen to good people, you know,
these are the kind of thoughts that that shaytaan will put fill
in our hearts, because his objective is, again, to destroy
our trust in God, and to cast doubt in our belief in God's
justice. And so that's really the root of this particular disease is
that once you start rejecting things that happen to you, and you
make a habit of this where, you know, your reaction to events is
to to put the blame elsewhere, which is, as we discussed, on God,
that it's a habit and it just it continues to chip away at your at
your connection with God. And so, he goes on to talk about
on the next paragraph here, God conscious people, when asked about
what their Lord
has given them say that all of it is good. They say this out of
knowledge of the nature of this world as a temporary crucible of
trial and purification. Because of this elevated understanding they
are patient with afflictions and trials. For worldly people, there
is only this world and this understanding creates a blind spot
to the Wonder SNESs of God's creation, and his signs strewn
throughout. So again, this is just to show you the difference in the
way that we react for those who understand that this place is
temporary, that we're not supposed to put all of our hopes and
expectations here. When trials and tribulations happen, we bear them
with beautiful patients. And remember beautiful patients is at
the strike of a calamity. As soon as something happens, your initial
response is really telling of whether or not you're patient with
God's decree. If you again reject bemoan, you're, you know, upset of
it happening. There's an issue there, but people who are, you
know, of this world and they are they are afflicted with, you know,
the previous diseases, which we've covered here, but dunya, they
can't see beyond this world. And so yes, it's, they're stuck here,
their lenses here. And that's why they react in that way, where
they're upset because they can't see that there's something beyond
this world that we're actually going to that it will all work
out. In the end. They're just stuck and fixated on why this is
happening now. And so that differentiation is important. And
then this next section is really important because it kind of gives
you perspective on the different states that every single human
being whether they're Muslim or not, is in Okay, so, there are
only four possible states in which the human being can live.
According to revealed sources, a person is either receiving
blessings NEMA, or tribulations, okay, but from God, or is either
living in obedience to law to God or in disobedience, Masia. Each
condition invites a response. When God bestows blessings, the
response should be gratitude in all of its manifestations.
According to sacred law, gratitude is expressed first by performing
what is obligatory wajib. And then going beyond that by performing
virtuous recommended man Dewbacks. So again, if you are in a state of
blessing, and if we're really being honest, how do we define
what that is,
we'll look around and see the way that we live, right, especially
here in the West, as we've discussed in previous sessions, we
have, you know, we live well well beyond how most people in the
world live. So we have to recognize, even if we here, which
many of us I'm sure do living in the Bay is not necessarily easy.
Even if we might have problems and difficulties and challenges. The
overall, you know, lifestyle that we live would definitely fall into
a life of namah of blessings, right? Just, for example, think
about access to clean water, you know, access to, to having a
shelter over our heads of 100 other people who, who do not have
those things at all, some people as we know, if you look in,
throughout the rest of the world, they live without access to clean
water, or they have to go through great lengths to, you know, to get
clean water, or, you know, just food, you know, just sustenance,
regular sustenance, clothing. I mean, we could go on and on and
list all of the blessings that we have, and the conveniences that we
have. And there are so many, right, there are so many
conveniences that we have, I mean, for example, just the fact that we
have the option or that we have even the concept of, you know,
leisurely activities, right to do things like for fun for sport, is,
is really not something common that other people even understand
what that means. Because they don't have the time to for that
they have to survive, you know, they're they're living every
single day to try to survive. So the idea that we have time
allotted, that allows us to do things for fun, is also a great
sign of the privileged privilege that we have. So when we talk
about living in blessings, we should be very clear that this
would we would fall under this category, right? Even if we have
problems right. But here it does tell us that now how should we
respond? Well, if we are in blessing, the appropriate response
is gratitude. And gratitude first starts with doing the YG bat,
right all of the obligatory acts that God asks of us. This is how
we show our gratitude. So the photo you know I aim for
For example, we talked about the difference between father iron and
fourth key fire for nine are the obligatory
required actions of every single believer, right? They that they
should learn. So we should do those things, if when we're in the
type of blessing that we are all in, this is the appropriate
response to show God, that we are truly grateful for the fact that
we live the life that we live. And therefore, I am responding by
fulfilling all of my obligatory acts, but then you take it up a
notch, once you fulfill your obligatory acts, now you want to
increase your right extracts, because it's not enough. It's not
enough to just do the bare minimum required deeds, because God's you
know, blessings are so abundant, and they're, you know, things that
we don't even think about, like I remember, you know, I think it
was, I'm not sure if it was this class, but, you know, when she
comes up who was the author of this text, right? When he, when
he's talked about, you know, blessings, he talks about things
that are like things that you might not think about, for
example, like eyelashes, you know, like just things that are so like
we don't, we don't really sit and think about what a blessing it is
to have eyelashes, because there are people who do not have
eyelashes, and you can ask them, the experience of having severe
dry eye, or just having to maybe wear certain, you know, white
mints, or other things to protect their eyes, you know, or, or other
things, you know, that we take for granted. So this is why, you know,
part of gratitude is sitting and kind of taking inventory, you
know, it's an exercise, it's, it's something that you have to
deliberately do, you know, taking time on a daily basis to really
observe things in your life and how easily they come to you, you
know, and how God makes things easy for you. breathing, breathing
is such an incredible blessing that we take for granted. I
watched a movie, I think it was on. He was on a plane, I was on a
flight. And I think it was on cystic fibrosis, I want to say it
was a five feet apart, has anybody seen this film, it's just it was
just something on I said, let me watch it. But it was a really hard
film to watch, because I didn't first of all, I didn't know about
the severity of this condition that fills fluid in the lungs, and
the way that people afflicted with it live, and I just the whole
movie, I was like Subhanallah Thank you, God for giving me the
ability to breathe with ease, because they go through such a
strict regimen every single day just to you know, remove all this
fluid from their lungs, so that they can breathe, and it was just
really hard to watch. Because you realize there are people who are
afflicted with this all around us. And just because they're in
hospitals or in their homes, we don't know it. But what that does,
for those of us who are free from that it should anyhow, give us
that deep, deep appreciation for just the ability to take breaths,
you know, and not take that for granted. So the exercise of
blessings, again, of counting your blessings, right is something that
we all have to be doing. And this is the bare minimum, the you know,
or the or the, the the response that we should have when we're in
an AMA is that we a fulfill our obligatory acts, do extra, you
know, acts to, to further show our gratitude, and then also count our
blessings, right. And so if you're in blessing, that's the
appropriate response.
And that's what he says gratitude is an awakening of appreciation in
one's heart, and an acknowledgement of what one has
received. And then abusing one's material assets, hoarding them
without consideration of the need needy or applying them toward
forbidden matters is a flagrant act of ingratitude. So this is
also a good way to check the sincerity of your gratitude.
Because if you're truly grateful to all of us, for the blessings
that he's given you, then you don't misuse the blessings, right?
You don't abuse the blessings. And so that's why again, for example,
our limbs, right, everything, as we know, on the Day of Judgment,
everything is going to speak against us, right, all of our
limbs will talk, you know about the things that we've done. So a
good way to check whether or not you're truly grateful for the fact
that you you know, for your hands, for your feet for all the
different parts of your body is to see how are you using those
things, right? Are you in any way, you know, abusing, you know,
something or someone taking something that you shouldn't going
places that you shouldn't, for example, right, engaging in any
type of sin this would say that, are you really then grateful for
those faculties for those abilities? You know, for those,
whatever skills that you have, are you
be really grateful if you're using them in that way, right. And so
this is just a good way to check the sincerity of you're grateful
because we can say we're grateful with our tongue. And this is, you
know, lip service, right when you say something, but then your
actions don't align with that. It's just lip service. And we're
very good at that. We're very good at saying, Yeah, I'm a grateful
person. But the true proof of gratitude is how you're using the
blessings of Allah subhana wa Tada. So again, you know, taking
account is two parts, it's looking at all the blessings that God's
given you and acknowledging them, but also holding yourself to
account to make sure that you're using the blessings that God's
given you, in a way that would please him, because that is truly
a measure of your gratitude. Okay. And now, so that's the first
station a person who's in a blessing. The next right is, but
is if your interest relation. So if you're in a state of
tribulation, what's the appropriate response?
Saba, right, some are patients. And as we said, patience is at the
strike of the calamity, right? It's not, you know, 10 days later,
when you've kind of, you know, gone through screaming and
shouting and fighting, you know, with, with whatever it is, it's as
soon as something is, is you're aware of something happening that
you're, you know, that you consider to be a tribulation, or
that you are afflicted by that you respond with Alhamdulillah and
Akali. *, Allah will, you know, has been allowing me to kill all
of these words that we know, that basically are showing, I am
putting my trust in My Lord, that, I know that if this is happening
to me, he is the one who decreed it. And there must be a good
reason for that type of European that type of conviction, that even
if I can't see it right now, and I'm blindsided by this, or I'm
troubled by it, I'm super stressed and worried that I am letting go,
because I know the source that this was not the, you know, it's
not someone doing this to me, you know, because sometimes that's
when you're stuck in again, this worldly lens, you might attribute
it to other people doing something to you, you know, or, you know,
because we when things happen, we need to, you know, assign blame,
that's something that's for some people, it's a coping mechanism,
right, we're not happy with something. So we have to be angry,
we find a target for our anger. And we might conclude that this
was some you know, someone's doing this to me, or because of this,
this happened to me. But ultimately, every single thing
good or bad, that we experience, the good is from Allah subhanaw
taala. The bad is from, you know, it could be a test, it could be,
you know, tribulation, a purification, but we have to the
source is the same, we have to recognize that. So that's where
the patience comes right that you just know that everything will be
fine. And it says here again, this is what God demands from people in
times of trial, a beautiful patients as close as possible to
what Jacoba lay said, I'm exhibited in response to the
disappearance of His beloved Son use of a sedan, and the
machinations of his other sons, right? Or to the patience of a
youth, at least around during his afflictions. So that's the second
state. So we're talking about the four different states right that
human beings can find themselves in. So that's the second state
then we have obedience, right? So if you're in a state of obedience,
one must recognize that obedience is a blessing from God, if a
religious person starts to believe that he is better than other
people, even if these other people are in the state of disobedience,
he invites haughtiness. Right? This is the danger of obedience,
and in fact, the danger of religion, self righteousness. So
being humble, right being, making sure that if you are in a state of
gratitude that you recognize, and I think we talked about this last
week, as well, that every good that we do, even our acts of
worship, our openings, our spiritual openings, you know, if
we have increased knowledge, or we do good deeds, extra good deeds,
that we recognize that's not from ourselves, right, that those are
all gifts from Allah subhanaw taala, that he is the one who is
drawing us closer and closer to us, even if we put in the work,
right, the actual physical work, it's only by Allah's command that
we can do those things. So this is the appropriate response of
someone who's in obedience is to recognize that that it's from God
and not from yourself because if you don't recognize that then the
danger is you will be afflicted with the other disease here
mentioned which is self righteousness.
And then, you know, he further talks about the dangers of
arrogance, right? The prophesy sort of said on the next page,
page 60, at the top of the second paragraph, that whoever has a
mustard seed of arrogance in his heart will not enter heaven. This
is really important, you know, to really try to prevent that disease
from entering our hearts consciously preventing that from
entering our hearts. So being in a state of humility, always, and
this is why you have to check your thoughts. You know, if you see
someone, for example, coming in, let's say you're a Juma prayer.
And, you know, you've, you're, you're, you know, sitting and
waiting for the husband to start, you're doing your thicket, and
you're just in a really good state of, you know, focus and
everything's going well for you. And then someone walks in, and
they're kind of all over the place and make an extra noise, or they,
you know, maybe the way they enter their prayer is a little different
than the way you enter your prayer. Or that maybe they're, you
know, really loud when they when they say their goodbyes, and all
of a sudden, you get those thoughts, right, those judgy
thoughts like, God, look at this person, you know?
Like, what are they doing? stuff for a while, God, some people,
yeah.
And so you get kind of just letting those thoughts run away
with you. This is, you know, self righteousness. This is arrogance.
This is you thinking, you're better because you're so composed,
you know, You came early, you're so responsible, you know, you're
doing you're doing everything, right. And all these people around
you are not, that's a level, that's arrogance, right, because
you don't know their circumstance, you have no idea what it took for
them to get there. And maybe they do have something going on, you
don't know. So the humble person always does. What makes excuses
for people has an oven. Okay. So avant is to immediately think of
the worst. Right? So if you think the worst, and we're going to talk
about that when we get to negative thoughts, right? It's coming. But
if your mind immediately thinks the worst of people, because
you're judging the outward, right? And even if you, you know, sit
here, and you think that, you know, on principle, you're right,
you know, and what you're doing is right, and what you're saying is
right, and what you're thinking is right, because there's put on and
there's evidence and there's Hadith, it still doesn't take away
the fact that in that moment, you are negatively judging another
person without all the facts, right. That's just the bottom
line. You know, and when we get to negative thoughts, we'll clear you
know, that up, but anytime we let our suspicions or thoughts about
someone come to a negative conclusion, with no basis, real
basis other than our opinions, right? This is a reflection of
arrogance. So it's very important to check ourselves. And this is,
you know, again, if we find ourselves in guidance, this is how
we purify our intentions and our relationship with the last part
that by working to remove these things, because outwardly, we
could be doing so much you could be doing all of your prayers, all
of your Sunnah prayers reading out every day, you know, doing so
much. But if you're not checking the internal state, your internal
state is really what matters than the outward, almost, you know what
I mean? It doesn't matter, because ALLAH SubhanA is looking for
sincerity. It's not just a matter of quantity, right? So if we get
out of the quantitative mindset, we'll realize it's the quality
that we should be after the quality of our worship, not just
numbers, and not just goals, and not just objectives, those are
important. But if we're not doing it with the right spirit, with the
pure heart, then they're for not and this is really big. And that's
why these Hadith, we should take them seriously, like a mustard
seed is tiny. I don't want arrogance, right. And we're all
afflicted with these things. So that's why
till our last breath, this purification process has to be
going you know, we're taking this class right now, just to identify
these things, but the process is every day. You know, if we're not
going to ever graduate from this, we're just not every single day we
have to commit and work on it because we will, you know, regress
and fall back into bad habits and then we have to come back and oh,
I'm slipping into that again. So this is for the for us, especially
as we look around, we're clearly committed to our deen ALLAH
SubhanA. Allah has guided us. We're here in sha Allah, we pray
we do our stuff. But in order to preserve this, this is what we
have to do. Y'all. I don't want to lose it. I don't want to you know,
I don't want you to take it away from me because guidance is from
you. So in order for me to maintain
I know what I need to do, I need to continuously work on, on purify
my intention and being in a state of humility. And in the process
that goes on to say, do not find fault in others, if you find
faults in them, God may take their faults away and give them to you.
So serious, and I've seen this happen. I know people who've
suffered a lot this has happened to, you know, very judgy people,
be careful, because you will see it happening to you. You know,
I've seen people for example,
you know, be very judgy when they hear of, let's say, a marriage,
you know, that they don't think is, is, is a good match, right?
And they'll make all these comments like, Oh, why they
marrying that person from this culture, or this background or
whatever. And then Subhanallah when it's time for their own child
to get married. Whoa, right. It's like almost proud that is showing
you went, you know, you got really ahead of yourself. They're making
all these statements and claims and judgments now deal with the
same problem, or deal with this issue. How do you deal with it?
And sometimes, I've seen those same people, their children, not
even marriage out of wedlock, there. They have relationships,
pregnancies. Now, what do you do, right? So this is the danger of
being judgey and finding fault that you could very well be
afflicted with the same situation. And now, you know, deal with it.
So when it comes to disobedience, mostly, the correct response is
sincerely repenting to God, though, but so the fourth state
here is to be in
is to repent, you know, I had
a sister just
was it yesterday, or the day before, messaged me. And she was
in a really panic state. She said, I've done something really bad.
And I don't know what to do about it. I don't I'm afraid of
judgment. I don't know who to speak to. So I gave her some
advice. I said, you know, you could do X, Y, and Z. And then she
just asked me, she said, can I please share it with you? Because
I really don't know what to do. So I said, Okay, if you really feel
like you need counsel and Sharla, I can help you. And she told me
what she did. And my you know, she said, I'm so pleased, you know,
I'm so afraid of you, judging me. And I said, don't worry about
that. Who am I to judge? First of all, I don't, you know, I'm
nobody. But second of all, remember that as soon as you
repent for what you've done, right? When you make a pure clean,
you know, sincere repentance, and you really are starting off or
making a vow to never return to whatever it is, you've done, that
you should almost act as if you didn't even do that soon, because
almost Partha is so forgiving. So I just, you know, tried to, you
know, remind her that, as much as you know, you may hate yourself
right now, and you're filled with self loathing and just disgust and
all of that, you have to remember that ALLAH SubhanA, Allah is more
merciful, you know, and he, he tells us repeatedly that if you,
you know, go if you aren't do anything to as an act of
disobedience, or, you know, you falter in any way, return, right
return to me with sincere forgiveness. And it's as if it
never happened. So 100, I just gave her many different ideas. And
I, as you know, reiterated that and just told her no Toba is a
purification, purification, it's it's a purifier, and it's
something that we all should do every single day, we shouldn't be
asking stuff for, you know, from Allah for all of the things that
we do knowingly and unknowingly because we all are sitting on a
daily basis, we do things we shouldn't be doing, whether we
know it or not, but the act of Toba is to purify you and to
cleanse you. And so whether or not you deliberately, or doing
something that you shouldn't be doing, or you're just you know,
kind of sit in a state of offload, heedlessness, and you might be
careless, just to be really, you know, in the practice of of Toba
is good for all of us, we should be doing it regularly. But
especially if someone is doing something that is clearly haram
and forbidden, then this is how you return this is the appropriate
response. It's not because shaytaan will come and tell you
and this is the problem that we have to pay attention to our
thoughts in so that we can source them when you sin and you go out
of the bounds. If your thoughts are well. You know, what's the
point? You're basically tainted now you're stained? You're a
hypocrite. No, you know God's not gonna forgive you. You all your
life you know you had such you know, great parents and they gave
you so much and now look at what you've done your shame. You're
shamed your family. You're ashamed everybody just just loose you
know, forget it. Just stop you know, being a hypocrite. Take off
your hijab stop going to the masjid stop praying. What's the
point? Those are
1,000% was missing from shaitan. Right? Because he's trying to
break us down when he fills us with those types of thoughts is to
put us in a state of hopelessness, despair, and to basically say
you're ruined.
Right, you're ruined your own hands, you're done. And there's no
hope for you, though that is not part of our tradition whatsoever.
It's the complete opposite, actually, that even if you
continue to make the same mistake over and over and over and over
again, every single time,
pick yourself up and just keep returning to Allah. Because Allah
subhanaw taala has mercy is greater, right, than anything that
you've done. And that's why those Hadith about you know, the man,
for example, who killed 99 Why do we know that hadith? Why? Because
I'm sure in our minds, if we sat and thought about a serial killer,
having redemption, it's kind of like, wow, you know,
but you know, like, most of us probably would not be as
forgiving, right? If we really think of, you know, human beings,
our forgiveness is, you know, it's limited. And so we don't, we're
not as willing to forgive someone who's killed one person, let alone
99 or 100 people. But that hadith is to show us that Allah's Prophet
has mercy is far greater than what we are capable of. And it's to
give us hope, that even if you keep slipping to just return with
Toba, so, you know, we can't underestimate the importance of
this, because a lot of people, this is how they stray into
further acts of disobedience, is because they're not paying
attention to the source of their thoughts. And they give into those
thoughts. And they're convinced by those thoughts. And so now
they're, you know, not just doing one act of disobedience, it's
opened the floodgates, and they're just gone. But if we could bring
people back and say, there's hope and nobody, and we shouldn't do
that to each other, we shouldn't you know, I mean, I know some
people who, unfortunately, and this is why we should also not
disclose our sins to other people. Because sometimes that message
doesn't necessarily come from Bliss, it comes from other people.
People are unforgiving. And I've had people, unfortunately, be in
those tell me that they were in those situations where they
disclosed their particular sin to another person, whether it was
their sibling, or spouse or friend or parent. And that parent is the
one who told them, shame on you. What's wrong with you? You're
disgusting. I can't stand you. I don't want to talk to you. Again.
I'm removing you from my life. Right stuff. And this is what, you
know, we have to really check our responses with people. You know,
because if we do that to someone, oh, the biller, if you turn
someone away, who sinned? Because you want to distance yourself from
them, or do you think that they're, you know, you're you're,
they're not good enough for you anymore?
Oh, the biller that's really dangerous, you know, we have to be
very careful, we have to be more compassionate and merciful. But
it's also it's a two sided thing, because we shouldn't disclose our
sins to people, right? Because of that potentially happening. So
unless you're really desperate and you need, like, in this case of
the sister, she just was like, I she was kind of losing herself.
I told her to in my NESEA please don't ever share this with
anybody, you know, just It's between you and Allah. And, but
know your deen know, you know, these ideas know these Hadith
because it'll help you to understand the Mercy of your Lord,
and it'll help you to know how to move forward from it, and to put
it behind you. But as soon as you tell someone else, that person and
unfortunately, most people don't forget these things, you know,
most people will look at you. And that's the first thing they
remember. You know, as soon as they know that you've done
something, you know, and that's why gossip is so so dangerous and
slander so dangerous is because it destroys relationships, and it
plants all these really horrible, you know, things in people's
hearts. And so we could go on about that. But again, the point
here is, these four states, each of them have their appropriate
response. And if you're in a state of disobedience to almost just
know that the door of Toba is always open, and nobody has the
right to ever close that on you. And if people are harsh with you,
it's okay. Let them be they don't know. They don't know. Just go to
your Lord, and he'll inshallah remove that doubt from your heart
and draw you closer to him. So
did he let
Okay, and there's a lot mashallah, in this section. That's very
beneficial.
On the bottom of page 60, that last paragraph is also a really
good thing. And this is why we should study Sierra you know,
because we look at the prophesy centum, as you know, instead of
communism, most perfect human being, but much of his life was
tribulation, right? Look at the life of the prophesy set him who
no one faced greater tribulation, I mean, he, he lives, the
prophecies and live to see all of his children buried except for
Fatima, and they have set up. And we talked about that, you know,
that's probably one of the greatest tribulations a person can
go through to have to bury their children, he has very five, right,
and he didn't even know his father barely knew his mother, he saw so
much sadness and loss and his entire in his life, right.
But the importance again of reflecting on on all of that is to
just look at how he responded to those tribulations, right.
And that he didn't, you know, reject God's decree. He accepted
everything that happened to him, because he knew that it was all
there was a point to it all and last point that I knew better.
Okay, so we can go on to the next one.
Again, because of time, we're going to try to move through some
of these quickly when we get to false hope. So that's a very long
section, so just a heads up there. But we'll go to seeking reputation
on page 63.
The disease of seeking reputation entails informing others of one's
acts of obedience after they had been performed free of blemishes.
This results from some causes of showing off, a good deed becomes
corrupted when telling others of it but should you repent the deeds
goodness is restored, similar to this or deeds done so that others
may hear about them, the one who does this is also considered a
seeker of reputation. According to those with insight, the great
brigand as she says, Who robs all of these wayfarers is
covetousness. This is the cause of every iniquity such as backbiting,
lies preoccupation of the heart during one's prayers and insincere
praise of others. Indeed, one will inevitably resort to hypocrisy as
a result of it. If you could ask desire itself about his trade, he
would answer earning humiliation or about his father, he would
respond, doubt concerning the divine apportioning of provision
or about his objective he would say deprivation of the very thing
one longs for its definition is longing for some benefit from
creation. But if one recognizes that creatures are incapable of
benefiting anyone, even themselves, then covetousness
wings
okay. So, seeking reputation is a disease of the heart closely
related to ostentation, which we talked about right? This disease
involves desiring the people here of one's goodness or this is oral
ostentatious, it is seeking out renowned, for example, a person
wanting others to hear how much money he or she gave in charity,
the prophesy centum said Whoever seeks out reputation, God will
expose him on the day of judgment. Whomever got the basis, none can
elevate. And then the verse in the Quran, chapter three, verse 26,
you exalt whomever you will, and you debase whomever you will, in
your hand is all good, indeed, you have power over all things. So the
Imam says the performing inactive for the sake of God is ruined when
one goes about informing people of it's a bit afterwards. And then
repentance restores the value of the good deed. So sometimes it can
happen accidentally, you know, you might not mean to mention
something that you did for, you know, like, oh, you know, I helped
so and so or I gave, you know, to this charity, or I did this,
you're not necessarily doing it with that intention, but you, it
comes up anyway. And you might be aware of it later, like, Oh, why
did I? Why did I have to say that that was a private act, you know,
just make Toba and it'll restore, you know, restore that good deed.
But if you make a habit of just, you know, wanting people to know,
your good deeds, and you know, dropping, you know, those hints
here and there, kind of peppering them in conversation, when it's
when you think it might benefit you somehow. This is the danger.
This is what what he's talking about, right? You want people to
know that you are maybe a charitable person or, you know, a
knowledge knowledgeable person that you've memorized XY and Z or
that you've already, you know, read this and that, and that, you
know, you just have this, you know, whatever it is that you want
to share, but you're trying to get people to have an impression of
you, right, that's the objective is that you want there to be them
to be impressed by you. And maybe then share that with other people
so that it helps your social status or you know, make
So again, just, you know, leaves them with this idea about you that
is favorable, right. So this is what it is. So whenever you're
mentioning x, in that way, you have to be careful
so I think we get the idea, it's a pretty
self explained, it's very close to ostentation. So that's really what
we want to understand that anytime we were trying to be known, where
we're, we're take or diminishing the wholeness and the value of our
good deeds. Right. That's why Ria and this is so dangerous is
because we could do something with a sincere intention. But as soon
as you, you know, mix, wanting people to know about it, or to see
you doing it, this is when it gets dangerous, because now it's like,
there was something that was hauled that you did for the sake
of Allah, and now you've mixed in your intentions, because you want
other people to know about it. So it's not, you know, it's
compromised, that good deed, instead of being at 100%, you
know, your, your, you know, what you're turning in is now maybe
below 50, below 40, below 30. And that's going to all add up
eventually, right? So it's very dangerous to, to want that we have
to learn how to do things with no
care about whether or not people know of of it or see it or just,
we're free from that desire. Because we know that ultimately,
the one who matters the most sees it all is apparent that so I don't
need to impress people, I don't need them to know. And if he wants
them to know, he will make that happen, right? If there's a reason
that, you know, something, for example, if you if you're a person
of knowledge, and you're, you know, just doing it for the sake
of falls apart, that you just love to learn, but he wants you to
teach, right? Then he may reveal to other people in the community,
that you're a person of knowledge without you having anything to do
with it whatsoever. You know, maybe there's an inquiry someone
asks about you, and then they go, oh, yeah, I studied with them so
and so and so plays, or I know that they study this particular
subject. Now, that's not in your doing, right. It's not like you're
going around telling everybody, here's my, you know, credentials,
but other people might speak on your behalf. And then there might
be an opportunity for you to teach, right, that's a different
scenario, because it's, I was Panthera showing maybe that, you
know, he wants you to be in, you know, to use that knowledge for
the greater good. But if you're someone who's going around
sharing, sharing with everybody, you know, this is what I know. And
this is what I you know, where I studied, and this is who I studied
with, and you're constantly bragging about that stuff, you
clearly, you know, want people to know. And now, it's a question of
your intention, and whether or not there's sincerity there. So the
point is, is just, you know,
worry about all this path. And that's it and leave everybody
else. Because nobody can benefit, you know, benefit will come from
human beings benefit is only from Allah. So how did you ever hear
the best?
Yeah, that's different. That's a very good question. Like, if
you're telling your children or, you know, to motivate them, that
this is what you know, I did when I was younger, or, you know, I
committed to this, and you're trying to guide them, that's a
total different scenario, you know, because your intention is
clear, you're trying to guide them to that, which is best. But we're
talking about, you know, just kind of, again, freely sharing, or, you
know, dropping hints here and there about the things that you've
done, because you you're the intention really is that you want
to be seen that you want to be known that you want people to have
an impression about you. This is seeking reputation, you're trying
to, you know, socially maneuver yourself, by way of letting people
know about the good deeds that you've done. And what that does,
is it Mars the, the purity of your good deeds. And so we have to
seek, you know, repentance from that and protection from that,
because we don't want to show up again, on the Day of Judgment,
thinking that we've done all these great deeds because we spent so
much of our lives in the service of God, but in actuality, we come
up short or empty because, you know, it was all compromised
because our intentions were mixed, right? We were doing it for other
than God. So that's where we have to seek revenge or you know, elbow
from
Yes, I'm sorry
for sharing this
Yeah, if you're, you know, ostentation again RIA is an MCs
you know, they're very shared. You know, diseases are they're very
similar is all comes down to intention. So if you're sharing
let's say you're part of a
team, right effort, and you are mentioning your skill set, because
you're trying to help benefit the team, right, and you want to do a
good job, that's one thing, because you're just mentioning it.
But if you're just mentioning good deeds that have nothing to do with
helping you know what I mean, that are just kind of, again, bragging,
you see the difference, like, that's where you're trying to
impress people, you know, and you're maybe just sheer bragging
at that point. So it really comes down to your intention, if you
have the intention, again, of doing something for the sake of
God of benefiting people, and you're in a position where you
have to mention certain things, you know, like, even in
interviews, I mean, if you're at a job interview, right, they often
ask you, what are your strongest skills? Or what's your, you know,
best quality? That's different? Because you're in a position where
you have to answer that question. And clearly, you're not walking
around, just, you know, sharing it with everybody, right. But if you
put up a Facebook status, or you know, you're at a party, and
you're just kind of, you know, it's just a total, you know,
social setting, and you're just telling everybody about all the
things you're good at, and you know, you're seeking reputation
you're trying, you're bragging. And so that's where it gets, you
know, this is what we're talking about, it really comes down to
intention situation. So every situation is different. But at the
end of the day, you have to ask, Why am I sharing this information
about myself? You know, is it because I'm being, you know, like,
someone's asking me, and I'm just answering truthfully, I think we
even talked about that, you know, maybe two or three classes ago,
you know, if someone's asking you about your, you know, skills or
talents, and you're in a position where you didn't offer that
information willingly, you were asked about it directed, you know,
the direct question.
Insha Allah, as long as your intention isn't to be
braggadocious that's, it should be fine. But if you're willingly just
offering, you know, humble bragging, as they say, or not even
humble bragging, some people are very, you know, open now about,
you know, just Eric, you know, telling everybody what they're
good at. It's it's like, unrestrained, you know, especially
with social media platforms, you need to see statuses and just, you
know, or whatever. But it's very easy to do it now. And that's
different, because now it's, nobody's asking you, nobody's
asking you what you're good at, you're just offering you're
volunteering it. So that means that you are trying, obviously, to
impress people. And if you're impressing, if you're worried
about, you know, impressing or you're trying to impress people,
you're clearly seeking reputation. And therefore, as we said, Now,
you're, you're you're afflicted with this, but it's also affecting
the sincerity of your actions. Because when it comes to religious
things, especially, I mean, you didn't we do not broadcast our
good deeds, we do not broadcast those things. We should not
unless, again, as we talked about last week, there is a greater
intention that you're doing it and maybe to benefit, or to encourage
your group of friends or you know, your children or your family to do
something that's different. But if it's just because you want people
to go, wow, you know, like, Oh, I've done hedge 10 times, you
know, and you see people, you know, they come back from hedge,
they don't even like, now that title is part of their name, like
they, they want to be referred as Hedgy or Hijjah. Why? No? Why did
why now, like, why why is that important? Because you want people
to recognize that you've done hygiene before. But that was an
act of worship, we did for the sake of argument that if they find
out because someone else mentioned that, oh, yeah, we did hedge
together, it's different than you going. I would like to be referred
to as hedge so and so right? Or had you so and so you get it?
total difference, right. But some people, that's what happens, they
expect you to call them by that title.
And then they're very quick to talk about those things. So um,
did a lot of good information, obviously, throughout the whole
section.
Hope everybody read that.
Time is it
just want to make sure because this next section is very long.
And then, so on page 66, on the second paragraph, there he talks
about
covetousness as the root cause of many iniquities, like slander, and
it's important to understand, you know, because he mentions it in
the, in the poem, that covetousness is really the root of
why we do these things. Why is why people even seek reputation
because they want something right. They're wanting something from
people. But a person who slanders another does so for some perceived
gain his desires, for example, to instill negative thoughts and
others toward the victim of a slander covetousness can be so
overwhelming that it occupies one's mind during prayer. It also
leads to insincere praise of
others in order to derive some benefit from them, most
salespeople, for example will just say about anything to sell their
wares. For this reason the honest merchant will be raised with the
martyrs on the Day of Judgment, the honest merchant does not
sacrifice his morality and ethics if he's successful, he knows his
successes from God.
So again, just mentioning that it really that's the root problem is
that when you seek reputation you're you don't understand that
everything comes from all those panthella and you're actually
seeking it from other people. So you're coveting you know benefit
from people and therefore that's why you're trying to drop hints
about whatever it is you're dropping hints about because you
want something from the people but if you truly understood the source
of all good was Allah subhanaw taala and that people are you
know, irrelevant then you don't do this you don't feel the need to do
it you don't feel the need to in any way let people know about your
good qualities because they will manifest on their own or almost
other will reveal them if he wishes but it's really about I'm
just it's for you all I'm trying to be the best person I can be to
please you not so that I can again, get something out of others
which is again back to covetousness. So there's that
whole section there that talks about them
yes
yes
all right, so long
this
what is the antenna?
Mashallah,
that's excellent. So just to reiterate, again, for those who
are watching the recording, our brother said that one of the, the
strategies I guess you have in your household is to get in the
practice of saying Bismillah before you do anything beyond just
eating and drinking, right, because most of us we shall are
sort of conditioned to do it for that but for everything because
then it puts a call to the conscious and unconscious
speedbump I like that. It's a great way of putting it right.
It's it's excellent Naseeha because it's true. If you are
putting us put that at the forefront of your mind before you
do anything, you're going to inshallah likely stay away from
the Haram because it's they're not compatible. You can't like say, as
you said, Bismillah I'm gonna eat pork chops or Bismillah I'm gonna
eat drink alcohol, right? Or Bismillah I'm gonna go gamble. But
if we get in that habit, and this is actually you know, prophetic
because we shouldn't be saying Bismillah before we do anything,
right that there's Baraka
you know, in everything that we do when we mentioned the name of
Allah, and if we don't mention the name of Allah, it's void of that
it's void of Baraka. So we shouldn't be in the habit of doing
that but to go beyond just food and drink, right, which is
excellent and see I just like love and and thank you, and absolutely,
it's gonna inshallah help us to get in the practice of really
checking our ourselves purifying our intention if we did that more
often. So I love that
okay, so Inshallah, we'll go ahead to the next section.
false hopes actually, you know, what, I realized I haven't been
referring to my other set of notes which
I do have extra content here just let me quickly look here
and I actually realized I didn't mention the treatment for the
previous condition which you know, displeasure with the Divine decree
is the treatment would be to have a good opinion of Allah subhanaw
taala and remember our own limited understanding of things
sorry
and then
and then that I think it's very powerful.
That, you know, those that tells us it may be that you dislike
something
Though that's good for you, and it may be that you love something
that it's bad, that's bad for you, and God knows best that what you
do not know. So that AI is also telling us that things aren't
always as they seem. So when it comes to displeasure with the
Divine Decree, outwardly, something might look a certain
way. But if you really believe that, you know, I might, I just
don't know, I don't know what's really good for me and what's not,
then, then you accept it. And you know, I personally have been gone
through things, I'm sure we can all look back in our past. And we
they say, 2020, you know, hindsight, vision is 2020. Right?
How many of us have gone through something, where in the moment, we
just were like, you know, resisting it, we were upset by it.
But then later, you're like, Subhan, Allah, thank you, God.
Right, thank you so much for putting me through that thing.
Because I see now the wisdom of it. So that's why it's so
important that the you know, this is one of the treatments is that
once you just start accepting that God ultimately knows what's best
for you. And if it's, he's wilted in this dunya. That, that it's,
there's hidden it, and it'll be revealed to you at some point. So
that's the main treatment for that for seeking reputation.
Just adding some more.
Okay, so yeah, it's all the same material, I just want to make sure
I don't have any, I'm not missing anything. All right, so we'll go
to the next one. Oh, seeking the treatment for seeking reputation,
which kind of wild summarize at the end is just knowing that
again, all goodness comes from almost content, and it's really
pointless to, you know, to covet, or to, to want anything from human
beings because they are not the source. They're not the source of
good. So just being very clear, the source of all good that we
want is from Allah. So what's the point in putting all that energy
and trying to get people to be impressed by you, when they're not
the ones that that matter? It's almost none of that matters, yes.
But that is something you want from other people, right?
Right. Right.
Yes.
Yes. So then you're absolutely right praise, whether it's praise,
or whether it's, you know, social status or whatever, some some
other worldly benefit, it all comes down to the, to the same
thing, which is, those things are, they don't really, but they're not
the source of any of your benefit, right? The source of every benefit
that we have is Allah subhanaw. With that, and so no, but it's a
very good point. Because yeah, might not be something big, like a
position or something else, but could just be that praise that
we're after. But even then, if you think about the praise of people,
how, you know, what, what is it more than just words, right? It
doesn't really do anything for you. It feels your, it feeds your
nerves. Exactly, it actually does harm, right. Which is why we have
to be aware of the harm, though, because it feels good in the
moment, to have someone acknowledge your deeds. But if
that takes away from the purity of your deed, you have to look at it
like oh, I don't want that. I would rather people not know what
I'm doing, and have them hidden because that assures me in sha
Allah, that it truly is for the sake of Allah. But as soon as it
becomes known to people, now the question of the sincerity and the
purity of it is kind of up in the air, right? And of course, it's
compromised. So that's how we have to look at it. Like, as long as
it's a hidden thing, there's a higher chance that it really is
pure, purely done for the sake of Allah. But once people know about
it now it's like, Am I happy that they know about it? Do I like that
they know about it? Or is it going to spread? And now we're not one
person, but 10 people know about it? And is that gonna, you know,
make me more popular and get me more praise? You know what I mean?
So it's, it's something that yeah, we we should know. It doesn't
benefit us actually harms us. Yes. I saw a couple of hands.
Audience but
I think that many of us who are watching here
like the whole discussion about creation, yes.
Love
is not only is that
emphasizes the health of the workforce, and everyone that is
promoting this today was supposed to be so this is something that
scared me that I think it's
Some people,
right?
Right. And that's a very good point, we absolutely live in a
culture where yes, this is something very common and it's
praised. And it's actually expected that we do, you know,
offer, you know, information about ourselves and are willing to share
and encouraged to share because you know, it's a highly
competitive society, it's highly competitive world that we live in.
And if you want to get ahead, you got to kind of stand out, and how
do you stand out? Well, it's usually with your accomplishments
with the degrees that you have your you know, that's why people
add, you know, those, as soon as you get your degree, it's now
suddenly part of your name, you know, it's like, it's a label that
we wear proudly because the society tells us to, but
spiritually, there's consequences to that, right, spiritually, this
is what we're told that when you become a person who's so, you
know, willing to put it all out there, the sincerity of your
actions are, as we said, as we've been saying, Now, called into
question, because if it's for the sake of God, which everything
should be, then you don't need to do that, because he sees it
anyway, he knows he has full knowledge of all of your, you
know, everything about you. So you don't need to go around
broadcasting it anyway. But if you're, again, you know, in the
times that we live in, we have to find a way to balance that because
there are times where we have to do it, you know, especially in a
professional setting. But I think, to me, it's really about the
heart, like if you're not comfortable, right? sharing things
about your quality, you know, your qualifications, your background,
your trades, your skill sets, whatever it is, your
accomplishments, if you're not comfortable doing it, because it
just makes you feel a little uneasy. There's a level of high up
modesty that you have, this is a good sign, right? But if you're
like, Yeah, I'll be the first to share it. And if someone's, you
know, sharing it, like, for example, I've been, and I've, you
know, when you publicly speak, they asked you to put together a
bio, okay, and
it's frustrating, because it puts you in a very difficult position,
like they want you to, you know, they want to know, especially if
it's on a topic related to your, your credentials, they want to
mention that in the bio, because why else are you here, you know,
you're supposed to be here as an expert on this particular thing.
So you have to kind of, you know, put something together. But, you
know, for the sake of transparency, you know, being, you
know, on this side of it, you do feel like compelled Well, I want
everybody to know, this is my background so that there's no
question about who I am and what I'm doing. And oftentimes, when
they read the bio, I always ask them, like, you don't have to read
the whole thing. Like, it's just me, I put it up there on my
website, or my, you know, whatever. Because for the sake of
transparency, but that's not, you know, to be necessarily like,
that's what I need you to share on my behalf every time I speak like,
I don't need to do that I just mentioned, you know, whatever's
relevant. But you know, they'll go on and read about, but I've been
in situations where, you know, someone will have their bio read,
and maybe it's missing something. And then they were like, oh, yeah,
and then they'll go up and talk. And they mentioned, you know, that
well, in addition to what was mentioned about me, X, Y, and Z,
you know, so it's kind of like, Was that necessary? Maybe not, you
know? Yes.
Like,
it's like a teachers
setting. Right? When you go to the doctor, you see a certificate or
something that makes you feel more, right.
For being the virus.
I feel like it's not.
Right.
Right.
I don't feel like I don't know. No, it's a very good point. I
think my point is that it's it can kind of put us I think, those of
us who are in the more public eye, it puts us, you know, it kind of
is it's an uneasy thing, because it's not normal, right? People
don't go around knowing everything about you, unless you're a public
person, right, then they know things about you. And so when
you're in this position, it's kind of like, you know, but you kind of
have to, at a certain point, just have to purify your intention,
like you said, I am in a position I'm, you know, in a public
position, people do need to know your credentials, I have to be
transparent. So the intention is different, but I just meant I was
mentioning it because it can put people in different situations.
But I've seen that some people it's not enough to read five
accomplishments, you know, they want the full thing read, you
know, and that's where we have to kind of again, is that necessary,
you know, people, you know, like, it's more it's more about checking
yourself, you know, you don't need everybody to know everything.
you've ever done, you know, it's more about what's relevant.
What's, what's important, and then just stay on topic. I think that's
the ultimate point. You know, it's not to offer extra information
just because you don't need to do that. Yes.
Right. Looks
like it's because, you know, if it's happened once we live, okay,
right.
But if it's something and then you notice sometimes that it's
actually a little bit more than you're comfortable, right? And you
don't feel that you
love that you're not. You know what I mean? Like, yeah.
Just don't say,
No.
Yeah.
So I think every situation is honestly different. If it's
someone you've just met, and you don't really know them that well,
I would not, you know, I wouldn't put them in an awkward situation
and embarrass them. And say, Please don't say that. Let's say
that. It's just like, well hidden. And we talked about this last week
to you, we have to get in the habit of deflecting, and showing
that praise, you know, people out of generosity of kindness or just
trying to, you know, promote goodness, might be flowery in
their words and say something nice about you. But your response is
very telling, right? hamdulillah it's all from Allah, thank you
handled on my parents, but you're deflecting it. So you're letting
them know that you're not someone who's Welcome to that right?
Without being in any way, you know, kind of like, you don't put
it making them feel awkward.
Right?
Yeah, so if it's a repeated thing, I mean, I'm, I'm always
I think, whenever you target someone who's doing something,
especially if their intentions were good, it might actually make
the situation worse. So I wouldn't do ever a targeted thing where
it's like, let's pull you to the side and say, Can you please stop
doing that? No. But generally, if you're in a group setting, you can
always let people know, you're what you're comfortable with, or
not without making them feel like you're speaking to them. Right?
You could just like, let's say you're in a group setting going,
yeah, one of the things that I always, you know, kind of get
flustered by or embarrassed by is when people praise me in public,
because I don't know how to react to that, you know, so you could,
like, you know, that's kind of letting everybody in that setting
know that that's not something you're comfortable with, with and
if that person is hopefully, you know, paying attention, then they
might, you know, think twice next time they see you because now
you've let people know, what you're, you know, what you're
comfortable with and what you're not. So I think every situation is
different. But I would say you know, to try not to, you know, in
any way, you know, make the situation worse by thinking Why
have to now, you know, correct this person because they're doing
something that makes me uncomfortable. That kind of gets
messy, you know, so I would stay away from that. Okay, yes.
Right.
Now
we should still be safe
or whatever.
We still should we all say that,
right.
Right.
Right.
I love that point.
No, it's excellent to see her again, for the recording our
sister Michelle shared that even when we're talking with non
Muslims, we should be willing to deflect the praise back to God
instead of just, you know, thinking that these conversations
are only happening amongst us, but in every setting, whenever anybody
is praising us, we should and why not? You know, unfortunately, we
live in a society where God is being erased pretty much
everywhere, right? You don't hear people mentioning God anymore at
all, even acceptance speeches, there was a point where that was
the first thing people would always say Praise be to God. But
now it's like you're looked down like you're some crazy person if
you mentioned God. So I think we should absolutely stay true to who
we are. That's a true statement. And we don't have to use Arabic
terms as you said, we can somehow you know, fine, whatever language
makes us comfortable but letting people know that we are proud of
our identity as Muslims and that we, you know, this is a truthful
statement. I don't attribute my good qualities and talents.
skills to myself, it all goes back to God. So I love that. And I
thank you for mentioning that because we do. We are, you know,
again in times where it's just, we don't mention God as much as we
should. And people sometimes and this would be blameworthy modesty,
right. If you're modest about about mentioning God in front of
coworkers, this would be right up there. Why? You know, they can
mention all the other stuff they do the party that they went to the
alcohol they drink, and they did this and they did that. Why? Why
are we shy to mention God, right?
One of the beautiful things is not Arabic and Arabic speakers.
Right. So simple views, right? So many, right? You literally can.
And it's like so much.
And yet, I agree with two children who?
Right.
Amen. Right. No, I have no problem. Right. You know, but
God has a lot to say, right?
Yeah, no, I think that's a beautiful advice. Amen is great.
Most people understand that reference, whether they're
religious or not. They understand what you're saying, you know, and
it is it's a prayer, right? It's the ending of a prayer, it's a way
that we respond to prayer. So I think it's a beautiful, you know,
word to use, and if that's something that's works for you,
because of your, you know, background and family Hamdulillah.
And that's why I said, everybody kind of has to come up with what
works for them, you know, and translations, you know, you can
kind of you know, play around with the words. But ultimately, if your
objective is to just be very strong, and to speak the truth,
and you're going to, you know, you're going to find the words to
express that, yeah, God, whatever good I have, it comes from God.
And that's just what I believe. So thank you for acknowledging it,
like, Thank you, I appreciate that. It also your parents, and
like all the other people that have been a part of your journey,
that's the thing is about gratitude is that you're
recognizing, everything comes from God, but also I have other people
that, you know, were instrumental in who I am today, and I recognize
that as well. So teaching, and that's the way you know, you can
turn these situations into teaching moments, because if
people aren't in the habit of that, as was mentioned, like,
we're in a culture where praise is so common, and people are so quick
to share about their stuff. But if the end or the conclusion of those
conversations isn't gratitude to someone, and it's just praise,
right, it ends with praise, thank you. That's not, I wouldn't see
that as a successful exchange, a successful exchange with someone
is that if all of our, you know, good qualities are mentioned, and
we're sitting there, you know, just, you know, swimming in
accolades for each other, but at the end of it Hamdulillah, or
praise be to God or Amen, or, you know, so grateful for, to God for,
for my family, for my parents for, you know, the opportunities I had,
you know, that is giving people perspective, and it's elevating
the conversation, right? We have to kind of, you know, elevate
conversation sometimes because the material is just gonna get stuck
on the praise. But an elevated conversation is saying, let's,
let's actually talk truths. And the truths are that we're only
here because we have a lot of people who, who helped us get
here, but ultimately, it was God. Right. So that's kind of where I,
to me, I'm looking at what's you know, what's the end result of
that conversation? And that's, if we can walk away at that point.
Have did it, you know, I feel good about it. But if it's just a
praise session, that's awkward, you know, and that's not
successful. So, I'm done a lot to say about that. But let's go to
the next one, because this is a very long section and there's so
much to cover here. So false hopes, okay.
We're going to read verses 117 to 120.
On page 69.
It's quick acting poison is extended false hope, which is
assuring yourself that death is a long way off. This generates hard
heartedness and indolence regarding obligations, which leads
to inroads to the prohibited regarding the one who is engaged
in preparing for tomorrow or writing works of knowledge,
extended hope is not blameworthy. As for forboding. Its origin it is
ignorance of the fact that the entire affair of this life is
God's alone. Remember, lewd speaks next next have a quick acting
poison that produces an ordinate attachment to worldly concerns,
which is a cause of so many diseases of the heart. This poison
is extended hope that we had alignment
assuring oneself that death is a long way off a mental environment
that leads people to lead their daily lives as though a long life
is guaranteed. The dangers of this delusion are self evident. But
before speaking about the perils inherent in this malady, it must
be said and then someone that in some ways, extended hope is
unnecessary human condition. Scholars have said that if people
did not have hope, no one would have bothered planting a single
tree, if one was sure that he was going to die very soon, he would
not have planted an orchard or had children, there would be no
infrastructure for the next generation. Right? So false hope
is, again, this
idea that you have all the time in the world to do everything that
you want to do. And that creates a delusion that, you know, will open
up opportunities, or maybe incline you to doing things you shouldn't
do. Because if you actually were thinking that death is imminent,
right, every single day, and that you don't have any guarantees,
you're likely not going to fall into the prohibited. But if you
are not thinking of that, and you're like, I'm healthy, you
know, I live in the safest place, and I have this and I have a great
job. And you know, everything's going well, for me, that is, you
know, gives you a false sense of security. And that false sense of
security gives you kind of makes you again, hard heartedness, but
also lacks that laxity is what is the danger, because when we start
getting lacks with things, we we are willing to be a little bit
more risky, right with our decision making.
Because we think it's, you know, I have time, and you see people, you
know, for example, who are not doing some of the obligatory
things they should be doing, right? If you're not praying if
you're not doing the football, but you think, you know, challah one
day, I'll get to that point, you know, I'm just not there yet.
Inshallah, maybe in 510 years, you know, I'm just on my career path,
right now, there's a lot going on, you know, after I get married, or
after I have children, or once I do hudge. You know, a lot of
people, this is how they really think that they're, they'll start
living a committed life, a life committed to God, once something,
you know, happens, like once they pass a particular milestone in
their life. But the question here is, who gave you that guarantee?
In the first place? Who told you that you've got
that much time? How do you know? Nobody knows, right? Nobody knows,
whatsoever.
I remember, there was someone who had once told me a story
Subhanallah I mean, just to show you that they had, they had just
come from a burial. And it was a group of brothers. And they were
talking about, like, you know, how short life is and how, you know,
be taken away at any moment. And the brother who first mentioned
this, like, he was kind of having his own realization, he was, you
know, they were all in a circle. And he was like, I know,
subhanAllah, like, it could just be taken away, like this.
God knows. And, you know, they were going on, I don't know how
much time later, but a very short time later, he died. Right? Like,
subhanAllah, right, just to show you like, we really don't know.
And even in those, these moments, and instances where we are
reflecting on the shortness of life, sometimes it's those very
people and you know, you see it, I've seen it with some celebrities
even or some people who have died, they'll go back and look at their
Twitter and Facebook feeds. And like the last message they wrote,
you know, was something related to death or their own mortality,
right? We've seen these, it's like, Whoa, did they have some
idea, but the point is, is like, you know, some people yeah, there
could be, you know, they might have had some sense, Allah knows,
but it's just a matter of, if you're reflecting on death that
much, right? That it's always on your mind, then life or, you know,
it's, you're going to most likely live a much more thoughtful,
present, you know,
existence that, that, that, that keeps you away from all of those
dangerous things, right. But if you're not thinking about death,
it's not something you know, you think you have all the time in the
world, then yeah, you're gonna likely slip and do a lot of things
you shouldn't do.
And it's going to affect your relationships like people who, who
have broken relationships with their families, you know, like,
you see this as this is a cabeza it's, you know, to cut off ties
is, is one of the greatest sins, but you see a lot of people
thinking they can do it. Because, you know, later like, I'll deal
with it later. I don't I don't have time now. And I'm not going
to talk to my brother or sister or aunt or uncle or grandparent or
whoever.
It is because I'm upset over something, but they kind of think
that they have this time that they can, you know, push it off, push
it off. And then what happens to those people, when that person,
you know, dies, it's like, now you're gonna live a life of total
regret. And, you know, likely really hate yourself, because who
told you that you had that time to buy that time to put all that
distance between you two, right? That time that you would like you
push, you're pushing a problem away, because you don't want to
deal with it now. But you don't realize it could become a greater
problem for you later. And that's what happens to a lot of people,
they think they can just, you know, I don't want to deal with
this, I got, you know, I'll deal with it later. But that's the
problem. You don't know if you have later. So when we say the
problem says, when there's a conflict with another believer,
you have three days to deal with it. It's because, you know, it
should put that sense of urgency in you to deal with it. Because
otherwise, that three days is going to become three months and
three months becomes three years and three years becomes a decade.
And you see this all over our community, there's people who
don't talk to their siblings, they don't talk to people for years,
they have no contact with them. And they think that, you know,
maybe at some point, and maybe in their heart, they know, they're
thinking at some point will will reconcile maybe they're not alone
knows. But the point is, is God forbid, you know, something
happens to their loved one, and then they're going to the rest of
their life, you know, stop for a while, you're gonna think you
think that that person can have peace, you're not gonna have
peace, if you have a fallout with someone that you loved at some
point, and you didn't deal with it, and something happens to your
them, either they won't have peace, or you won't have peace,
and what kind of life is that? So we should be forgiving. And we
should be willing to see that life is, you know, we don't have
guarantees for anything, and we should act,
you know, like that we should act with that presence of mind that
I'll have time to buy. Yes.
Right, so we don't know what I missed. Right? So what, what I'm
currently debating, right? Like for example,
for me, it was
several years ago
that I finally all of a sudden the sock company
and we're looking into
I was thinking, overthinking the mass destruction.
That kind of mentality.
I tried to change.
Got myself 100. That's exactly what the remedy to this is. Right?
Is that type of awareness, you know, as the sister was sharing
about her own journey with hijab is that this realization of death
being imminent, and how am I going to answer a law? If I'm not
wearing hijab? You know, you know, what's the answer that you give.
So that is what that sort of reflection, right, that thought,
is what prompted you to wear hijab and make it a full commitment. And
that's exactly what we should be doing. We should be thinking about
death like that. Every day that if there's something I'm putting off,
that is first an obligation to God that I shouldn't be doing. But you
know, or something that I should not be doing that I should fix,
like I said, maybe a broken relationship, the remembrance of
death. That is why we remember death, because it's supposed to
improve your quality of life, it's not supposed to make you a morbid
person who walks around, just in a state of darkness. And you know,
you can't think of life, it's supposed to actually improve your
life. Because when you realize that death is indiscriminate, and
can come at any time, it makes you check yourself, it makes you more
responsible, it makes you more proactive, it makes you
you know, more sincere and because you realizing that I want, you
know, to, I want to please always point that out more than anybody
else, I'm not worried about myself or the you know, holding on to
some bitter grudge, or, you know, like my knifes doesn't matter, or
whatever the situation is, I really do want to please also have
that I'm more than anything or anyone. So it's all you know,
benefit to that. And that's why this is such a dangerous disease
because it's so subtle, and we do have a false sense of security.
And I would say this, maybe more for us living in the West than
people in other parts of the world. I think other people in
parts of different parts of the world because they have
destruction and war and you know, disease and poverty and all these
other tribulations that they're dealing with. Death surrounds them
much more and they see it much more frequently. But we are not we
don't we're not confronting death the way other people are. We don't
even see death unless you work in a hospital right now.
Who sees death all the time, we don't. But there's people who it's
so common, they walk out of their village or their, you know, in
their home or whatever, and so and so died, it's also died, there's
probably a burial happening every, you know, day in many parts of the
world. But here death is so sanitized, and it's so hidden, you
know from us that we're not, we're not really faced with it as often.
And what that does is it puts us puts it out of our periphery
completely. And when it's out of our periphery, we develop this
sense of false hope. And we develop this delusion that we can
put off things like a thought of like wearing hijab,
or any of the fun, right? And when we really are, nope, I want to be
right. Because if Allah does take me today, or by the end of the
day, or in the next hour, at least I've done, you know, my
responsibility or the things that I should be doing. And that's the
kind of presence we should have. Right? So it's something Yeah, but
again, it's so subtle, because unless you're having you know,
this awareness, you're not going to even realize you have false
hope. Because it's so common everywhere you look, people don't
talk, nobody talks about death. And people clam up as soon as you
mentioned it, right. It's kind of uncomfortable. If you go to a
guaranteed you go to a dinner party,
you know, go to check out the next time you're hanging out with your
friends go out to coffee, you know, house or at a dinner party,
or whatever, and you bring up death and see what happens to that
room. If it isn't empty out within minutes, or seconds. Nobody wants
to talk about it. But we're encouraged to everyday because the
conclusion isn't just to talk about death itself. And you know,
I mean, you could you could, why not? You could talk about the
process of death. But that's not as relevant as talking about the
fact that it's a fact. And it's real, but how do we use that
awareness to improve our life? And now you start thinking like, oh,
yeah, I should be doing this, I should be doing that I shouldn't
do this anymore. And it just improves you and as a person. So
that's why it's so important.
But if we go continue,
see here.
So we also want to talk about, you know, how to differentiate between
false hope and necessary hope. Right, so in the second paragraph
right here, extended hope definitely has its place. In fact,
it is a mercy from God that we are capable of it. Otherwise, no one
would embark on a course of education, for example, or
undertake any endeavor that requires years before completion.
Taking it a step further, one of the problems of modern society and
the apocalyptic nature of the age we live in, is that people are
beginning to lose hope in the future. This is especially true
among our youth, many of whom are becoming idealistic, taking a
morbid perspective on the world. We live in a fast food culture in
which we are led to believe that we need to have everything now. It
is a culture that causes people to lose a sense of
lose a sense of a future worth waiting for. Only recently, have
we seen the first generation American history that in many ways
will be materially worse off than their parents. Prior to this age,
Americans were noted for their cheery optimism about the future.
So you know, the extended hope when it comes to having Hima,
which is, you know, a sense of purpose, right? A sense of drive.
Motivation is important, okay? Because otherwise, we would just
kind of be sitting, waiting around for death to come. And that's not
how we should be either. We should be working towards objectives and
goals. And that's why hope is a great blessing. But it's more that
false hope that gives you the idea that you can put off things that
are important that we're talking about, right? So it's important to
make that distinction here.
So on page 71, he talks about, there's those last two paragraphs.
Let's actually look at the last paragraph, a wretched existence is
plunging headlong into the materialistic world, and having
nothing good stored for the hereafter. No matter how well off
people appear in this world, regardless of the fine goods that
surround them. If they have nothing good in the hereafter,
then they're essentially wretched. For them. Even IAD said that there
are well known signs of wretchedness. So then he goes on
to describe what are the signs right? The first is having a hard
heart. A man saw the prompts I sent him kiss a baby and asked
him, Do you kiss your children? The probably some said Indeed I
do. The man then said I have 10 children and I've never kissed any
of them, which was considered an and an aspect of the pride of
being a tough Arab, to what the prophets I send them replied,
there's nothing in my religion for a man whose heart is void of
mercy, the prophesy some also said Have mercy on those on the earth
and he who is in heaven will have mercy on you
Scholars have said that if you want to know whether or not your
heart is hard, then look at your eye. If it is dry and unmoved to
tears, this is an indication of a hard heart. This is called jumbo
the line or an unmoved eye, a person who has sympathy and
softness in the heart is said to have a moistened eye. So this is
really important because, you know, hard heartedness,
unfortunately, is a result of the world we live in, we are just, you
know, kind of most of us are again, we're emotionally not
tapping into you know, things because we're, we don't have time,
we're all in this rat race, right? Everybody's got so many goals and
things to do, that we don't have that time to really sit with
ourselves and reflect and, you know, allow that the heart to kind
of just, you know, soften. Because when you've got things to do, you
don't have you know, the time to do that. But that's why it's so
important to make time. Because otherwise the result is as you
become more and more hard hearted. And the more and more hardened,
you become, you start to lose, you become desensitized, you start to
lose sympathy and empathy for things. And that's just, you know,
it's just a vicious cycle. Because, you know, the objective,
the Muslim, the believer is very connected, you know, we should be
connected to each other, right? Like the headache, we're all one
body, right? If there's a part of the body that hurts, we hurt, we
should be connected to another another, we should be connected to
humanity, we should be connected to the creation of Allah subhanaw,
Taala animals, right? Everything in existence, the earth, like when
you see, like, for example, last year, when those fires were
happening, we shouldn't have been pained by that, like that. Right?
When you see the smoke, like didn't it cause you pain, like it
should have, because the Earth is like on fire, and you see these
beautiful trees, like, in flames. And you know, we can get caught up
in the material like, oh, homes, and, you know, yes, that's
horrible. People are suffering, there was death to so many
animals. But you saw those poor horses, and you know, all of these
animals trying to flee, if we didn't feel
pained by that, and we were just like, Oh, God, may Allah just cure
these people. And we're moving on to the sports, you know, show or
the show that we were watching before, like, it's just, you know,
I'm not affected by it. I'm sorry for those people, but I'm not
affected by it. And we don't actually sit and think about,
like, the suffering that those people are going to endure
afterwards. But also just the Earth itself, and the smoke in the
sky. And these are the things that reflect our connectivity with the
creation of a loss mountain, right. But that can't come from a
heart that is so hardened, that it doesn't feel so how do you promote
that feeling is that you have to think about these things, you have
to go deep and the Quran of course, listening to the Quran as
much as possible, will soften the hearts reading the CETA of the
prophesy centum if you haven't read or committed to reading the
CETA of the prophesy centum, it's your heart will be hard because he
just looking at his life and everything that he went through
and all of his teachings and becoming really in tune with him
and getting connected with him doing some work on him regularly.
All of that is to soften our hearts. So that we feel and when
we feel like for example now, it's so popular and I've seen you know,
Muslims, we're very, you know, we'll buy into a lot of things
that are, you know, trendy and popular. But without without
realizing that this is completely part of our deen like mindfulness.
You know, you have a bunch of people who are really big on the
whole mindfulness thing or yoga meditation, they go on these
retreats, you know, I'm gonna go find myself in the mountains of so
and so, you know, such and such a place,
which are all good things. But what is mindfulness? What is that,
you know, it's, it's not just, you know, I mean, it's something that
it's a prophetic quality, he was the most mindful human being to
ever have existed. Because in every moment of his existence, he
had full awareness of what was happening. And God was always
present that is mindfulness. So sometimes we just think, Oh, this
is, you know, Zen and to, you know, tune the world out and to
have quiet and peace. Those are all good things. But if, again,
you're not
in the practice of Vicodin or remembrance of Allah, and really,
you know, connecting yourself back to him, then this is the result is
that your heart becomes hard, you're not going to have sympathy.
And this is dangerous for the believer. We have to be, you know,
the we have to be in the practice of these things. Because, you
know, it's reflective of our heart, right. So that's why it's
important to mention, and ask yourself when's the last time you
cried sincerely for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala
Yeah, what were you doing? And if it was like last Ramadan during
the DUA, you know,
of adiamor, which I don't blame you for it, that's definitely
mashallah at a time, you know, all of us, I think are weeping. But
that was a year ago, almost, you know, and that's what a lot of
times happens we get, it's like Ramadan is only time that we allow
ourselves to feel because we're present, we're fasting, we're
hungry, we're suddenly mindful, you know, things in our hearts.
Also, fasting is also another way to soften heart. But the point is,
is if it was that long ago, that's not a good sign. Because this
should be regular, we should be doing this on a daily basis of
having again, remembrance and reflection. So you know, listening
to Porter en is, again, a really great way to do that, if you have
opportunities on your commute, I highly recommend you to get in the
habit of just starting to listen to reciters that, that invoke that
from you and allowing yourself to be vulnerable, it's okay, if
you're driving, and you need Kleenex, you know, and you're, you
know, I mean, hopefully you're not, you know, blurring your
vision while you're driving. But it's okay to allow yourself that
time of solitude, where you're one with your Creator, and you're just
appreciating the beauty. And that's why we have to be so
grateful for technology, because I remember one of the first things I
ever got when I was in college was a cassette tape of the law of
Ramadan that Sheikh Mohammed Gibreel did. This was like in
1980, something that's not when I was in college, just letting you
know, but like his the recording was like a long time ago, and but
it was one of the best gifts I ever got in my life. Because oh my
god, it opened up the floodgates every time I listened to that
cassette tape, I would just weep like a baby. And then I remember,
I had a friend, friends of mine very close to me, they lost their
younger, there was a younger brother, they lost their younger
brother. And when they you know, lost him, he it was a car
accident. It was really sad. I mean, obviously, he went out with
his friends, which was a tragic situation. 14 He wasn't he didn't
even have his license. But it was a horrible accident, he died. And
they were just so there's so much emotion bottled up, and you know,
obviously crying for the loss. But I gave them a copy of that
cassette because I was like, there's so much healing in this
cassette, like, every time I've heard it, or if anybody's heard
it, they just start. They love it. And they said that they listened
to it. As soon as they got it, they had a long drive back to I
think it was Texas, they were going, they said we made so much
law for you. Because just listening to that cassette, we
don't even have to talk. It just allowed us to let a lot of that
pain out. So I think we underestimate sometimes the great
blessing of having technology to help us hear these great reciters.
Because imagine some of these people are in other parts of the
world, we're all the way out here. If we didn't have the technology,
we would never know people like, you know, Chef, machete, right?
Eddie Fassi, who's one of the greatest reciters nowadays, but
all of the greats, right? Of the bosses, you know, I mean, there's
so many of them, but it's because of technology, which is a blessing
from ALLAH SubhanA. So, why aren't we using that, and instead, we're
willing to listen to, again, music, and we have playlists, and
playlists and playlists, and people just waste so much time.
Whereas here, there's people who've dedicated hours upon hours
to recite the book of Allah, you know, in the most beautiful voices
for us, and we don't even listen to it. Imagine if we got in the
habit of listening to that every day, you know, how nice it would
be, and to get in the practice of that, you know, 100 out of there's
times where I've been with my kids, and I'm very grateful
because they, you know, they appreciate good reciters and
recitation of the Quran. And I'll have, you know, I'll be listening
to, you know, are not listening, sorry, we have nothing going on,
and we're just talking, and then my youngest, or one of them will
say, Mommy, can we listen to the Quran Hamdulillah you know,
because he realizes the benefit of driving on a nice drive and having
the book of Allah a playing in the background, but this is we have to
create those environments, in our, in our families, so that they know
that that's, you know, an option even but sometimes we don't do
that. So I think it's really important to, to connect our
hearts back to the book of Allah, Amina reciting it reading or
whatever it is, but to the point where your heart, you begin to
start softening it. And that's an active thing that we all have to
do. I think one of the great scholars, I remember he was
talking specifically to the brothers. And he was saying that
for brothers if you're not moved by the Quran or descriptions of
the prophesy centum the you should actually fake it until it's kind
of like, you know, pumping the heart. You know, getting it going.
It's you know, like, just, you know, do the motions, do the moves
because maybe that will inspire you
to actually let go a little bit, because you know, again, we live
in a culture where men are taught not to ever cry and to be tough
and strong all the time. So I think for in many cases, it can be
a harder thing to do for a lot of men. But if you remember the, you
know, this was prophetic quality, you know, he was very soft
hearted, and he weeped much right the Hadith if you knew what I knew
you would laugh a little and we much, this is the prophesy Center.
On page 72 Again, the second paragraph the Hadith states that
the second sign of wretchedness is a lack of modesty or shame among
the words revealed to humanity are, if you feel no shame, then do
what you will.
So I think that's pretty self explanatory. If you're, if you
have no shame, then do what you will owe the biller. The third
sign is coveting the world it is said that no one increases his
good share in the hereafter without incurring loss in his
worldly affairs and no one increases his worldly affairs
without diminishing or harming his share in the hereafter. Because
the two realms are opposites, an increase in one is a decrease in
the other. This does not mean that wealthy people automatically have
diminished shares in the hereafter.
There's a Moroccan parable of anaesthetic who heard about
alerted Manish Sheikh who was beloved to God a saint. This
aesthetic came down from his mountain riding a lion to meet the
chef. He arrived at the chef's home and saw that he lived in a
palace. The aesthetic lived in a mountain cave was shocked at the
luxury in which the chef lived. The shift came out to greet the
aesthetic who asked the chef where can I put my lion that she had
told him put him in the barn with my cow. The aesthetic objected
saying he will eat your cow. The chef told him don't worry just put
him in the barn with the cow. The aesthetic did as he was told the
to then had a large dinner. Though the aesthetic was accustomed to
eating only dates with water. At night the chef went to sleep,
while the aesthetic stayed up all night in prayer. Annoyed by the
snoring of the chef he heard through the door. The next
morning, the aesthetic prepared to leave and went to the barn to
retrieve his lion. He did not find his lion because the cow ate it.
He then said to the ship, where's my lion, the chef told him your
lion is just like you it is all outward. You thought my cow was a
heartless cow. But she was a lion inside outward appearances can
fool people. I thought that was a cute story. Right? So again, you
know, just not not
you know, coveting the world, right? Because it's this is all
what it is. If you're
it's one of the signs of of wretchedness, right is not really
realizing the value of things in this world
for what they are and seeing or or your good deeds and how they will
benefit you in the next world. You're not You're not seeing that
clearly.
The last sign of wretchedness is having extended hopes, right,
which we have discussed.
Then the Egyptian scholar, okay.
So let's see, there's so many amazing gems here, popular saying
that you will live forever. So in the last on page 74, the prophesy
centum said act for your world as if you will live forever and act
for your hereafter as if you are going to die tomorrow. So that's
really the formula, right? If you
I mean, this is the bound, this is the way to have balcons. You know,
we're here in the dunya we should, you know, toil away, do whatever
our obligations are, fill our responsibilities, have goals have
ambition, it's very important as muscles that we have that we're in
the dunya for a reason. But when it comes to your hereafter, you
have to live as though you're going to die tomorrow. Because
that awareness of I have to be on it with my EBA with my
responsibilities to God, with my relationships will improve, as I
said the quality of your life, but it protects your Africa.
Otherwise, if you're just focused on your dunya and acquiring wealth
and status and all the other stuff that the Gini offers, you're going
to neglect your action and that's exactly what false hope does. It
tells you you have all the time in the world to do that part just
focus on this right now. Whereas if you actually changed it and
said no, I don't have any guarantees, I need to be focused
on my my dunya in one respects, but more importantly, my mighty
bad because that's going to protect my IRA. It just gives you
a higher quality of life. So that's the formula right there.
How to have balance right?
Yes
this one
yes.
Oh, thank you. Okay.
Yes.
No, just like Okay, thank you actually, totally, I should have
read that the first part of the paragraph. Okay. So it was a
popular saying very good. So it's not a hadith. And it doesn't say
who it's sourced from. Okay, Michelle, thank you for pointing
that out. So it's not a hadith, but it's attributed as a hadith,
but it's still the message is still good, which is why it's
mentioned, right? Sometimes, you know, the Arabs or people in
history might, again conflate something as a hadith when it's
just a saying, but they'll still the scholars will still mention it
for that reason, because there's wisdom to it. So thank you. I just
started the paragraph here, which is like look at it.
But again, the point of it is still rings true, right? So
and then on page 74, at the bottom, it says, although extended
hope can harden hearts Mahmoud says there are exceptions, like
the one who's engaged in preparing tomorrow, for tomorrow or writing
works, one is not blameworthy for dedicating years of work for a
single end product, like a scholarly work for which many
people benefit. It is one of the highest things a person can do it
is in fact a form of perpetual charity. So kludgy idea, whose
reward a cruise in favor of its Progenitor, even after he or she
has died in cases like this one is not censored for desiring a long
life because one seeks to strive in ways that serve God, his
religion and humanity. So again, you know, you can have extended
hope when you're doing good works. But you're clearly your priorities
for someone like that their priorities are clear, they're
doing it for the sake of Allah. It's not a matter of, you know,
neglecting obligations to Allah for pursuit of worldly gain. It's,
it's, he's doing it for the sake of Allah. So that's, that's in
that case is an exception.
On page 76, at the top it talks about, again, kind of what we
stressed about the remembrance of death. And to really be, you know,
as part of something that we should be actively doing here it
says that many of the righteous forebears of Muslim civilization
stress that one should visualize the states of death and the
afterlife. Their bodies being washed and prepared for burial
being lowered into the grave having soil cover them being
questioned by the angels climbing out of the grave on the Day of
Resurrection, and being called to stand in judgment before God the
Exalted in fact, some of them actually placed themselves in an
open grave to feel with greater intensity, what awaits them this
may seem like a morbid exercise, but it is effective training that
adds spring to one's life and enthusiasm to work for the
hereafter. It's peace and bliss. spiritual masters have long said
that if a person is struggling with his appetites, this exercise
is a good way of controlling them, reflecting on death brings
sobriety to one states and that's really the cure for this disease
of the heart. It's just a constant remembrance of death. And then he
goes on to mention the difference between Raja the hope right
inherent hope in the Arabic word Raja, and the hope implied by the
twiddle on the Quran praises one who hopes for God and meeting him
in the hereafter.
Right say, oh Muhammad, I met a man like yourselves but to whom it
is revealed that your God is One is but one God. So whoever hopes
to meet his Lord, let him do righteous deeds and never
associate anyone with the worship of his Lord. And then a famous
Hadith narrated from I shouldn't relate to the prophets that I'm
said, Whoever loves to meet God is one whom God also loves to meet.
And I should ask you a messenger of God What about disliking death
he replied, It is natural dislike death, but ultimately meeting God
is something that believers seeks and looks forward to this kind of
hope is known as it a job it is a hope coupled with sincere effort
to achieve what one hopes for, so that's different than than just
having false hope.
There's so much here Mashallah.
Sees
So on page 77, second paragraph there, this is also another
important thing to note. Now, we're just differentiating the
different or explaining the different types of hope. Yet there
is yet another kind of hope called Omnia, which is blameworthy in
Islam. Essentially, it is having hope, but neglecting the means to
achieve what one hopes for, which is often referred to as an empty
which one hopes to become healthier, for example, but remain
sedentary and is altogether careless about diet, to hope for
the hereafter, but do nothing for it in terms of conduct and
morality is also false hope and this is also a big part of our
problem now, right? A lot of people just have this idea that
you know, God is the most merciful and, you know, I have a pure heart
and I'll be forgiven. And they'll say these things and those are all
true statements. You know, God is the most merciful but to
Do not put in any effort whatsoever, and then expect all of
these, you know, results is sense. You know, it's part of this, it's
that you haven't put in any effort you need to, we need to work
towards that if we have that hope that God will forgive us, then we
should be striving to do that which pleases Him. But if we're
not, and we're actually, you know, doing the opposite, then we
clearly have this this particular hope.
On the bottom of page 77, talks about hope, right fear, fear
treats or prevents to maladies moral complacency and self
righteousness, having a good measure of fear is necessary to
stay on the path. But when one reaches his or her deathbed, one
should have absolute hope in God, and have certainty that God will
offer forgiveness and allow him or her entrance into paradise. This
is having a good opinion of our Lord the process and mourn that no
one should die except with a good opinion about God. So that's a
really good, you know, again, approach to have in life is that
all throughout life, fear should hang above us. There's that's what
Taqwa is, right? It's this awareness of Death awareness that,
you know, that we could be punished, that we could out of
Allah lose Iman lose our blessings, that there's imminent,
you know, sense of,
or there's this insecurity that we have constantly, that's where the
fear is based. But then right up until that point where, you know,
we are become aware of our death, if we have that, you know, that's
a blessing because some people don't have that they're just
taken, you know,
suddenly multiple project, right, that's a sign of the end of time
that people were just taking without an opportunity to even
reflect on their life or to make amends or to, you know, have some
sort of, you know, hope in God, they don't have that because it's
just boom, something will happen suddenly. So if we are given that
blessing of having time to really think that we don't, we're not in
a state of panic and fear, but rather and hope so it's like all
throughout your life, taqwa fear, fear, but then at that stage hope,
and we should have that, you know, promote that when we visit for
example, people who are sick, if they're in the final stages of
their life, and they're still lucid and able to communicate, we
should talk about that like you know, Inshallah, you're going to
be with your Lord You know, you just remind them of all the
beautiful things that are coming ahead for them with conviction
with Yaqeen with certainty
instead of you know, letting them panic and freak out and hopefully
inshallah you know, they've gone through enough of a process where
they're not in that heightened state but some people are very
afraid you know, they can have a lot of anxiety and our job to
visit them should be to remove that as best as we can with loving
words with hopeful words with you know, with conviction strength
yes
situation situations like you know, this is about relative
quality before people get an abortion, right.
I love is so and
um, what are the losses, you know, to run right?
Is there like?
That's a good question. Off the top of my head, I don't know if
there's a specific text for that the one book that comes to mind
whenever I because I've, you know, I've done grief counseling, I've
visited people, one of the books that I like to take or just a
common is the lives of men. I think it's a great book because
it's just gives you a kind of comprehensive view of all the
stages of the soul. And in really good description, you know, about
about what happens to the soul and different points from the
primordial realm to the womb to the dunya to the butterfly off to
the Athleta so I like the way that it's, you know, just laid out for
you and it gives a lot of clarity there's questions that are
answered it's I think, a really ideal text if you're ever having
to again visit with someone it might be something beneficial to
read from but it does anyone else have any recommendations that you
may have used? Or no
I can check on that if you want maybe there's more text I can come
in shallow
Sure,
yeah. I I've always been the Scotland the teachers that
I've worked with, yeah, Martin Ling's is a good book to start to
read Muhammad. It's a big green book. But in addition, and his is
kind of like a summary of his life, you know, but I really love.
I mean, the Shemitah is a very beautiful book to know about the
end the features of the process and how he looked. It's the whole
book is pretty much about, you know that. But then potty Ed also
has a book called A Shiva, that goes into some of his features,
his mannerisms, the way he interacts with people, but it's
all Hadith, it's, so I'd like to rely on those three texts
primarily, when I'm, you know, looking at Sierra
came
under the law, so there's, again, so much content in here, but I
think we understand, right, that false hopes, what it basically
comes down to, is anything that prevents you from acting in the
now and gives you a sense of false security and delusion that you
have all the time in the world. And when you don't, that's, it's a
reflection of this disease of the heart. And the remedy of that is a
remembrance of death. And to take your, you know, to have that
balance of working towards your dunya having obligations or
fulfilling your obligations, having goals having ambition, but
when it comes to your asset of taking it very seriously, and
having that awareness that death is imminent at all times for every
single person, and that nobody has any guarantee
about you know, whether or not they they'll see the night, during
the day or the day during the night. So that's how much
awareness of death we should have when we're talking about tomorrow.
Right? We're talking about the same day, like, you know, you
don't We don't know what the Knight has in store for us. And
that's why, you know, when we hear of sudden deaths of people who,
you know, it's they've happened right here in our community,
tragic, tragic deaths, where someone was just going out for,
you know,
visiting someone going home late at night or making a stop here,
and then boom, something happens, usually car accidents, or they,
they were shot or whatever, this happens all the time in our
community.
But it's to make us those of us who who are a witness to those
things to remind us that don't get too comfortable. Right.
Okay, so we see how much time we have left. Oh, we're right on
time. Okay. So we stopped at negative thoughts. You know, what?
Are there any questions? Actually, the rest are pretty short. Okay.
We can we can stop here. Are there any questions?
See, where are we? So we stopped. We did today. 1234. We only did
four. Okay, so just to for next week. I unfortunately the flyer
that was posted doesn't have the accurate dates of times off. I
actually will not be here next week. I have a prior commitment.
So there's no class next week, but we'll have class the following
week, and likely add one more in March. Okay, so the 29th will
resume and then after that we'll do another following one in March
okay Sharla
everybody here
so this time
I just want everyone to know Swathi pursue this journey. And I
asked her to do and to me my thoughts on paper I'm the
healthiest person my family is driven Subhan Allah
I was active I ran last year 20 More Miles was so like I took care
of myself right. But I had hope and I
was suffering
but once he was aware and I prayed a lot I noticed because now
I have this opportunity I'm not
aware
HL much Allah I will receive mercy
HL I mean that belief, but I really
tested for Boyle that is come back somehow beautiful.
Other people
in your
face. Thank you.
Because I go ahead and thank you for showing me a smile and give
you a complete and total shift that I want to see you returning
for next classes that we do with that beautiful smile that you have
in your presence, and I have full conviction that you will and shall
we all have to make the offer her Okay shall please make the
offer when is your precision
shallow that's fine fourth
is can we yes please make the offer our sister would you mind if
I ask people who are watching the recording to make the offer you by
name?
Okay, thank you. Thank you anybody who's watching please keep our
sister Leah and your daughter she has a very big procedure coming up
on the 24th of this month and we ask Allah subhanaw taala to heal
her body to give her every single cell in her body Shiva and to
restore her health to better than what it was before and to bring
her back in Charlotte to our community vibrant and ready to
take on more more classes and be with us inshallah because we
really appreciate her presence just like a walk in and thank you
thank you. Thank you all for being here inshallah again, if any
questions you have I'll be here
in well not next week but the week after but if you need to
communicate with me I realized I should have done this I apologize.
We kind of bored I think the first class with my email address, but I
can give those to you because I know some people usually have
questions. I'll give you my email and please feel free to email me
I'll respond. It's events. e v e n t s dot Hosein my first name HLS
Thank you so much.
Oh, forgot my Suhana Colombo behind the crescendo in La ilaha
illa antenna stuff that are gonna to make Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim
Allah azza wa jal inside of the hustle Illa Allah Dena Emmanuelle
mo Salah Heidi, with us will happy with us on this.
As I go ahead thank you again