Hosai Mojaddidi – Purification of the Heart (Part 7)
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AI: Transcript ©
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Hamdulillah we are here.
At the final class, the seventh class we have added an additional
class so that we can make sure we complete or do our best to
complete the text, having the lack
of purification of the heart. We're going to start on the
disease of heedlessness for today, it's on page 101.
So we're just gonna jump right into it and show others that
heedlessness is being careless concerning what God has commanded
one to do and has prohibited scholars of this science consider
heedlessness to be the source of all wrongdoing. Its cure is to be
found in four deeds, all of which possess rectifying qualities, seek
forgiveness from God, visit the righteous invoke benedictions upon
the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and recite God's book. So
heedlessness or Lafleur is a terrible lack of attention to what
is infinitely more important in one's life than material goods.
heedlessness is a key concept often discussed in Islamic
spiritual treatises and is referred to in many passages of
the Quran. emammal Junaid, a prominent ninth century scholar
argues that heedlessness is the one pathogen that breeds all the
rest of the diseases of the heart.
The Arabic word for a simpleton is Maha FAL, a person who is easily
fooled in our context, it is a person who is easily diverted,
from what is essential and consequential toward what is
ephemeral and ultimately pointless.
So, from that Allah,
you know, this is I'm sure we all recognize a very serious problem
in today's world, people just don't have their priorities
straight. They are caught up in, you know, the world and all of its
many distractions. And that's what he listens is, is when you just
don't have the right order of what should be your priority. And you
ultimately,
you know, stop doing the things that you should be doing in terms
of taking care of your responsibilities, first and
foremost, to God, your family, all of the people in your life that
should have your focus, because you start living for your own
whims and desires, right? That's the distraction. Part of it is
that you just get caught up in whatever you want to do. And then
you basically end up failing to fulfill the obligations that you
should do. So if you go on page 102, on the heedlessness that
event molded speaks of here is that of its most menacing form,
being heedless of divine purpose, accountability, the resurrection,
ultimate standing and judgment in the hereafter. The four minutes
that manifestation of these events is veiled to us by the thin wall
of death, the timing of which is the secret that hovers above the
heads of all men and women, even though the reality of these things
is hidden in the realm of the unseen, what is expected of us is
to receive and accept the message of the prophecies that I'm
brought. So
you know, just to be completely clueless or my you know, again,
oblivious to the fact that we're created with a purpose, we're
here, because almost panel data, you know, created us to worship
Him. That is the only reason why we're here. But when you don't
think of that, and you're just caught up again, in your worldly
affairs, then not only do you fail in your duties to him, but you
also completely start to deny everything after this life too.
Right? It's it's, you don't even think about death and the fact
that it's looming over your head at any moment, right, nobody knows
when when they will die. So you become so unaware of reality,
right? These are all real things that are going to happen nobody
can escape death. Because the heedlessness has you know you
again distracted by whatever whims and desires you have. So you can
scroll down further on that same page.
In the portal, you will find a ruffler mentioned several times in
different forums, but almost invariably referring to
unawareness. The Quran uses other words to refer to unawareness.
Those who laugh at the Quran or semi dune. This is an Quran 50
Chapter 33 Verse 61
They are so immersed in amusement, they are oblivious of reality. On
the day of reckoning, the heedless will be driven to their
chastisement and be told along the way, you are once heedless of
this, now we have removed your, your veil that from you so your
sight this Day is sharp, God speaks of the disbelievers
impervious to the message of the prophets is having a cover, they
shower over their eyes.
So again, this concept of or this idea of being completely, you
know, blinded by amusement and entertainment, right? This is
another description of those who are heedless, as they are always
looking to be distracted, you know, in that way just to be
amused, entertained, because, you know, not having that and actually
being still and forces you to think about things seriously,
right? If you actually have moments of silence and moments of
contemplation where you're not being amused, you do start
thinking about responsibilities, things you have to do, and maybe
your purpose and why you were created. And, and that's exactly
the type of thoughts that we should welcome. But when we're
looking to be entertained and Muse were basically, you know, looking
to be distracted from those thoughts, right, from from
thoughts that are serious and important.
The last paragraph there on page one or two, the ultimate trauma of
heedlessness, then is not seeing reality as it truly is. It is
choosing a way of living that allows divine signs to be left
unnoticed. The Prophet sallallahu sallam said, supplicated, that
God, the Exalted, show him things in their reality, distinguished
and clear, show me the truth as truth and give me the ability to
follow it, and show me falsehood, as falsehood and give me the
ability to avoid it. MMO loot says of Africa is also heedlessness of
what God has commanded and what he has permitted or prohibited, or
seeing the difference between the two as irrelevant. So you know,
again, you just become irresponsible in every way, in
terms of the commandments of Allah subhanaw taala, you start to blur
the lines between what's haram and headed, and you just don't really
take those things seriously, this is the disease of heedlessness.
And then you know that, that da that the prophesy sounds that made
it so important, because part of you know, this diseases that
you're unaware of, but how do you become aware, it's that you don't
have, you know, clarity, you don't see things as they truly are. So
asking Allah to protect us from being fooled or tricked, right,
because the dunya has that quality, that it can, you know,
tempt you into things, giving you this false notion of happiness of,
you know, instant gratification of all the things that people you
know, fall into. But at the end of the day, those things actually
don't, you know, have lasting effects and they cause more harm.
So to ask all those pilots to protect us from, you know, those
being tricked, you know, and being diluted by the denier. And that's
why that Da is so important to let me see truth as truth and
falsehood as falsehood, right, so that you can follow the truth and
avoid the falsehood insha Allah.
So now, the treatments, there's four different practices that
basically will treat or help help someone with this disease of the
heart if they commit to it. The first is repentance and seeking
forgiveness. Right. As a matter of regular worship, one should ask
for forgiveness is the one at least 70 or 100 times a day,
according to the Prophetic practice, which was closely
followed by our righteous forebears. This practice is
connected to accounting for one's deeds at the dais, and the
merchant looks at his ledger to calculate his earnings to see what
the scales say, so to speak, the moral scales are no less
important. And each of us is a merchant, with regard to what we
lost or gained with respect to with respect to God's pleasure,
when there is loss, which is a frequent occurrence, seeking God's
forgiveness restores balance. So being in the habit of doing stuff
is very important. And this again, can be done, you know, anywhere
you could be doing it driving, washing your dishes, folding
laundry, you know, anything that you're, you know, doing, or
actually on your prayer mat, but finding the time to do that and
many people say it's best to do that at night. Right? You could be
doing even lying in bed, right before you go off to sleep. These
are your final thoughts, you know, like y'all forgive me for all of
my transgressions today what I did, knowingly, unknowingly big
small out in the open or hidden, because we we we sin in many
different ways, right? And sometimes we don't recognize
There's even sins that we can do internally, right? Like last
session, we talked about it with a club, right? That's that those are
thoughts that nobody's aware of. So sins aren't necessarily outward
actions, right? They can be inward as well. So when you actually take
the time to take account of yourself, you might be aware of
things suddenly like, Oh, I forgot about that, right? I need to make
this stuff better for that to it not just look at the outward think
about follow the thoughts that you had that day to did you think of
someone that in a negative way? Right? Did you have those, you
know, bad thoughts. And that's how you hold yourself to account. Now
imagine if you did this every day, it's kind of like taking out the
garbage, right? Think of it that way. Because if you if you don't
take out the garbage, it stinks up, right, and it starts to pile
up. But if you have a habit every single day, that I have to take
out the garbage, you're avoiding all of the problems that come with
letting garbage accumulate. So the same with doing this stuff is that
you're detoxifying or getting out all those, you know, the bad deeds
that you've done that day, as a means of purging as a means of
cleansing as a means of ridding yourself of the harm of those
things, right. And you're just again, aligning yourself with with
all those parts that are doing that, you know, reflection that I
remembering your purpose, you know, I'm here for a reason. It's
to worship you Yola. And I recognize that I failed, you know,
it may be today or I didn't do as well today, forgive me. So you're
reaffirming your faith, right every time you do that process.
Otherwise, you know, you fall into heedlessness, which is you're not
you're just being careless and you're not thinking.
The second practice is and again, we're on page 103, that, that last
paragraph right there. The second practice is visiting the auto
righteous people who enjoy rank with God the Exalted classically
the ranking of humanity proceeds as follows. As evinced in the
verse of the Quran, prophets and they've been truthful ones a Cydia
clean martyrs, a shahada, and the righteous a Salah hain, the word
Salah conveys the notion of soundness of heart and excellent
character. More specifically, it refers to one who gives God his
due right by fulfilling his commandments and avoiding what He
prohibited. This is how it whether God's right to be worshipped,
which includes rites of worship, as well as excellent behavior
towards other people. Hence, a righteous person does not cheat or
lie, he or she is the kind of person whom one should seek out as
company. Scholars have always encouraged encouraged visiting
righteous people as part of the protocol of the spiritual
ascendancy. These people include the living as well as the dead if
one goes to Medina, it is recommended to visit the graves of
the great Muslims and convey salutations of peace to them, the
prophesy said and visited the grave sites of his fallen
companions. During the early part of his message, he forbade the
visiting of graves, but later on the process of them encouraged it.
In pre Islamic times, visiting graves was a form of idolatry.
When the young community was purged of that the prophesy Saddam
abrogated the previous command. So again, visiting righteous people
can be living or or deceased. But it's important again to to
recognize that the qualities of what we're talking about the
righteous person isn't just outwardly necessarily religious,
because sometimes we might assume things about a person because of
the way they look on the outside their characters what you want to
look at. So if someone is outwardly maybe looks like they're
practicing, but then they don't have good character, they don't
have good either with people that don't speak well and kind to
people. They, you know, they have other negative qualities, just
because Outwardly they look a certain way, or they might have a
title. You know, you want to really be clear on what we're
talking about here.
Yes.
Yes,
right.
No, exactly. That's a very good point. Again, we're talking about
good character people that you learn, you know, who don't cheat
who don't lie, who, who have a belief in God, you know, and there
are non Muslims who have very good characters, and you can learn a
lot from especially, you know, elderly family members, or just
family members who take their faith seriously, who are people
who have, you know, moral compass and they, you know, values that
they live by, that are shared between faiths, you know, so apps
slowly if you have people that are like that, who you trust and
believe, yes, that keeping their company is great, and you can
learn so much from them.
But thank you for that question, because it's a good clarification
there.
Yeah, he talks about the religious charlatans in that second to last
paragraph on page 104. It is excellent to visit the righteous
among us who are alive those who are truly pious and knowledgeable.
One cannot judge another person by title in many Muslim countries now
men and men are presented with the title of Chef as inherited from
the Father. As a result, there are people with that title who are
ignorant these are there are charlatans in this world. And none
is more dangerous than a religious charlatan. So you know, we have to
again, be careful of those people who use the religion to advance
themselves but they don't have you know, they're ignorant or they
don't have good character. Those are not the people were that this
is about
on page 105.
Yeah, he goes on a little bit more to talk about when you're visiting
these people how you should behave. So, in that middle
paragraph when visiting a righteous person, the discourse
should be substantive and not have idle talk, one should seek to
benefit in gaining knowledge. And in this application of the
righteous person, in fact, one should ask for being continually
remembered in their prayers for their prayers might be more
acceptable to God than one's own. So you know, making sure that the
conversation is a benefit, right, and you don't also overstay that
was mentioned in a previous chapter, where we talked about not
overstaying you know, when it when it comes to people who are you
know, in this who are righteous or scholarly, or who have important
work to do. And then the third cure is to invoke benedictions on
the prophesy Center. This is in fact a command from God, the
Exalted himself, Oh, you who believe invoke benedictions upon
the prophesy centum and salutations of peace. This is in
chapter 33, verse 56. So you know, increasing one's silhouette on the
proper size for them. And there's many, many benefits to doing that.
If you go to page 106, to the Akhmad 01 said, If you do not have
a moral be a spiritual mentor. They say prayers of blessings upon
the prophesy centum then say excuse me, prayers of blessings
upon liberalism, which acts as a Murabbi. Many scholars have
attested to the fact that sending prayers of blessings upon the
promises sent Him purifies the soul. Some recommend that one
repeated at least 500 times a day. Some people make it their practice
to repeat it 5000 times a day. Imam Malik constantly sent prayers
of blessings on the prophesy centum and had the thorn scholars
of prophetic traditions are well known for this practice as well.
So, you know, again, you can find that range, what works for you,
but not to limit yourself, you don't have to be doing it always
sitting down in one place. It's if you can, that's, you know,
recommended. There's a comportment that we should have whenever we do
the good of Allah or Setubal in the process. But also if you're
again, you know, doing something else, like I, you know, I think,
because we live in the Bay Area, there's so much traffic and
commute time. A lot of times, you know, the times that we're by
ourselves in our cars can be great opportunities to do this type of
work, you know, listening to the Quran doing Salawa doing any they
could have Allah. So that's always the first thing that comes to
mind. But really any chores, any things that you're doing, that you
can you know, that you're obviously in a clean place
to do. It's fine to do these things as you're doing something
else. You know, to keep you engaged in Shaolin. Keep your
heart connected. The fourth cure is we're still on page 106. Here
for heedlessness is the recitation of the Quran reciting it with to
the double reflection awakens the heart however, plain recitation is
beneficial as well. Learned Muslims have recommended that a
person recite 1/30 of the Quran every day, if this is difficult
than reciting Surah Thea scene after the dawn prayer sort of the
the WAPA after the sunset prayer and sort of the mug after the
evening prayer greatly benefit the soul. So you know, again, you can
even if you don't know the Arabic meanings, there's still incredible
benefits to reading the Quran. So, you know, don't put limitations on
yourself, you know that Oh, I don't know it well, I don't have
proper Tajweed because you can read for meaning you know, and
practice you know, that's how we become better listening to
reciters obviously getting a teacher would be ideal, but
sometimes people because of maybe something they were told or
cultural ideas they think you know, you have to recite a
perfectly in order to to recite it like to even do it. How are you
going to get there, you know, if you don't practice with
everything, like with everything you have to practice so it's your
intention.
then is to get better, then you actually get more reward with all
of those mistakes that you're making. So you know, less fat that
sees your efforts and he's rewarding you more than the one
who recites beautifully and effortlessly and has no mistakes,
right? So you want to be incentivized to recite the Quran,
you know, that way like as often as I can and and, you know, try to
reflect on its meanings, but not to impose you know, sanctions on
yourself that Oh, I have to get to a certain level in order to do it.
That thought we should we should reject.
So these are the four cures that Mahmoud offers for heedlessness.
So it's, Allah protect us from that, inshallah. Okay, so we've
got a lot to cover. We're gonna move on to rancor, page 108. We'll
read the verses. rancor. Oh you who seek its elucidation is when
the heart is bound to treachery, betrayal or some trickery. The not
binding it to the heart is resentful malice, show kindness
toward the object of your rancor and you will cause your enemies to
despair. Keep also in mind the forgiveness as mentioned in the
sound tradition, promised twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays. So
goodwill is a malady of the heart that is closely related to rancor,
which is extreme anger and malice. It comes from the same Arabic root
from which the word Halal originates, which is used in the
Quran to mean yokes around the neck. And this is chapter 36,
verse eight, as if to say that rancor dwells in a hard bound to
rancor and treasure in treachery. rancor is a pungent emotion that
is rooted in being extremely angry at a person to the point that one
wishes harm to come to him or her. But the ultimate victim of rancor
is its carrier. For this reason believers pray or Lord forgive us
and our brethren who came before us in faith and do not place onto
our hearts, rancor. For those who believe. For those who believe our
Lord you are kind and compassionate. One of the great
blessings of Paradise is that God will completely remove any
semblance of rancor from one's heart. So you know, again, to hate
someone so much that you actually intentionally will evil to them or
that harm come to them. It's, it's B, you know, it's more than just
dislike, right we can dislike someone be annoyed by someone.
But hatred where you really wish that something terrible happens to
someone. This is rancor, and even a model that says that if a person
feels rancor toward a particular person, he should show that person
goodwill by nature, people are naturally inclined to love those
who do good. So the treatment is to really fight yourself. I mean,
one of the there's so many examples of people who overcome
feelings of anger, or even justified hatred. For example, a
person that it comes to mind is His name is Dr. Abdullah ammonium
jet mood. He's the brother whose son died he was a pizza delivery
man I think was a couple of years ago. He was a Muslim. So I had
dinos His name is a young man he was killed. And this brother
mashallah his father, I mean, imagine, you know, someone killed
your son in an act of robbery, you know,
you know, pizza delivery guy does not that much money, but it seems
so justified to be angry, right and to hate the murder of your
son. But Subhanallah in court, he actually forgave his son's murder,
and you know, and hugged him, embraced him. He had like the
judge in tears, you know, everybody, but he said it was
because of his faith. He did it actually for the young man,
because he said, in our faith, if, you know, if the one who's been
wronged, doesn't forgive, then God will not forgive. So that type of
magnanimity and, you know, to overcome that type of hatred,
there are people who can do that. So then how petty is it for
someone to, you know, have rancor for someone for something so, you
know, trivial that usually is the case, right? I didn't like the way
they you know, they didn't invite me to this or, you know, they they
did this to me that, but it's not something like this, but this is
murder, you know, of your child. So, if there are people who can
overcome, you know, Justified Anger like that, and then be so
generous and magnanimous and certainly we have a lot of work to
do, right. So think about people like that, but that's the type of
goodwill that you want to have for people that you really try to
force your heart to make the offer them to wish them well their
families well, and Inshallah, as you continue to do that Allah will
remove that hatred from your heart. And just to remember that,
you know,
whatever injustice is that you
may feel have been done to toward that will be addressed, you know,
nothing is forgotten. So sometimes we don't, you know, we don't
remember that almost part of this, you know going to take us to
account for everything. And that's what the Day of Judgment is for.
So, if not in this dunya just think of the next world you know,
but have that faith and your pain that everything will be addressed.
So you don't need to be a rancorous person, a vindictive
person, a vengeful person who's you let go of those feelings
because they do more harm to you. And they say more about your you
know what you're lacking spiritually by even having those
feelings.
So let go and really force yourself to work on that like I
need to just stop thinking about this person, move on with my life
and know and trust that my Lord will handle them. You know, at
some point whether he chooses to forgive them or not, that's
entirely his decision.
Okay, so we can go on to boasting and arrogance on page 110
is a big one.
So read from the poem bursting is counted among these peculiar
polarities. It is defined as your praising yourself for good
qualities. You should deem it vertiginous mountain as
insignificant, by which I mean of course arrogance. Do this if you
desire it to collapse to the ground. Do that by knowing your
Lord and knowing yourself. For whoever knows these two is humbled
and feels insignificant. The station of arrogance negates the
station of gratitude such as humility, by its nature engenders
gratitude, avoid and beware of humiliation and loneliness, in
fact, display pride with the fluent and arrogant one. So Malmo
mode speaks next about Pfeffer, which is the loathsome practice of
boasting exceptionally odious is the practice of bragging about
what one has not done or exerted any effort toward, like bragging
about one's ancestry and borrowing from some past nobility. Boasting
is a problematic behavior that universally evokes objection and
is considered a spiritual disease. No one likes a boaster, one who
walks with a swank and swagger and one who cannot be in the company
of other people without speaking about Himself, or drawing
attention to what he has done. God Himself reveals his dislike of
bragging, God does not love the arrogant and boasting ones. And
again, this should really for our generation, and our children's
generation, we have to kind of,
you know, really
make this message very clear, because it's everywhere. Now the
culture that is around us is one of constant boasting and showing
off and displays. And if we don't, we're not, you know, mindful of do
we do it? Or do we participate in it? You know, for ourselves, and
what can we expect for our children and what they're gonna go
through, right? If it's so rampant now, it's everywhere. Now, what's
going to happen in the next 510 years? Because it's, it's
everywhere, and especially with youth, it's a big issue now with a
lot of youth, especially on social media, that their real aim is to
just, you know, brag about whatever they can to try to get
the attention and notoriety that they all seek because it's about
money, right? It's about fame. It's about money. And how do you
do that you got to have some talents, some skill, something to
show off. And so they it's so normalized. And that's the issue.
It's so normal everywhere. So I feel like we really need to
revisit this with our children often, to never fall into this.
We're on page 111.
Even moded mentions the force behind the culture of boasting,
namely arrogance, right?
With arrogance, what is alluded to is glorification and
aggrandizement of the self.
So it's the core reason why someone boasts is because they
think themselves something right. And arrogance is when you think of
yourself better than other people. So you boast to basically seal
that right? It's like here, I'm going to tell you why I'm better
than you I come from this family or I have this much wealth or I
went to this school, I completed this program, you know, it's in
some people, you know, they do it subtly that it's not necessarily
so outward. But if it's something where you even feel the need to
bring attention to any accomplishments or things that
you've done in an indirect way, there's still an element of
boasting there, right? Could be something you know,
Again, passively mentioned, but if it's if the intention is to gain,
you know, renown, right, that was a previous disease that we covered
that people know something about you or think something about you
or you know, or that you just leave them feeling worse about
themselves. And clearly this is a root problem, you have arrogance,
and you're, you'd like to make that impact. You know, when you're
with people you like that impact of just showing that you have, you
know, something better than them, or that you are better than them.
And then he goes on to describe that the most villainous beings in
history were filled, filled with arrogance and false pride. Satan
for around the opponents of the prophesy said, I'm in many
nefarious nefarious tyrants since. So it's like, that's who you are
behaving like, you know, that's not a deterrent, I don't know what
it is, like, you know, this is these are the things that people
like, you know, again, so that I own and all the enemies of Islam,
and, you know, against the problems of Saddam shaped on these
are their qualities, to be boastful to have false pride. So
it should, you know, be that should be a deterrent as well that
we don't engage in that behavior, because we don't want to be
associated with people like that.
And then the roles are sort of warned, right, that anybody who
has even an atom's weight of arrogance in their heart will not
enter paradise. It's another deterrence like, arrogance,
boasting, these are qualities that will, you know, turn you away from
from Allah and from Paradise, I will divert my signs from those
who show arrogance. Without right, this is, you know, almost five
that is again, warning us that he will turn away from us.
So many more ideas and Hadith that, again, speak of how detested
this quality is.
And then there are different types. So this is also really
important, because arrogance can manifest in so many different
ways. So it's important to be able to see it for what it is. The
first type is when a person deems himself superior to others a metal
was that he said people of knowledge, are in great danger of
arrogance than anyone else. This is because the knowledge they have
attained may lead them to feelings of superiority.
So, you know, the people who again,
turn other people away, because they deem themselves you know,
better. You know, and I've seen this many times, people have
complained to me about feeling that way, coming into the masjid
space, or, you know, attending certain events, they feel that
there are people who kind of, you know, just treat them differently,
because maybe they're not dressed a certain way, or they don't know
certain things, or they're not at a certain level. And that, you
know, what happens to those people, they don't want to come
back, right? They don't, you know, these are people who turn, you
know, people away. So it's very dangerous, but that's a delusional
state to be in to think that, you know,
that I am better because, you know, I've been wearing hijab
longer, or I have, you know, I've went and studied abroad and I know
this and I know that so you should just listen to me. And you know,
if you start treating people, you know, like that, that way then as
I said, it's a delusional state because stuff for a while you're
actually proving that you're far worse than them. Because you lack
the main quality of a believer, one of the main qualities which is
humility, right. So you're, it's, you're actually getting, it's the
complete opposite message. So the second type of arrogance is in
displaying contempt and scorn towards others. Once a man saw an
old woman calling to the prophesy said I'm in a boisterous manner.
Yet the problem lies and I'm stopped to speak with her showing
no sign of annoyance. When the man saw the process seems calm
reaction, he said, Mohamed Salah ism is a man unlike the king of
other lands, it is a marvel how some people act arrogantly because
of their perceived piety. While the prophesy said the best of
creation remains the same thing. Humility is what sets the believer
and the best of you know of people from from others. If you lack that
basic quality, no matter how good you think you are.
You're, you're delusional, right. The third type of arrogance
relates to lineage in some cultures. If one is aware of his
high birth, he is obliged to behave nobly. The Arabs manifested
this if a man was born into a clan known for generosity, it was
mandatory for him to be generous. One of the blights of many
societies is racism, people feel an act superior simply because of
their race. The Quran nullifies false claims of superiority and
states that the only rank that matters related related to one's
relationship relates to one's relationship with God. Indeed, the
most honorable
View in the sight of God or the most God fearing of you, surely
God is all knowing, all aware. So you know, if you think that your
lineage, your race, your background, your, you know,
high economic status, whatever it is that you were born into, give
you superiority over others, this is a form of clear arrogance. And
unfortunately, it is a problem in many parts of the Muslim world,
right, we do have a caste system in parts of the Muslim world.
But race definitely plays a part of it, the color of one's skin can
play a part of it in parts of the Muslim world, where you are
considered better than others, just by virtue of your skin color.
So this is obviously, you know, an effective colonialism, but it's
definitely still prevalent in many parts of the Muslim world. So
these are all would fall under that, you know, just thinking that
you're superior for that, for those reasons alone. No, none of
that matters. It's all about your, again, your relationship with
Allah subhana, Allah is the only thing that sets people apart in
terms of superiority over others.
And then he kind of he goes into the treatments, but
let's go through the rest of the, the types of arrogance. So if you
skip a page, we'll come back to the treatments on page 114, he
goes into the fourth type of arrogance. So the fourth type of
arrogance is that which is only owing to beauty, right, the
curious to realize that beauty can be the most illusory of things,
social conditioning impacts our sense of beauty more than any
would admit, this is also a big problem. In today's world, vanity,
you know, beauty is exploited. beauty standards are, you know,
very, very narrow. And if you happen to fall into those
standards, you're considered the elite of the elite, and treated
differently. By popular society by everybody, people just really, you
know, ingratiate themselves, towards people who they have, who
they think have power, right. And so there is a certain power that
beautiful people have, they have privilege, they can get things
done, they can, you know, have mobility in whatever field they're
in. I mean, there's, you know, all these jokes and stuff, but it's
true, they can even get out of trouble, you know, in like not
getting, you know, with law, for example, you know, not having to
be as responsible as other people. So there is a certain sense of
power that we've given, whether we're aware of or not to people
who have
a certain standard of, or who meet the standard of beauty that is
socially accepted right now. Because obviously, it changes and
it changes based on where you are, but here in the West, we have
certain standards of beauty. But if you do happen to have those,
this is what you're vulnerable to, you're vulnerable to falling into
vanity, first and foremost, arrogance, right. And then, you
know, becoming abusive with that with that power that you have,
where you just start looking at people by those, you know, in that
way, where you look down at them, because they're not as beautiful
as you are. And, and you're very much aware of your power. And you
see this happen all the time, a lot of celebrities, a lot of
people who are again, praised for their beauty, the way that they
speak about other people or behave towards other people
is, is very clear that they have arrogance, right, they don't me,
you can see it, if you just follow some of these influencers in these
fashion, you know, people in fashion, they definitely carry
themselves as if they're better, right. And they wear certain brand
names, and they look down at people who don't dress a certain
way. It's just a clear issue that you can see.
The fifth type of arrogance is that which stems from having
wealth, the affluent are notorious for showing contempt for those of
lesser means. This is not to say that all wealthy people exhibit
this disease. There are generous men and women who recognize the
source and responsibility of wealth, however, they tend to be
the exception. So again, if you have wealth and you only, you
know, socialize with people and your status and you don't really,
you know, you're not open to going in or to having relationships with
people who, who are not of the same status. Or just, you know,
you're just the way that you you,
you carry yourself the way that you walk around the way that you
you know, the places you go to. A lot of it has to do with you know,
how you think of yourself if you refuse to eat at a certain
restaurant, for example, because it's not to your standard, right
or you don't stay in certain hotels or cities or you just don't
visit you know certain places because you think it's beneath you
or
or below you. It's likely because you know, you come from a high
provisional life. And that's what you're used to. So you might not,
you know, outwardly or say those things, but it might be something
in your mind that you you need to deal with, in terms of do you look
down on people? Or do you think you are better than other people?
Right?
The sixth type of arrogance is based on physical strength, a very
strong a strong man, once a personal broseley, seven
challenged him to wrestle the process of them agreed. And the
process of him threw him down to the ground twice, the man was
astounded and declared, I've never been thrown to the ground, his
arrogance had been rooted in his personal strength, which he
thought none could match. Again, when it comes to vanity and looks,
this is also another area where you see a lot of, you know, people
focusing on, you know, going into the gym bulking up.
You know, and I think in more maybe, in, you know, among men,
this is an issue of physical, you know, strength and displaying
their strength walking around a certain way. But it is a form of
arrogance, if you do think that men who are not as athletic, or,
you know, can't do as many sit ups and push ups as you can, are, are
lesser than you, right. And there are some men who believe that they
look down on other men when it comes to their athletic abilities,
because they perceive themselves as stronger and therefore better.
So it's a form of arrogance. And again, it's, it's something that
is so pervasive in our society that people don't even wouldn't
even maybe recognize it as an issue, like, what's the big deal,
he worked hard for it, you know, he goes to the gym, he's
committed, but it's more the attitude that one has, because
you, you know, any blessing that all as part of that has given you,
you have to not attribute it to yourself. So when you start, you
know, attributing it to yourself, you have you create, you increase
in arrogance, and then you also look at other people as though
they aren't as good as you, because if they were, they would
match you somehow, right? So you're forgetting that, you know,
almost father is the one who distributes, right. And he, if
he's given you an advantage or something, it's from him. And if
he's withheld that from other people, that's also from him, but
not to, you know, make it a matter of you versus them, because that's
when your ego gets in the way, and you become arrogant. And then you
start abusing and you know, mistreating people, or just
looking down at them, even again, if this is these are thoughts you
have internally, you don't necessarily have to speak to
people a certain way, or treat them a certain way, you could just
think these things. So that's the other part of arrogance that we
have to be mindful of is the thoughts that you have in your own
head. So if you again, have a vanity issue where you're
beautiful, or you, you're strong, and you see someone who's not
attractive, and weak and maybe out of shape, do you look down on
them? You know, do you look at them with disgust and repulsion? A
lot of people who who have these, you know, they do, that's just a
fact.
The seventh type of arrogance is due to possessing an abundance of
something, an example of this as a teacher having many students and
thus regarding himself as being better than the other teachers who
have fewer students. The same is true with those who boast of
having many friends, especially those in so called high places.
This is actually pretty relevant when it comes to our again world
today with social media, right? There are people who definitely
look to themselves, you know, and see how many followers they have,
how much how many, how much social media influence they have, as a
means of being better, you know, as a means of more be more
popular, I have more friends or I have, again, more friends in high
places. I know more celebrities, or I know, you know,
people with power. Therefore, I'm better. And again, like I said,
these aren't things that someone has to necessarily verbalize. It's
just their own internal thoughts. But if you have these thoughts,
it's a sign of Kibet. It's a sign of arrogance.
The eighth type of arrogance is linked to having knowledge. This
type of arrogance is particularly insidious, since knowledge is a
great honorable matter. However, our knowledgeable person may
become deluded into believing himself to be superior over
others, due to the veneration shown to him. So again, if you're
someone who was given knowledge to and this doesn't have to be
necessarily religious knowledge, but in any capacity if you just
have a brilliant mind, and there are mashallah many brilliant
people amongst us in our community, you know, who are good
in their studies and
You've advanced because of their intellects. But if your intellect
leads you to again, think of yourself as better than other
people. And you look down on them as being dumb or just, you know,
below you and beneath your intelligence, then you'll treat
them a certain way you talk to certain people differently, you
treat, you know, you don't have the same rapport with them, that
you would maybe someone that you deem as intellectually superior,
or at least to the same level. So it's a very, you know, again,
common type of arrogance, because especially in our area that we
live in, there's high success people, people who've, you know,
really done a lot in terms of personal accomplishments. So they
can fall into this easily where they do start to look down on
people of different social status or class or, because, well, you
know, I've done so much I've been when that's the root cause of
arrogance is that it's all about AI, and you attribute it your,
your, you know, gifts or blessings or skills or whatever to yourself.
And that's why it's so dangerous.
So these various eight qualities may sow the seeds of arrogance,
God created humanity and has bestowed human beings with more
blessings than he has given the rest of his creation. However,
blessings are coupled with responsibility. The intellectual
and volitional capacities of humankind are great
responsibilities. So, you know, just remembering that everything
Allah subhanaw taala has given us, you know, all those blessings,
they also come with a certain, you know, expectation from us, that
we, you know, distribute, for example, if we have wealth, we
share that wealth if we have knowledge, we share our knowledge,
you know, and we do good with whatever else Pathan has given us
but if there, it's just a matter of, you know,
using those things for your own benefit, and then also attributing
those things to you to yourself, then clearly, you're arrogant and
you need to work on this.
On page 115, Mr. Mohammed says that the key to avoiding or
removing this disease is to know yourself, your origins, and your
ultimate return. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said,
I am the best of the children of Adam, and I am not boasting. His
honor was entirely based on his servitude to God, the Exalted, not
on wealth, lineage, power or authority. Whoever is humbled for
the sake of God, God elevates and rank hardiness and gratitude
cannot coexist in one vessel. God increases in goodness those who
are grateful, the station of arrogance invites only
humiliation. And then he goes on to say in my mode would says
humility, by nature leads to gratitude for one one is humbled
before God, the Exalted only then does one see the vast mercy God
bestows upon His creation, even upon liars and disbelievers.
So, you know, again, just realizing that
by knowing who you are, knowing the origins, where you came from,
where you're returning and that, ultimately, you know, everything
comes from ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada. And being mindful of that, this is
how you can get rid of this disease of the heart and invite
more humility to your heart, which leads to gratitude.
When he goes on to to say, talk about moderation, right to that we
should, when we're being humble, we should, you know, have
humility, but not to the point where it leads to us being
humiliated, and know the difference, right? That, you know,
humility before Allah subhanaw taala is virtuous, and we should
have that humility before His creation, but we should certainly
not let ourselves be a beast in front of others, right and
mistreated or humiliated before people. So that's the last and
final section where he talks about that.
Alright, so we are on page 117. We're gonna continue with
displeasure with blame.
Read from the poem. displeasure with blame is a well known disease
of the heart concerned with people's opinions and desiring
their praise and displeasure at their criticisms are a barrier
from achieving the station of excellence in worship. overcoming
that barrier is through the realization that there is no
benefit or harm, unless it comes from God, the possessor of all
dominion, exalted and majestic, is he? Furthermore, what is
prohibited from this disease is what leads to the prohibited just
as you might have, Azadi has elaborated. The perfection of
sincerity is that you do not give notice to any praise or blame
that emanates from people. So this disease, the next diseases is
pleasure with blame. Blame is not something that people naturally
embrace, it runs against human nature to love it. However, the
problem occurs when fear of blame is coupled with the urgent desire
for praise and approval by others, which is often the case, being
concerned with creations opinion places a barrier between a person
and the station of sand excellence in worship. So, you know, this is
something I think I personally, we see it a lot, because people are
no longer willing to put themselves on the line to speak
up, right against injustices, or things that are wrong, because
there's gonna be repercussions on them, right, especially, maybe at
work, for example, or socially or wherever, so people are too
worried about being, you know, you know, looked down upon or, you
know, ostracized, treated differently somehow. So, what that
does is it, it makes them, you know, not speak up when, when they
should, and, and it can cause, you know, serious harm. Because if we
all become, you know, just silent observers of injustice, and we're
not willing to have the courage to speak up, then what's going to
happen to our world, right? We have to have people who are
willing to not care about how people see them, or you know,
about being liked by people, as long as they're speaking the
truth, which is what the prophets did, right? Many of the prophets,
they were not liked, and they were not, you know, they were turned
away, they were ostracized, they were, you know, punished by their
own people, because they spoke the truth, but they weren't consumed
by being liked, that was not their priority, that, Oh, I have to
have, you know, I have to be popular, and I have to have
people, you know, liking me or liking what I have to say, I am,
you know, a person who speaks the truth. And, you know, I'm speaking
the words of God. And that's all that matters. So that's what we as
believers also have to have, we have to have that same mindset
that I have to speak the truth. And if that means not being liked,
and not being popular, it's okay. If I have to take a hit socially,
and I might not have a lot of followers or I lose friends along
the way, as long as I'm speaking the truth, then I'm, you know, it,
you know, and again, you know, the way you say certain things is
important, you can't just, you know, edit, there's etiquette, and
there's you know, decorum and there's a way of properly speaking
about issues. So we have to have all of that, but not to run from
the truth, because you don't want to be perceived as someone you
know, who's politically incorrect or socially, you know, just, you
know, which, which I think is what preoccupies way too many people.
So, if you go on to the next page,
on page 118, and this is where, you know, we're talking now about
the Sahaba, around the province and the companions of the province
ism exemplified complete loyalty to the ethics of Islam. Many times
they were confronted with having to make decisions that would evoke
displeasure among the people and tribes around Medina. But
nevertheless, this is the decisions they chose to make were
in accordance to the teachings of the province lies to them, the
more that one worries about how one's decisions will be received
by people, the thicker the veil becomes with regard to God and His
guidance. So again, it comes down to your priorities, if your
priority is the pleasure of Allah subhanaw, taala, above everybody
and everything else, then this won't be an issue for you. But if
you're too worried about how people see you, and how, like, you
know, like you are, then it's going to make you compromise your
beliefs. And that's the bottom line. And this is what we're
seeing is a lot of people have compromised their beliefs, you
know, they don't speak up anymore. There's a lot of Hot Topic topics
right now, you know, politically, that people just stay away from
because it's like, if I say something, oh, you know, I'm going
to hear it from so and so. I'm not going to be invited to so and so's
you know, whatever party this year, they're not going to like
me. You know, if you're, if that's your priority, then okay, but if
your priority is almost part of his pleasure, then you don't care
about them. And so,
on the second paragraph right there, when people give up in
joining what is right or even admitting that there are absolute
and objective values which are not subject to the whims of mankind
than evil spreads, and this is what we're seeing. All throughout
our society we're seeing evil, become normalized and become
accepted and becoming
Become popularized because people are afraid to speak up, they're
afraid to talk about, you know, like to morally object to things,
you can't even mention morality anymore, you're looked down as
what's wrong with you, you know, religion, God, all of these things
have been kind of, you know, taken off it take, you know, erased from
from from the conversations, right? Because you can't even
reference them if you reference these things you're looked on as
being that weird religious nut, you know, in the office or at
school or whoever. But, again, what is your priority? Let them
think that of you if you're speaking the truth, and you're
objecting to something that's wrong. You know, for example, when
they had a couple of years ago, the Fremont School District,
wanted to introduce certain topics, you know, to young
children, about blended families and different types of families,
which included certain families that many religious people
objected, objected to sharing that knowledge too early, because it
wasn't appropriate for the kindergarten, and, you know,
elementary school level, we don't want children to be exposed to
these concepts too early. It's just not, you know, let us have
those conversations in our own time with our own children when we
have to, why are you introducing that? There were a handful of, you
know, religious people from different backgrounds. Who went
but I did, I had a friend who was in that she lives in Fremont. And
she was like, really frustrated, cuz she wanted, she was like,
where are all the Muslims? There's so many Muslims in Fremont. Right?
It's like, heavily, you know, there's a big population of
Muslims. Why are they showing up to these school meetings and
protesting and saying, Hey, we object to having this, you know,
taught too early there, you know, there were a handful that showed
up. But her point was, it wasn't enough. And likely, it's because
again, what we're talking about here, people are too afraid of
their image, their reputations are afraid of socially compromising
themselves with their co workers, neighbors, peers, so they don't
speak up even in when it's warranted. You know, if you really
think do young children need to learn certain topics, too early.
And Shouldn't those taught? Shouldn't those topics be had, you
know, in with their family, right? It's a very private issue. And
each family should be able to dictate how to frame that
conversation. But if the school is introducing it, and they're kind
of forcing it upon young children, shouldn't we feel like we have the
right to speak up. So what would hold someone from even wanting to
attend?
It's because we've lost again, this, you know, focus of establish
the truth, stand up for truth. And be more concerned about a lot of
hard data, then what the people will say. And if you do that,
almost, that will give you total fear. But if you don't, and you
continue to cower, and you continue to be afraid, and you
continue to put what other people think of you before Allah subhanaw
taala, then you will be you will see that in manifest as evil
spreads. And you'll also be held accountable for your part in that.
And that's what we're seeing too many silent observers, and not a
lot of people who are advocating anymore, even within our own
community. Yes.
No, that's an excellent point. And that you're absolutely right,
because that's the agenda, you know, blend us all together. It's
all about inclusivity, and diversity, and we're all one but
at the end of the day, if you're, you know, not every message on
their, you know, agenda aligns with your faith, you have to be at
least willing to call those things out instead of just capitulating
out of fear, like, oh, I don't want to be the odd one out, or I
don't want to look ungrateful, like for their support? No, you're
just being an honest person that says, you know, like you said,
Thank you, you know, for your consideration. However, this
doesn't mean that I am 100% endorsing your way, right, or your
lifestyle choices, you know, I still reserve the right to
maintain my faith and my ethics and my values. And I shouldn't be
expected to, you know, give all of that up, for the sake of
inclusivity. And for the sake of, you know, political advancement,
which is part of you know, the agenda which is yet to blur all of
that for people and emotionally sort of confuse you, so that you
feel like you're it's an almost act of betrayal. If you speak up,
no, be a person of truth and conviction, but still, as you
said, you know, be choice with your words. Be responsible in how
you articulate yourself. You don't have to be rude, you don't have
to, you know, do anything. I
Um, you know, extreme, but at least be principle to speak for
the truth. You know, and that's what I think we're seeing, as I
said, we're just not, we're not seeing it as much anymore. There
was a time where I think people are much more proud and vocal of
their faith, and they could speak up about it. And not just Muslims.
I'm talking.
Everybody really, people of faith have coward. Now you don't see
them coming out and speaking about their face. You know, like I said,
to mention, God is considered weird and society now because so
many people are faithless, they don't really believe anymore, or
they just you know, they it's so private, that you just don't talk
about it publicly. But why? Why is that? Okay, is my question, why is
it okay? To take God out of the conversation, but then we can talk
about all these other topics. To me, that's where you have to say
that's, that's their religion, you know what I mean? So their
religion, it's forced upon us, and we have to not only welcome it
with open arms, but we have to endorse it. But when it comes to
our faith, we have to hide it. That's wrong. Right? That's wrong,
and we shouldn't buy into that.
And then here, like in the same paragraph, towards the end of
earthly time, the world will be virtually without witnesses to
truth. And truth itself will be scarce, no one will defend it. We
all develop God protect us from that. But you know, I look to
what's going on now. And I'm already seeing it. But I think
about the future like what, what's going to happen in 1015 20 years
for our children, is anybody going to defend Islam at all, or we're
just gonna, quietly
I don't know, I don't know what's gonna happen.
Humanity has the right to have among us witnesses to the truth,
those who are willing to defend the truth no matter how unpopular
it may be.
And so, on the last paragraph, according to the amount of money
with overcoming the fear of blame is achieved, through realizing
that there is no benefit or harm except by God's permission and
plan. So stop giving people power over you to dictate what you do
and what you don't do, because Harm and benefit only come from
Allah subhanho data. So if you're worried that oh, by saying this,
something harm is going to come to you, from the people, then you're
removing this reality, that no harm doesn't come from the people
there. If, if they're just a means, but the source, if that is
the case would be Allah subhanaw taala. Same with the benefit,
right, so get like be more clear that only He
dictates these things.
This should sound familiar added, as it is the recommended cure for
many of the diseases discussed so far, two of God's most excellent
names are the giver of benefit, an affair and the bringer of harm
above. These attributes are specific to God alone, no one else
possesses them in the least, it is only God who can benefit and only
he who can permit harm. If a person is worried about how others
receive him, then he is not aligned with reality. And you
know, this beautiful hadith is also very healing. According to a
hadith, the prophesy centum said, to have an ibis, he said, be
mindful of God, and God will protect you. Be mindful of God and
you will find him in front of you. If you ask ask of God, if you seek
help, seek help from God, know that if the whole nation were to
gather together to benefit you with anything, it would benefit
you only with something that God had already prescribed for you.
And if the whole nation were to gather together to harm you, it
would harm you only with something that God had already prescribed
for you, the pens have been lifted and the ink has dried.
So just a really good reminder that everything our source, our
you know, first default, for needs for protection for seeking
anything should always be Allah Subhana. Because ultimately, He's
the source of all good. And if any, you know, tests are tested in
any way, he's also the source, but to have that awareness constantly.
So that way the people are removed from the equation. And when you
remove people from the equation, it makes you more real makes you
more sincere, makes you more authentic. And you you know,
you're more aligned with reality, but if you always are worried
about, you know, again, how you're perceived by people, what other
people say, with regards to anything you're bound by that you
see it's like a
an anchor or a chain around your ankle that just will always drag
you down.
And so free yourself from that, and you'll find that you'll make
decisions more much more, you know, just truthfully or sincerely
because it's for Allah subhanaw taala.
And then it goes on this does not mean that one should be reckless
with his or her safety, nor doesn't mean that one should not
take precautions. So, you know, be wise, there's, you know, when
you're speaking the truth, you have to do it, it's a delicate
matter. So you have to, you know, be good at, you know, making sure
that you relay your message properly, you don't compromise
your safety, the safety of your family, Don't be careless and
reckless, but P A person who was principled and not afraid, because
that's really the issue with this, that you're not afraid of what
people will say or how they'll think of you, you realize
everything comes from Allah. But if you are worried about the
displeasure of people or with or being blamed, and then it's a
disease of the heart, you shouldn't, you should want to rid
yourself of them.
And then the last paragraph, there is just a warning about what
happens if you don't, you know, remove this disease. Yamamoto says
that the inordinate fear of blame can lead a person to engage in
prohibited matters or to neglect obligations. If one worries about
how people receive Him when He practices his faith, this can
prevent him from performing obligations. Perfect example, you
know, there's I've talked to several people who come to me and
say, I have a problem with prayers, I can't complete all of
them. Because I work in an environment where you know, people
are sometimes, you know, so I asked them, Did you have you
asked, you know, your supervisor for a room, I'm just a little shy,
you know, to ask them, and so they ended up praying all their
prayers, either at home, why just have that strength you have, we
have religious rights, first of all, which is a great blessing,
right? You can't be discriminated against for your faith. But a lot
of people are so afraid of being known as that Muslim in the
company, or identified as you know, whatever, that they won't
even ask, this is cowardice. Right? Put your you know, if if
that person if you lose your job, that's not you know, a less part
that is the one who allowed that to happen. But if you're thinking
that by asking, I'm gonna lose my job, you see where the disconnect
is, you're attributing it to the wrong source. So have the courage
and the bravery to say, I need to pray five times a day, this is a
priority for me. So I'm going to go ask my supervisor, my manager
and tell them, I'll take some time off on my lunch, my break, I'm not
asking for special special privileges, I just need a space
that I can pray safely. And to see what happens and half the time,
you know, I've done it, I've had to do it. They're so happy to
accommodate you, they really are, it's all in our own heads, that we
think they're gonna, you know, look down on us. But you know, you
might run into someone who's not very nice, but hamdulillah that's
why you should know your rights. And you should, you know, fight
for your own rights and say, I have the right to, to you know,
you can't stop me from doing this. And use your time wisely. But
there's ways around him that my issue or the issue is when people
have
that fear, you know, to even ask, this is very serious because now
you're not even performing your prayers on time. All because of
the fear of not being you know, treated a certain way or liked or
losing your job. The fear of blame interferes with faith deeds that
are done for the sake of God cannot share other intentions,
namely pleasing people or seeking their favor. Doing something for
the sake of God as a manifestation of strong faith. Whether one
receives praise or not from anyone should be entirely
inconsequential. So hamdulillah
All right. We're doing pretty good on time. Hmm.
All right, let's go to antipathy toward death.
Let me just quickly pull up my notes. I forgot I have some
some notes here.
So make sure I'm not forgetting anything here.
Okay, so there's actually a term for people who have like, a fear
or dread around the topic of death. It's called Fana to phobia.
Okay, so you know, this is actually I'm sorry, I jumped
ahead. Let's read the verses first before I
Get into that discussion. So antipathy towards death is when
one flees from it and becomes annoyed when it is even mentioned,
as if he is completely ignorant of God's statement that each soul
soul shall taste death. This is reckoned to be among the diseases
of the heart. So we contend with what God the Exalted has decreed,
but if one detests death, not for its own sake, nor for the loss of
pleasures that it entails, but rather out of fear of being cut
off from preparing for the day of judgment by obeying God more than
it is not blameworthy. Also, if one completely entrust his affair
to his master, whatever He wills either causing him to drop dead or
giving him respite, its content, it contends him. Both of these
attitudes towards death are condemned herbal or commendable,
excuse me, and praiseworthy either way, disliking the reality of
death in no way distances you from its proximity. The one who
constantly remembers death is ennobled with contentment with his
hearts activities directed towards obedience. And with prompt
repentance. When wrongs occur. The one who is heedless of death is
afflicted with the opposite of all three. So again, this, you know,
disgust or fear loathing of death. It's called sanative. Phobia.
Okay, so it's really just anytime death has mentioned, it just
repels you, and you want to not talk about it. And I've definitely
had this happen several times. You know, again, we're living in a
society that glorifies youth and condemns anything has to do with
aging, natural aging, or death. It's hidden away from our society
a lot any, you know, messages around, you know, one's death is
considered morbid dark, like, why would you even talk about death,
you can't freely talk about it in a society without, you know, kind
of looking looked at as weird. So, naturally, you know, people have,
you know, developed,
just repulsion to it. But for the believer, it's the opposite,
right? We don't have, we shouldn't have that same attitude towards
death. Because we don't look at death as an end. Right. For people
who don't have faith, or people whose faith doesn't really talk
about death as much as ours does. It's natural to think it would
just, it's an end. And it's it's like, that's, I don't want to
think about that. Because that's too sad or to, you know, it's just
painful to even think about. So let's go there. But for the
believer, we look at death as a transition, it's just, you know,
it's closer, it's a step closer to the Asherah, which is not, which
is where we all want to be. So we don't look at it as something, you
know, negative or bad. It's just a reality, every single person will
die. So we kind of have a more pragmatic view of it, right.
But let's read the discussion here. antipathy towards death is
considered a disease of the heart, it refers to a strong aversion to
death to the point that it's mere mention causes consternation. Such
a person email mode says is in denial of the reality, right,
every social tastes death.
If you skim a little further down, nowadays, death is usually
considered a morbid topic that is uncouth to discuss. And when it is
discussed, it is often turned into some deadline, before which people
are supposed to squeeze in all their life's pleasures, right? The
bucket list, we all know what the bucket list is. So this is the
only time where it's okay to mention it, you know, that Oh,
before I, you know, go on my bucket list is this, this and this
and it's all about just enjoying life. And and you know, getting as
much as you can out of your every moment here on Earth.
The Muslims view should be completely different, to speak
about death is to speak about life, and the urgency to live a
faithful and wholesome life before death overtakes us. So our view of
speaking about death is not to necessarily focus on death itself,
but to be in such a constant state of remembrance of death, that it
compels us to be more mindful of God and to fulfill our obligations
to take life seriously, to treat the people in our lives well with
love, and to take ourselves into account. Right, this is why we
remember death. So if people if you know people who are just like
shut down, they likely don't do those things. And that's why the
mention of death is troubling for them. Because they're not, you
know, thinking on that deep level, about their life and, you know,
their own mortality. And what that means in the, in the bigger scheme
of things. They're focused more on the now or they're focused so much
on their love of the dunya Herbert dunya, right, which is all about
pleasure and you know, just looking for every opportunity to
you know, gain more material wealth or experiences or travel or
you
You are just all fulfilling, you know, your, your carnal desires,
that's sort of a duty as all. It's very, you know, related to that.
So when you think of death, it's the end of that, isn't it? And
that's why if I have a love of life, because I love to, you know,
consume,
why would I even want to think about the end of that, right.
But if I am aware of my purpose, that almost had that a created me
for a reason. And that death is looming over my head literally
every minute of every day, and I don't know, when that moment will
come, then that makes me take my life more seriously. Which doesn't
mean you can't have fun. And you can't be a person who you know,
who's light and has invites levity into their lives, no, be a person
who, but everything has a time and a place. And that's certainly
certainly shouldn't be your purpose, right, is to look for
entertainment, and amusement, and laughter and you know, fun, fun,
fun, fun. That's not the reason why you were created, but you can
have moments of that. Right? So just finding that balance.
So, you're for the believer, there's comfort and death for the
believer is taken from an abode of difficulty and trial, to one of
peace and unfathomable freedom. In Islam, the mourning period is
short and should not be prolonged. The irony of extending the
mourning period is that doing so is rooted in excessive love of
dunya. The more one covets this world, the greater the sense of
loss when a loved one dies. So that's actually pretty powerful.
Because it's a great way of coping with loss, we're going to
experience loss in this world, we will, some of us will have to bury
our parents, some of us may, God forbid, may have to bury our
children, or other loved ones, may Allah protect us from that, but
whatever the case may be, if you understand that, you know, this
world is temporal, and we're all on the same trajectory, we're all
going to die, and I don't, I need to let go of, you know, my my
attachment to the mourning process or that, you know, grief, and work
on that, you know, in terms of just being surrendering to the
will of God, because I know that it's not over, right, there's more
to
our purpose than just being buried six feet under. And that's it, we
have a next chapter and that is what I'm looking forward to, and
that is eternal and sha Allah,
I have hope that I will be gathered with my loved ones, you
know, in eternal bliss, you know, that's faith. That's a man that's
having conviction in Allah subhanaw taala is that you look
always with those, you know, that that positive eye, but if you're
doubtful of whether or not you're going to see your loved one again,
and you're not so sure, and your Eman is, you know, sort of being
tested, then it prolongs the grief for you. Right? So it's just
something to consider. May Allah protect us again, you know, death
is certainly a tribulation or the loss of a loved one is is many
times
a tribulation. And here, everyone experiences the loss of a loved
one, when the prophesy son lost his son, Ibrahim, he wept but also
praised God, the source of life and death. People who have strong
faith in God and in the afterlife, afterlife tend to handle death
well, and also handle calamities and tribulations as well. So,
again, it's a measure of your faith, how you can cope with those
things, because you know, that there's more you can, you know,
gradually move on. But that's not to say you shouldn't allow
yourself to grieve, allow yourself, but don't let it
overtake you, and paralyze you from living life. You know, which
unfortunately happens to a lot of people.
And this on page 122, the second paragraph, the one who remembers
death is enabled by certain characteristics, which include
contentment and a lack of covetousness. So if you you know,
remember death instead of run from it. There's all these other
benefits that you actually start taking on really good qualities
and virtues, mainly being content and you lack covetousness you're
not you know, wanting all the time. The pros lesson said
contentment is a treasure that is never exists.
losted he also prayed, oh God provide for my family with what
suffices them and grant them contentment with it. The wealthy
soul is one that is content. This contentment is not the kind that
originates from stupidity or not knowing any better. It is
contentment that is informed by knowledge, and by reflection on
death and its meaning.
Second, the remembrance of death gives one energy to achieve good
deeds, wealth, and sons are the ornaments of the life of this
world, while enduring righteous deeds are better with your Lord
and reward and veteran hope. So when you remember death, often,
again, because you're starting to take your life more seriously. You
pursue good deeds more, you're actually looking to how can I, you
know, get closer to all this path data? How can I, you know, make
sure that I end in a good state, and that I, you know, am raised in
sha Allah, with, you know, in a good state, like all of that
you're preparing, you're investing in your future, because you're so
aware of these realities. So what that does is you'll become more
charitable, you'll start giving, you know, you'll do more good
deeds, you pray more, you'll read your code, and you start taking
your deeds more seriously. Because you're so aware, that death is,
you know, is imminent, and I need to take whatever time I have on
this world seriously in this world seriously. Third, the remembrance
of death and gender seeking repentance when one slips or
errors, penance, rectifies wrong action, and that is the gift of
remembering death. When one lives with his realization, he or she
becomes prompt and seeking God's forgiveness. If you're aware of
that, just I mean, ask anybody you know who you know, or who you may
have known, who, you know, was given a diagnosis of a fatal
illness? Why do those people become so much more aware of
themselves and take themselves seriously because they have that
awareness of their own death, it's like, could happen two, three
years from now four years from now, five years from now. So it
makes you someone who is less likely to you know, hurt other
people or to fall into wrong action? But if you do you at least
suffer Allah. May Allah forgive me, please, Allah forgive me. So
you become more habituated to seeking God's forgiveness more,
because again, you're so aware of death. Our problem, again, in this
world is because it's so distracting. And we do have a
false sense of security in our youth and in our health, right,
that we don't think about death anymore, that we, we just, we
become heedless, which is why this whole Coronavirus thing is so
interesting, right? Because everybody suddenly panicking. And
I think people are really, you know, they're first of all
securing themselves, you know, clearing out all of the hand
sanitizers, and soaps and wipes and everything else off the
shelves and stores. But I think I'm sure there's also more a
little bit more reflection happening about life. And, you
know, should I do this, should I not do that you start taking your
choices a little bit more seriously. You're factoring in
other people, maybe more, because in the absence, I mean of these
things, when they awaken us, to our reality, we fall into
heedlessness, and we become very self absorbed, right? Very selfish
with our choices. But suddenly, something like this happens, and
all of a sudden, people are waking up. So there is a blessing in
disguise sometimes to these things, right. And that's why we
have to just put our trust to Allah.
Okay. All right. So the hunter is going to be in okay, we still have
time. So we'll go to Oh, you have a question? Yes.
Right.
You know, I think you want to give people hope, right, especially if
they're grieving and so it's if they're a believer, Inshallah, we
should always have that hope for them and make that do offer them.
We certainly don't know where anybody's going. Nobody has that
knowledge. But if your intention is to offer that as a way of, you
know, just giving someone consolation and making them feel
better with their loss, it's not a bad thing to say, you know, in sha
Allah, may Allah give them you know, Jonathan, for those are, you
know, you can always frame it that way as a DA instead of a firm
statement. I think that's more responsible, just that that's what
you wish for them. As opposed to they are. Yeah, yeah. That's a
very western thing. Yeah. I think if Muslims are adopting that it's
a Western thing because that's it, you know, like rest in peace.
That's, that's more I think, you know, popular in this culture, but
like,
traditionally, Muslims, I think, avoid making declarative
statements, because those things are only in the knowledge of God.
You know, and we shouldn't do that about anybody. We should just hope
for you
No, thank you. It's a good point.
All right, so page 123 are now talking about obliviousness to
blessings. Among the faults of the soul is obliviousness to
blessings. Its root lies in in attentiveness to the statement,
that whatever blessings you have affirmed God, by simply
remembering this and keeping in mind other verses of admonition
such as he does not change. And if you show gratitude, then this
chronic disease can be excised from you. So this is a lack of
understanding and acknowledgement and disregard that whatever
blessings you have are from God. This is a verse in the Quran
Chapter 16 Verse 53, the blessings that come to us night and day are
beyond numeration. As the Quran reminds, these blessings come in
all forms what we can see and touch by way of material goods,
food, clothing, shelter, wealth, and the like. As well as what we
cannot see such as safety, friendship, love, health and
protection from harm and calamity. The Quran begins with a prayer
with the phrase translated as in the name of God, the Merciful The
Mercy giving, According to some scholars, merciful rush man,
refers to the giver of the major blessings while mercy giving Rahim
implies the giver of subtle blessings, which are not perceived
until they are removed. For example, we blink 1000s of times
in a day without thought. There are people however, who require
artificial lubrication because their tear glands do not function.
There are countless blessings related to the eye, let alone
other aspects of our lives, such as our ability to walk in balance
without needing to consciously stimulate dozens of muscles
required to take one step. Our thumbs permit us to do with our
hands what most creatures cannot attempt. God has made food
delicious and flavorful instead of bland, he has also given us
dignity in our nutrition, which is, which is a tremendous
blessing, especially when one considers the way carnivores
devour their prey. While we cannot count our blessings, we are
commanded to be grateful for them. So Subhanallah, I mean, all of
those things, and so much more that we unless you actually sit as
an exercise of gratitude, which some people do recommend doing
right to keep a gratitude journal, because it'll force you to
recognize the blessings of Allah, that you're given either on a
daily basis, or just, you know, since birth that you might not
even be aware of, you'll become forgetful, right, and then if that
forgetfulness
is continues, then it leads to this where you're just totally
oblivious, and you're not even you know, recognizing that, you know,
anything and everything good that we have is from Allah subhanaw
taala, the source of every blessing is from God. And that's
why it's a disease of the heart because you either don't, aren't
aware of that at all or you falsely attributed to yourself or
other people. It's like, you know, this is what it leads to when you
become oblivious, right, that you start to think of things not as
they are.
The fact that the Quran has been revealed to tell us to reflect on
these blessings is in itself a great blessing. For without
guidance, the human being cannot be on his own, determined can't
for excuse me, for without guidance, the human being cannot,
on his own, determine out how to live, to deny God's blessings can
lead to outright disbelief and denial of God, the Exalted. So
again, that's the same, you know, point that the more you continue
to be oblivious to the blessings of Allah's pride that you will
deny God eventually and that's what happens, you know, to so many
people that they
they've just erased God from their lives and their minds because they
don't attribute blessings to him at all. They don't look at their
lives or privileges, their health, their wealth, or material goods,
as coming from God. They look at it, you know, from their parents
or themselves or their bosses or whoever else has somehow impacted
their life. And so as you keep doing that, then yeah, God just
isn't in the equation anymore and you forget him and then eventually
religion and faith become irrelevant because you don't feel
like there's a need for it. And that's what we have. Now we have a
we have a you know, World of godlessness, where people are
increasingly just, they don't recognize
His blessings and then it leads to denial and disbelief. So that's
the danger of this disease.
is that this is what it leads to.
On the next page on 125,
the third paragraph there it says those who are ignorant see only
short term relief as a blessing and disregard the benefits of
patience and temporary discomfort. On the other hand, knowledge opens
the eyes to the long term benefits, which lasts forever.
So again, it's just talking about, you know, if you're aware of the
blessings in your life,
and
that, you know, you might not have everything that you want, but be
patient, right? Because patience is, is
awareness that this world, again, is temporal, it's short, I'm not
putting all my expectations here. So I'm going to be patient, you
know, with whatever God's given me or withheld from me, you have a
more realistic view of what's happening. But if you're someone
who is in denial of that, then you're looking only at short term
like immediate gratification, immediate satisfaction. And so
your lens becomes very myopic, you're just looking at the dunya.
And, and you're stuck here. So an intelligent person sees the bigger
picture and they realize that there's again,
much more beyond this realm.
There's a lot more there and then on the page 126.
How to look at the blessings in your life blessings are either
roots or branches. Roots include faith, Islam, health, safety and
well being. The branches are money, clothing, shelter, and the
like. According to the Quran, the children of Israel disputed with a
prophet among them over the choice of Saul autoroute as their king,
because he was not a man of great wealth. However, their Prophet
told them that God has given Saul knowledge and strength, which are
blessings greater than wealth. So actually seeing again, what's more
important, a root or a branch, right, branches can fall and break
easily, roots are very deep, and they hold and they have so much
more function. And they, you know, they, they're, they're really
established, right, there's, they're rooted. So, you know, to
not to see that wealth or to not have the understanding that
knowledge is above wealth, right? is, again, you know, a problem
that many people have, where they, their priorities are off, and
they're, you know, deluded by the dunya. So they don't see something
so obvious that a person who has knowledge of cod, and is aware of
their purpose is far better than someone who just has material
wealth, right? But it's inverted. Now, we're living in a world where
everything is upside down, because people are praised much more for
wealth and status, and material goods, or material wealth. They're
whatever home how big their homes are, if they have a plane, if they
have cars, you see the celebrity influence, right? Or the, you
know, influence of fame and exorbitant wealth and living
lavishly. That stuff is very praised in this culture. Whereas
people have knowledge, like teachers look at, let's look at,
you know, our teachers are given nothing practically, you know, in
terms of salary and compensation, and they do some of the hardest
work on Earth, like to actually help cultivate young minds and
prepare them for their futures. Parents have hard time dealing
with one to three children, imagine classrooms of 30 kids or
more, that you're responsible for every five days out of the week,
eight hours or more, every day, it's a huge responsibility, but we
we treat our teachers and educators as insignificant, you
know, they're just, they're not respected. And that's why you have
a collapse of authority. Right? In our society, they're not respected
anymore, and half the time, they're disciplining in their
classrooms. So knowledge is just undervalued. And then, you know,
wealth and celebrity is overvalued, and there's this
imbalance, right? It's creates this this total imbalance. So you
have to know how to see the blessings that God's given you in
there, right. You know, like context, that to have deep faith.
That's a root, right? I'd rather have that than just have something
you know, X
Sternhell like money, clothing, and the like.
So the browser someone's asked a man, do you know what the
completion of a blessing is? And the process, I'm told him entering
paradise, the best of blessings are those connected with entering
paradise, that right there, whatever blessing you have, look
at what's going to lead you to Jannah. If that's the one that you
want to value more, not other things right faith, patience, good
character, swiftness, and doing good promptness and worship are
blessings from God, and they are everlasting.
Islam itself is the completion of God's blessings upon humanity,
this day, I've perfected for you your religion, and I have
completed my blessings upon you. And I've chosen this land for you
as your religion. The ornaments of this life include houses,
furnishings, clothing, and the like, the more one acquires of
these blessings, the more he will be accountable for the process and
said that the meat dates and cool water that we consume, are of
those things we will be asked about, even the sandals on our
feet. So all of these, these are privileges, right. And this is why
we have to look again at our, the lifestyles we have, and really
realize we're not just blessed, but we're given abundance more
than most people in the world. But that abundance comes with
responsibility that we have to know we're going to be held
accountable for, right? We'll be asked about how we used those
privileges, or those, you know, our wealth or whatever we were
given where we truly grateful for those things? Or did we just kind
of expected, you know, the entitlement, which is a big
problem. Sometimes we can, we get very entitled, and we forget. And
that's why we have to teach as parents, we have to teach our
children, you know, not to take things for granted, if you cook
them a meal, and they don't want to eat it because it's not, you
know, good enough for them. You can't go okay, let me go make you
a brand new meal. No, it's like the worst thing you do. But you
see parents do this all the time. They give in to that sense of
entitlement. And they have to make a special meal for that one really
picky eater? No, no, and no children will eat if they're
hungry, and you indulging their knifes that way is not teaching
them to be appreciative of the blessing of homemade food by
mother's hands, or father's hands. You know, while we're other
children barely get to eat anything cooked. They have frozen
meals all the time or no meals at all. Right? So you have to give
that perspective to your children to say eat what's in front of you,
say Bismillah be grateful for it. This is a fuel for your body. And
you know, but I think this entitlement culture is so
pervasive. Now, a lot of people fall into this so
and then they wonder, you know, why their kids aren't grateful?
You know, you did you teach them that, you know, you have to teach
them all times, say Bismillah Alhamdulillah. Follow up with
them. Whenever they get anything recognized, Allah take yourself
out of the equation. Sometimes we also, you know, put ourselves in
it like I worked so hard to make you that I bought you this. Well,
if they're gonna show you gratitude, where's Allah, no,
deflect it back to him or hamdulillah if it wasn't for
Allah, we wouldn't have this 100 Allah, Allah gave mommy and Baba
that means to be able to give you this Hamdulillah I was feeling
good today and I was able to cook you this meal. And hamdulillah
Allah gave me that, you know, always directed back to Allah, so
that you're not in the picture because you know what, one day
you're not going to be in the picture. And you want to make sure
that they're equipped, right?
With that strong faith, to carry them through when you're not there
for them. And Allah is always going to be there.
To visa heads the last paragraph, an aesthetic does not always mean
a lack of material possession. There is asceticism of the heart
in which one is not attached to the material world and is
indifferent to it. In other words, a person's character and level of
faith will not change if he loses his wealth. That is the sign of a
head. However, if one falls apart, and plunges into despondency when
losing something valuable, it shows an inordinate attachment to
worldly life. So just not having that attachment kind of seeing
something breaks. It's dunya. So okay, I'm still fine. You know,
how many there are people like that? They'll get into a car
accident, and they're not. They don't care about the car, or Is
everybody okay? hamdulillah we're all good. Right? We're all good.
Then there are other
People who just can't get over the fact that their car is totaled,
and it's gone. And they, they're, that's what their main priority
is, you know, it's like yeah, okay, we're good, but still my car
was like Subhanallah think about what just happened, you just, you
know, quote unquote, cheated death I love, you know, spared you death
and he spared you a horrible car accident that maybe could have
left someone with, you know, lifelong problems. him did he let
everybody is intact everybody's good let's be grateful and not
worry about the car the car can be replaced, right? That's the kind
of perspective that we need and you know, just that ability to
detach ourselves from whatever worldly possessions we have.
Okay, so we have hamdulillah we're getting close. Oh, we have one
more. Yay. Look at this.
In the last class, and we're finally on. We're on. We're on
schedule here. This is all Yeah, we're on a roll.
So the last diseases derision, okay.
As for derision, tend to it with the same treatment used for
arrogance and with the knowledge that one's purpose in derision is
to humiliate someone. Yet by doing that a person actually humiliates
himself with God, and as recompensed with the misfortune,
also treated by knowing the severe warning that has come in Sahih
Muslim about showing contempt for any Muslim. So this disease
derision is ridiculing people making just at their expense.
Moses Saudi said, I'm told his people that God had commanded them
to sacrifice a cow. They replied, Are you mocking us Moses is and
then told them. I seek refuge in God from being ignorant. Hence,
mocking people is a form of ignorance. Whether it is
lampooning caricaturing, or name calling, humor and levity are
important in human life. But levity as a way of life harms the
spiritual heart. Furthermore, the laughter and amusement at the
expense of the dignity of others is wholly inappropriate, although
it is the staple of the comedians of our day. You know, this is a
big problem in our culture, because a lot of times comedians
or people who are famous, they've become famous by ridiculing and
mocking other people. And we're consuming, right. And this is
especially detrimental, I think, for boys. And I'm always, you
know, and I do a lot of work with teens and youth talking about the
dangers of this type of culture of, you know, pranks, and you
know, doing things that are, you know, you wait for someone who's
an unsuspecting to walk by, and then you trip them, or you may
just do something terrible to exploit someone's vulnerability
for a laugh, and you get it on video, and then you post it on
whatever platform you post it on for likes and shares. It's really
despicable. But it's so everywhere. Like I just recently
wrote a post.
Last on Sunday, almost a week ago, I downloaded because I heard from
so many teens about this app called tick tock, I don't know how
many of you are on it or know about it, but it is horrible. It's
probably one of the most toxic things I've ever seen in my wife.
But the videos on this, a lot of them have to do with this. It's
ridiculing people. And sometimes, you know, unsuspecting people,
like paranoid kids will post videos of their parents yelling at
them, you know, for something.
And they're just laughing, hahaha, look, you know, listen to my mom
going crazy about whatever it is, you know, you put the left the
dishes in the sink, and, you know, she has no idea that she's her
private moment in her house home is being uploaded for millions of
people to potentially watch and, you know, laugh at, or
grandparents, you know, it's just unbelievable that these kids are
getting away with it. I just, I don't know what kind of culture I
mean, family dynamic would be okay, with with that type of
behavior, you know, that they, this is accepted or acceptable,
you know, to, for example, there's this terrible thing where they'll,
you know, I saw a couple of videos like this a hold of a water bottle
to like their parents. And the parents don't know what they're
doing. They're like, what would you do when we smell it? What? And
they just squeeze it and explodes all over their face? Why is that?
Okay? Like, that is not okay. That's terrible. You know, and
sometimes the parents are like, wow, you know, and then they cut
off the video, so you don't really know what happens after that. I
imagine there's a lot that happens after that. But it's like that's
okay to do. And you see all these like hundreds and 1000s or
millions of likes, because it's okay. It's funny. It's funny to
get your parents and humiliate them that way and then put it up
for everybody to watch. Or they have this ridiculous thing with
Mentos and soda and
You know, grandma put this in the bottle, you know. And that's like
a total chemical reaction sort of explodes in their face. It's just
really horrible things. These are pranks, quote unquote. And they,
it's made to be like funny, but no, if it's at the expense of
someone who's innocent, who doesn't know, it's not funny, but
unfortunately, you know, this is again, something that is so
popular in this culture. You know, I'm sure you guys remember that,
that show on MTV that got very popular, and that's kind of where
it started. The jackass. Right, it was a very popular show. It was
the entire show was pranking innocent people on the street
random people. But you see this being okay. And by the by this by,
you know, by everybody, because we're encouraging it if you're
going to like and follow people who do that you're saying it's
okay to do that. But at what point do we stand up and go? No, that's
wrong to do that. But you can't prank people in Islam, It's haram
to actually scare people for fun. And kids need to know that, like,
it's not funny to hide in a closet, or under the bed and wait
for your mom. And then, you know, try to scare her. But if the
popular culture cartoons and film make it like, oh, it's funny than
you think it's funny, but no, we have wisdoms in our fates that
don't let people ridicule other people, but also, you know,
someone's heart could stop. Like, if you did that, I mean, imagine
you could kill someone who had a heart condition. That is not
funny. So I think we just have to have a conversation around this
because it's such a serious problem. But also, you know,
comedians, a lot of celebrities, this is what they do. They advance
their careers by taking down other people and mocking either groups
of people like races, you know, culture, they'll do a lot of
impersonations or things like that, where they're mocking or
they'll take down individual people.
So derision is a very common disease of the heart in our world
today.
A Mahmoud says that the cure for the psychology and practice of
mockery is similar to that of arrogance, since a person who
mocks another most likely sees himself as superior to his victim.
Ali ibn Abi Taalib said do not belittle anyone, for he may be a
saint of God. Even if one sees a man inebriated and bellicose, so
drunk, drunk and angry, vomiting in the street, one should not
ridicule him, for one does not know what his future holds. Mr.
McWhirter we said, when he was bowing down to idols in Mecca,
Ahmad ibn Al Shabaab was still beloved to God.
Only God knows the seal of people and their destinies. A Moroccan
proverb says, never mock any creature of God, for it might be
beloved to He who created it. So just having removing this
arrogance, where you think you can look down on people or mock
someone or presume anything about them, because you don't know
someone's end, you can't presume anything about anybody in the
moment. Because in that moment, they might be doing something that
you don't agree with, but as an individual who they are is only
known to Allah subhanaw taala. And so just to avoid falling into that
habit
Absolutely, no, there really is, you have to believe that as much
as I know that it's a good point because he's so made, mocked and
made fun of and ridiculed. And it's, we shouldn't do that. I see
Muslims all the time, calling him you know, really terrible names,
mocking his hair, things that he had no control over his face his
skin color. And then everybody's laughing at it, but it's not
right. He's He's a human being. His leave him to all of us somehow
that you can hate or dislike policies stick stick to the
subjects, you know what I mean? But when you start mocking a
person's physical features, and the way they speak, and it's just
it says more about you. And that's the problem like you, it doesn't
look good, because these are not things that Muslims who fear Allah
and who understand these things do, because they just, you know,
it's not proper. Could you imagine, just we don't do that you
don't see any look through, you know, our history and you find
where anybody did that openly where they would mock another
person, like a person of, you know, like high status, like a
scholar or anybody of, you know, that we know, was held in high
esteem at any point in our history. Did they do that? Do they
openly mock another person based on their physical appearance?
Never. You don't see it because it's not something that a believer
does. Right. Did you have a question? Yes. You
Sure
they do
ever been
in
the right
brain
Exactly.
Industry
is here
just like your credit, it's an excellent reminder because you're
right a lot of times, we, you know, we teach children to learn
from modeling us. And if we're not mindful of how we speak and how we
frame things and how we say things, then we teach them that
it's okay to do this. And this is not acceptable. We should, again,
stick to issues and, and policies if we have issues with, you know,
someone like him, but not to, you know, given to deriving him in
mocking him as a human as a person. Right. And he's just one
example. But I think in general, it's just not the behavior of
people who are mindful of God, they don't do things like that.
Yeah, this is 100.
There's a lot more here about
just stories that are relevant to this. So I'll just read the last
paragraph here. People can be transformed the opponents of the
polls I said I'm more particularly vicious against Muslims. Hynde
actually bid into the liver of the prophets uncle Hamza, when he was
martyred at the Battle of our hood. However, she later became
Muslim and hence became a companion of the Prophet
sallallahu sallam, a member of that special generation of
humanity. In fact, Shiva narrated Hadith that can be found in the
well known compilations. Repentance is a recourse that the
Lord of the Worlds has given humanity. Reflecting on the ethic
that the Quran communicates to us is in the aforementioned passages
reveals that there is strength in dealing nobly with people, it is
simply a better way to live. The treatment for derision is to
realize that the essence of mockery is to humiliate people.
Those who mock people in this life shall be mocked in the hereafter.
For it is a divine law that God recompenses people with the like
of what they have done. So that's, you know, the treatment for it is
know that the essence of you know, driving people is that you're
trying to humiliate people. But if you want to protect yourself from
this, remember that whoever humiliates people in this life or
someone that will humiliate you in the next slide, may God protect us
from that, because we definitely do not want to be amongst that
group
under the law, so we have
a few minutes before the her and our class was scheduled to end a
little later because there is a couple more sections here the
comprehensive treatment for the heart beneficial actions for
purifying the heart, and the root of all diseases of the heart. Did
you guys were you able to read any of that or? Yeah. Okay. So we can,
you know, take some questions if anybody has any questions or
comments right now.
Break for the hunter and then come back and address those other
sections. Yeah.
Sounds good. Any questions? Any comments?
Anything anybody wants to share?
Yes.
Yes,
yes.
Absolutely. Yes. No. For all blessings are gifts, right.
Everything that we have in this life, whether it's material or
physical, the health we have everything. We should see it out.
was a blessing and a gift from a restaurant that that he's given to
us. But as was mentioned many times, with all of that comes
responsibility. So it's not just for us to have it and possess it
and hoard it and keep it, but to utilize it for the greater good,
right to serve his creation and to,
you know, to draw nearer to him. So, it's not enough just to
recognize it as a blessing, you have to use it, right? Because
there's a lot of people who have, let's say, wealth, but if you're
not using your wealth for good, and you're hoarding it, then this
could actually,
you know, you'll you'll be held accountable for it. So you have to
recognize it. But then also important use it for, for good as
well. And whatever way you can knowledge, if you've been given
knowledge, don't just keep it to yourself, right? Speak up, teach
your family, teach your loved ones, teach your co workers, a lot
of people shy away again, you know, we talked about that a
little bit before, but shy away from speaking about their face,
because they feel like, oh, I don't want to be looked down upon.
But actually, a lot of people are open to learning, and you don't
have to do it in the spirit of preaching to them or
proselytizing, you know, where you're trying to convert people
don't don't, you shouldn't do it that way. But you should teach
them, you know, so that, for example, like a big common joke
that I always hear is about, you know, being caught with your foot
in the sink making will do you know, and then people try to talk
their way out of that, and why why talk your way out of that. Or not
say anything, why not say, Oh, I'm performing ablution because as a
Muslim, I have to pray five times a day. And there are certain parts
of my body that we are our bodies that were required to wash, and
they are like, teach them, that will be so much better for that
individual. The next time they see someone with their foot in the
sink, or their wife or husband or daughter or child or whoever comes
and says something to them right about it, they can then now
educate but if you're just like, oh, you know, as if you did
something wrong, and you don't want to teach them or people who
don't even talk to their co workers about like Ramadan, why
not, you know, be open about fasting, instead of just hiding it
and just, you know, you go to the office party and everybody's
offering you stuff, you're like, you know, it's okay, I have a
stomachache. Why like, but there are people who will do that
they'll go to lengths and lie, instead of just being honest,
because they're too afraid of being outed as the Muslim. Yeah, I
mean, that's a whole other topic. But I think the point is, is
whatever blessings Allah Spano has given you to recognize it, first
and foremost from him, but then to use it to inform, to educate, to
help to benefit other people.
Am
I not doing the Iowa
Can you elaborate a little bit on it depends.
on where you are in
your life
the purpose is the same for every single person, every person, every
jinn, every human being, we all have the same purpose to know our
Lord, and to worship him as he deserves to be worshipped. That's
why we're created all of the other things that manifest in terms of
our individual lives, right? If we want to, you know, cultivate,
like, go down a certain field or path or whatever, that is just an
addition. Right? To our main purpose, but the the main purpose
is to worship Allah subhanaw taala. If you want to go into
medicine and go into science, or go become a teacher, and want to
get married, you want to have children, you want to stay home,
you don't want to get married, you don't want to have to whatever
your personal choices are about the way you live your life are
secondary, right, but your purpose, the reason why you were
brought to this planet, and you know, given life is the same as
everybody else's, which is to worship Him. And to, to, to know
Him and to worship Him. So we all have that same purpose, you know.
And that's why it's our job as Muslims to speak up and teach
people because there's a lot of people who don't know their
purpose, who have been lied to who've been, you know, falsely,
you know, led down a different way that tells them they you know,
have that it's all meaningless, right? This is what, like nihilism
is right? This is what atheism leads to. There's no purpose.
We're just here because we were fish and we evil
of overtime and our human beings. So they have a very, like, you
know,
like, there's no purpose, so you just gonna die, you're gonna die
just and that's why they feel so justified in doing whatever they
want to do. Because if there's no purpose, there's no consequences,
right? If there's no God, there's no consequences to my actions so I
can do whatever I want to do, this is all shaved on, because that's
what he wants people to do. He wants people to live without
purpose. So when you actually share your faith with people, and
share that you do have a purpose and that it's, it's so beautiful,
because it's, you know,
it offers so much and meaning to your life, right? And you can
share that with people. They might have never heard that from anybody
in their life. Imagine being raised in a family where there's
never been faith. You know, and now we have generations of people
who are like, yeah, agnostic atheist. We never we, they just
celebrate, you know, Christmas or for fun, but they don't have a
concept of faith like that. There's, you know, they'll have
that so maybe you'll be the first person to even introduce the idea
to them, and it'll plant a seed and inshallah Maybe Allah will
guide them yes.
Absolutely, it starts with getting knowledge, but also to know like
the process and said, for example, by living a new Hello, Eitan,
okay, which is like Teach, even if it's just one idea. So he's
letting us know that we can all be teachers, even with limited
knowledge, because shaytaan might want to thwart you from benefiting
people. Just like what I said earlier about the Quran, you're
like, oh, I don't know how to read, I don't know, Arabic, I
shouldn't even read it out loud. Or what happens to you, you don't
have no relationship with the book of Allah. Whereas if you say, you
know, Allah knows my intention, and I'm trying to grow in my
knowledge, and I'm trying to, you know, benefit other people, then I
will teach what I know. And if I don't know, by the way, it's okay
to say, I don't know. But I will find out for you. Because
sometimes that barrier is, it prevents you from speaking up. But
if you were to just say, You know what, I'll do my best to answer.
And that's why qualifiers in the beginning of conversations are
important. Like, I'm not an expert, I'll answer whatever
questions you have. But just know, if I don't know anything, I will
check it and then come back, you know, and let you know. But I
think you're right, in the sense of this pressure that if I'm not
an authority in Islam, I should never speak up. I think that is
really a wuss whistle from shaitan. Because he doesn't want
you to teach anything. He'd rather you stay silent, and just, you
know, let people go in and out of your life without feeling the
impact of your faith, by telling you that then for you to teach
them, you know, give them little, you know, bits here and there that
at least give them something. So I say, teach what you know, but
always, you know, leave that door open that lets that person know,
if I don't have an answer to your question, I can certainly do,
like, ask people who do know, and come back and tell you. So it
takes the pressure off of you, right, that you're not expected to
know everything. But does that mean that your faith doesn't have
the answers? No. Right? Like the answers are there, I just might
not know them. But at least I'll come back. And I mean, as someone
who's been teaching, public speaking for a long time, that's
happened to me several times, even now, just recently, I was at a
huddle. Even in this class, you know, how many of you have asked
me a question? And I say, I don't know. But I'll ask, because we
can't expect to know every single thing that people ask us. But the
empowerment comes from knowing in sha Allah, there are people who
have the knowledge, and I can seek out the answers from them. Right.
But thank you for that point. Because it is a valid issue that I
think a lot of people just need to be empowered with. Like, don't
don't let you know.
And I think that's kind of also a sense of a false, you know,
humility, or not false humility, what's the blameworthy modesty,
right? We talked about blameworthy modesty, because it prevents you
from doing good. So get over that shyness of like, Oh, I'm gonna
look like I don't know, and say, Okay, if I don't know, there's a
dilemma. Like my magic was known to be a very commonly say, I don't
know. It was one of his, you know, so it's okay. It's actually a
measure of your intelligence to recognize what you know, and what
you don't know.
Did you have a question? As long as
Hello
Yes
are we alive and I got caught?
It's also
my
absolutely
Of course, it's aligning yourself with the prophetic model, right?
Because, yes, of course no. EBA is ritual actions but it's also
becoming more as close to his example as possible because he was
the perfect worshiper, he was the perfect cop, right? He was
thinking of Allah spawn every minute and every moment and he had
that presence and he, he was the walking Quran. So it's like, you
know, just to follow his footsteps will give you that inshallah
actualization. Yeah,
exactly. Okay. So we'll start for the hunter inshallah zoom.
Alright, this will not matter to him. So, we are our last disease
of the heart was derision. And then Hamdulillah. You know, the
book has several different sections that are very
helpful, just as you know, to kind of summarize a lot of the points
that were made.
So I wanted to go to comprehensive treatment for the heart, and this
is on page 130. So, let's read those verses together. A
comprehensive treatment plan for the hearts diseases is to deny the
self of its desires enjoin hunger, keep worship vigilance in the
night, be silent and meditate in private. Also keep company with
good people who possess sincerity, those who are emulated in their
states and statements. And finally, take refuge in the one
unto whom all affairs return, that is the most beneficial treatment
for all of the previous diseases. This must be to the point in which
you are like a man drowning or someone lost in a barren desert,
and the Encino source of sucker, except from The Guardian,
possessor of the greatest power, he is the one who responds to the
call of the distressed. So mmm motoroads approach and offering
the cures for these diseases is like the story of the Gordian knot
of the kingdom of Phrygia, whose king offered his dominion to
whoever wasn't, was able to unravel the knot. Many tried and
failed. When Alexander the Great was shown the knot, he pulled out
his sword and cut through it. diseases of the heart are like the
Gordian knot. And the best way to treat them is to cut through them
a memo that completes his discussion on the various diseases
and turns his attention to a comprehensive treatment plan for
the heart, which focuses on curbing the soul from its own
excessive desires. So he goes into different
you know, advices, on how to do this, the first advice he gives,
He says, What To accomplish this, he states that one must engage in
hunger. And then there's several different paragraphs that talk
about how hunger is rooted or is oftentimes tied to,
you know, developing so many of these diseases of the heart if you
can't show self restraint, or if you're a glutton and you indulge
your your, you know, your base desires, your carnal desires all
the time, which often have to do with your appetites, right, then
it leads to these diseases of the heart. So getting being in the
practice of depriving oneself through fasting and then just
through general, you know, restraint will actually help curb
a lot of temptations and a lot of other things that lead to
developing the diseases of the heart. So there's many different
chapters that talk about that.
For example, on page 132, spiritual masters traditionally
have focused on hunger. The goal is not to create a nation of
anorexics, but to cut the knot that binds the self discipline. We
do things often out of blind conditioning. When it comes to
food. Many have been drilled into believing that three meals are not
only normal, but necessary for proper nutritional fulfillment.
However, this is not true. The caloric intake of an average
American far exceeds what is needed for physiological well
being. As a result, America is now recognized as the most obese
nation on earth, according to the National Institutes of Health.
And then skipping the next chapter going to the following one, people
nowadays consume much more food than ever before.
Sorry paragraph do I say chapter again, I'm constantly confusing
the word paragraph and chapter. People nowadays consume much more
food than ever before. And this is especially the case with meat. In
the past, meat was eaten infrequently even by the fluent
who had it once or twice a week. The poor ate meat once or twice a
year, mainly around the time of eat. Furthermore, snacking has
become so common now that many do not go for more than a few hours
without consuming something. Convenience stores and vending
machines are found everywhere. This abundance was unheard of not
long ago. All of this has virtually turned people into
grazing animals, which is an anathema to spiritual wellness. In
their study of eating habits, sociologists have found that the
average American has 20 Food contacts a day, in most
traditional cultures, meals were set for specific times, and eating
between meals was not accepted, acceptable. So then, you know,
goes on to talk further about that. And if you go down to page
133, the second to last paragraph, he says people who have a problem
with excessive eating should start at least by lessening the portion
of what they normally eat, which is the beginning of discipline. It
is also advised to eat with other people for eating with guests
would make a person more conscious of being a glutton. Also, the more
people who sit around a table, the greater the blessings, the baraka.
Finally, one should decrease the number of meals in a day. It is
not surprising that Imam Malik Molad mentions hunger first, among
the comprehensive treatments for the heart. Eating is one of the
most abused behaviors, we are conditioned to think that hunger
is sated only when we feel full. One typical meal served in an
average American restaurant can feed a family in West Africa. So
really strong points there about how to fix our relationship with
food. Because again, if we can show restraint, we find that
there's a correlation right the more we're able to have mastery
over our knifes and not indulge our every whim desire craving, the
more we can discipline our soul to prevent from these diseases of the
hearts, rooting taking roots, right. So the next
advice he offers is the night vigil. Okay, that's right at that
very last sentence on page 133. If one wishes to enliven the heart,
then one should give it time with its Lord in the stillness of the
dark. Even if it is only two of you mathematics says to never
leave the night prayer vigil even for a little time. Being
consistent with the night prayer and all the other meritorious, and
all other meritorious things is important. It is better to rise at
night for just 10 minutes on a regular basis than to stay up for
hours one night and then sleep the next night. The performance of
this prayer on a patchwork basis results in little benefit so the
Achmed zoetrope said it is like drilling here and there never
finding water anywhere. So, you know, waking up in the middle of
the night is a very important practice. Depending on your work
schedule, be wise about it. Like if you have to get up early
anyway, for a budget and then from that point forward, your day
starts, then it's wiser to schedule your awakening closer to
that time. So maybe 30 minutes before Fajr. Okay, it's still
considered part of the hedges, because Fajr hasn't entered, it's
still part of that night. Some people you know, think that this
is like, you know, maybe a few hours after they fall asleep. But
that can be very disruptive to your sleep schedule, schedule. And
it's hard to maintain, if you do that regularly. I mean, you can
always train yourself, there are people who've done that, to not be
so dependent on sleep. But if you want to make this a regular
practice, I say start always by waking up a little bit before
budget, and pray, you know, start you know, with whatever you feel
you can do. If you're the type that as soon as you wake up,
you're alert and you're ready to take on the day, then you know the
habit or the process of Sonos to do 10 raka Okay, he would usually
do 10 and then with it, he would add with it as well. You could do
with it, you know before and just do the 10 however, but trying to
work your way up to that is good, you know, you could start with to
like at first and then if you feel like this isn't hard for me, I can
keep doing more get to that point, where inshallah it becomes easy
and you'll see it becoming facilitated. And then inshallah
you know, soon after fajr is in, you've pray your budget, and then
you start the day and you'll see the benefit of that Baraka
throughout your entire day. You know, it'll really, you'll start
to notice just the way that you feel
You will feel the sense of serenity, this sense of, you know,
just safety, the security, that almost pride are put in your heart
and Inshallah, you know, those doors that you make. In those
hours, those intimate hours between you and your Lord, when
the whole world is asleep, your family's asleep, you know, are
very powerful, no muss, the jab. So it's like, whatever need you
have, in this life, that's where you take it, you take it to, you
know, the prayer rug,
in that hour, and you'll see Insha Allah, Allah will either fulfill
your need, or replace it with something better, and shall long
in this life for the next life, but you'll, you'll feel the
benefit of that. So, you know, be
make the intention, always every night before you sleep, ask us to
wake you up and set your alarm, you know, be proactive, don't just
expect it to happen, you know, without some effort, set your
alarm for a little bit, but ask Allah to give you the strength,
because sometimes you might want to, but in that moment, you get so
tired, and it's like, it's okay tomorrow, you know, but if you
keep persisting and don't like give up and feel like okay, I've
done it a week now, and I'm a loser, I haven't even woken up
yet. I shouldn't bother, don't do that. That's what was keep every
single morning yourself accountable, and have the same
neon yellow, please wake me up for 200. And if it takes you two
weeks, three weeks a month, keep doing it. Because at some point
you yourself are gonna hate
the fact that you keep not doing it, and you will finally get up
and that will be the beginning. All right. So push yourself to it,
inshallah. And then to make it, you know, really intimate,
obviously, you know, keep it private, it's between you and
yourself. Don't try to be subtle in the sounds that you make, you
know, don't go and turn on the water and like, start blowing your
nose at like, the loudest sound possible. Just, you know, because
it's for you and a lot, you know, you don't know wake up the whole
household, or the neighborhood, you know?
And then, obviously, don't share it with people. This is a very
private thing between you and Allah. So if you're someone who
doesn't you don't share it. You don't need to tell people Oh,
yeah, I'm so tired. I've been up since three in the morning, you
know, doing what and I'll you know,
the hedges, you know, and I was commuting with my Lord as I always
do, you know, you don't need to brag about that is going to take
away from all of your you know, Buck so keep it's a totally
private thing between you and Allah and just keep it honestly,
if you get to that place where you do it more and more mail, I'll
give a strength for all of us to do it regularly, you will find
that it becomes
part of your worship that is the sweetest part of your worship,
because everything else is like, you know, you're just doing it,
you've got to move and there's so many distractions, you know, in
the daytime, it's like from prayer to prayer, even if you're doing
good, you're always thinking about what's next. But the stillness of
the night right is what is sweet about that time is that there's
really no rush, you're not rushed, you're not distracted you're not
you know waiting for some phone call or meeting that's going to
happen in a few minutes at work or your child's going to come home
from school. You know all those things, even if we don't mean to
they can distract us from being present. But when you have no
distractions in that moment, then you can actually be present right
and that's where there's so much power in that so
we should all inshallah strive for that on a regular basis. And then
the next paragraph the proposition said, spread peace, feed needy
people and pray at night when others are asleep, and you will
enter paradise with ease.
In the Quran, the prophets night prayer is associated with the
elevated rank he shall be granted by God, and in a portion of the
night rise there in for night prayer, an extra act of devotion
for you. It may be that your LORD shall raise you to a praiseworthy
station. God the Exalted commends those who deprive their sides from
their beds, resist sleep, which the body loves and rise for
prayer. When that's quote on chapter 32, verse 16. It is not
our tradition for one to be excessive in spiritual practices
such that one is deprived of sleep to the point of becoming
psychotic, or deprived of food to the point that one's health is
damaged. On the contrary, one should learn to control the souls
desires and not be controlled by them. The Proverbs lesson said
that our bodies have rights over us their food, drink and
companionship. So you know, kind of just finding the balance. This
isn't about total deprivation and harm. It's about the opposite.
It's about wanting to gain gain mastery over the soul so that you
actually have a stronger connection to
Allah subhanaw taala and it you're, you, you actually become
stronger to resist the temptations of the dunya because they're
everywhere. So the purpose of it is to become strong, not to become
weak, right.
And so there's many different chapters that talk further about
the virtues of standing for the night prayer, many Hadith and
different stories. If we go on to page 136.
The very next and then next advice he gives us that last paragraph
Mahmoud mentions next the importance of silence. The Prophet
sallallahu sallam said, if a person is given silence, he is
given wisdom. The tongue is a great temptation, it is easy to
say something that brings ruin upon its speaker. Learning how to
control the tongue is an enormous discipline. Imam Shafi said that
whenever he was in a gathering and wanted to say something, he would
check his soul and be sure that his intentions were pure. And
we're not to prove himself or flaunt his knowledge. You
remember, Shafi was a man of great intelligence and encyclopedic
knowledge that he often enjoyed silence upon himself. He once
said, I never had a debate with anyone except that I prayed to
God, that he make the truth appear on the tongue of my opponent. So I
could submit to it. I mean, somehow, all these other people
have a lot, right, that kind of humility, that type of awareness.
So just really being in the practice of not speaking too much,
unless you have, again, something a virtue, to say, but you've
already gone through that process of checking your intentions,
making sure that you're not doing it for the wrong reasons, right,
all the diseases that we talked about before, right, Riyadh
wanting to be known, all of those things are very dangerous to the
soul. So
and you can sometimes, you know, be tricked into thinking you're
doing a good thing, because, oh, I'm teaching I'm, you know, but if
your intention is off, it's actually bringing you harm. So
that's why it's so important to check the intention. And if it's,
you know, there's sometimes for example,
you might be in a gathering, where there's other learned people
there, you know, and I'm sure we've all done this, we've all
witnessed it. But if there's a discussion happening, and someone
has covered a lot of the points that you would have made, had you
spoken first, is it necessary for you to speak? Right? Is it
necessary for you to just say, oh, yeah, I agree. And the and then
you reiterate every single thing they just said, so we have to
check ourselves? Why did I need to do that? If there was already
said, right, in the gathering by someone else?
Is it then is it because I wanted to also say that I know that too,
or that I was gonna say before you but you beat me to it, you know,
these are the little tricks and subtle, you know, things that the
knifes does that, if we become aware of ourselves will realize,
like, that's just a game. I don't want to fall into that. It was
already said, and it doesn't matter who said it. But if it
matters to me that I am associated as being the one who said it.
Right, I have to check myself check my intention. So these are
the types of thoughts we have to have before we speak and to really
try to just practice.
You know, and I see somehow when you spend time with people who are
very much, you know, more experienced, they have more years
and more knowledge, you find this as a common quality, they tend not
to talk very much, even their answers are short, you know, when
they give you an answer, sometimes you want more, but it's they're
giving you the minimum for a reason, because they're, they've
learned this that it's just better not to keep rambling. Some of us
have still a problem with this, is we're always looking to make sure
things are clear. But you know, it's it's a skill set that will
come over time that you just start speaking very few words.
Here, Imam Malik said about one of his students, he is a good man,
except he speaks a month's worth of words in a day.
So just to know, like, it's not a good quality to be too verbose and
gregarious. In some cultures, it's celebrated. And I think in our in
this society, the more Yeah, you know, socially, like you can, you
know, to mean, maneuver from one conversation to another, its
allotted as being really a good quality, but if you're over
speaking and you're talking too much, you're talking over people,
then you have to look at it's actually not a good quality just
because you're you know, articulate and you might even have
something intelligent to say if you're doing it to that point
where that's, you know, what people know of you and you
dominate every conversation and you don't let other people really
speak, then it's not a good quality, right? You're
It's your center stage always. So step back, practice more
restraint, and listen, learn to listen. And you might find, you
know, more benefit in that.
And he talks about spiritual isolation for the purpose of
reflection. So this is also part of, you know, trying to maintain
more silences, that you remove yourself from opportunities, where
you're talking a lot, or socializing a lot. Because idle
talk is, you know, unfortunately, very common now. So sometimes we
might, you know, visit friends and family or in gatherings, and we're
there because we feel obligated to be there. But if the conversations
are just, you know, idle, and they're not really on anything
important in a value, then it can harm us. So it's better sometimes
to retreat and not always be at every single gathering or social
event. And to say, No, I'm gonna, I'd rather just stay home. And
you'll see that, you know, some company, yeah, they, they end up,
you end up walking away, feeling worse, right? When you keep some
people's company, because even if you didn't intend to, maybe they
told you some Liba, or something that that happened to them, or
they're just venting and complaining about their lives. And
so now you're, you feel heavy, and it's like, Man, what a waste of my
time I shouldn't have even gone, you know, so you have to, as you
get older, be very selective in who you spend time with. And if
there's people in your life that drag you down, they don't remind
you of a law, they don't pick you up, they don't lift you up, they
don't encourage you, they don't correct you in the right way, you
know, but they kind of just, you know, are there to again,
you know, talk about whatever and lead you into these things, then
you have to, it's better to not socialize, it's better to stay
away, and not in a rude way, you don't have to, you know,
turn them away, it's just a matter of being more selective. So opting
out of attending certain things. It's okay next time,
gracefully, and I'm doing it gracefully.
And then he says, the next one
advice for the overall treatment. Isn't that third paragraph says
next, in the overall treatment of the heart, Mahmoud speaks of the
importance of keeping the company of good people, which is, which is
God's command, do you believe your God and be among the truthful
ones, it is astonishing how people can influence others simply by
being in each other's company. Amen. I'm gonna head that said the
company one keeps has major effects, it may lead to either
benefit and improvement or harm and corruption, depending on
whether the company is that a pure, an eminent people or those
who are immoral and evil, this effect does not appear suddenly,
but as a gradual process that unfolds with time. So, you know,
we would talk a lot about what constitutes good company, but
people who truly fear Allah, who in their actions, and their
comportment and their character, you know, are following the
prophetic example. These are people you want to keep the
company of people who remind you of a lot of people who don't talk
about other people who mind their own business. Very important, you
know, that people are doing that stuff, even if they're outwardly
again, practicing, it's not good for you to be in that company,
very often. Right, or divulging their private affairs to a lot of
times, especially I think, with female friendships, there is this
really wrong notion that I'm only close to you, if you tell me
really private business, you know, then that's, that's a measure of
our closeness and our friendship. That is not that is wrong, if
someone is expecting you to share your relationship, you know, with
them, for example, I mean, your marital relationship with them, or
just business that's private, as a measure of how close they are to
you like your secrets, what you've done in the past, mistakes you've
made, those are nobody's business. And so that's a big red flag to
not, you know, in terms of friendships, like stay away from
people who always want to know your business. Because people
don't ask you private questions about your life. They don't, none
of their business and then they know that.
And then at the top of page 138 companionship yields two kinds of
impact, one that drags a person down to the compost of the world
and the other that points towards God, the Exalted and an existence
that lasts forever a companion who tries to sell the ephemeral stuff
of this life and makes it the substance of conversation and
pursuit is dragging the soul earthward it is better beyond
compare to seek out the company of those who help one achieve
contentment with God.
When one is content, little will suffice. But without contentment,
nothing suffices. So just, you know, final point about choosing
your friends wisely.
And then number five, a Mahmoud says a seeking refuge with God is
the most efficacious treatment for all diseases of the heart, city.
Even ash says the only real cure for all these diseases is to go to
God with complete, unconditional imploring. what is meant here is
urgently seeking refuge in God's protection, and guidance to seek
this as if one were holding on to a thread over a canyon. It is
begging which before God is honorable, most converts to Islam
have said that before they became Muslims, they reached a point in
their lives, in which they push tissue and with all their heart
and emotion, that God guide them in the haze of confusion and
spiritual morass. They literally begged for it, just show me what
to do. Afterwards, it became easy in the path very clear, this is
what the man will do the suggesting, there is nothing
nonchalant in this act. So once you, you know, recognize and we've
gone over now 25, right, different diseases.
Once you're being honest with yourself, and you recognize what
diseases you have, and you know, how severe they are the severity
of each one. This is, you know, you go to all US pat down, you ask
him for the strength, like I don't want to be diseased, you know,
please help me please remove these things from my heart, show me the
way, give me the right friends, and companions, you know, help me
and really petition sincerely for all of us have to do that for you.
And then follow the other advices start taking those steps. Because
everything
you know, it's all advice from people who've lived these things,
you know, this is this isn't just, you know, they know what they're
talking about. So when they tell us to, you know, practice, you
know, restraint and, you know,
have more control over our knifes, don't eat as much don't be a
glutton don't indulge your enough's all the time, they know
what they're talking about. When they tell us to wake up for night
prayer when they tell us to keep good company, you know, when they
tell us to do, you know, increase settle within the process and to
do they get all the advices that we've heard throughout, it's all
because there's proven, you know, there's, it's effective, it's
proven to be effective to do all those things that people come out,
better polished, you know,
versions of themselves, because they're actually taking the steps
to becoming a better person.
But, again, this imploring to God with that sense of desperation and
real true yearning and sincerity is very important.
Michelle, there's a lot of great content in the next section as
well beneficial actions for purifying the heart a lot of it
is, you know, summarizing what we've already kind of talked
about, so I wanted to actually move forward to the next one,
because this one is really key, the root of all diseases of the
heart that's on page 146 Because again, we're still you know,
talking about
how these things manifest and take hold of us so it's important to
see what different scholars have attributed as the root of all
diseases. So the comprehensive root of the hearts diseases
according to Mr. Mo elude is love of the temporal world. So the
author of this poem, he believes that the root disease is forbidden
Yeah, that because you we love the dunya so much that that disease is
where all these other diseases stem from okay, it's actually
comes from that
and then he also says that this is the opinion of the moment Hey,
Daddy, and he emailed me and I should have been abbess said that
it was covetousness thumb Ah, okay.
And that's, you know, just wanting
you the, you're unable to control this desire the want everything
for yourself right to covet.
There are differences of opinion regarding the mother cause of
diseases of the heart, but there are differences are shades of
understanding rather than alternate paradigms. When Imam Ibn
Hashem says that it is the love of power and authority, it comes down
to love of the world what is power and authority other than branches
of the world? You might even apply Allah, who is often quoted in this
book and mentioned by name in this passage of Imam motoroads poem,
was a master of the science of the heart. His book of aphorisms is
one of the most highly regarded masterpieces in Islamic spiritual
tradition, his 35th efforts
in that collection reads, so this is from
a meme even apply there. He says the source of every disobedience,
indifference and passion is self satisfaction. The source of every
obedience, vigilance and virtue is dissatisfaction with oneself. It
is better for you to keep company with an ignorant man, dissatisfied
with himself, than to keep company with a learned man satisfied with
himself, for what knowledge is there in a self satisfied scholar,
and what ignorance is there in an unlimited man dissatisfied with
himself. Nowadays, there is an urgency to root out the feeling of
shame. There are self help books to show how to exercise the sound
of the soul. However, dissatisfaction with oneself is
the very thing that causes people to reflect and reevaluate, which
is requisite for spiritual success. Shame and dissatisfaction
can be moral, lifesavers, shame is different from self esteem, low
self esteem, in which one feels contempt for himself. And so then
we're going to read Inshallah, it will continue. But just a point
about that, you know, it's very powerful if you think about it,
because as you know, he said here, if one is satisfied with oneself,
right, it doesn't really make you think you need to improve on
anything, does it? If you're like, while I'm wearing my hijab, I'm
praying, I'm doing the best I can do, I'm working, I'm a good
mother, I'm a good daughter, I'm a good wife, you're just, you know,
patting yourself on the back, for every single thing that you become
what? complacent, like I'm, I'm good enough, where I am, that
doesn't motivate you to want to be better, does it in anything, you
could have the same attitude and work or any relationship you have.
So the opposite is true. That when you're not feeling satisfied with
yourself, and you're, it's not good enough, right, and you think,
I know I can do better, then you actually start to wanting to be
better and wanting to do better. So the you know, the that's why
his opinion that this is the root of all diseases is, is so
powerful, because it does start with the self, right? As long as
I'm thinking that everything's fine, and I'll be fine that I have
no incentive or motivation to be better. But if I don't, if I'm not
happy with myself, I know I can do better. I'm aware of my faults and
flaws, and I want to get rid of them. Because it makes me
uncomfortable, then that those are the motivating thoughts that are
going to make you do the work. Right.
So then, so the Akhmad zoetrope said that there are three signs of
being overly content with the soul first is being sensitive to one's
own rights and indifferent to the rights of others.
In Islam, one's responsibilities preponderant over one's rights,
okay? So that itself, look at how, like, you know, our world is now
everybody's worried about themselves, right? It's the
opposite. It's not worrying about, you know, other people, it's
worrying about them, you know, yourself. And so, if this is the
first sign if, if you're doing this, where you're just consumed
by, you know, advancing your own agenda, pushing your what's going
to benefit you, and you're not really looking at the benefit to
other people, then you're clearly have this problem, right? You're
just you're satisfied with yourself. And you're, you're to
content with your own soul. So
the second sign is ignoring one's own faults, as if one has none,
while being preoccupied with the faults of others. So again, you
know, if you're quick to point out other people's mistakes, other
people's faults, but then you have a problem, when someone points out
yours, you know, you can't take criticism. Well, you, you know, it
offends you easily. But you have no problem constantly complaining
about what everybody else is doing wrong. This is another sign.
The third sign is giving oneself too much leniency. So, again, if
you're making exceptions to rules always for yourself, right? This
is another problem where it's like, Oh, it's okay. This time,
I'll just skip this. I'll do this, you know, this way this time. And
you're, you kind of, you know, like I said, change rules for
yourself. And you're very lenient on yourself. But again, critical
of other people, this will be the third sign. So and then he goes on
to say so the admin zero then said that there are three signs that
someone is not content with themselves. So if you're content
with yourself, that's what you do.
Your rights matter other people's don't, right, you are quick to
ignore your own faults, but you can point out everybody else's
faults and you're very lenient with yourself, but maybe rigid
with other people. Okay. But if you're not satisfied with
yourself, there's also three different qualities. First is when
a person checks himself is self accusing and wary of his
intentions. So this is a good sign, if you're walking away from
a situation and you're not sure about your own intentions, and
you're, you know, kind of doing that whole internal thought
process of like, Oh, why did I do that? Or do they, you know, it was
my intention pure, that self check is a good sign that you're not
content with yourself, because just second guessing yourself is a
sign that you have the humility to know that you can make mistakes,
and you may have just made mistakes, right? But if you don't
even think on that level, and doesn't occur to you to ever do
that type of why did you say that? What do you do that for? You know,
that kind of internal dialogue. That means you're, you don't
think, you know, you don't think you make mistakes to even do that
you see? So it's a good habit to have to always question yourself.
And he says Yusuf alayhi, salam, who was known for his exceptional
purity said, I do not declare myself innocent. But the soul
often commands evil except upon whom my Lord has mercy, one should
ask oneself, am I doing this for show or for the sake of God? So
that's usually that's the line of, you know, questioning that we
should have after everything we do, especially in a public
setting, what was my intention? Was it so that people could
recognize me doing that so that I would have praise? You know, that
would be seen? Or was it truly because I just wanted to do it for
all of us. And for him to be pleased with me, okay.
Second, is being careful of the blemishes of the soul, the
prophesy some supplicated Oh, God, do not leave me to the soul, even
for a blink of an eye. So always being worried, okay, about what
you could potentially fall into, and not thinking that you're above
anything, that type of reality. And humility is very important.
Because if you ever think that you're too good, or that you would
never do something, because you were raised better or differently,
or, you know, people get a little ahead of themselves.
And then they judge other people, right? Because that statement only
comes after judging someone else for doing that thing, right? Oh,
my God, how could they, I would never do that. Well, you made a
very bold statement. And you're basically saying that you're
better. And you know, and if you do that, and you're very
judgmental, then there is, you know, another Hadith that says,
Before you die, you will be likely afflicted with the very same thing
that you're judging someone else. So you have to be very careful
from doing that. But always kind of thinking that you are
susceptible to pretty much any disease and any sin. Right? I
mean, if it might, the way for me when I think about it, and I think
you know, it's panela people who are what the prophesy said the
Companions, some of them fell into major sins, they fell into major
sins, they were still considered companions, you know, but they
faltered. And if here he is performing miracles clear, you
know, people are witness to all of, you know, to who he is, but
they're still able to fall because their souls are weak, then who are
we to think that we couldn't fall you know, into certain things.
It's really just, you know, Allah's power that is guidance and
his protection over us that protects us from our own selves.
So again, we give the credit back to where to do which is all US
Patent as the one who's guiding us and protecting us and y'all please
don't like you know, remove that from me always keep me guided,
because in the absence of your guidance, I can fall I likely will
fall, but being very aware of that, the third is forcing the
self to do difficult things such as, as we talked about eating less
spending money in charity, right, waking up for the night prayers,
all of those things that we talked about that requires disciplining
the soul is a sign of a person who is not content with themselves
because they realize that in order to become better, I have to force
I have to work against my neffs my neffs is can always want you know,
me to indulge it and to not do the difficult things but I have to
actually fight that impulse. And, and so these are the three signs
Okay.
And just a disclaimer here, being
vigilant about one's own faults does not amount to self loathing
or depletion of confidence. In fact, confidence gives one the
courage to find fault in oneself. A poet once said, I never saw a
fault from among the faults of humanity, like the sloth of people
capable of human perfection. I mean, that's beautiful, right?
Because it's,
I mean, it's a warning, but it's also beautiful in that it's saying
that, you know, there's, we can we're capable of actually becoming
the best versions of ourselves, we have that especially if we put all
US panda first and learn to prioritize, but it's usually our
own sloth that prevents us from doing that. So it's, you know, it
puts it back on on the individual that you're capable of it you
know, Allah will make it easy for you you just have to fight against
your own self and wanted and do the actions necessary but it
surely you're capable of really being you know, the best version
of yourself.
And then
yeah, so there's a lot more again, amazing content here
talks a lot about the remembrance of Allah Sparta. And the
importance of the kid on page 150.
Importance of the kingdom remembrance of God, there's many
different chapters there.
There's a beautiful story by Imam Ahmed, they've been humbled on
page 151. At the top it is said that he met Muhammad ibn have been
had 99 dreams about God the Exalted in one of them, he asked
the almighty about all the things that draw a worshiper near to him.
Which of them was the greatest he was told it was the recitation of
Quran, with or without comprehension, he asked, and the
reply was, with or without comprehension, not understanding
the language of the Quran should not borrow one from receiving the
blessings in this exalted practice. The authority of this
position is not borrowed from the dream of a great man, but it is
corroborated by proofs offered by many scholars throughout the ages,
the only time when the Quran is not the preferred the kid is when
other obligations are immediately pressing. So the greatest of all
the kids is the recitation of the Quran and it's recommended at the
top it says there to read from the Quran itself, as opposed to just
reciting from memory because it involves the eyes, the hands and
the ears. So just knowing you know, this is the greatest form of
the kid. Also,
on the next page, he talks about other forms of the kid, which is
to, you know, make a stock fair and he goes on to the virtues of
saying is increased his stuff on saying silhouette on the prophesy
centum. So the rest of the, this section just expands on on the
different forms of the good, and how all of those
help
one to Again, align oneself and one's heart with with Allah
subhanaw taala to protect from these diseases of the heart. So
there's a lot of much love great content, again, I'm sure if you
haven't already, you, you can read this in the remaining weeks and
get to especially the section on page 174, which I'll leave for you
guys to read, but it's on Ramadan and purification. That's a really
great section because in preparing for Ramadan, you know, he talks
about I'll just read this first section, he says the month of
Ramadan is a special time for purifying oneself the greatest
opportunity to implement the discussions and cures with regards
to the heart. In fact, this is the purpose blessing and secret of the
months. So everything in this book that we've been talking about, be
in the practice of it start you know, doing the things but read
that section, because it's kind of like a fast track, you know, the
month of Ramadan, there's so much buttock and blessings in it, but
to work on really rooting out these diseases during that month
and taking on those practices that we talked about. First of all, the
hunger part is taken care of right here, abstaining from food and
drink. So that's one but increased night prayers, all those things
that will help to rid our US inshallah of these diseases.
They're facilitated in the month of Ramadan, so we can work towards
those things now, but especially in that month, we should be
working hard and so read that section, but um, did Allah, we
were able to finish
I wanted to thank all of you for coming under that and this is, you
know, been a wonderful seven weeks in the company of all of you. I'm
very honored to have conducted this class and finished it from
the land we ask a lot better for guidance and for tofield and
implementing everything that we learned together and increase us
and our bless our homes, protect our church.
children, our families, Inshallah, and to always keep us close to him
and close to his beloved Salah Holly who has sent him, I ask that
you please make dua for our beloved teacher Sheikh Hamza
Yusuf, who took the effort to translate this beautiful poem for
us the English speaking, you know, my group or people who could
benefit from this Hamdulillah. Otherwise, you know, many texts
are so many texts that are in Arabic that we don't have access
to, but from the desire for our scholars, all of them who take the
time to provide, you know, to work on on making this accessible for
us. So let's keep them in our doors, that this is a set of
criteria for him and Shaw and his family. And the last part that
increases him and protects him and all of his teachers, going all the
way back to the prophets, little audio Saddam, and almost pamphlet
again, may Allah increase our love for Him. And may we align
ourselves with his character in sha Allah, and every which way. I
mean, another book that I wanted to recommend, actually, because
when I read it recently, I was just so I had read it a while ago,
but I read it again, and in the context of this science, it's
beautiful. It's the introduction to the prayer of the oppressed.
And actually, if you go on to the zaytuna, College website, the
Renovatio, which is the the journal that they produce, they
actually took the excerpt that I was going to recommend for you.
And it's posted on the renovar shows current newest edition that
just came out this past week. It's incredible the introduction of
this, it really is, and it totally, it just pairs so
perfectly with this book, I wished we had time. It's a bit lengthy,
otherwise, I would have read it. But I think it'll be better than
if you read it on your own. So you can, if you don't have the book,
you can access it. The introduction from the XHTML
website, or also the sundial, a website, they also have the entire
introduction posted, but you'll see when you read it, how it
perfectly pairs with everything that we've talked about during the
course of these seven weeks. And this text is just a really great
compliment, especially in our world today. With everything
that's happening politically, socially, all the changes that our
world has gone through the context of it, I think is really relevant.
So I highly encourage everybody to read it inshallah.
Yes, of course, the prayer of the oppressed. And this is also
translation and introductions and other texts that he did the same
he translated and it's from Mr. Mohammed, the NASA body. So it's a
wonderful book to get if you don't have it, I highly recommend it.
But especially if you can for just kind of you know, again, bring all
of the points that we've been talking about over the past few
weeks together, I felt like this introduction, paired really well
with everything that we discussed here.
I'm just like go ahead and again, we'll end in the art insha Allah
Subhana Allah well we have the crescendo into into into the
software to go into to either make Bismillah R Rahman Rahim Allah
surrendered inside of yourself Hospital in Alladhina. Amendola,
middle Saudi Haiti with two so they're happy with us over the
summer. Alongside it was said I'm about to kind of say that our mole
no have you been in a little audio setup while he was asleep? When
does that go off?