Ibraheem Menk – Believers Look Out For Each Other
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AI: Transcript ©
The believers are meant to be supporting one
another.
We are meant to be helping one another.
We are meant to be sincere
to one another.
And
Allah makes this very clear for us.
And the believing men and the believing women,
some of them are supporters of others. Meaning,
they are supporters
of each other.
They are protectors
of one another
which means that in my absence
or in my presence,
my believing brother and sister
is looking after my best interest.
It means that if I am to put
$1,000,000
on the table and leave it with a
room
full of Muslimen,
not one of them will touch it because
we are believers in Allah
We know that we shall return to Allah
Hence, we will not touch that money.
And it
means that when I am not present in
the room,
then I don't find that my brothers are
speaking
about me in my absence.
Simply because I know that
they are believers too.
They are believers too. They believe in Allah.
So we support and help one another and
look out for each other
in ways that others don't.
And our bond is truly unique
because it is a bond based upon the
belief in one.
You and I have no real other reason
to love each other.
No real other reason to bond with each
other. So when I say real, yes. We
have family ties.
But how many a family do we see
that don't have that underlying
faith
and belief in Allah
torn apart. Why? Because
they don't have that faith. They don't have
that bond. So they bond over money. They
bond over the love of this dunya. They
bond over the natural love
placed in their hearts. But as soon as
there is something that they believe in more
than that, then perhaps it is money that
comes in between them.
Perhaps it is
jealousy
of whatever,
something material of this world.
They believe in that more. So what happens?
They don't mind. You find brothers not speaking
to one another. So they don't mind breaking
a relationship.
But you and I
have the
link of faith
and belief in
Allah Hence, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
says, Indeed, the believers
are brothers.
So make islah between your brothers. Make islah
between your brothers. You see the common denominator
here. In the other aya, Allah
says, the believing men and the believing women.
They are protectors
us of one another.
Here, Allah
says what?
Indeed the believers
are brothers.
So it is only when we establish
that iman,
and belief in Allah that we can truly
look after one another.
That we can truly
be brothers and sisters in faith.
You see,
in this ayah
that we mentioned first,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala continues.
They command
and they encourage
one another to do goodness,
and they prohibit
and prevent
one another from doing bad. When you believe
in Allah
naturally,
you believe that there is a last day,
you believe that there is a jannah, you
believe that there is a hellfire.
So what is my duty towards my believing
brother and sister?
It is
to protect them from the * fire
and to take them towards Jannah.
So what should I do in this world?
Tell them to come towards goodness, encourage
them towards goodness,
And prevent them and prohibit them from evil.
As much as this occurs in society,
is as how
high our faith is with Allah
So when I see you doing something wrong
and I can sit you down and say,
my brother,
what you are doing is drawing you closer
to the * fire.
And if you die tomorrow,
this will not be of benefit
to you in your grave.
That that is a true scale
of our belief in Allah
as a community.
Because if I can sit you down and
tell you, listen brother.
I don't want you to be burnt tomorrow.
What is that? What is that? That is
sincerity towards my brother.
And that is what Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
says.
Deen is sincerity.
We said to for who, oh Messenger of
Allah?
For Allah
First and foremost.
It begins with you making with
Allah
between Allah and yourself.
Clearing
the record between you and Allah
Turning back to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Seeking
forgiveness from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And to his messenger.
And for the hierarchy,
the leaders
of the believers,
and the general populace.
When we are sincere to one another, then
we will want to protect each other. Hence,
Allah
started by saying what?
And the believing
men and women,
they are protectors
of one another. So you see how the
ayah is linked together.
As soon as we believe in Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala, when I see my brother doing
something wrong, I will advise him. Yes. There
is a way to advise your believing brother
and sister.
And
the best way in most cases
is to pull them aside.
To find them when they are on their
own.
Nobody wants to be humiliated in public even
when the sin is public. Nobody wants to
be told in public, hey. Put that cigarette
down. What does he do? His ego kicks
in.
He is more unlikely
to accept. But if you pull him aside
and say, brother, you know cigarettes are haram.
You know it's detrimental
for your health. You know what? I'm just
reminding you that one day we will return
to Allahabad.
One day we will have to answer for
the Amanah
that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala gave us this
body.
If you keep smoking, what will your answer
be? And leave it at that. Isn't that
a better way to do it? Isn't that
more likely of him to accept your naseeh?
Your
sincerity towards him. Your advice towards him. So,
yes.
What is known as
encouraging goodness.
And prohibition
of evil
is imperative.
It is important.
Without it, we cannot survive as a society.
Without it, we will not move forward as
a society.
Without it,
Allah
has destroyed nations
before us. Nations before us. Because
that means that there is something lacking, sincerity.
And when sincerity is lacking, belief in Allah
is at an all time low. It is
an at an all time low. So one
of the ways that we can do this
is to begin
becoming
more sincere towards each other. By meeting my
brother and saying, Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi
wa barakatuh,
I mean it from my heart.
I mean that. I mean sincerity towards this
brother. I mean peace for this brother. I
mean I want goodness for this brother.
And,
we can begin by the heart. And, we
can say, let's begin with it from within.
Let's make the change within.
And let's make
our intention sincere.
And let's change our feeling towards our brothers.
But there is another way to do it
as well. And today we see that that
is lacking.
Should I not guide you to something that
if you are to do it you will
love one another? What is that?
Make salaam between you.
Just pass these salaam to each other and
you will find yourselves
loving one another. What happens today? Those whom
we know, we greet. Those whom we don't
know, we don't greet. But are we not
believers in bro in Allahu Bul Izzati wal
Jalal? Are we not brothers and sisters
in one faith
that gathers us together? So why not greet
a brother and a sister regardless?
That is the least that we can do.
And if we begin to spread that salaam,
then we find that the love begins.
We find that the belief in Allah
increases.
And today, dear brothers and sisters in Islam,
the Muslims
are in need of
one main thing And that is unity. It
is hard for us when we think of
it at a macro level. How are we
going to unite the Ummah?
How are we going to gather people together?
But when we think of it at a
micro level,
it becomes easier for us to understand.
Yes. I may not be able to
unite my community immediately, but I can greet
my brother or my sister that I haven't
spoken to for the last 5 years simply
because I had a dispute with him, between
between us. What I can do is go
and greet them and say, let's make bygones
be bygones. Put it behind us. Let's move
ahead.
And I can do that and I will
be able to step by step change those
around me. And if I can change those
around me, and I can have an impact
on my own family, then perhaps family by
family, we will unite. And we will become
stronger.
And we will
become more aware of each other's
interests.
And we will look out for each other
more. So we can begin at a micro
level. You know, oftentimes
we talk about
how world leaders can do something about the
politics
that is happening, and what they can change,
and what they can do, and what they
should be doing. And we are the first
to commentate
on how people around a war zone should
be behaving.
But if we are to look within our
own families,
we find ourselves lacking.
We find there are people that we don't
greet. We don't say salam to. We find
there are people that we have a gripe
that we have how to be held for
the last 20 years.
Begin
there. That is a beginning.
That is a start. That is something that
you can change.
Should I not
guide you to something that if you are
to do it, you will begin to love
one another. Smile
in your brother's face.
Smile in your sister's face and say,
How hard is that?
You see how the Sunnah
leads us
from the micro to the macro. If we
cannot solve the lower
end of the spectrum, then how are we
going to resolve the higher end of the
spectrum? How are we going to resolve anything
there? Let's begin at the bottom.
He continues.
And not only
do they command
good and prohibit from evil, they establish
the salah.
They establish the salah. Time for salah comes.
They know Allah has asked
me to do this, and he requires this
from me at the bare minimum. Allahu Akbar.
Allah is the greatest. Nothing matters more right
now besides,
except for my maker. The only thing that
matters
is Allah The only being that matters right
now is Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Put everything
aside. It doesn't matter.
And those who give these aka,
as soon as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells
you, you know what? I've given you so
much. Give 2 a half percent. You don't
even think about it twice. You take it
out because Allah said it.
What happens to those people?
Those are the ones whom the rahma of
Allah
will
descend upon.
The rahma of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, the
mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala descends upon
that type of people.
Those are the people that will receive the
rahma of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Let's look around
and ask ourselves
really and truly. Do we feel that the
rahma of Allah Abu al Izati wal Jalal
is descending upon us?
Or has it lifted?
And if we feel that it has lifted,
there are simple steps that we can take
to move towards
To unite one another for the sake of
Allah
At the next ayah, Allah
tells us something very interesting.
Allah has promised the believing men and women,
Gardens
beneath which rivers shall flow. Gardens
beneath which river rivers shall flow. So not
only will you attain
and achieve something
in this dunya, but you will attain and
achieve something that is everlasting
forever. It will last forever and ever. And
that is
gardens beneath which rivers shall flow.
And good homes.
And Allah
doesn't stop there.
He says the pleasure of Allah is greater
than that.
Can you imagine
receiving your heart's desire? Whatever you want. You
wish it and you have it. And Allah
says I'll give you more. What can be
more? What can be more than that?
In the hadith,
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam tells us what is
more.
When the believers believers are in heaven,
Allah
will ask them
that,
is there anything
more that I can give you than that
which you have? And they will say, oh
Allah, you've given us everything.
We don't need anything. There's nothing we can
think of. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will
say,
but
I will make halal for you my red
one.
My pleasure,
my happiness today.
So I will never be angry with you
after today.
Will give the believers
more than their hearts desire. And that is
the pleasure of Allah
Such that he will be pleased with them
forever and ever and ever.
And that is greater than your heart's desire.
You know why? Because you were created by
Allah
That very creator is happy with you forever
and ever and ever. Allahu Akbar.
What more could a believer ask for? And
the creator of that human being knows him
better than he knows himself.
Hence, the human being was not even aware
of the fact that there is something beyond
his heart's desire that Allah could give him.
What better gift to give a person
than that which he is not even aware
of? That he will love and be amazed
with
beyond his heart's desire. Allahu Akbar. That can
only come from Allah
You know what?
That pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can
be attained
before
you get into Jannah.
Before you get into Jannah.
In this dunya,
when you worship Allah
and you please him and you turn away
from these sins and you greet your brother
and you smile at your brother and you
are sincere towards your brother and you tell
him when he is in the wrong and
you guide him towards goodness,
Allah
will give you that pleasure. You will receive
that
from Allah
That is why we find the
as soon as we say
Abu Bakr
Allah
is is pleased with him. May Allah
be pleased with him. And we know that
Allah
is pleased with him.
May Allah be pleased with him.
Why? Because these people attained
the red one, the pleasure of Allah
That is what we're after. And that is
what we should work towards.
And I hope that these words can help
us
guide and guide us towards a better, stronger,
more united
community. May Allah
unite us upon goodness.