Ibraheem Menk – Feeling Helpless- How To Change That
AI: Summary ©
The conversation discusses the struggles of Islam's world, including the struggles of individuals in their own lives and the struggles of those who have been punished. The importance of finding a way to be a good person and finding a way to be a good person in order to achieve their goals is emphasized. The use of religion as a means of peace and unity is also discussed, but it is unclear what it means for Muslims in the world. The segment ends with a discussion of the use of guns and protecting oneself and others.
AI: Summary ©
A person may begin to become despondent because
we wonder what our dua has achieved, what
our prayer has achieved, what our patience has
achieved, what our protests have achieved.
And in reality, the decider of when the
help will come is not you and I,
it is not the congregation, it is not
the community, it is not the ummah, it
is Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal.
You should know that it is not only
you who have these thoughts, it is not
only you who is wondering when the help
of Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal is going
to come, but it is also the messengers
who went through such periods in their lives,
Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal tells us, حَتَّىٰ
إِذَا اسْتَيْئَسَ الرُّسُلُ وَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ كُذِبُوا جَاءَهُمْ
نَصْرُنَا فَنُجِّيَ مَنَّ شَاءُ وَلَا يُرَدُّ بَأْسُنَا عَنِ
الْقَوْمِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ Until the messengers also had these
feelings, until they thought that when is the
help of Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal going
to come, and they thought that they had
been belied, then our help came to them.
You see Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tests
a people until such a point where they
are at breaking point, and then the help
of Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal comes, and
this is the sunnah of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala on earth, hence we see Rasulullah
ﷺ being tested, trial after trial, tribulation after
tribulation, he loses his father while he is
in the belly of his mother, and that's
the first trial, he is born into a
world without a father, he passes away and
all of his children have passed on, meaning
he witnessed the passing of all of his
children except for Fatimah.
So we can see that the messenger ﷺ
was tested too, but Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala tested him and tested him, and then
when it became almost too difficult to bear,
the help of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
came.
So the question you and I have got
to ask ourselves is where are we while
the happenings are happening, and where are we
with Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal, is my
heart in the right place, am I thinking
the best of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
and we should know that these thoughts of
doubt are not necessarily evil and bad but
they should be replaced with the best thought
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Indeed Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, He gives the oppressor
time, such that when he takes him, he
will not let go of him.
What is Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal doing?
He is giving them time to tie a
noose around their necks and then when the
weight is dropped, then it is over, there
is no more chance, no more time, and
that is why Firaun, when he killed, brother
sorry, please don't record during the khutbah, wallahi
it is against the sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu
alayhi wasallam, I don't mean to single you
out, but I must say something from the
pulpit when we see it is important.
So, when it is time to take such
a person to task like Firaun, like Firaun,
he was given time, he killed so many
people, he murdered, he killed people worried that
his life would be taken, yet Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala planned his destruction through the
very one whom he opened his doors for.
You see, you cannot run away from Allah
Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal, and then still Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala sent Musa and Harun
to him, give him a soft message, give
him a soft reminder, Allahu Akbar, who are
you speaking to, the tyrant who has murdered
and massacred people, and Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala is saying give him a soft reminder,
give him a soft reminder, and when the
time comes, he sees the unseen, and he
immediately believes in Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal,
I believe in Allah, the Lord of Musa
and Harun, why did he have to make
that disclaimer, because all along he claimed I
am the Lord, he claimed I am the
one who has the power, he claimed I
am the one whom people should worship, but
then he had to make that disclaimer because
at that point he knew that now there
is no lie that I can tell, and
Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal says, is it
now that you want to turn to Allah,
yet you disobeyed back in the day, you
disobeyed during your lifetime, and today, there is
no chance, your repentance will not be accepted,
dear brothers and sisters in Islam, we need
to have a greater vision, a bigger vision,
what is that, look at this dunya from
the lens of the Akhirah, look at this
dunya and the happenings in this world from
the lens of the Akhirah, so the next
time you see a lifeless body of a
child being pulled out of the rubble, remember
that for us is the Akhirah, for us
is Jannah, for us Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala has prepared everlasting bless, and for them
is everlasting torment, if you are to give
a choice to those who are being oppressed
today, as to whether they would like these
people to be punished in the dunya or
the Akhirah, a believer's response will be, I
will wait for Allah to punish them there,
it is when we see these scenes, that
we understand why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has made his punishment everlasting for such people,
why, because even if they were returned to
the earth after having seen Allah, after having
seen Al-Qiyamah, after having seen the unseen,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us what
they would have done, because it is within
their very nature to be corrupt on earth,
they will tell Allah, just give us one
chance, let us go back to the dunya,
we want to seek your forgiveness, we want
to turn to you, and Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala says that if they were returned
to the dunya, they would have returned to
the actions that they were engaged in, in
the first place, when you tell them behave
yourselves, وَإِنَّهُمْ
هُمُ الْمُفْسِدُونَ وَلَكِنْ لَا يَشْعُرُونَ and when it
is said to them that, be good, be
kind, be just, be merciful, they say that
we are the ones, when it is told
to them that don't be corrupt on earth,
then they say we are the ones who
are doing Islah on earth, we are actually
spreading the peace, we are the peace givers,
we are the merciful ones, we are the
good ones, we set the standard as to
what is right and wrong, this is what
their response is, when we take a look
at the world without mentioning names, we automatically
know who those are, the people that are
claiming they are the good doers, and in
reality they are the ones oppressing our brothers
and sisters, they are the ones slaughtering our
brothers and sisters, but I have one message
for you today, and I'd like to approach
it from this angle, because we tend to
think that because our brothers and sisters are
suffering, we should stop our lives and we
should only pay attention on that one particular
issue, yes we are brothers and sisters in
Islam, yes we feel for their suffering, yes
the hadith tells us, مَثَلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِي تَوَادِّهِمْ
وَتَرَاحُمِهِمْ وَتَعَاطُفِهِمْ كَمَثَلِ الْجَسَدِ الْوَاحِدِ إِذَا اشْتَكَى
مِنْهُ عُضُونَ تَدَاعَ لَهُ سَائِرُ الْجَسَدِ بِالسَّهَرِ وَالْحُمَّةِ
the brothers, the believers are brothers and sisters
in Islam, they are brothers and sisters in
Islam, in their love for one another, in
their mercy for one another, in their feeling
for one another, تَعَاطُفِهِمْ you feel when you
see these images, that is a sign of
your Iman, that is a sign of your
belief in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when
one part of the body struggles, when one
part of the body is afflicted by something
then the rest of the body stays awake
and tries to assist that part so our
brothers and sisters are struggling, yes we try
by giving charity, we try by making dua
for them we try by improving our lives
and becoming better human beings and better Muslims
and that is a service to those who
are suffering but does it mean that I
can never laugh does it mean I can
never joke, does it mean I cannot sit
and enjoy myself as well at times no,
that is not the case, it doesn't mean
you need to spend your entire life looking
at those images now and when you don't,
you feel like a hypocrite, you feel like
I am doing them a disservice do what
is within your capacity in fact, sometimes when
it is affecting your Iman to watch these
images day in day out, make less of
that, don't watch as much of it you
are not obliged to open your screen and
see lifeless bodies being pulled from the rubble
you are not obliged to see dead babies
all the time, you are not obliged to
do that you are a human being, it
will affect your psyche, do what is good
and beneficial for you so if you are
watching one clip and it benefits you to
remind you to do a charity give a
charity, make a dua, read the Quran and
do whatever you can for them, then do
that much but when it becomes detrimental to
you such that you begin to doubt the
help of Allah Rabbul Izzati Wal Jalal there
is a case to be made for you
such that you should actually stop watching completely
why?
because you are now beginning to question the
very existence of Allah Rabbul Izzati Wal Jalal
the purpose of your existence on earth, so
live your life and building your life and
becoming a better person, a strong Muslim, building
united communities and stronger communities is a service
to our brothers and sisters out there it
is a service to our brothers and sisters
out there, they don't want our lives to
end because theirs are ending, they don't want
our lives to end what is that?
that is a message to the world that
the Ummah is bigger than that one part
of the Ummah that you have attacked we
stand together united for Allah Rabbul Izzati Wal
Jalal and do you know what happens?
the enemy knows that we have our lines
that divide us from the beginning of time,
from the beginning of Islam we have our
lines that divide us so they will come
and bring those to the forefront why?
when we are divided then they will be
able to conquer us they will be able
to unite against us, they will be able
to take us out so they come and
they highlight that to us and they want
us to differ so you find people pointing
fingers, hey how can you be having a
good time while our brothers and sisters are
suffering yet he doesn't know that just two
posts ago I was posting about Palestine just
two messages ago I was sending out broadcasts
about what's happening there it doesn't mean that
I don't care, the fact that you see
me smiling, you see me laughing doesn't mean
that I don't care about our brothers and
sisters in Islam so what happens?
the enemy is coming and highlighting that within
us highlighting our historic differences in Islam and
telling us to be disunited what is Allah's
message to you and I?
and remember, hold on to the rope of
Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal hold on to
the Quran, there is no Muslim that we
can approach today that says I don't believe
in the Quran hold on to the fact
that you all believe in one word of
Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal, the Quran you
all utter the same shahada, you all want
to see each other in Jannah hold on
to that tight and don't disunite what happens
when you disunite?
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says you will
fail so whenever you see someone stand up
on a pulpit and speak against another Muslim
question that brother's intentions, question that sister's intentions
why are they speaking up against my believing
brother and sister in Islam at a time
when the enemy matters more, at a time
when we should be focused on them we
shouldn't be focused on each other turning our
guns against each other and then due to
the helplessness that we feel we have this
ideology that begins to develop amongst the youth
that nothing is changing, our protests are doing
nothing our dua is not doing much, our
salah hasn't changed anything over a year so
perhaps I should strap a bomb onto my
chest and go out there and blast a
certain place to smithereens and that will draw
attention, wallahi, that will not change anything and
I say this because I have had messages
sent to me by youth saying what can
we do to go out and fight in
the cause of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
that is not the answer my brother, you
are losing your life and perhaps you will
be answerable in fact you will be answerable
to Allah rabbul izzati wal jalal for having
discarded that life with no particular benefit so
don't think that that will help and that
is the answer if anything you will invite
trouble for the Muslims in your community in
different parts of the world and this is
what this feeling of helplessness leads to in
some people not everybody thinks like this but
understand that extremism is not the answer terrorism
is not the answer it is not going
to change anything if anything it will make
matters worse for the Muslims so go to
your leaders for guidance ask them, say what
should we do how do we help ourselves
how do we change the situation how can
we be of benefit to them and get
the answer from those who know so
ask those of knowledge when you don't know
they will give you answers with evidence they
have studied the Quran they have studied the
Sunnah they have a holistic view of Islam
don't study one verse in isolation take it
and say I will apply this because Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala said that no, go
to those who have a more holistic view
of Islam and ask them what should we
do they will give you the answers we
ask Allah rabbul izzati wal jalal to give
us the ability to be better and to
give us the ability to unite and to
give us the ability to put our differences
aside and to stand strong for the Muslims
in Gaza and for the Muslims across the
globe so
when we look at the Sunnah of Rasulullah
salallahu alayhi wasalam we will come to realize
that the messenger salallahu alayhi wasalam was actually
tested with fear as well he was tested,
let me put it differently he was tested
with positions where he should have been fearful
but what was his response when he was
in the cave and the people were really
looking for him they were after him he
was running away from them and he is
in the cave with Abu Bakr as-Siddiq
r.a Abu Bakr says that if these
people are to just look at their feet
they would see us and Rasulullah salallahu alayhi
wasalam tells him don't fear, indeed Allah is
with us so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sent
down a peace and tranquility upon them when
your iman and your faith in Allah rabbul
izzati wal jalal is so strong that you
focus on him regardless of your surroundings and
what is happening Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
descends a peace on your heart you know
when we look through the seerah they say
that there was a cobweb that was built
by a spider at the opening of that
cave that Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasalam was in
they say there was a cobweb so the
people when they looked down they realized nobody
or they thought nobody is in there so
they didn't go to look but that is
actually a weak narration and I implore you
to think about it being an open hole
an open hole with no defense from this
world with nothing to deceive their eyes yet
Allah rabbul izzati wal jalal protected them yet
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made it such
that they didn't even see Rasulullah salallahu alayhi
wasalam and Abu Bakr as-Siddiq r.a
there Allah does not need a cobweb to
protect you Allah can protect you without anything
He is Allah and when you understand that
then you really and truly have understood who
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is وَمَا يَعْلَمُ
جُنُودَ رَبِّكَ إِلَّا هُوَ and nobody knows the
army of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala except
for Him everything, everything including those who are
pointing their guns at us today is under
the supreme control of Rabbul izzati wal jalal
nothing happens except with the permission of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala so whatever is happening
never question Allah rabbul izzati wal jalal never
say that why is Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala doing this yes you may feel down
at times yes you may feel worry you
may feel sadness you may feel anxiety those
are feelings of a human being but the
response should be the response of a believer
الَّذِينَ قَالَ لَهُمُ النَّاسُ إِنَّ النَّاسَ قَدْ جَمَعُوا
لَكُمْ فَخْشَوْهُمْ فَزَادَهُمْ إِيمَانًا those whom it was
said to them that the people have gathered
for you the people have gathered to kill
you what did it do to them it
increased them in iman وَقَالُوا حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ
الْوَكِيلُ and they said Allah is enough for
us and He is the best protector فَانْقَلَبُوا
بِنِعْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَفَضْلٍ لَمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ so
they turned away with the help of Allah
رَبُّ الْعِزَّةِ وَالْجَلَالِ فَانْقَلَبُوا بِنِعْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَفَضْلٍ
لَمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ لَمْ يَمْسَسْهُمْ سُوءٌ no harm
touched them وَاتَّبَعُوا رِضْوَانَ اللَّهِ and they followed
the pleasure of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ the people
were surrounding the house and where was the
heart of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم with
Allah رَبُّ الْعِزَّةِ وَالْجَلَالِ so what does Allah
say no harm touched them and then again
where is the focus وَاتَّبَعُوا رِضْوَانَ اللَّهِ they
followed the pleasure of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ when
Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم his companions were
being oppressed in Mecca he did not stop
his life he did not say we need
to focus on Bilal because he is being
tortured through the desert and he is in
the sun and he is struggling and he
is standing imagine Bilal was saying أَحَدٌ أَحَدٌ
أَحَدٌ أَحَدٌ and Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم
helped him in whatever way he could he
did whatever was within his means to help
him but then he left it to Allah
رَبُّ الْعِزَّةِ وَالْجَلَالِ it is of utmost importance
that we understand that the Ummah, the position
that we are in right now and the
circumstance what we can do and what we
can't do and what is ok to do
and what is not ok to do and
then we will understand how to deal with
this crisis may Allah رَبُّ الْعِزَّةِ وَالْجَلَالِ ease
their suffering may Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى grant
them goodness may Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى open
up their doors may Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى
destroy their enemy