Ibraheem Menk – Quranic Habits To Change Your Life
AI: Summary ©
The negative impact of people feeling satisfied and dissatisfied with their lives is discussed in this segment of the transcript. The success of Islam is highlighted, including its teachings of pursuing pleasure and happiness, finding one's own success through good intentions, and finding one's own happiness in life. The importance of avoiding harms and finding one's own success is emphasized.
AI: Summary ©
If we take a look at the globe
today, people are after their desires, people are
chasing what will please them, their pleasures.
So you find the youth vaping and not
only the youth, the older generation have taken
it up as well.
You find people in the nightclubs, you find
people partying, you find people after that which
they feel will fulfill their souls.
But funny enough, as pleasure rises, we find
that happiness, the bar for happiness is dropping
and people are unsatisfied and dissatisfied with their
lives.
And the countries that have the most freedom
in the world tend to have some of
the highest rates of depression, of suicide.
I remember going to Sweden and the brother
was telling me that we have one of
the highest rates of suicide in the world,
yet we are one of the most free
countries, liberated countries according to the western ideology.
So if the answer is in liberating one's
desire and becoming a hedonist, someone who is
after his desire, then why is it that
these people are offing themselves?
Why is it that these people are offing
themselves?
They literally put a gun to their heads
and blow their brains out.
So the answer cannot be in that which
is chasing the desire and going after that
desire day in day out.
You know, what does a vape pen cost
today?
What does a vape pen cost?
Does anyone know?
Maybe people are ashamed to say that they
know, right?
Don't worry, I won't say I know how
you know, right?
No, no, uncle, but how do you know?
I'm just starting with you.
No, five pounds, we know it's about five,
ten pounds, right?
It doesn't actually cost five pounds.
What it is costing you is your future.
It is costing you your health.
It is costing you your drive.
You know, the human mind is made such
that when we take that vape pen early
in the morning and suck on it and
you think you're putting, you know, strawberry and
lemon and lime into your lungs, those are
just chemicals made up in a lab.
When you put that into your lungs, the
mind is designed such that it releases a
certain chemical that floods your brain and tells
you you've achieved what you need to achieve
for the day.
You know, they say, and forgive my language,
I know we're in a masjid, they say
that * raises your dopamine level by one,
by one time, meaning 100%.
It floods into your brain, right?
Nicotine raises your dopamine level by 200%, which
means twice the amount of that involving or
engaging in * does.
So imagine what this does to the psyche,
which has been created by Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala to go out there and build.
You know, the lack of that chemical within
your brain is actually driving your life forward.
So when you wake up and you take
a puff on that, you're actually flooding your
brain with a chemical that tells you you're
all okay now.
You don't need to go out and work.
You don't need to go and provide for
your family.
You don't need to do much.
So you find the person is lacking the
drive to move forward in their lives.
And every few seconds, every few minutes, you
find them putting their hands in their pocket,
taking out the pen and sucking on it
again.
You know why?
They're trying to repeat that chemical flooding of
the brain.
You know, when you take that first hit
and your brain is full of these pleasure
chemicals, right?
They're trying to repeat that.
But as you continue to try again and
again, it becomes less and less until such
a time where that will do nothing for
you.
And that is why we find that a
person who partakes of food, you partake of
food, you sit down to a meal and
you eat the most delicious meal.
Which bite is the most enjoyable one?
It's the first one that you take and
put into your mouth and you enjoy that
so much.
So you find the person beginning to eat
and eat and eat and they eat and
fill their bellies and they continue to eat,
trying to repeat the pleasure that they received
from the first bite.
But that will not happen.
That will not happen.
You know why?
Because this is the dunya.
Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal created it for
you to take just as much as you
need from it.
And that is why Jannah is fulfilling.
That is why Jannah is fulfilling.
Look at the hadith of Rasulullah salallahu alayhi
wa sallam, بِحَسْبِ ابْنِ آدَمَ أُكُلَاتٍ يُقِنَّ صُلْبَهَا
It is enough for the son of Adam
to have a few morsels of food that
will keep his back upright.
That will keep his back upright.
فَإِنْ كَانَ لَا مَحَالَةً So if it is
absolutely necessary, فَثُلُثٌ لِطَعَامِهِ وَثُلُثٌ لِشَرَابِهِ وَثُلُثٌ
لِنَفَسِهِ So it will be a third for
his food and a third for his drink
and a third for air.
You know what?
That third, third, third that we go to,
we say you should only fill a third.
You should only fill a That third, third,
and third is only if you must.
The hadith starts by saying, مَا مَلَأَ آدَمِيٌ
شَرَّ وِعَامٍ مِّن بَطْنٍ There is no vessel
that the son of Adam has filled that
is worse than the stomach.
Which means that fulfilling your desires to the
nth degree will never be good for you.
It will never be good for you.
Fulfilling your desires to the point where you
don't want any more of it but you
continue to take it is actually أَفَرَأَيْتَ مَنِ
اتَّخَذَ إِلَهُ هَوَاهِ Have you seen the one
who took his nafs as his god?
You've taken your nafs as your god because
what you've done is you've said, okay, I
want this so I will get it.
What have you done?
You've replaced Allah with your desire.
You've just said Allah wants me to do
this but I want to do that so
I will actually do what I want to
do.
What have you done?
You've taken your nafs as your driver.
You've taken your nafs as your god so
this dunya was designed such that if you
partake of it in small amounts, if you
partake of it in small amounts then you
will find that the little that you have
will be very enjoyable.
Hence Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made most
of it haram that you see out there.
So you see the people engaging, dressing the
way they want to dress, drinking what they
want to drink, eating what they want to
eat, smoking what they want to smoke, taking
whichever drugs they want to take.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made it
most of, in fact all of that, he
made it haram, right?
And then he gave you halal.
So you're not allowed to go out there
and sleep with whoever you want to but
I've given you the option of nikah.
Here you are, it's allowed.
So you are allowed to partake of this
dunya in small quantities, in small quantities.
Yes, you are allowed to marry four, no
problem.
You're allowed to marry four in Islam, no
problem.
But after that four, haram.
You are married to four, you cannot get
the fifth wife.
Why?
Because you have chosen that Allah will govern
your life.
And who is that Allah?
That Allah is the one who created you
and fashioned you and placed the system within
you.
And now that he has given you a
manual to operate your life, you choose not
to.
You say no, hold on.
I will follow my desire.
So what happens?
Ultimately you reach a point where that thing
that you gained pleasure from, that particular vape
pen that you smoke, becomes a source of
your torment.
It becomes a source of your torment.
Because now when you wake up every day,
there's no drive.
And I'm using the example of a vape
pen because it is so common amongst everybody
today.
I see people puffing on it.
The man puffs on it so much that
when he blows out you can't even see
his face anymore.
Allahu Akbar.
Is that what we were created for?
And you think that it's costing you five
pounds?
Wallahi it is costing you your future.
Wallahi it is costing you your future.
It's not costing you the five pounds that
you spent on it.
Your health is being destroyed and more importantly
I believe your drive is being taken, sapped
away from you.
Same with the images that we have on
our phones.
Easy to access these images.
Easy to watch the obscene and the immoral.
Very easy.
Pick it up and you got access to
all sorts of scenes.
You know they say that kings of the
past, kings of the past would not have
viewed the number of naked bodies that people
by the age of 15 today would have
viewed.
Allahu Akbar.
What do you think that has done to
your psyche?
What do you think that has done to
your psyche?
Do you think it's just left you all
okay?
And let's be open about this.
I know that there is this conservative culture
where we don't want to talk about these
issues but they are rampant.
They are happening.
People who are coming to the masjid are
engaged in some of these activities.
People who are going to madrasah are engaged
in some of these activities.
Let's be real about it.
This scenery that we are speaking about has
a natural inclination.
Now why do I say this?
You don't have a natural inclination to go
out and take crack cocaine, do you?
You don't have a natural inclination to go
out and you know have some heroin, shoot
yourself up with heroin.
You don't have a natural inclination to go
and snort something out there in the streets.
But you have a natural inclination towards the
opposite gender.
You have a natural inclination to engaging, fulfilling
your sexual desires.
So what they are appealing to is very,
very powerful.
And the same goes.
You engage, you flood your brain with dopamine.
And this drug that is within your brain,
this chemical that is within your brain, will
sap the drive away from your life.
So now you don't want to work.
Hence you find a person who's addicted to
such scenery will tell us that brother I'm
done.
I want to off myself.
I can't live like this anymore.
I go.
I have cases where the brother tells me
I go five times, ten times and it's
not enough.
It's not enough.
My body is telling me I can't do
this anymore.
But my mind and my soul desires more.
You see why we say that deprivation by
following the commands of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala is the answer.
And there is no other answer.
You will never fulfill your soul with this
dunya.
If the answer was in that, then all
of that scenery and imagery would have fulfilled
you.
You'd be happy.
But they say, and I recently heard a
scientist say this, that the higher the amount
of pleasure you pursue in your life, the
less happiness you will have in your life.
Allahu Akbar.
What did Rasulullah ﷺ tell us about our
desires?
Ya ma'shara shabab, O youth, man istata'a
minkumu alba'ata fal yatazawaj, fa innahu aghadhu
lilbasari wa ahsanu lilfarj.
The one who wants to get, the one
who is able to get married, then let
him marry.
For indeed it is better for lowering your
gaze and it is more protective of your
private parts.
What is he telling us?
The first lesson we can take from this
is that primarily people get married to fulfill
their desire.
So there is nothing wrong in admitting that.
That is a halal outlet that will earn
you reward.
Nothing wrong in admitting that.
But the second thing that we see, the
second part of this hadith, wa man lam
yastata'a, and the one who is unable
to do so, fa inna fa'alayhi bis
sawm, fa innahu lahuu ijaa.
So the one who is unable, let him
fast, for indeed that is a shield.
You know, why is the fast a shield?
Why is the fast a shield from your
desires?
Can I ask that question to the brothers
here today?
Anyone know?
Why is the fast a shield from your
desire?
Anyone know?
Increases your willpower.
Jazakumullahu khairan.
That's the answer I was looking for.
It's not about deprivation.
It's not about removing or lacking food in
your stomach and your stomach grumbling and you
feeling thirsty because ultimately at the end of
the day you are going to eat and
drink.
You are going to eat and drink.
So it's not only about that.
It's about building your willpower, your ability to
keep away from something despite wanting it.
And what are the three things?
Food, drink, and desire.
Allah said keep away from it from the
morning until the evening.
What is that fast doing?
It's preparing you for bigger challenges.
Okay, now you see a woman on the
street or you see a woman on your
device.
It becomes easier for you to close your
eyes, look away, avert your gaze.
Why?
Because you are able to practice that keeping
away from that which is halal during the
daylight hours, from dawn to dusk.
You're able to do that so now it
becomes easier for you to do it when
you see something haram.
You see how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
made it a training ground for us to
protect ourselves.
Hence the entire shariah is there to protect
the human being until he gets to Allah
while Allah is pleased with him.
And there the amazing thing about it is
you will get that which will fulfill your
soul.
And if you pursue that, the beauty of
it is that if you pursue that, Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala makes the pursuit fulfilling
in this dunya as well.
So you know how we spoke about a
person who's addicted to these scenes and can't
leave them and he reaches a point where
I want to off myself, I can't do
this anymore, I have no drive, I have
nothing.
The opposite is that when you follow the
command of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, keep
away from haram, keep away from your desires,
then you will find that you are fulfilled,
you feel happy, you feel pleased.
Why?
Because again the pleasure has come down, the
pursuit of the pleasure has come down, so
Allah has placed pleasure and happiness in the
pursuit of his happiness.
Allahu Akbar.
Allahu Akbar.
That is the shariah.
That is what we have.
Unfortunately today we wait for science to tell
us this is why you should follow the
shariah.
Yet Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal told us
more than 1400 years ago.
Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal tells us that
the one who moves away from my signs
then he will have a constricted life and
we will raise him yawm al qiyamati blind.
He will ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
why did you raise me blind and I
could see in the dunya, I could see.
So Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal tells him
in this manner the signs came to you
and you ignored them, you chose to turn
away from them, you forgot them.
So today you shall be forgotten.
Today you shall be abandoned.
Today you shall be left.
Wallahi dear brothers and sisters in Islam, where
are we sitting today?
We're sitting in Masjid Humayra.
Where is Masjid Humayra?
In the city of London.
Where is the city of London?
In the United Kingdom.
Where is the United Kingdom?
In the world.
Who does the world belong to?
None other than Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal.
Limanil mulkul yawm lillahi lwahidil qahhar.
Who is the dominion for today?
Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal will ask yawm
al qiyamah.
Who does it belong to?
To Allah, the One, the Compeller.
Why the One?
Because everybody else has fallen away.
Their power has fallen away.
Their might has fallen away.
Their authority has fallen away.
Today, who does it belong to?
It belongs to Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal.
Everything in this world, everything in this universe
belongs to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, including
you, yourself, your nafs, your body, your bones,
your lungs, your flesh, your everything that you
have.
It belongs to Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal.
Hence we as human beings say, as Muslims
say, Inna lillah.
Indeed, we belong to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
Did you not accept as a Muslim that
Allah is your commander?
Allah is the One whom you take commands
from.
Allah is the One whom you listen to.
Allah is the One whom you follow.
Allah is the One whom you worship.
Did you not accept as a Muslim, as
one who submitted to your Maker?
Yes, you did.
So why then look elsewhere, everywhere else for
the answer?
The answer is in front of you.
It is in your Quran.
It is in the Salah that you perform.
It is in your understanding of that message
from Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal.
And this Salah, why do we say it's
a turning point?
And without it, you can't change your life.
You cannot change your life.
Someone performing four Salawat in the day, without
a valid excuse, they perform four Salawat in
the day and they want to change their
lives, they will not change their lives.
You will not change your life.
If you are missing your Fajr Salah, Wallahi,
you will not change your life.
Yes, maybe you are on a journey where
you have built up from one, two, three,
four, now you have reached four and you
are about to get to five, you are
on a journey, you are moving towards something
good, we commend you for that.
But if you have been performing three Salawat,
four Salawat in the day for the last
10, 15 years, I can guarantee you that
your life has not changed much.
If anything, it has become worse now than
it was 15 years ago.
Why?
Because you chose not to do the bare
minimum that Allah has asked of you.
And I will show you, display to you
how this Salah is actually a changer of
your life and we will end off at
that.
which has been revealed to you of the
book and establish the Salah.
Indeed, Salah prevents from immorality and evil.
You remember we spoke about immorality and what
it does to your brain and how it
floods your brain with a certain chemical.
Allah says that Salah places a barrier between
you and those desires.
If you establish your Salah correctly, then you
will find yourself keeping away from the Haram.
And if you continue to engage in that
Haram, there is something wrong with your Salah.
And when you keep away from immorality, what
happens?
You wake up with drive in the morning.
You want to go to work, you want
to achieve, you want to provide for your
family, you want to do something.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells you,
Successful are those, the ones whom they are
conscious of Allah in their Salah.
They are conscious of Allah in their Salah.
They are what?
They are successful.
Successful in the dunya, successful in the akhirah.
And that is success.
My dear brothers and sisters in Islam, you
want to change your life, you don't know
where to start from, begin with your Salah.
You're already praying five Salawat in the day,
improve your Salah.
Your Salah has already improved, add to it
Qiyamul Layl.
And you know what will happen?
You will achieve success in this dunya.
You will love the little bit that you
receive from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
You will enjoy it and find happiness in
it.
And you will look forward to meeting Allah
Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal, knowing that Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala has prepared a lot, a
lot for you.
One parting message.
You know we speak about Tawakkul Taqwa and
that is there 100%.
But something that we really can inculcate in
our lives is thinking good of Allah always.
When you get up in the morning, say
I thank Allah who gave me life after
he gave me death and to him I
shall return and then think that ya Allah
you have given me an amazing life and
I look forward to even more.
I know you will give it to me
and have that Yaqeen from Allah Rabbul Izzati
wal Jalal that he will give you the
best.
Why?
I am with my servant as he assumes
of me.
If he thinks goodness of me, then good.
And if he thinks bad of me, then
it will be bad.
So inculcate that good thought of in your
life and go about your day knowing that
Allah is there for you and he will
provide and he will do everything for you.
And think good of Allah and Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala will open your doors.
You will just see things happening in front
of you.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us
the ability to become more grateful and may
Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal give us the
ability to focus on what we have and
to be grateful for the halal that he
has provided for indeed that is a ni'mah
from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The ability to enjoy halal is a ni'mah
from Allah Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala empower us
to do that and may Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala grant us the ability to keep
away from that which is haram and prohibited
and may he be pleased with us when
we meet him.
Shall we take some questions?
Okay inshaAllah we can take some questions.
Let's try and stick to the topic and
try not to ask anything political.
We know the reason why.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us.
Ameen.
Any questions brothers?
Okay let me ask you a question.
Did what I say make sense?
Was it clear?
Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah.
Sometimes I feel like I don't know whether
I got the message across you know.
So alhamdulillah good to hear that.
No questions?
Oh okay.
Yes brother.
In terms of progressing towards getting closer to
Allah, what should be the sign that we
are when we are looking back and make
progress?
Yes alhamdulillah.
So there is uh there are two signs.
So the question to repeat it is that
uh what are the signs that we are
gaining closeness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?
What are some of the signs?
And this is a very common question.
Something that comes to the mind of a
believer.
The first sign that you can look for
in your life is what do you find
yourself doing?
So analyze your day and if the first
thing that you do when you wake up
is the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala and is the happiness of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala pursuing the happiness of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, the fajr salah, recitation
of the Quran, the dhikr of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, you find yourself clearing your
intention between you and Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala regularly, then know that Allah wants goodness
for you and you are on the correct
path.
And the second thing that I would say
The one whose good deed makes him happy,
it makes him happy, you gain fulfillment, you
gain joy from worshiping Allah and your bad
deed makes you sad, then that is a
believer in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So when you do something wrong, you feel
like I've done something to displease my maker,
I should seek forgiveness, I should ask Allah,
he's seen me, nobody saw me, but Allah
saw me, let me seek forgiveness from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, then you know you
are a believer.
You know, people ask me this often that
how do I know I'm not a munafiq,
how do I know I'm not a munafiq,
it worries me.
And the most profound answer that I heard
was if it worries you, then you are
not a munafiq.
If that is a worry, a concern for
you, that you are a munafiq, then you
are not a munafiq.
Why?
Because this was the concern of some of
the sahabah, this was their concern.
Am I a munafiq?
You know, at night I do this, in
the daytime I do that.
I have these two different lives I'm living.
People see me a certain way, but I
know myself.
Everybody is like this.
It's called imposter syndrome.
If that imposter syndrome bothers you, then you
are not a munafiq.
A munafiq never sits and says, am I
a munafiq?
He never sits and questions because it doesn't
bother him.
He has no conscience.
So that is a proof, a sign that
you have something within you that's alive and
you should thank Allah for that.
You should thank Allah for that.
BarakAllah fiqh.
Any other question?
Brother, give us a question.
MashaAllah, you look like you have some.
MashaAllah, alhamdulillah.
Jazakumullahu khairan.
Shall we wrap up?
Yeah?
Jazakumullahu khairan.
It was lovely being here.
Thank you for attending.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept from
us and gather us in Jannatul Firdaus.
Thank you very much.