Ismail Kamdar – Sources of Barakah
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the concept of Barakah, a man among the top four mentors of theena of Wednesday. He is a leader of the community, has a productive life, and has a long life. They suggest practicing and habits to achieve success in life, including maintaining family ties, asking Allah for his name, and working on the first template. They also provide guidance on how to attract Bar biweekly, maintaining healthy behavior, and working on the first template.
AI: Summary ©
Aspect of Islam, that it's something we all
practice, we all bring into our lives.
And that is the concept of Barakah.
Concept of blessings, having a blessed life.
Barakah is a very important concept, and it's
something that everyone can experience.
Everyone, with a little bit of effort, can
experience Barakah in their life.
So let's begin with the discussion of what
is Barakah.
What does this word mean?
We hear it all the time, right?
When someone says there's no Barakah in time,
or they say there's too much Barakah in
the food, right?
It's a word we use all the time.
What does Barakah mean?
Barakah translates as blessings.
And it essentially means that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala puts more goodness and value and
abundance into something than seems logically possible.
In a way, Barakah is a karamah.
It is a miracle that Allah gives to
whom He wills.
And it is one of those karamahs or
miracles that almost anyone can experience.
We know a certain level of miracles you
can only experience when you are pious.
Barakah isn't only for the pious.
Anyone who asks Allah for Barakah can experience
Barakah in their life.
Now some of us, we may think of
Barakah as relates only to money.
We think money can have Barakah.
And if we think of Barakah, we think
only about money having Barakah.
But in reality, Barakah can be in anything.
In anything.
You can have Barakah in your money, in
your wealth.
Which means, for example, you may not earn
much.
But you and your family are able to
live comfortably off it.
And you are content, and you are satisfied,
you don't owe anyone any money, you don't
have any problems.
It is Barakah in that money.
You can have Barakah in your time.
Where you spend an hour doing so much
work that it takes other people an entire
week to do the same.
Or you do so much work in one
year, it takes people ten years to do
the same.
You see, Barakah in time.
We see this with many of the righteous
predecessors.
There are people whose books that we read
today that lived a thousand years ago.
I'll give you an example, Imam Andawi.
Imam Andawi actually passed away at a very
young age.
He didn't live in this world for a
very long time.
He lived a very short life.
Yet he has written books like multiple volumes,
like twenty volume books.
On Fiqh, on Hadith.
And you wonder, how did he write so
much?
Another example would be Akhtabari.
Akhtabari has written some of the longest books
of Tafsir and history.
He didn't live that long.
There was Barakah in what he did.
Sometimes Barakah can be in the effects of
a project.
Someone could write something short.
Doesn't take them much time.
Maybe somebody just wrote a brief article or
a booklet.
It took them one day to write it.
And a thousand years later, people are still
benefiting from it.
This is Barakah in one's efforts.
You do something small, it has a ripple
effect for centuries.
And keeps coming back into your account as
good deeds.
So Barakah can come in many ways.
And if you go back to the first
generation.
One of the best examples of Barakah from
the first generation is Anas ibn Malik.
Who was Anas ibn Malik?
And what was the Barakah he experienced?
Anas ibn Malik was from the Ansar.
He was from the people of Medina.
He was only ten years old when Rasulullah
s.a.w. moved to Medina.
Anas ibn Malik's mother, Umm Sulaym, sent Anas
to work for the Prophet s.a.w.
for ten years.
So Rasulullah s.a.w. lives next to
the Masjid, Masjid al-Daghawi.
And just across the road from him is
the house of Umm Sulaym.
And every day she would send her son
Anas across the road to spend time with
the Prophet s.a.w. To accompany him,
to help him with his work.
And so he spent ten years in the
company of Rasulullah s.a.w. And all
his mother asked for in return is one
thing.
She said, O Rasulullah, make dua for my
son.
Make dua for my son.
And there's different versions of the dua that
are narrated.
The one in Sahih Muslim goes as follows.
Rasulullah s.a.w. made dua for Anas
ibn Malik and said, اللهم اغفر ماله وولده
وبارك لهم فيه O Allah, give him a
lot of money and a lot of children.
And put Barakah in it.
Very beautiful dua.
The dua of Rasulullah s.a.w. for
Anas ibn Malik.
Give him a lot of wealth and a
lot of children and put Barakah in it.
Put Barakah in his wealth and in his
children.
Another version of the dua said, O Allah,
give him Barakah in his wealth, his children
and his life.
Anas ibn Malik's life becomes one of Barakah.
His life itself becomes a vertical.
It becomes a proof of prophethood.
Rasulullah s.a.w. made this dua for
him and this dua comes true.
How?
Anas ibn Malik lives to be like a
hundred and twenty.
He lives longer than almost any other sahab.
He lives all the way past one hundred
years.
He becomes at one point in time the
last sahab he's still teaching.
When he's still a hundred years after Rasulullah
s.a.w. passes away.
Then Barakah in his life, he lives a
long life.
But it's not just a long life, it's
a productive life.
He is amongst the top four narrators of
hadith.
He spends his life teaching hadith.
He has Barakah in his children.
It is narrated when Anas ibn Malik was
an old man and he'd be walking to
the masjid.
There would be like a hundred men walking
behind him.
And people would ask, are those his students?
And people would say no, those are his
sons and grandsons.
A hundred descendants.
And they were not just average descendants.
These were scholars of hadith.
These were warriors.
These were businessmen.
These were the leaders of the community.
The descendants of Anas ibn Malik.
And he had Barakah in his wealth.
He had such Barakah in his wealth.
That it is narrated that whenever somebody in
Madinah wanted to open a business.
They'd ask Anas ibn Malik to be a
silent partner in their business.
To basically just invest a little bit in
the business.
Because any business that Anas ibn Malik would
invest in would become profitable.
This was the Barakah of his wealth.
Allah blessed him with such Barakah in his
wealth.
Any business he invested in would become profitable.
And so he lived a long life.
With a lot of wealth.
And a lot of children.
And a lot of good deeds.
And this is the effect of the Dua
of Rasulullah ﷺ.
A Dua for what?
Give him Barakah in all of this.
And so today I want to share with
you.
A few simple terms.
Things we all can do.
That will bring Barakah into our lives.
It can bring Barakah into our general life.
Into our marriages.
Into our family life.
Into our work.
Into our money.
Into our projects.
Into everything.
A few simple terms.
Number one.
Live a life that is pleasing to Allah.
At the end of the day.
Only Allah can give you Barakah.
He is the source of Barakah.
If you are living a life of sin.
And you're asking why I don't have Barakah
in my life.
Well, the answer is right there.
You choose to live a life that attracts
the opposite of Barakah.
Remember.
Righteousness attracts Barakah.
Sin robs your life of Barakah.
It's the same with wealth, right?
That earning Halal puts Barakah in the wealth.
Earning Haram removes the Barakah from the wealth.
So the number one term.
The simplest term.
Strive to live a life that is pleasing
to Allah.
And that itself will bring Barakah into your
life.
Number two.
In everything you do.
Have Ikhlasul Niyah.
Have good intentions.
Start a project on good intentions.
Allah will put Barakah in the project.
Too often.
We start projects without really figuring out our
intentions.
And sometimes we have wrong intentions.
We do things for ego.
We do things for fame.
We do things for money.
We do things to give ourselves a power
boost.
So from the very beginning there's no Barakah
in the project.
Because we do it for the wrong reasons.
Start with the right reasons.
Whatever you do with your life.
Do it for the sake of Allah.
Whatever you do with your life.
Do it with noble intentions.
If you start something with a good intention.
Allah will put Barakah in it.
The third rule.
A very simple rule.
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said.
Allah has put Barakah in the early hours
of this Ummah.
Allah has put Barakah in the early hours
of this Ummah.
Meaning what?
Start your day early.
Start your day early.
Those early hours.
The Hajj time.
Fajr time.
And the hour or two after Fajr.
That time is the most blessed time of
the day.
For worshipping Allah.
For studying.
For doing good deeds.
For writing a book.
For thinking.
For meditation.
For contemplation.
For anything.
Wake up early.
And take advantage of those hours.
Even if it's to worship Allah.
The worship of Allah in those hours.
Put Barakah in the rest of the day.
Some people feel like.
To get Barakah in your day.
You have to do your work at that
time.
No you don't have to do your work
at that time.
If you work 8 to 5.
You work 8 to 5.
Right?
But you can still use those early hours.
To worship Allah.
To make Dua.
To do Istighfar.
To work on a side project.
To sit and think.
Nowadays we don't think enough.
To sit and think.
When it's quiet.
And the noise is gone.
And you're not distracted.
To sit and do some self reflection.
Take advantage of the early hours.
And you will find Barakah in your entire
day.
Another simple tip for Barakah.
You know I spoke about 4 weeks ago.
And a few weeks ago I spoke about
balancing.
Contemplate and ambition.
This is one of the ways to attract
Barakah into your life.
Be ambitious in your goals.
Be ambitious in your pursuits.
But at the end of the day.
Be content for whatever you earn for that
day.
This balance brings about Barakah.
Ambition will make you work hard.
Contentment will make you find inner peace.
Working hard while having inner peace is what
brings Barakah into your life.
And so try to find balance between contentment
and ambition.
Another important tip to attract Barakah into your
life.
Focus on the quality of your work.
Don't focus on the end result.
A very important principle.
The results of anything are not in our
hands.
The results of anything are not in our
hands.
It's all the power of Allah.
If you start a business.
It is the power of Allah whether that
business does well or not.
If you start a job.
It's the power of Allah whether you excel
at that job or not.
If anything you do.
The results are dependent on Allah.
Allah is not going to ask you about
the results.
Allah is going to ask you about your
efforts.
So instead of focusing on the results and
being stressed out about the results.
And having anxiety about the results.
Focus on what is within your control.
Which is doing the best job possible.
In every aspect of your life.
Do the best job possible.
Sometimes for example parenting.
Sometimes we don't stress out about what our
child is going to grow up to be.
Then we don't focus on here and now.
Don't be stressed out about 5, 10, 20
years down the line.
Focus on doing a quality job now.
So whatever happens down the line.
You know I did my best.
And doing your best is what brings Barakah
into your life.
In every aspect of your life.
And so focus on being your best.
On doing your best.
On putting Ihsan into everything you do.
And this will attract Barakah into your life.
The next step.
One we all should know and we all
should be practicing.
Be generous.
Live a life of generosity.
And you will attract Barakah into your life
and everything.
And most of us already know this about
money.
But it's a reminder we all need.
The more you give.
The more you get.
And this is the Barakah of money.
Your Zakah.
Your Sadaqah.
Your gifts.
Whatever it is that you are giving.
It always comes back to you multiple times
over.
You want Barakah in your wealth?
Never be stingy.
Never be miserly.
Just focus on being the best that you
can in terms of generosity.
But generosity is not only with our wealth.
Be generous with your time.
Be generous with your efforts.
Be generous with your knowledge.
Give and Allah will give you more.
This is a primary principle of Barakah.
You want Barakah in anything?
Share it with others.
And finally.
To attract Barakah into our lives.
A very important term.
Make sure you maintain family ties.
The Prophet s.a.w. said.
Whoever wants to live a long life.
And have a lot of wealth.
Should strive to maintain family ties.
So Rasulullah s.a.w. attached Barakah in
one's life and wealth.
To the maintenance of family ties.
We live in a time where people cut
off ties too easily.
The smallest of arguments and people don't talk
to their siblings or their parents anymore.
Always work on creating muhabba.
Love in the household.
And again if we talk about family.
We are not just talking about the Western
concept of a nuclear family.
That's alien to Islam.
No.
When we say maintain family ties.
We mean as many people as possible.
If you can maintain family ties with your
cousin's cousin.
That's even more Barakah for you.
If you can maintain family ties with your
grandfather's cousin's granddaughter.
There's more family ties for you.
There's more Barakah for you.
As big and circle as possible.
Maintaining good relationship with as many relatives as
possible.
Will bring more and more Barakah into your
life.
So these are some simple terms.
That all of us can practice.
Nothing that's beyond our abilities.
And each of these.
Help us to have a blessed life.
To repeat.
Live a life that is pleasing to Allah.
Always have good intentions.
Wake up early.
Be contented and ambitious.
Focus on the quality of your work.
Be generous with your time, money and knowledge.
And maintain family ties.
If we do all of this.
Then Inshallah.
We will experience Barakah.
In our lives.
In our wealth.
In our homes.
In everything that we do.
Alhamdulillah.
To conclude today's discussion.
I want to share with you three simple
acts of worship.
That we can all do.
Hundreds of times throughout the day.
These three acts of worship.
Bring Barakah to your life.
Simple things.
Number one.
Everything you do.
Begin with Bismillah.
Anything that the name of Allah is recited
upon.
Will be blessed.
There are many benefits.
To starting every action with Bismillah.
And we know in our religion.
We are taught to say Bismillah before you
eat.
You say Bismillah before you sleep.
To say Bismillah even before you are eating.
When you just passed.
Every halal action.
Begins with the name of Allah.
And when you begin an action with the
name of Allah.
You bring Barakah into that action.
Right?
In everything that you do.
So let's make this a habit.
Let's make it a habit.
That throughout our day.
Everything we do.
We say Bismillah.
To such an extent that.
If you are a businessman.
For every single sale.
Say Bismillah.
A customer comes to you.
Say Bismillah before you start ringing them up.
Barakah in that sale.
You open your shop in the morning.
Say Bismillah when you are opening your shop.
Put Barakah into your shop.
Let us begin every single action throughout the
day with Bismillah.
Number one.
This keeps us conscious of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
Number two.
It stops us from doing wrong actions.
Right?
Because you are not going to say Bismillah
before doing something bad.
Number three.
It puts Barakah in all of those actions.
You are starting a long term project that
is going to take you many years.
And you take that first step.
Writing out that first draft.
Working on that first template.
Say Bismillah.
Begin everything in the name of Allah.
And He will give blessings in it.
The second act of worship.
A simple thing you can do throughout the
day many times.
That brings Barakah into your actions.
Ask Allah for Barakah.
Make dua.
We go back to what we mentioned at
the beginning of the first khutbah.
Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam made dua to Allah
for Anas ibn Malik.
Barik lakum fi.
Put Barakah in all of this for him.
So we too.
Make dua for Barakah.
Think about it.
What is the dua we make for people
when they get married?
Ask Allah to put Barakah in the marriage
and the children that they introduce on their
marriage.
I go back and read the dua and
read the translation.
You are literally asking Allah to put Barakah
in the marriage and what the marriage produces.
It's the same for the dua.
Before being intimate with your spouse.
You're asking Allah.
You're starting with Bismillah.
And you're asking Allah to put Barakah in
whatever children you'll produce together.
If we ask Allah for Barakah, we will
get Barakah.
Many people don't ask Allah for Barakah.
They don't make enough dua.
If you feel you don't have Barakah in
time, ask Allah for Barakah in time.
When you feel you don't have Barakah in
your money, ask Allah.
Only Allah can give you Barakah.
Only Allah can bless your time and your
wealth.
So are we asking Him?
Are we making this dua?
Are we making dua for Barakah in our
children, in our lives, in our wealth, in
our time?
Or we just complain that there's no Barakah
in time, there's no Barakah in wealth.
Stop complaining and start asking Allah.
The believer does not complain to other people.
They ask Allah.
Finally, a simple tip for attracting Barakah into
your life.
A very simple act of worship that we
all can do throughout the day.
Send abundant salawat and darood upon Rasulullah ﷺ.
Rasulullah ﷺ said, مَنْ صَلَّتَ عَلَيْهَا وَاحِدًا صَلَّى
اللَّهُ عَلَيْهَا أَشْهَرًا Whoever sends blessings upon me
once, Allah sends blessings upon him ten times.
Every time you send salawat upon Rasulullah ﷺ,
Allah rewards you with ten times Barakah.
Now imagine you do this over and over
again throughout the day, throughout the month, throughout
the year.
Salawat upon the Prophet ﷺ is one of
the most important duas you can make.
Because you are making dua for the beloved
of Allah and in return Allah blesses you
with Barakah and everything that you have.
And so we know today is the day
of Friday and it is from the sunnah.
That on the day of Jummah, we increase
our salawat.
And we send salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ
even more.
So let us build these habits.
These are all simple habits and they are
all habits of the dumb.
They are all things that you have to
say.
They don't take more than a few seconds.
It doesn't take more than a few seconds
to say bismillah before you start an action.
It doesn't take more than a few seconds
to say Allah put Barakah in this project,
put Barakah in my time, put Barakah in
my children.
It takes a few seconds to make these
duas.
It doesn't take more than a few seconds
to say salawat upon the Prophet ﷺ.
It doesn't.
So let us fill our days with these
duas and with these acts of ibadah and
with these important and blessed statements.
Because these are things that bring Barakah to
your life.
And if you meet people who live a
life that is blessed, you will find that
they have these habits.
It is a very consistent thing throughout the
world.
When you meet somebody who has a blessed
life, you will find it to be from
the people who are generous, from the people
who maintain family ties, from the people who
begin everything with bismillah, from the people who
make abundant dua, from the people who love
Rasulullah ﷺ, these are consistent practices that you
will find in the life of anyone you
meet who seems to have a blessed life.
So if we want Barakah in our life,
if we want a blessed life, if we
want a life where Allah is taking care
of us and He is putting extra blessings
in everything that we do, in everything that
we say, in everything that we produce, then
we are very simple steps in doing so.
And if we take these simple steps, then
we too can experience Quran.
We can experience these miracles of Allah ﷻ,
of Barakah in our wealth, Barakah in our
families, Barakah in our time, Barakah in our
projects, Barakah in everything we do.
We end by asking Allah ﷻ to put
Barakah in our lives, to put Barakah in
our children, to put Barakah in our wealth,
to put Barakah in our projects, to put
Barakah in everything that we do and everything
that we say and to make us from
the people who are blessed.
Allahumma Izzan Islam al-Muslimin.
Allahumma Izzan Islam al-Muslimin.
Allahumma Izzan Islam al-Muslimin.
Subhana Rabbika Rabbika Izzan wa Zikrun.
Wa Salam al-Mursaleen.
Wa Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen.