A Guide for the New Muslim Part 12
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Channel: Jamal Zarabozo
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AI Generated Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of the concept of purification of the soul, which is not something static or static. They stress the need for individuals to be aware of their actions and not just focus on their beliefs. The speakers also emphasize the importance of practicing Islam and building a strong desire to grow and avoid harm. They stress the need for people to purify their beliefs and not give up their beliefs to avoid future mistakes. The importance of reflective and making a decision based on their priority of their life is also emphasized.AI Generated Transcript ©
Bismillah
Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala nabina Muhammad are shadow in the law, why do they actually get out what should one do
today Alhamdulillah we come to
the last
in our series of lectures
entitled A Guide for the non Muslim
and I hope inshallah
I pray that inshallah the information
saved over these weeks are inshallah beneficial to whether whether it was new to you or whether
whether it was material that you already knew.
That is basically I think inconsequential as long as the shallow you feel that somehow you benefited from it either by getting some more details
or perhaps even just by being refreshed, we benefit from being reminded.
Even some of the basics of the deen we need to be reminded every now and then and inshallah this refreshes us, reinvigorates us to apply Islam correctly and properly in our lives in sha Allah.
So in this last lecture today,
I simply want maybe you can say, to give words of advice
about the purification of the soul.
And this path that all of us hamdulillah all of us have chosen
by the grace and the mercy of Allah subhanaw taala and been guided to follow in this life inshallah that will lead us
to the good of both this life and the hereafter
lead us to having a list of hen with data please with us when we meet him at our ultimate destination and our ultimate meeting.
And in turn, we are pleased with him.
And we are pleased with Allah as our Lord. We are pleased with this Islam as a religion. And we're pleased with the prompt commissar Salim
as our Prophet.
It's very important that an individual
keeps his goal in mind
as he's going through life, what is his purpose? What is his goal? What is he all about? Really, when you think about it, this is what Islam is.
Maybe when you embraced Islam,
you did not think of it in this all encompassing fashion.
But in reality, this is what Islam is all about. Islam defines who you are.
You're now a servant of Allah subhana wa Tada, you're doing your best to be an obedient servant to Allah subhana wa.
And your goal is to remain a servant of alyssum. And with that, and to be the best in your servitude to Allah subhanho wa Taala that you can be.
And as I said, if an individual keeps his goal in mind and and refreshes his thoughts about his goal, and always has that sort of speak targets in mind,
this can affect almost everything that he does in his life.
When he begins to evaluate everything, in the light of this goal,
it begins to ask himself, okay, if I do this deed,
is this going to help me towards my goal or not? Or is this actually going to harm me?
And if it is going to harm me towards my goal, and this goal is really beloved to me. And that is actually the most important thing that I could think of,
is if this action is going to harm me with respect to this goal, why in the world should I perform this act?
However, what happens is many times, we don't remember the goal. We don't remember listen.
We don't remember the fact that we want to please the listener with that. And so therefore we do actions.
We're conscious of the actions that we that we do. And we know that it is displeasing to Allah subhanaw taala. We know that as a Muslim, for example, we're not supposed to do it. But because we have neglected our goal for a few moments, have not really thought about the issue in the way that a rational, sane person should think about. We slip
and this important topic of purification of the soul,
trying to purify ourselves, trying to stay along this path trying to improve
ourselves.
The move, so to speak from one stage to another closer to Allah subhana wa tada we must think about this concept of purification of the soul as a process
in the sense that it is not something static. You are not, for example, like some, some people,
they consider themselves born again. And this means everything is finished now they're going to be saved, and there's no question about what is going to happen to them.
This is not how we perceive our faith and our practice and so forth. As I said, in reality, it is not something static is not you reached a fixed point you've embraced Islam, you said the Shahada, and now that's it.
But in reality, it is something dynamic, and it becomes and it's something volatile.
You can in reality, reach great heights, within Islam and in your servitude to Allah subhanho wa Taala. Or you can actually reach very low depths.
When you forget about Allah subhanho wa Taala. And when you do not obey Allah subhana wa Tada.
As I said, the ultimate goal is the worship of Allah subhanaw taala.
As Allah subhanaw taala says, In the Quran, why now
I've only created jinn and humankind that they may worship.
This is the ultimate goal.
And actually nothing, nothing can be better than that whatsoever. There's nothing more noble for a human being,
than being a proper servant, of his creator.
Even when Allah subhanho wa Taala refers to the promises of them in different circumstances,
the novelist term that he uses for him,
he refers to the province that Sam has had as a servant.
And the province has also said, when we're speaking about
how we should speak about him say that I am the servant, and the slave of Allah subhana wa.
And this is what we want to, we want to become we want to become true,
true slaves, and true servants of Allah.
And we do that by
internally internalizing these teachings of Islam,
and all of our behavior and all of our actions. Remember,
as is obvious from these different lectures that we have been giving,
Islam is not just about purifying
order or doing some kind of spiritual or religious acts.
But all the actions of this world, any kind of action in this world actually falls within the realm of the concept of a worship of Alyssa kind of with that.
And so when we're speaking about internalizing Islam and being a true servant of Allah subhanho wa Taala, we're speaking about an every component of our life.
So, every good deed that we do with the right intention and it is a property
all of these actions are actually acts of about it, whether it is something internal with respect to having love for the sake of Allah, or putting our trust in Allah subhanho wa Taala or having fear of Allah or whether it is something VRS speech or actions that we do.
Whether it is a ritual access is prayer, fasting as a guide, whether it is simply smiling when we meet our brother, or seeing a good word,
or helping someone who's in need, feeding the poor.
Whether it is refraining from doing something wrong,
we intentionally do not look at Haram, we intentionally do not eat things which have been forbidden for us we intentionally do not engage
in actions like ribbon and some of the things that we spoke about intentionally we do not do them for the sake of Allah subhanho wa Taala.
Every time we do these kind of things, and every time
every time we're behaving within this framework, with the proper intention, we are being a servant of all this fun with that. We are doing what is known as Ubud. We are worshipping and serving Allah subhanho wa Taala.
This concept, this concept has to be clear in everybody's mind and it is something that implicitly I have been emphasizing throughout these lectures.
Don't think of your Islam simply as a part time or try to compartmentalize it into just when you go to the mosque or something of that nature.
Do you want to become a complete Muslim.
And as I said, this is a process by which you grow.
And sometimes, as I alluded to earlier, sometimes
the good deeds and the worship of Allah Subhana, WA tada are much easier for you and they come to an a much easier fashion than an OTA.
And then other times you have to struggle, you have to struggle to make yourself to get up for failure.
You have to struggle to make yourself even perform the non obligatory prayers.
You have to struggle to make yourself even do a kind deed.
And this goes back to the fact that as I said, this faith is something dynamic.
That is clear from the Quran, for example, and from the statements of the process that I'm that a man or faith,
belief increases, at times, and it also decreases
losses in the Quran.
And when his Verses are recited to them, they increase their faith. Allah also says, fire
to believers that the believers may increasingly
again, do that again and again.
It is us who sent down tranquility into the hearts of the believers, in order that faith may be added to their faith.
And, lastly, maybe something that is very good for us, as Muslims, and especially as non Muslims, and as Muslims living in a non Islamic environment.
Where we many times face difficulties and hardships, just trying to practice Islam, and even speak of maybe trying to convey to others but just by ourselves, trying to practice Islam kind of looks and statements and actions that we get from others.
Allah subhanho wa Taala says in the Quran,
those to whom people said a great army is gathering against
therefore you should fear it.
But in reality, this only increased their Eman their faith and they said for all for us, Allah sufficient, he is the perfect Disposer of affairs.
This what they went through when when they were told, look, the arm is gathering against you. You better be afraid, what was their response?
And how does it Listen, I don't want to describe that response. In reality, they knew that
this belief, the servitude to Allah subhanaw taala this feeling and this joy actually that we experienced in our hearts, this great blessing that we have from Allah subhanho wa Taala
this is actually something very dear, something very special.
And we should never be complacent with respect to it and expect that Allah subhanho wa Taala
is going to give it to us and keep it with us and continue to bless it with us. Unless we also demonstrate this this is what we really want.
And we demonstrate that to Allah subhanho wa Taala by showing under different circumstances that Yes, a lot. This is what I want.
Allah I'm going to put you ahead and and and your religion and your teachings and the guidance of the Prophet Muhammad SAW Selim above anything else.
Because Allah subhanho wa Taala makes it very clear.
The beginning of serotonin Kabuto Allah subhanaw taala USCIS has even
this verse, Allah subhanaw taala saying to the people think that they will be left alone simply by saying we believe
that's all it takes. Yes you say you believe in and all this fine without is going to store everything upon you know indeed as Allah subhanaw taala says Allah subhanho wa Taala did test those people who are before us.
And so therefore we also should expect that Allah subhanaw taala is going to try us and justice
and it is through these means that inshallah our Eman our faith is actually increased
because number one, when these things come to us from a listener
With data, we already know that they're going to come to us.
And so this is part of the promise of a lun. And, and this increases our certainty and what Allah subhanho wa Taala is teaching us in the forum.
Secondly, it increases our amen and increases our belief because it makes us recognize in our heart, how dear this Islam is to us.
And make us It makes us recognize this fact in
how we really want this
and how really it is beloved to us. And when we think about giving it up, and sacrificing it,
even if it means conflict, maybe with those people who are closest to us and our relatives and so forth, we were like no, we cannot do
this thing is just too beloved to us.
So therefore, these kind of trials that we were that we go through
these kind of trials are actually means by which inshallah we'll be increasing our, our faith.
Because as I said, more and more, it'll make us as individuals understand that, yes, we want this faith inshallah more than anything else.
These trials, as I said, they should increase our faith,
they should make us realize how important this faith is, and therefore increase our love and our devotion to the stream.
But as these verses that I just quoted, clearly show,
there is such a thing as a man increasing and decreasing.
And as I said, probably everybody experienced this, and maybe some people don't realize,
maybe some people don't realize what is going on in their life. But virtually everyone experiences these things. As I said, sometimes, you know, your willingness to sacrifice, your energy, your drive, to do all kinds, all kinds of actions for the sake of Allah subhanho wa Taala.
Your energy is just great. And this actions just flow from you. And you feel very happy and you feel you get a great deal of joy, knowing that you're doing this actions for the sake of Allah Spano Tata purely for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala. And that is the only thing driving
and your mind continues to increase.
And yet Other times you You see, or you feel it is very difficult.
Even some of the basic obligations of the faith,
even some of the basic obligations of the faith, like going to the Friday prayer
comes difficult for you.
You begin to question yourself, for example, why am I giving up interest? interest is just money and I can make it Why am I giving up X amount of dollars every year?
And so this question, by the way.
And this issue of faith increasing and decreasing, this is not just some kind of theoretical issue that maybe the scores have different over the years. And they've argued about and they said, and they made many conclusions about and so forth.
This is not this is not the point that we need to get from.
The point that we need to get from it is that we cannot be lackadaisical with respect to our image, our Islam and our faith.
The prophet SAW Selim has described
that there are some people who do the acts of gender through the acts of Paradise until there are hand span away from Paradise. And then the decree overtakes them and they do the acts of the Hellfire, they're thrown into the hellfire.
And the opposite is what someone is doing the acts of the Hellfire until he is almost virtually in the hellfire.
And then he changes his words, and he does accidentally
entered into jail.
No One
No Muslim, was conscious of these facts should ever be lackadaisical with respect to his email.
You should always be evaluating and thinking about what is he doing? How has he changed? comparison? He should compare himself this week with last week and so forth, and try to understand and see
what are the things that help them? And what are the things that happen?
inshallah we're going to discuss some of these shortly.
But first, I want to speak a little bit about this process of purification of the scope of the soul.
And especially again, let me address new Muslims in particular.
hamdulillah the first, the first step,
the first step in the purification of the soul without any question whatsoever, is the proper belief in Allah.
purifying yourself from all kinds of sugar
From all kinds of associating foreigners with a lot of denying have a lunch.
And in fact Allah subhana wa tada says in the Quran by the Abdullah hammer,
you're certainly succeeded who has purified himself
and m&r bus the Companion of the promises of the one who was very close to the process and learn the Quran explained this by saying whoever purifies himself from
the first step of purification without any doubt is to remove yourself from should remove yourself from associating any foreigners with almost 100. What?
In fact, Allah subhanaw taala says in the Quran, yeah.
Rarely, the polytheists are impure.
And this is a spiritual kind of impurity, not a physical kind of appear. They are impure because they are committing the shirk, and associating partners with others.
And so the first step of this process is really the recognition that you should not associate any partners with Allah subhanho wa Taala in any way whatsoever.
And hamdulillah this is what we're all declaring. When we became Muslim, which we continue to declare every day, a shadow Allah, Allah and Allah, I bear witness
to the fact that there's none worthy of worship except Allah.
Again, when we spoke earlier about the belief in Allah subhanho wa Taala.
Don't be surprised if you still somehow make some mistakes, even with respect to all this man with that,
that you're embracing of Islam does not mean all of a sudden that you are complete and true believer
that you met all of the requirements of what it means to be a believer.
And that you are not making any mistake whatsoever with respect even with respect to Allah subhanho wa Taala. And the idea of not associating.
Allah subhanho wa Taala says in the Quran about the third one Arabs or Latina
they don't say we have believed their claim for themselves we have believed. So Allah subhanho wa Taala says, suppose I said him to say to them, you have not yet
truly believed.
But instead you should say we have submitted we have become Muslim. We have submitted to the truth.
So what tada then says, For faith has yet to completely penetrate your hearts.
But if you obey Allah and His Messenger, he will not deprive you of the rewards for your deeds Verily Allah is forgiving.
Well, they have submitted there are Muslims and when they do their actions, Allah subhana wa Taala says, Look,
you're better bail line is messenger, none of that is going to be lost to you whatsoever. In other words, they have some image they have some beliefs they are
submitting sincerely in Islam.
But the real and the strong belief and wiping away everything else between you and Allah subhanho wa Taala to get you to that level, which you are really deserving of the title title of believer, they haven't reached that stage. And don't be surprised as I said, don't be surprised if there are times when you study about Allah subhanho wa Taala and you study about this Deen that you find that you are making a major and grave error.
This even happened among some people, some Arabs who knew the Quran, who knew the Arabic language during the time of the process,
who had recently embraced Islam.
And when they were going out to a battle,
the battle for name
they passed by a tree on which the polytheists used to hang their weapons to get blessings. And
so some of them said through the process of messenger of Allah, make for us a tree like this.
That they have any point for us, make us this tree with it will get blessings from and so forth. And so the province I sent him, said exalted in great dissolve this what you've said is like when the people of Moses said to Moses, make for us and idle,
like that idle that they have.
And then the prophet SAW Selim said by the one in whose hand is my soul, you should certainly follow the practices of the people who came before you
The problem is I said, I'm speaking about
the Muslim nation as a whole.
What you one of its characteristics is that there will be from amongst this Muslim nation, those people who fall into those mistakes that the earlier peoples did.
And so we always have to be aware.
We always have to be aware of what it truly means to believe in Allah subhanaw taala and purify our beliefs and continue to purify our beliefs by more knowledge about Allah subhanho wa Taala
and doing the proper acts with respect
to Allah gela what do we do make a mistake, and we realize our mistake
and inshallah Allah subhanho wa Taala will forgive us for our ignorance. Like in this case, the prophets I send them did not
censor them or anything, do any kind of action against them, shall Allah Allah subhanho wa Taala will forgive us if we were truly ignorant.
But the point is that that ignorance actually that we had in us, kept us from really getting even closer to Allah is fine with that.
So the first step, and the most important step that we can see is this purification of our beliefs. And this purification of our beliefs includes all of the articles of faith that I mentioned earlier.
In particular, our belief about Allah subhanaw taala, obviously,
and our attitude towards the promises and also our belief in the Messenger of Allah and our attitudes towards the promise, awesome. This is of extreme importance. We spoke about it before, I'm just mentioning it again briefly, because, again, especially
new Congress due to many reasons,
sometimes they are influenced maybe to downplay the role of the provinces, and do not look at the process of them as not only an example for us, as Allah subhanaw taala has told us in the Puranas, recorded earlier,
but in reality, he is the example.
He is the way
it's not an option. Well, let me look with the promise I sort of did and what is his way and maybe let me look in these books and this, and even maybe even this so called chef who maybe has a different way or this philosopher.
This is not an option. That's why that's why I'm stressing again, when we talk about purifying our beliefs. One very important category of purifying our beliefs is to make sure that we have the proper attitude towards the process.
I cannot emphasize that enough, especially as I said, given many,
many things that are going on nowadays within the Muslim world and within the United States.
And this attitude towards the province of cinema, by the way,
should embody a very strong love for the provinces.
First of all, just the idea that that Allah Subhana, WA tada of all of mankind,
all mankind, Allah subhanho wa Taala chose the problem homosassa them carry this message.
This extremely obviously extremely, extremely important.
Allah chose the promises.
And he bought this message.
And he strove for the sake of Allah subhana wa Tada. And he conveyed this message. And he had patience, and he endured, and he persevered.
Even on the most difficult of times.
All of this should make us realize that we cannot treat the promises and think about the promises and just like any other human being,
we should realize that the prophet SAW Selim
is in reality, a very special human being.
And as such, is not just deserving of our respect,
and our admiration, but he is deserving of our love.
In fact, the promise I sent him said
that you know, how to come Hakuna, have Bailey mean, what is he? Well, what did he he wouldn't message me.
None of you are true believers until I am more beloved to him
than his father, children and all.
None of us the promise I sent him is talking to us. None of us are true believers. Unless the process is more beloved to us, than even our father, our children and automatically
when our football
companion, the close companion, the promise I sent him toward the process and him that the process was more beloved to him than anyone except his own soul.
And the processor said, No, that's not sufficient.
Because when you think about what the prophet SAW Selim has gone through and what is conveyed
What he did, in reality on our behalf, we're the ones benefited from what he did.
What he did for us is more important than even what we do for ourselves.
And so the province has told him, No, there's nothing
then almost filled, I love you even more than my own soul, and then the process.
Now you've reached the real estate, now you have real. Now you have really meant
when people have love and admiration and respect for others.
That's why I said our attitude towards the process was very important. Because when people have true love and admiration and respect for others, it affects how they behave. One of the effects that it has on their behavior
is they want to know more about that person, that individual.
And not only do they want to know about the individual, but they want to emulate the individual.
You see, for example, you see rock stars, you see athletes, and you see movie stars, and all of these people. You go to any, any supermarket and you see all of these magazines, speaking about what all of these people did the day before, and the day before that, and what movie did they see what restaurant did they go to, and so forth, and so on what kind of closes they were.
And people buy these up by the millions.
so enamored by these stars, and these people, they want to emulate them, they want to be like them, they want to know what they did.
And if they have the ability to buy the same kind of clothing or wear the same uniform and this and that, if they have that if they have the money, and they have the ability to do it, they go out and do it.
You see someone wearing the same uniform as as Kobe Bryant, for example.
What is he saying? I mean, he's saying how much respect and how much he likes Kobe Bryant, that he's even going to wear the same garments that Kobe Bryant. In essence, the same garment is so uniform when it says a number and has even as Kobe Bryant's name on it says right on the back.
Oh, this is because of something that they have in their hearts for that individual.
So if we can develop those kind of feelings towards the problem and associate them
that kind of love and admiration and respect for who this man is, who obviously By the way,
when you when you when you analyze what he did, and compare it to what these athletes are, what his movie stars, and rock stars do, obviously, there's no comparison whatsoever. We're not even speaking about the same kinds of human beings innocence.
But this shows you that the believer should have a desire in his heart, to know about the promises,
and to emulate the promises of them, and to try to be like the promises in him, because he knows that the way the promises and send them was, is in reality the best way and it is pleasing to all this manner.
And the more we can grow and this proper understanding,
the easier it will be for us to follow the sooner the way of the process,
the easier it will be for us to take on the characteristics and the behavior and the manner and the actions and the deeds of the provinces.
And when we do that, the easier becomes for us to become a complete individual
was behaving in a fashion in a manner that is pleasing to Allah.
Now beyond purifying our beliefs, obviously when we purify our beliefs that should have an immediate effect upon us.
Because of our beliefs, our sound,
our beliefs also represent our understanding
of this creation, our understanding of ourselves, our conception of what we are supposed to be like and so
that we'll all be influenced and actually that will be all be made up by our beliefs
and shall love our beliefs are proper. And we really
emphasize this area and internalize these beliefs, not just facts that we can rattle off again as I mentioned earlier, but what if we internalize these beliefs
it will lead us to act
do the deeds that are corresponding to the beliefs that we have.
And these actions that we do actually.
These actions that we do also bring us closer to Allah subhanaw taala.
And they are the second component of the process by which we come closer to a listener.
There's an important Hadith of the Prophet system in which he quotes the words of Allah subhana wa Tada.
What's your handle data segment either D or D and then to who will help? Mr. Tucker Robert E. Lee at the Michigan hub baleia me Mr of de Valera is the ticker boy layyah benowa. See what
the problems are Selim is quoting Allah subhanho wa Taala as saying that whoever has animosity towards one of my devoted servants, then I have declared war upon him. And Allah subhana wa tada says, My servant does not draw near to me with anything more beloved to me, then the religious duties that I have obligated upon him.
And my servant continues to draw near to me with voluntary works. Still, I love him. This very important idea, there's a number of important points that can be derived from this idea.
So what we see from this Hadith,
we see the importance first of all of the obligatory deeds,
unless Allah subhanaw taala said, My servant does not draw near to me with anything more beloved to me, then the religious duties are the obligatory deeds that I have commanded.
Because when you think about these obligatory does, whether you're, whether you're talking about the ritual acts of prayer,
or whether you're talking about the obligatory deeds of the heart, like putting trust in a lot,
I mean, fear will on so forth,
whether you're talking about obligatory deeds with respect to fulfilling the rights of others,
or whether you're speaking about obligatory deeds, which include staying away from what is haram, it is obligatory not to do services, this is like a negative, obligatory deed, so to speak.
But when you speak, when you think about these obligatory deeds,
you realize that they are the foundation.
If you can, if you can stick just to the obligatory dates, all of these different types of obligatory deeds that I mentioned, you'll be in a very good shape
as your behavior, your actions, your character, you'll be in excellent shape.
And you don't want to be lacking with respect to any of these obligatory these because that will have ramifications.
That will have ramifications in the rest of your life.
So you concentrate on the obligatory duties,
not the sense that you just did the blink charges, and you forget about any of the volunteer duties. But you concentrate in this in the sense that you give it its required priority.
You make sure that you're performing
Don't be so proud of yourself that you did a kind act to someone and at the same time, you're not fasting you're not praying and so forth.
Because you do not get closer to Allah subhana wa tada by anything more beloved to him, then by the obligatory things.
So think about the obligatory deeds.
And as this is a very important step in your process of purification
are some of the actions that are most relevant to us. So give them their proper priority.
And then Allah subhana wa Taala says, Well, I used to have de carga boiling, my servant continues to draw near to me
with voluntary deeds until I love it.
And by the way, we see in the Quran that Allah subhanho wa Taala and reality loves all of the blues.
On this hadith Allah subhanaw taala is speaking about a special kind of love.
What's the process and the matter again, the way Allah subhana wa tada described it,
the actions most beloved to him that gets you close to Allah subhanho wa Taala
are the obligatory deeds first and then you can you continue to get closer to Allah subhanho wa Taala by the volunteer deeds
because it is via these voluntary deeds that you showing Allah subhanho wa Taala that you're willing for the sake of Allah subhana wa tada to go above and beyond the call of duty so to speak.
You're willing to do more.
You're not just willing to do what Allah has obligated you to do but you show to Allah subhana wa tada that you're feeling in your heart towards Allah subhana wa tada is such that you want to do more, you're willing to do more and in return so therefore you're showing this special concern and love for Allah subhanho wa Taala that leads you to do these extra acts and so therefore in return Allah subhanaw taala also gives you
Special love in return
purifying the beliefs that is a key
first key
and follow that up with the obligatory deeds and give the obligatory deeds their proper priority
and then inshallah continue them to grow by doing voluntary deeds and you will be bringing yourself closer and closer to Allah.
And as you follow this process
as you live your life, if you are alert,
you will be noticing as I alluded to earlier, that there are certain things that help you along this path. And there are certain things that harm you.
And it should be very clear in your mind, what is what.
And when these are clear in your mind, then also your attitude towards these different things should also be very clear in your mind.
It shouldn't be the case that you recognize that something is very harmful for your faith. You should understand then, that this is something that you want to avoid.
Our scholars hamdulillah throughout our history have spoken about
derived from the Quran and Sunnah and also from practical experience have spoken about many of the means that will help someone along the path and many of the obstacles that keep someone from sticking to the bat.
And unfortunately, we don't have too much time left but I want to go through some of this.
So that inshallah you yourself
one of the most important means
to keep you along this path and to help you along this path
is to turn sincerely to Allah subhanaw taala and ask Allah Subhana Allah for guidance.
The only portion of the Quran that we are required to recite in every unit of the prayers
is sort of idea
and what is sort of referred to,
in essence
and asking Allah subhanho wa Taala for guidance and seeking Allah subhana wa does help
in achieving and recognizing this guidance and being able to follow this game.
So turn to Allah subhana wa tada
and make dua to Allah subhanaw taala separately to Allah subhanho wa Taala sincerely
because if you turn to Allah subhanho wa Taala as the province of cinnamon is described, if you turn to Allah subhana wa tada Allah subhanaw taala will turn to you. If you go to him walking Allah subhanho wa Taala will come to running.
So if you're sincere and turning to Allah subhanho wa Taala Allah will be there for you.
And choose some of the best times and some of the most appropriate times to open your heart and to ask Allah subhanaw taala to help you and guide you.
inshallah, that help and guidance will be coming to
another aspect is to take the steps
take the steps necessary to obtain knowledge.
There's many Hadith of the Prophet Solomon which described the importance of knowledge. And in most of these Hadith you see, you see the process I'm describing it as something that you have to go out and seek.
Instead, a cathartic or whoever follows a path in search of knowledge for the
seeking of knowledge is obligatory upon everyone.
So the question of knowledge, first of all, knowledge is very important because
sound and proper knowledge can make you see what is the true path, as opposed to what is the false path, it can make you see the light, so to speak.
light will be there for you if you have the proper norm.
But you have to take the steps to get the proper knowledge.
Don't expect it just to come to
what you should be willing to sacrifice, your time,
your energy,
and even your money, obviously, to get knowledge to buy books to buy CDs, to go to a lecture you have to pay for gas and so forth.
But just realize that what you're getting in return,
what you're getting in return could benefit you
for the rest of your life and even into the gift.
So there's something worth sacrificing because to be on this path. One of the first key things is to be able to recognize that that
and that recognition of the path inshallah will come through your efforts of getting knowledge and getting the proper knowledge and then inshallah you will be able to see that path.
Thirdly,
another important aspect
is the vicar or the remembrance of Allah subhana wa.
Vicar has many aspects to it. One is, for example, the repeating of certain statements Subhan Allah, Allahu Akbar Al Hamdulillah.
And if you just say the statements without thinking about them, chances are they may not have much effect upon you. But if we really concentrate and think about what they mean
all of these kind of statements will bring you closer to listen and with that, if you really concentrate and think about what you mean.
But there's also a more a much more
general type of thing.
And this is where you remain conscious of Allah subhanho wa Taala and remember Allah subhana wa tada as you go through the day.
Before you do any act, you think about
Allah subhana wa Tada, you remember Allah Subhana, WA.
And you think about what, how is Allah subhanho wa Taala going to look at you
and judge you if you do that.
And I'm not talking about major acts necessarily.
But even minor things, small things.
how you respond to someone who speaks to you.
Whether you respond timely, friendly or not.
If you're discussing something,
if you remember Allah subhanho wa Taala, while you're discussing any kind of thing with anybody else
that should inshallah drive you to be honest and very clear, and Frank in what you're saying, as opposed to lying and deceiving us over.
Anything that you can imagine actually, if you are truly conscious, and remember Allah subhanaw taala
that will have a great effect upon. And that's what we spoke about when we spoke about Ramadan, how it increases this level of consciousness of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And it has a great effect on you during the Ramadan.
So this is thicker, this remembrance of Allah subhanaw taala
This will help you inshallah a great deal.
A great deal to help to keep you along the path.
And something close to the cut also is contemplation and reflection.
And this is probably one of the greatest evils of contemporary society is that it does not allow human beings to take the time contemplate, to reflect, think about what they're doing here.
What are they doing here? And what should they be doing?
Think about this creation.
Think about the greatness of this creation.
This creation is not simply about how can we use this tool and that tool in order to make more money in order to make an order to build a builder building in order to outdo others and this or that.
But in reality, these are all signs around us
that point to the greatness of the Creator.
But people become so busy nowadays.
Or they have their little blackberry with them, and they are multitasking. But it's all it's all business related. It's all
chores that have to do this and that none of it is really thinking about what they should be as a human being, and what they should be doing as a human being. What is their purpose here?
contemplation and reflection
can be very beneficial.
And in particular contemplation and reflection about the reality of this world is very important.
There's numerous places in the Quran in which Allah subhanho wa Taala reminds us and speaks to us and tells us about what is the reality of this world.
People literally are killing themselves all over this world,
trying to get ahead in this world,
and trying to enjoy what is in this world.
Every individual has actually in front of them, choices to be made, obviously, right.
And one of the choices that he has to make is how much priority
is he going to give this route?
And in particular,
the biggest choice he has to make is whether or not he's going to allow this world in the things of this world and getting ahead in this world and status in this world and power in this world and money in this world.
Is he going to allow any of those things to make him compromise his religion
and his relationship to a lesson
from an Islamic perspective
This world is not evil,
this world has a very important purpose behind it.
And that is all of the things in this world can be used by a servant of Allah subhanho wa Taala. To get closer to Allah Sen.
Wealth is a good thing, if used properly, can be harmful. But it's a good thing also, if used properly, all of this rules is of that nature.
So therefore, it is very important that the human reflect
about the true nature of this world, and what kind of priority this world should be given in his life, and how he's supposed to use this world.
Allah has put the things of this world under our control under our ability to control.
And so therefore, the question is how can we use this world and the things of this world, rather than us being a slave to this world, and just
racing after the things of this world.
That is a particular kind of contemplation that individual has to make and think about in his life.
It is also very important insha Allah, and we'll help you along way.
shala If you have righteous companions, righteous friends, and in particular righteous spouse,
spouse, of course, someone that you may spend the most amount of time with,
whether we're talking about your husband, or your wife, whatever the case might be.
And so it is very possible that that individual will have the greatest influence over you.
I mean, this closeness, this intimate relationship between husband and wife develops a great deal of love and affection between husband and wife.
And this, as we said, we spoke about all this fun with our first this kind of affection
as one of his signs, but like what we just spoke about wealth,
it should be a good thing. It should be a good thing that leads the two parties, the husband and the wife, to behave with respect to one another in the proper fashion, such that their relationship again takes them closer to Allah subhanaw taala. And they are pleasing Allah subhanho wa Taala by the way that they behave towards one another.
But unfortunately, this relationship could also lead, for example, to such a great love for one another or one for the other than even they're willing to compromise their religion for the sake of this boss.
If the husband says to the wife, for example, don't work a job then the woman doesn't work. Because she so loves her husband, she wants to
the woman says to the husband, no, don't go to the mosque, I don't want you to go to the mosque, I want you to spend all your time with me and his love for her so great.
He will just do everything for her and she won't even go to the mosque desert.
Now if you if you choose if you're very careful about choosing your spouse, and of course no one knows what will happen in the future. And unfortunately, many times nobody knows what the person is really all about.
Some people are very good at faking everybody else and making themselves look very fast. While in reality you find out that there's nothing there
on the show.
So you make dua to Allah subhana wa tada you ask Allah to guide you, you make what is known as a lot harder, you ask Allah to guide you to help you in finding a pious spouse that will help you inshallah.
But beyond the spouse also there are your friends and the people that you're hanging out with.
You are completely responsible for who you decide to hang out with.
If you're hanging out with people just because they have the same major they're working in the same place or they happen to be from the same country or whatever regardless of what kind of effect they're having on your religion this is this is showing that you are not taking decision versus
if you're friends with them because of these reasons and they have a negative effect on your religion then obviously, who can you blame except yourself?
You have gotten into this situation because you're not giving your religion the proper priority.
You're not thinking about these things and how even when you're choosing your friends, this is going to have an effect upon your religion and may affect your level of belief and practice and so forth and so therefore it is something you have to consider.
Similarly, attending the mosques is also a very important way by which inshallah you can increase your Eman, help yourself stay along the path. Even the prayers even the prayers for most people when they go to the mosque and the mom is a property mom and knows how to break even the prayers the quality of the person is usually better in the mosque than it is at home. And this in this quality of prayer inshallah will have an effect on the individual
Emily's should always take account of your behaviors and your actions.
You should record yourself before your wreck and buy a list.
Think, think about what you have done.
Whether it was good or not.
If you did something wrong, what led you to do something wrong? So therefore correct yourself
and when you do something wrong, shall I turn to Allah subhana wa tada and repent to Allah subhanaw taala Well, as I said, it was told us that all human beings commit mistakes.
in the womb of society, Selim told us that everyone makes mistakes, and the best of those people who makes mistakes will make errors are the ones who repent to Allah subhanho wa Taala.
And this door of repentance even you know, some people become Muslims. they convert to Islam, but sometimes they go years without really taking this.
But hamdulillah this door repentance is always open. As Allah subhanaw taala says in the Quran,
in
in
say all my servants who have transgressed against their souls, to spirit not at the mercy of Allah for Allah forgives all sins is up, forgiving, Most Merciful. Even in sort of the broach, Allah subhana wa tada is speaking about those people who put the believers into the pit of fire and Allah subhanho wa Taala describes them that if they don't repent, then this will be this will be the punishment. So let's run without even speaking about themselves if they don't repent. In other words, the door to repentance. shala is always open.
It is a true and sincere repentance, where you stop the sin that you're committing, or you feel remorse, and you have the sincere intention not to commit that sin again. Shout out the doors always.
As I said you might have converted to Islam years ago and maybe even you haven't prayed since the first day becames
I've seen cases like that.
And now hamdulillah all of a sudden, you realize
you're realizing your mistake and you realize Yes, you really want to be
sure that the door is open. Allah subhanho wa Taala inshallah will accept your repentance and inshallah you'll go back along this path, path of purification
and the ultimate end inshallah for you and for all of us, if we take this religion seriously, we take these teachings seriously
and follow them sincerely for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala. The end result is Allah subhanho wa Taala would be pleased with us. Allah subhana wa tada what enters into jinn, Allah subhana wa tada will save us from any kind of punishment,
torment
and inshallah will be among the believers in Allah subhanho wa Taala Ella's paradise in the gift