Maryam Amir – A sign from Allah
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AI: Transcript ©
I gave a lecture the beginning of Ramadan, and there was an
individual who asked an anonymous question, and their question was
that they have a really bad habit of binging and purging, and this
bad habit was something that they promised to Allah that they are
not going to do in Ramadan. And the very first day of Ramadan,
they ate and they binged and then they purged. And it was the middle
of the day of Ramadan, and this person said,
I told Allah that I'm going to stop this habit.
How come I couldn't stop a habit that is not beloved to Allah in
Ramadan, and so when this person was making dua and when they were
praying, they felt that maybe Allah wouldn't want them to pray
because Allah was so mad at them for loving the habit more than
Allah.
And the framework here is one that many of us have when we struggle
with things emotionally. Binging and purging is not a bad habit,
it is a serious issue that requires the support of a doctor,
of a therapist, sometimes in Ramadan, even it can be worse. And
so speaking to a Muslim scholar who's aware of what it means and
what it, how it, how it can be exacerbated, is critical to
navigate spiritual connection in this time. But many of us, when we
struggle with something, we do exactly what that blessed
individual did? We speak to ourselves about how this must mean
Allah subhanahu wa is so mad at us because we didn't show our love to
Allah more than what we are struggling with and the more that
I hear this exact same phrase, the more that I think, ya, Allah, we
love you this Allah, loves you so much, and we hate ourselves so
much. Because if we can continue to make dua, but we are thinking,
Oh, Allah, You must be so mad at me because I did that. And today,
the last 10 nights, and I haven't done the ultimate in the last 10
nights. I haven't done the most in Ramadan. So that means that maybe
Allah doesn't even want me to complete this time,
who is saying those thoughts to myself, except myself, that is not
Allah speaking to you.
And when we look in the Quran, there's a group of companions that
came to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, because they
wanted to go with him on a military expedition.
And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam didn't have the provision
to give them, for them to be able to go with them. It was a long
journey. They couldn't walk the whole way. They didn't have the
literal funds to go.
And the Quran says that they turned away. Jordan said tobah,
they turned away, and their eyes were filled with tears.
Maybe they said,
Oh, Allah, if you are pleased with us, whatever you want is okay.
Maybe they said, Allah wants to use us in a different way. Maybe
they said words of happiness and contentment when that's not what
Allah chose to record in the Quran until the end of time. What Allah
chose to record is the fact that they cried.
Allah witnessed their tears as Allah witnesses ours.
And right now, especially because of Allah and Sudan and the Congo
and so many parts of this world, when we are witnesses, and Allah
witnesses our tears, and we feel so hopeless and we don't know how
to navigate at times,
let's look to the example of Bilawal.
We know that Bilawal was the first one. He was the muyban of the
Prophet SAW, in addition to another what, and that was
Abdullah ibn Al Maktoum. Because the Prophet SAW, subhanAllah
taught us so critically that people with disabilities. Abdullah
ibn Al Maktoum, a blind man,
is critical for our community. And so the Prophet SAW, not only had
him give the adhan, but also appointed him to be in charge of
the city when they went to bedro and in another occasion,
so miazi, one of the Muslims of the mothers of the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wasalam, the first to give the Adan in Medina,
the first to give the Adhan in Mecca. And
after the Prophet sallallahu alayhi, he was of them passed
away.
Ya Ramu tried to give the Anan. He tried to give the ad, but he would
get to the test.
Money of the Prophet salallahu alayhi. He was Saddam, and he
would just break it down in tears,
his grief for the death of Prophet sallallahu alayhi, he was Saddam,
overwhelmed him, and so he went to Abu Bakr only, and he asked him
for permission to leave Medina. He didn't want to give Vietnam again.
And he asked him, instead of being in Medina and giving the Adan, can
he go and be a part of an expedition of the companions that
were going? And Abu AK gave him permission. And so Abu Bakr Oli,
in this time passed away. Alma radila became the next leader of
the Muslims, and Mila is out in an expedition for all of this time,
until they get to opening up. Saw they get to opening once they get
to Jerusalem, and he is with other senior companions,
and he's also with
the whose wife. Side note was um, here was, um, he
and this is the incredible woman who when the Prophet sallallahu,
alayhi wasallam, had a dream, and he woke up happy. And she's like,
why are you happy? Salafar that he was and he told her he foretold
that there's going to be a time when his companions that he spoke
about a specific battle in the future. And she asked him, so
Allah, he was Adam to make dua that she would be amongst them.
And the Prophet saw them in two different narrations. One says,
you will be amongst them, and then another one, he makes her eye that
she will be with them. So Allah, and at the age of 75, years old,
she did join.
She could have said, in that time period, I'm too old. That was a
long time ago. Those are my dreams. Those are my hopes. But
the fact that she was actually part of the expedition,
and that is how she passes Inshallah, as she's known as the
martyr of the sea,
shows one that the Prophet SAW and make so many prophecies that came
true, because anything could have happened in that time, but it
happened, and that's exactly where she was. And number two, she
understood her role at every age of how she can be a part of the
community of the Prophet. Zoe said that,
and this concept of prophecies of the Prophet Islam, I just want to
tell you another companion. Her name was muraka. She was also
known as the martyr. The Prophet SAW used to call her the martyr.
And every single day, um, who was her neighbor, and he would hear
her recite the Quran to the wall, because the walls were not massive
walls. They could hear through each other's walls at times. And
so she is reciting the Quran every single day. And one day, Ahmed
alum said, I haven't heard to recite the Quran today. So he goes
to check on his favor. And subhanAllah, she has been
murdered. She is a murder. The Prophet SAW used to say, let's go
visit the murder. So Allah,
so bila Wadi la Abu is with om Hiram is with these incredible
companions. He being an incredible companion. And now Allah comes in
to open Jerusalem, because the Christian head required to be him.
And when he saw he said, This is the person who was written in our
scriptures. He gave him the key. They go into mashallah, they clean
up mashallah, and then they ask, he asks vilaman To make the Adan.
Vida responds and says, you know that I'm not. I'm not. I don't
give the Adan anymore.
And Abu knows what the Prophet sawallah Ali, he was salam would
have wanted in this moment, who gave the first Aidan in Medina,
who gave the first Adan in Mecca, since the time of the Prophet
salallahu, alayhi, wa sallam, no Muslim has prayed and mashed.
Let the ad be called by the one the prophet saw appointed to give
the Adan. And so bila Wadi Allahu accepted. He gave the Adan for the
first time, and all of the companions, including Omar, who
fell to his knees, began to weep. Mila Wa Dae la qantu, spent some
time away from giving the Adnan because he was not in a mental
space to be able to give it. His grief was so serious, his longing
for the Prophet SAW was so much that he couldn't physically give
the Adan. But he came back to it when he could rule the Allah.
And the reason why these companions were able to navigate
these circumstances, without it being commentary on Allah's
penultimate is because they understood the Quran. Of course,
there were circumstances of companions navigating thoughts
that we all have, but the Prophet saw some continued to affirm that
the doors of Allah's mercy are so wide open now Allah wants us to
come back to him. How many people turn to Allah because of a sin
that they committed, and then they came back? As some of our scholars
have mentioned, that the humility of a sin can bring someone even
closer to Allah, because they turn back to him with such fervor.
Yeah, and that understanding of the Quran is something that every
single one of us has the ability to experience. How many of you
have been going through something like something very hard, and then
all of a sudden, you walk into the masjid, or you're scrolling on
Tiktok, or you get a WhatsApp, and it's the exact verse of the Quran
you need to hear. And I'm seeing so many of you nod your heads,
because that experience is not for a special person. That experience
is for anyone who approaches the Quran, anyone who approaches the
Quran, who walks with the Quran, who doesn't just work for the
Saint of Allah, of course, but works with Allah deep always says,
work with Allah,
that experience is one open for any person seeking the Quran.
And I grew up here at MCA. I used to love Prince. It was my
favorite, favorite part of the year, and I always wanted to hear
a particular part of the Quran. Of course, like all the Quran, we
love all the Quran, but sometimes you want to hear a particular
part. The Shasta always recites one just a night. And so I would
catch it. But then I moved for a while, and the masjids near me,
none of them would pray that much. So I would catch like a random
Surah here, a random Surah there. And all the Ramadan had gone by
and I hadn't caught the part I wanted to catch. And this was a
really big deal to me. I was very sad that I wasn't able to hear it.
And then I flew up here for the last 10 nights. And when I came
here, subhanAllah Allah had willed that my grandfather, Rahul they
was very sick,
and in that time period he passed away, Rahima, Huma, may Allah
enter all of our loved ones into the highest paradise without peace
out, may Allah honor us with meeting them and meeting the
martyrs of Alessa and the martyrs of Sudan and the martyrs of the
soma yoga mean and forgive us and enter us in different us and our
Isabella said us, every single person in This room and everyone
we love Allah and mean you. Grandfather, Rahman salah, he
passed away, and it was so painful. And after some time, I
came back to the masjid and Shaykh Sayyid was doing Liam,
and I came in weeping, bawling, emotional. I had just lost one of
my best friends in life, and he started the Salah, and then he
recited the verses that I had been awaiting, all of them alone to
hear, and in that moment, I can't express you how much I felt like
Allah sees my pain. It's not that the pain goes away. It's not that
the hardship doesn't happen. It's not that the loss and the trials
and your own sins are not real. It's that you're not alone,
because Allah sees you, as he says over and over. Do you know when
the mother of many of Ali has said, I'm called out? There's a
famous day that so many people say when they're pregnant that you you
dedicate what is in your womb to Allah,
and she says in again to semi rod Halim. Why does she use the one
who always hears and the one who knows, who just so deeply knows?
Why does she combine those two names together? Because she had
just lost her husband. She is making that dura in desperation.
She is calling out to Allah because she was so excited about
being a new mom. She had wanted to be pregnant for so long. You can
imagine how excited she was to think about a baby with her
husband, and now she's a widow, and she's going to be a single
mother, and she doesn't know how she's going to navigate this, so
she calls out now you are the one who hears, the one who hears and
the one who hears and the one who knows. Why a Samir? Why
are there not moments in your life where, if you were to tell your
best friend, maybe they would understand, but at some point they
get tired of you? Are there not times that you can't even express
what you want to express because you can't even say them out loud?
Who is the one who can hear you no matter what? Who is the one who
can hear the thought in your heart
and combine it with Al Adi, the one who so deeply knows the
intricate parts of you, your future, your past and everything
that's happening internally, that if Allah is not going to leave the
mother of me am Ali Asmaa alone for even the blink of an eye. Then
why do we think Allah wants to leave us alone?
Why do we think that if we don't turn to Allah? Right? Now, let me
tell you there was a scholar. His name was zamo Islam of Hawai'i,
and he was teaching in Damascus when a group of refugees came with
tattered clothes bleeding they had come from Jerusalem, they had
risked their lives to get the most half of Rahman, Wali Allah out of
mashallah and running away from the Crusaders who were butchering
everyone in the city, who were butchering the Jews. They were
butchering the Christians they didn't agree with, and they were
butchering the.
Clubs, and it was just rivers of blood. And then when they went to
this scholar, he said, what happened? And they explained. This
scholar tried to get the attention of the ruler of Bell, dad of the
of the Umrah at the time. And he was just like, there's no time for
you. We're too busy. He was too busy right now. So what did he
decide to do. He decided to go in to the he left Syria. Why? Because
he realized my worship right now is not in teaching people Quran at
this moment. My worship right now is going and calling to the safe
table Muslims to call back to this revival. He went out, and when he
went and realized he wasn't going to get an audience with the ruler.
He went to the masjid that he knew the ruler was going to be sitting
in and listening to the chutzpah of the masjid. And so he goes to
this chutzpah, and the speaker is speaking, and he grows to the
very, very front of the masjid. And as he gets to the front middle
of Ramadan, he takes out something to eat. He stands up and he starts
eating. The joke's
on them, because he was actually traveling, so you don't have to
pass in that time. But the point is that he made a huge scene,
because it's the middle of Ramadan, the middle of the day,
and he's eating in the front of the masjid during the chutzpah.
And people went crazy, and he responded, You go crazy over me
eating a bite of food in Ramadan. What about your brothers and
sisters being slaughtered?
That moment was the first revival that took another 88 years before
Salaf a dean could come in.
And it took time, nurdin before Salahuddin imaudin Before
Nuruddin, imaudin didn't see Aqsa. Nuradin didn't see Aqsa. It took
them to bring Salahuddin, to get to Salahuddin. We right now, we
pray we will see Salah that our version of Salah ad will come from
a sea of Allahumma ameen, but at the very least, we are the people
that came before. We are the generations that came before who
made a difference and where did lockhadeem come from? From the
schools of milamuk that taught a curriculum of why Aqsa is
important, why you should love Aqsa, why you should want Akshat.
It took time for the hearts of the believers to care about Aksa
again, when your heart cares about your Lord and about this ummah
now, yes, it makes a direct impact on the generation that comes in
the next. It's making a direct impact, even if you can't see the
effort. But Allah witnesses it, the angels testify to it. And this
is the experience we see with the believers, the Companions rule the
Quran and the Quran because they interacted with the Quran and
revelation came to their questions. So there's an ayah in
the Quran that many of us know where, well, there's a set of
ayahs in the Quran where many of us know that the woman who are the
Mothers of the Believers, Royal pun that it talks about to them
and against certain like blessings and guidelines to them. There's a
lot of discussion on what that actually means for women today.
It's a lot of self but it's specific to them in the Quran and
so in Albany, it's mentioned that a group of the women believers
came to the Mothers of the Believers, and they said, it's not
fair. You get special verses for you, but we don't have verses for
us. And so then Allah's Panama Tala responded with inamustimina
and muslimat. Then I that so many of us love to hear all the way to
the end of it, describing the beautiful qualities of men and
women believers. And I laugh because I've heard a scholar, may
Allah bless him and racist rights this week, or may Allah bless him
and racist rights, and racist rights, and he's like Allah said,
must be mean first, because Allah loves them more. May Allah bless
all of our men and all of our women and make all of us together
allies, as the Quran describes. This verse was revealed because
some of the women wanted special recognition from Allah. And Ibn
Ashur mentions about this ayah, that the whole Quran is for men
and women. Yeah, you had a mean which were men and women, all of
it, but some of the companions had been used to the Torah, the
discussions of the Jews of their time, where their scripture was
really for men, with some exceptions, for women. And so this
verse is affirming. It's an affirmation this whole scripture
is for all of us, all of us. It's an affirmation that we are all
included. And there's another time that the companion went to the
Prophet saw them, because there is a verse in the Quran where Allah
says, Indeed, Allah and His Prophet said, salam, the Prophet
saw them. And so the Companions came to the Prophet saw them, and
said, you get this verse just for you, Salah, Abu Asmaa. And so then
Allah revealed, who Allah Alaikum. Allah is the one who sends Salam
on you. He is the one who suddenly, what does that mean?
There's different definitions of what it entails, but one of them.
Is, as it's mentioned in the verse, that the angels are sending
for them upon you, that they are sending with their presence,
they're bringing mercy and blessings and protection and the
answer to dura that the angels are part of your personal experience.
Every single day when you stand, an angel stands behind you. In
this moment, angels are with you in this moment. Angels are in this
room because we're gathered here together for the sake of Allah.
And this reality of angels is one that means human who is one of the
journalists who left Lisa recently. He was reporting on the
genocide inside, spoke about witnessing. He said that one time
him and a group of people were running from place to place,
trying to stay hidden from the IOF, and they're just going in
buildings that have already been bombed.
So they find a building that's already been bombed, and they are
planning to go in this direction, out of nowhere, all of a sudden,
he said that three men, we are in pure white garments without a
speck of dirt, which, if you've witnessed the footage out of
lesser, the people of lesser are going through such oppression and
genocide. No one has a pure white garment without a speck of dirt.
May Allah make every speck of dirt a witness for them and a testimony
against their oppressors. But all of them, they're going through
genocide. All of a sudden, these three men completely white
clothes, and they say to Mansur and the people he's with, they
say, Don't go in this direction. You're going the wrong way. Go
that way. They turned. They went the other direction for just a
moment. They got out of that area, and an airstrike came and hit the
place they were planning to go.
And when Sura also shared another story, and that is of a young man
who, before the genocide, was known as a troublemaker. He was
known as a troublemaker in the neighborhood, anytime something
would happen, they would say, oh, it's that guy again. But then the
way he put this phrase, he said, Allah put man in his heart. And
what happened to him afterwards is when the genocide began, he became
someone who was so dedicated to Allah and just serving people. He
was helping with humanitarian work them in school. Was doing going to
give food and other help to many of the families, and they were all
fasting one day. And so this young man says that he is going to go
and he's going to look for Iftar. So he goes look for IFLA, and he
didn't come back that night, and he said, Mansur said, that's
normal, because sometimes you you can't go to another space. It's
not safe to move around. But by the next day, he still hadn't come
back. And so the next day, they decided to go look for him to
figure out what happened.
And they found in one of the streets that his body was in the
middle of the street rahimaha,
they came to him, and then sur said that his face used to have a
lot of scars, like scarring all over. He said it was completely
clear, and his face was filled with such a bright, emanating
light,
and they knew that it would not be safe to take his body and try to
bury it, because the snipers could come at any minute. He had been
sniped by an ILF.
I don't know I was trying to say per he's not a person. They're not
so, you know. So he had been tonight, and then sort of knew
that if they were to move him, that that would put themselves in
at risk. So he they put him just to the side of the road instead of
the middle, and they found something to cover him with. And
as they walked away, all of a sudden, this massive bird, this
huge bird, they said it looked like a turkey, but way bigger. And
what is a turkey doing in lesser in the middle of the street? And
it was pure white, and then it landed on the body of this young
inshallah martyr. And when it landed on its body. It opened up
its feathers, and they saw that it was a white peacock,
and it just put its body on top of the body of this young martyr, and
it was protecting that body, his body.
Allah knows that when people were saying, Oh, the troublemaker of
the of the neighborhood at that time, did Allah not love this
young man? No. Of course, Allah SWT still loved him. And every
single one of you, when you point to someone or yourself and you
think like yourself, should Allah, how do you know who that person is
going to end up? How do you know how we are going to end this young
man didn't live a life where people were praising him, well,
Allah chose him in a way that Allah honored him, and we don't
know who amongst us, including yourself, is honored in the in the
eyes of Allah. In that way,
when Allah talks about the angels and us, he says.
That the angels, the ones who hold the Throne of Allah, and they are
praising Allah, and they are asking for our forgiveness. Wa
yastal fihuna Li la Dina Amen. Why is still fear? Una means
constantly. They are constantly at all times, yesterday, today,
tomorrow, in this moment, one minute ago, two minutes in the
future, at all times are making dua. Wadina amanu, and who is lil
Nadine Amanu,
are not il mohsinin. The muhsinin are the people who are constantly
striving in every single way. Lil Nadina Amanu are the people who
believe in Allah, but their actions struggle, their actions
struggle to manifest that belief when you are struggling with your
actions, and so how much more so the person who is trying at all
times, and they mess up and they go back, if you have the belief,
this is who Allah has ordered to make dua for you
at all times, so When you feel like you're not good enough for
Allah, remind yourself that none of us, okay, none of us are really
good enough for Allah. But there's always this moment that he wants
us to come back to him, to return to Him, to work for him, and that
when we do, there's an ayah that Allah promises, that those who
stood firm in this belief of Allah, and they said in Abu Asmaa,
they were firm on that the angels come down in the moment of death,
and they tell you, don't be afraid and don't be sad. And they promise
you paradise, the paradise they give you the glad tidings of
paradise that you have been promised. And Abu gharadi Allahu,
he asked some companions, what does um musta amo mean that you're
firm in that? And the companion said that these people don't
commit any sins. And he replied and said, you've given it a
meaning it doesn't have. It means that they believe in the
hereafter.
You are someone who believes in the hereafter. You are someone who
believes in Allah's penalties. Angels are making dark you in
every second right now you.