Maryam Amir – Hope in Allah DiscoverU Lecture

AI: Summary ©
The speakers emphasize the importance of finding one's own way to achieve success and success in life, including finding one's own way to achieve success and finding one's own way to achieve success in life. Allah's actions have led him to be closer to his life, including being a service worker and helping people through their struggles. He also discusses how people can keep paying for services while staying in their own homes and encourages attendees to share their experiences for the upcoming events.
AI: Summary ©
Do the intro. Yeah, I love how someone reminded me record.
Thanks, Jeeva. So we're so blessed to have her here for this session
and speaking to this topic, Inshallah, it's going to be
amazing. So JazakAllah for being with us. Shayta Mariam, and I want
to
hear you. Alhamdulillah. Confulila, confullah
i hamdavila had the incredible honor of memorizing sorta Toba
over 10 years ago. And as we go through the process of memorizing
Sura, every single Surah that you memorize, it's very special. There
is a certain experience you have with each Sura, and each one
brings you closer to Alan a different way,
but sort of Toba. Specifically. I had a lot of trouble feeling
emotionally connected to it,
and they asked Allah to forgive me. I don't know why it was so
hard for me to memorize the surah. It came at a time that was very
difficult for me, in terms of I was in Egypt, and I was helping a
friend move, and someone was my brother was coming to visit, and
there were just so many different things happening in my life, but
also I just had trouble really feeling like I could focus. That
was just for the memorization, but in the nine years afterwards, in
which I was reviewing it, I still didn't necessarily feel the
immense closeness to sorta Toba that I felt to all these other
different surahs. And of course, it bothered me. I was wondering
why I didn't feel this way.
But last year, Alhamdulillah, I had the immense,
beautiful honor of visiting mashall A
and afterwards, Alhamdulillah, we were blessed to go to Medina for
one day, less than 24 hours on our trip. And have any of you been to
Medina? Let me know in the comments. If you have
the Masha Allah, may Allah, open the way for all of you to go. And
the ones who've said no, facilitate it for you. The ones
who said yes, take you over and over. Those of you who are a woman
who have been to the Rolla, have you had sometimes a little bit of
difficulty getting into the Rolla, specifically from the woman's
side?
Yeah. Subhanallah, it's it's very difficult sometimes, and it's such
an honor to go to the Rolla. It is just the most you know, blessed
place. But for women, there are very specific timings in which the
Rolla is open. Yeah, you stopped and returned. Yes, subhanAllah,
may Allah, bless you all. Sometimes the Rolla is only
available for certain time periods for women, lots of pushing, lots
of pain. And when I went for less than 24 hours, Subhan, Allah,
as soon as we got there and it was a time for women to enter. I tried
to get in, the guards would not let me go in. They said we've
already closed it for tonight, even though the time was still
available for women to enter, they said there's just way too many
people. I was bawling. I told them, Look, I'm here for like, 15
hours. I only have one more time slot in which it's open for women.
I won't be able to try again other than that one time slot. And I'm
not asking you to give me special privileges like I understand
there's 1000s of women who want to enter, but is there a time that
you can tell me that I can come in, for sure, I'll be able to get
in, and they told me, come back at that next time, and you'll be able
to get in. Inshallah, I went back at that time that they told me. I
went before the time that they told me before the time that they
told me, and they had already closed the gate. And I said,
Please, I'm leaving. I won't be able to go and visit the Prophet
sallallahu, alayhi wa send them. And they said, go to the other
gate. If you go to the other gate, that one's going to be open. I ran
to the other gate. I had no idea there was even another gate.
Subhanallah to that other gate. I went and Subhan Allah, they had
just closed it. They had just closed that second gate, and they
said there's no way you're going to be able to enter, even though
there were still hours left for women to be able to get in. This
was right after Ramadan. There were so many people there. They
said, there's just too many people right now. Come later. And they
told them, I can't I am leaving. I'm leaving Medina. I'm Subhan
Allah. I didn't get in.
I sat and I wept. I felt like I did not deserve to be in the city
of Medina,
who could not go in to visit the Prophet sallallahu alayhi
wasallam. I mean, who would be prevented from saying their Salam
straight to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa Sal Of course, we can
say salawat to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi, salam,
Muhammad. But what about if you're there in the city of the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wasallam, I felt like on the Day of Judgment when
the Prophet sallallahu.
Salam. There's people prevented from going to him because of
something that they've done. La la sala May Allah protect us from
being of those people. I couldn't look at them at the masjid of
Medina. I couldn't look at the skies of Medina. I felt like I
didn't even deserve to be the dirt of Medina. I could not figure out
why I couldn't be close to the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa
sallam.
And then in that moment, as I'm walking outside of the masjid and
just not even sure where to look, because I didn't even deserve to
be in that city, these ayats came to my mind, well, blah. Ayat
and
Surat Toba that talk about the companions that were supposed to
go on the battle of Tabuk with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi
wasallam, but they didn't, and they didn't have a reason not to
go. They simply didn't. And so when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi
wasalam came back into Medina and they asked for forgiveness for
what they had done, there were there were consequences of
communal consequences. And the Quran talks about how these
companions will do that, alayhim will Abu Malwa bet, in the
vastness of the earth, they felt like it was so confined, and they
knew that there was no refuge for them except with Allah subhanho wa
taala. That's exactly how I felt. There was no space for me on the
entirety of the earth. But where is there space for me with Allah
subhanho wa taala, turning back to Allah subhanho wa taala, sometimes
in your heart, you have this feeling like you want to go back
to Allah. So Mata ba alayhim, he turned to them, Leah Tubu, so that
they would turn to Him. If you have a feeling in your heart like
you want to go back to Allah, that is Allah putting that feeling in
your heart. If you feel like you want to go back to him, that's
from him, Leah, Tubu, so that you will turn back to him. And if you
don't have that feeling in your heart, then we just pray that
Allah puts that feeling in our heart. That's okay. Just pray that
Allah puts that feeling in our heart,
but these ayat Now suddenly I went from feeling like I couldn't
connect emotionally to sorta Toba for how many years now, sorta Toba
today for me as the most emotional surah. For me, there's no surah in
the Quran that I feel more when I'm in pain, when I'm confused,
when I'm feeling anxious, that I go to than sorta Toba
when I was in Medina and feeling so
lost, I messaged one of my one of the Sheikah to me, Allah, SWT,
bless her. I see I was a mentor, and she told me that, don't worry,
just go to another place outside of the masjid and Sheik Haseeb.
Nor May. Allah, bless him. Many of you I'm sure are familiar with
him. I messaged him as well, because he and I had just been
lecturing together in mashallah, and so I messaged him and saying
that I have no idea why I can't get in like what is going on with
me. He knows Medina. He studied in Medina, and he told me to go to a
specific place outside of the masjid racket to give my Salaam.
So Alhamdulillah, I was so blessed to be able to give my salaam to
the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, in the closeness in which
I would have been in the world of from the woman's side,
Alhamdulillah, I felt like Allah provided me an opening, and I felt
like a relief. And so Alhamdulillah that we can give our
Salam to the Prophet sallallahu, someone's from everywhere. But
what I took away from this was that sometimes a door has to close
for you, for Allah to open a different door for you that you
need in your life of worship. Now, on the outside doesn't seem like a
better door. How could you possibly feel like not saying
Salam to the Prophet sallallahu? Sallam is the right thing. That's
not but I don't know why it happened. I wish it did, and I
wish I could have said my Salam, but now what I have is a
connection to a surah with me everywhere that I feel close to,
everywhere that I feel like comforts me in my pain and my
anxiety and my confusion and my emotional overwhelming everywhere,
sometimes we need to experience something that will help us
remember the Allah, Allah, Mel ja i mean Allah. He Illa elay, there
is no refuge from Allah except with him refuge. He is our refuge.
Our lives are sometimes filled with these thorns. They.
Just feel like they are poking us and they are ripping our skin and
we're bleeding from touching them. But sometimes we need to look not
at the stem, but at the petals of the rose,
the colors, the intricacy, the beauty of the rose itself, and
that's what we're going to talk about today Inshallah, how to be
intentional about our lives, how to deal with the onslaught of pain
and confusion and when things don't go right, and how to still
make every single moment of our lives one in which we come closer
to Allah and our individuals who are intentional about our worship,
how to make our lives a bed of roses despite the thorns that it
comes with. And so the R in roses is refuge that we take Allah
subhanahu wa taala as a refuge the AYA and Sora to topa is so as Aya
118 by the way.
So R is for refuge and roses then goes to O. Who do we take refuge
with? O? We take it with the one
who is the one the O in roses? Who is he? In order for us to be able
to understand why we go through what happens in our lives. We may
not necessarily be able to get the wisdom all the time, but you know
what we can do Inshallah, we can focus on who has control and who
we go back to
Allah tells us walila Hill, Asmaa, olarubiha, to Allah has he belongs
the most beautiful names. So make dua to him by them, the mushrikun,
the Quraysh. When this ayah was revealed, they said about the
Prophet, sallAllahu, alayhi wa sallam. He makes dua by all of
these names. He calls a man al Qadir, and he says that we we
can't call upon all of our idols, and that is why this ayah was
revealed
to for Allah to tell us that he has all of these blessed names to
call upon. These names. Now, let's look at just three of the names
right. Now,
I want to focus on Al Wadud.
He's the source of love and the loving. And I want to share with
you a story in which sometimes it's hard to understand love from
the story, because sometimes in our lives, we don't see love when
we see hardship. The mother of Musa alayhi salam, she has a baby
boy in the midst of a genocide against baby boys. Now she is a
righteous woman. She could have had a baby and said, Oh, Allah,
why did you give me a boy instead of a girl? Subhan, Allah, very
similar to a beautiful, beautiful narrative mentioned in the Quran
about how the mother of many aladdhi Salam, said, well, they
said that could unfa, but we're not going to focus on that
narration right now. Shalom. We're going to focus on the mother of
Musa alaihi salam, she has a girl. I mean, excuse me, a boy. And she
could have said, Why didn't Allah bless me with a boy? But now she's
saying, subhanAllah, what am I going to do that she has a baby
boy? It's revealed to her that she should put this baby in a box in a
river? Yes, that makes total logical sense to anybody, right?
Put a newborn in a box in the water for all of us, that would
seem like terrifying, but of course, she's going to trust in
Allah. So what does she do? She puts this baby inside a box in a
river, and she doesn't know where that baby is going to end up, but
she believes in the Promise of Allah that her baby is going to
come back to her, so she puts that baby in the box. And where is it
delivered to Musa alaihi salam is delivered to the door of the
palace of the murderer of baby boys.
So many times, when we make dua, we see the exact opposite of what
we've asked for, and we think, Why? Why would the exact opposite
of what I'm praying for happen?
But look at why Musa alaihi salam needed to be delivered to the
palace SubhanAllah. He had to be placed in the palace, not just for
his protection and infancy, but so that he could be positioned in a
place of privilege to come back with the message of calling people
to Allah, not just for his personal life,
but for an entire nation of people, he saved an entire nation
of people from servitude and from the type of oppression that they
experienced under firaun. And he guided an entire group of people,
a nation of people, back to Allah's Panama, taala. So much.
So that until today, Musa alayhi salam wasn't just important for a
group of people, however big they were in one time period. Until
today, we have people from all walks of life, from all faiths,
remembering Musa alaihi salam and the sacrifices that he made as a
person, as an individual, the pain that he went through as a person,
but for what? For a reason beyond himself, for a legacy that lasted
beyond a lifetime, for many lifetimes, for generations to
come. And when we look at that sacrifice of his mother,
he had to be in that position. Are they his salaam, so that he would
be in a place where he could make an impact on the world for the
until the end of time. But what about his mom?
What about his mom letting go of her baby,
her her reliance on Allah subhana wa Taala
is such a blessing for us, because we can see Allah's love in this.
He didn't have to tell us, us, you and I, that He sent Musa alayhi
salam back to his mother.
We didn't have to be the person who felt like,
Wow, what a joy that they got to be reunited to Rodin now, who is
me, Keita para Ainu ha wala, takha Zen, Why did Allah return Musa
alai Islam to his mom, so that his mother would know that the promise
of Allah's panel is true, and so that she's not sad.
Allah protected her baby by sending him to the palace, because
then he was able to go back to his mom without the concern that he
was going to be hunted down as a baby boy with the protection of
the palace and with constant provision from the palace, so that
the palace was also financially supporting his mother. She got her
baby back, and we didn't need to know that the Quran doesn't need
to make that statement for the story of Musa alayhis salam to be
powerful,
but out of Allah's love for us, Al Wadud. He allows us to see the
sweetness in even the immense hardship that even in the
distraughtness of putting her child in a basket and trusting in
Allah, now Allah will bring her baby back to him, out of his love
for you and me, he tells us that story.
I know that not everyone is going to have their child come back.
Sometimes that's because their child actually is alive, but maybe
not close to them, and sometimes that's because of a loss.
There is no words that can comfort a parent who's lost their child.
There's nothing you can say that will make that right. There's
nothing
but looking at who
our child is with, is a slight amount of comfort.
And knowing that Allah knows that, Inshallah, one day, we will be
reunited with that, with that loved one.
Dude is the one who allows you to see like Ibn Al qayyim, Rahima
hula, excuse me, Ibn Al Taw ILA. Rahima, Allah mentions that
sometimes a door closes for us so that a different door opens, and
that that door might actually be a better door. And of course, I'm
not talking about children. I'm talking about lives in general,
that Subhanallah in my own life, I
I had a time in my life where I constantly made to offer something
specific, and every single thing that every single time that I made
dua for that thing, I felt like that door was closing and
something else was happening that was not bringing me closer to that
dua being answered. It was taking me further away from it. And the
more that I did, the more dua that I made, the further away from it
that I felt. And year after year went on and went on, and every
door would close, until finally, eight years passed by, where
suddenly I am in a place where that dua that I made eight years
before was answered,
and the timing of that dua, the circumstances of the Torah, the
way that the DUA came true, it had to have happened by all these
other doors closing first for me to be able to get into a place
where it was the most relevant for my life right then it was the best
way it could have happened. Allah is a word dude. He knows the pain.
You're going through and your future, we can't always see the
good of what's happening, and sometimes there is no explanation
for it. Sometimes we can't say why there's loss and there's pain, but
we don't, we don't we don't say that we're not going to have a
pain free life without Allah. What we say is that we have al Wadud,
the one who loves us, the one who loves us more than our own selves,
to help us get through that and to sometimes let us see some sort of
wisdom, and sometimes the delay of what we're asking for coming at a
different time, just like we talked about the mother of Musa,
are they? He said that sometimes it happens in the long term, and
that's when we start to see the benefits from it. And of course,
for all of you, may Allah bless your Ayesha who's lost your
mother, and all of us who've lost who's lost loved ones, may Allah
bless all of our loved ones and show them into the highest
paradise and allow us to reunite with them at the hold of the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam,
without any, he said, without any type of judgment. May Allah bless
us with reuniting with them in fear. Does Allah? Allah be ready
his Abu Asmaa, bless every single one of you and every single one of
us who's lost loved ones with seeing them in our dreams in
paradise, just in the joys of Paradise, and honor us with
reuniting with them, Ya Allah and letting them hug us in our dreams.
Ya rabal alameen, subhanAllah, dude blesses us with those types
of gifts, even in the type of difficulty.
So we've talked about Allah dude, even in hardship. Let's look at
another name of Allah. Let's look at a Shakur. He is the one who is
so grateful for every small thing that we do.
Subhanallah, I was blessed with going for Hajj
almost eight years ago, actually, and when we were in hajj on the
day of Arafa. So many of you know Arafat is this, you know the most
the haju Arafa. You know, Hajj is Arafat so important, and it's the
most blessed day where we're so many people are forgiven and safe
from the hellfire. And we're on, you know, in Arafat. And the
speakers, the spiritual teachers who are there, who are, you know,
leading all of these different groups are saying, if you don't
cry on this day, your heart is as hard as a rock. If you do not cry
on this day, where is your Eman, if you won't cry on this day, then
where is your heart?
And they kept saying that over and over, and when we went for,
you know, did all of the rights. We went back to a minute in the
tents. There was a sister who was in the tent with us, who had been
so bubbly and talkative and happy, and she looked so down and just at
a loss. And I asked her what was wrong, and she said, I didn't cry
in Arafa. I didn't cry a single time. I didn't shed a single tear
on Arafat.
Is my Hajj? Even accepted
and Subhanallah, we talked about how the Prophet sallallahu, alas,
doesn't say crying on Arafat is Hajj, just being present on Arafa
is Hajj. Emotions sometimes are out of our control. And when we
hear people tell us we're in the midst of the pandemic, we are in
the midst of the coronavirus. If you're not crying right now to go
back to Allah, then there's something wrong with your heart.
This is a punishment, and we have to recognize that. Yes, those are
terrifying messages. Yes, this is a sign for all of us. Yes, we hear
that, and we know that this is an opportunity for us to repent. But
also, some people are not motivated by fear. Yes, the Quran
is so incredible because it speaks to every single one of us. Some of
us hear about punishment, and it turns us back to him. But other
people hear about punishment and they don't know how to feel. It
numbs them sometimes. And Allah balances that message. He balances
that message with what versus about paradise, versus about
coming nearer to him, knowing that if one thing doesn't motivate you,
then the reward of the promise of paradise should motivate you. And
if that doesn't motivate you, then the fear of the Hellfire which we
ask Allah SWT to protect us from, and the hope for the highest
Paradise which we ask Allah SWT to give us, but mostly the love of
Allah, which we ask him to love us and make us of the people that he
loves. Ibn Rahima, Allah speaks about how the believer, the heart
of the believer, has is soaring like a bird, fear on one side, one
wing, hope on the other side, one wing. But then also love is the
head. This love for Allah that we hope that he will love us, Ya
Allah and our loved ones, and make us of the people that he loves.
Yes, this woman went to the Kaaba after that, and she went and she
made tawaf, and she came back and said, she bawled and she bawled
and she bawled. She was able to focus on her gratitude to Allah.
She was able to recognize that Allah, SWT Shakur, that he is so
grateful for all of the things that you put forth every small
thing that you do, he sees it, and he is grateful for that, her love,
her heart filling with gratitude to him, recognizing that he is
grateful that he is so merciful, even if we don't deserve his
mercy, He is merciful anyway. It's not about you. It's not about
whether or not you deserve his mercy. He is merciful whether or
not you deserve his mercy. He is still a Rahman, he is still a
Shakur, he is still a Kerim. He's still a generous one, whether or
not we deserve that. It don't look at your smallness and your sins
and the lack of the lack of the amount that you are deserving.
Look at his greatness and who he is. Have hope the Prophet, the
Prophet salallahu, Solna, Hadith, putsi I am as my servant thinks I
am. Allah says I am as my servant thinks I am. Remember that he is
as you think he is. So have hope in Him, and He will answer you
with that hope, Ashok. And the third name of allah we're going to
cover is a rathib, that he is the one who is constantly watchful.
And I've heard a views to talk about how Allah is watching you,
almost as if, la some Allah, he's out to get you, but he's just
waiting for you to mess up. That's a message I've heard so many times
when we talk about Al Raqib, but Imam Al Asmaa, he talks about,
he talks about being the the one who is so aware of, the one that
he loves and he cares for, he is so aware and caring for what's
happening to you. I would liken this to many of you. Probably like
our phones. If you are aware of where your phone is and you're not
sure you know for, you're probably for, probably not gonna go a few
hours without knowing where your phone is and where you put it.
You're probably not going to put it in the sink, because you don't
want it to get soaked with water. You're very aware of it, and
you're trying to take care of it as an item. Now, of course, this
is a ridiculous comparison to Allah, but he cares so much for
you, but in all moments, he's aware of you. And Imam ashokany,
Rahima, Allah, when we talked about a Shakur, the one who is so
grateful, the one who is so appreciative, he says that Allah
is so appreciative of everything that you do, in every way that you
do it, so that he gives back to you. He gives back to you in ways
that you that you need. So, for example, Allah tells us
wait to add a book on the inshaki. If you are grateful, I will
increase you. What does that increase look like to for Imam
Ashoke Kenny, he talks about how, if you need health and you're
grateful for that, Allah increases you in health. If you need wealth
and you're grateful for that, Allah increases you as well,
because in shirach, what you need is different Asmaa from what I
need, and say, yes, what you need is different from Danny from what
you need. Ahmed, what you need is different from what rafia needs.
Every single one of us, Zahara and Aisha, every single one of you
need something different. I need something different. And so a
Shakur who knows that and is so grateful and is so appreciative of
what you do, is a rotib who is observant of you and who knows
everything what you're going through so intimately. So when,
again, that same Hajj I was with to a woman who I love so deeply.
May Allah bless them so much. And in our hedge group, unfortunately,
we had individuals who are very judgmental and very rude. For
those of you who have gone for Hajj, maybe you've experienced
this, if you have let us know, there are sometimes people who
break your hedge. For you, it's not the rights of Hajj. It's not
the physical actions of Hajj sometimes, sometimes it's the
people. And it's such a test for you to keep your patience and to
remember character and to remember that. You know it's heartbreaking
because you're in hajj, you want everyone to you know yourself, to
act like the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi, wa sallam, actions, but
Subhanallah, you feel so like our Arma is so distant from that when
you're in hajj, sometimes, unfortunately, may Allah return us
back to the character of the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa
salam. And so there were these two beautiful women, and they were
weeping because of what some people did in Hajj. And kept
saying in hajj, and I spoke with my husband because they these two
women had mentioned that they loved Baskin Robbins specifically,
yes, Hajj is definitely the jihad of women. I absolutely thought
that so many times when we were in Hajj
and Subhanallah, I'm not trying to promote the brand Baskin Robbins,
but they had mentioned that they really loved Baskin Robbins, and
they were craving Baskin Robbins. And we are in Minna. Mina is a 10.
City. It's literally a desert with tents everywhere, where you're
gonna find ice cream. Only a lost man I went to * could provide
that it would literally be a miracle. So we went and we were
looking for ice cream. We walked around the tent cities, just tent
after 10 after tent, we actually finally found this one place where
we saw food, and there were, like, hundreds of people in line. And we
finally got to the front of the line, I like, Hamdulillah, they
had the woman's side, and I went into the woman's side, and there,
there was not as many people in line there, and I asked, you have
ice cream? And they're like, No, we don't have ice cream. Why would
we have ice cream? Subhanallah, we went back into the tents of Minna,
where we were from, and we made dua. We're like all those Panos
Allah provides. Excuse me from wherever He wills.
We walk into the tent,
and there is someone from our group holding a Baskin Robbins ice
cream.
And I asked, Where did you find Baskin Robbins ice cream? And they
said that it is being served in another package, like the higher
packages they were serving them Baskin Robbins ice cream. And so
they went to, we went to this area where they were serving the ice
cream. And subhanAllah, I asked the man, we are not from this
package. Can I pay to buy some Baskin Robbins ice cream? And he
said, You don't have to pay with money, but you need to pay with
cough drops. And for you who might be hearing the story, maybe you're
like, that's kind of silly. Cough drops. Why would they say cough
drops? Like, why would I even have cough drops? But anyone who knows
me really well knows that I always have cough drops. I didn't bring
this because I was giving a talk. I just had it on my table because
I have cough drops everywhere. I always have cough drops. And
subhanAllah, the fact that this man said that he would exchange
ice cream for cough drops. Look how Allah Spano tell is Al Raqib.
He knows now Allah Spano telling, knows I'm going to have cough
drops. And this man needs cough drops. And these sisters who are
trying to find something for what basket Robin ice cream. And Allah
subjugates all of these different things in the world to come
together because he's so merciful,
that he's so observant of us, that he knows so intimately, that I'm
going to have something that someone else needs, and he's going
to have something that someone else needs. And when we came back
with the ice cream to the sisters, they were still crying,
and then they said, Where did you find Baskin Robbins ice cream from
SubhanAllah. Wasn't from us. It was from Allah subhanahu wa. Allah
subhanahu wa is so caring about you. He sees your hardship in the
midst of your hardship, and he gives you just to remind you that
he is there. And that might not mean that your DUA is exactly
accepted the way you ask, but what it might mean is that you have a
different blessing.
So sit and think about the blessings that you have in your
life, they all come from him. So maybe those doors have closed for
you that you don't understand why they're not opening, but maybe
other doors have opened for you, and maybe in that is the relief
from Allah subhanho wa taala.
When we look at the one,
we're able to see that we can shift our perspective when we look
at the different types of life trials.
So Allah is our refuge R in roses. He is the one that we go back to
the O, and then we go to S. And what is S? We are shifting our
perspective.
It's not about what we are doing right now. It's about who we are
doing it for
let's look at the story of Yusuf alaihi salam
ya ubalahi Salam has lost his son.
He rejoins with Yusuf alaihi salam. Some of the mufarum say,
after 40 years,
sometimes you are going through pain and loss. And people say,
hasn't it been long enough? Haven't you been sad long enough?
Isn't it time for you to get over it? Should you really still be
crying after all these years?
You can tell them that Yaqub alayhis salaam cried for 40 years.
You can tell them that Yale his salaam continuously.
Hours and hours, praying all night. They're fasting day and
night. They're doing all these acts of worship, but change shift
your perspective. The Prophet SAW told us in them, yet actions are
by intention. So when you are going to feed your newborn, you're
literally, physically from your own Self. You are sustaining
another person that is a huge act of worship, and perhaps the fact
that you are working so hard to provide for your family, perhaps
the fact that you're taking care of your elderly parents, and
because of the way that you are not able to worship, because you
are emotionally overwhelmed, because you feel like you're
worried about them. Because whatever it is that you can't take
care of your own worship in the way that you wish you were free to
do. You are taking care of other people, whatever that is in your
life, Allah has placed that in your life for a reason,
so that that is your worship. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam told us and about a person there was a man who was walking
and the companion said, Wouldn't it be better he was like a strong,
healthy man? And they said, Wouldn't it have been better if
that man had gone out in this for the sake of Allah? And the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that if that man had gone to make
a living to provide for his young children that is going out for the
sake of Allah. If that man had gone out to provide for his
elderly parents, that is going out for the sake of Allah that is
worshiping in the sake of Allah that is striving, that's the word
striving, for the sake of Allah. And if that man had gone out to
provide for himself so that he doesn't need to beg from other
people, then that is striving for the sake of Allah subhanho wa
taala. So you whatever you're doing in your life, whether it's
brushing your teeth, taking care of your home, cooking for your
loved ones, sitting in traffic for hours on end, whatever you are
doing for you, your yourself and your family, to to earn a living,
to take care of the people around you, to take care of yourself, all
of those things in them, yet they are all worship with the
intention. So you just shift your perspective. You're doing it for
the one who you know is appreciative, who you know is the
most loving who you know is observing you, and you do it, and
you seek refuge with him that even when you feel like you're not as
good as all these other people,
maybe to you, maybe to you. In your mind, the most beloved person
to Allah is someone who fast day and night and spends their day
upon days upon days in them, in the masjid worshiping.
And maybe they are so beloved to Allah because of what, because of
doing that,
but maybe to Allah,
a different person who is working at a grocery store right now where
they are exposing themselves to this virus, but they're still
working, because they have to make ends meet for their family, and
they're providing a service for so many people to help keep them
sustained. Imagine if everyone decided that all of the grocery
stores are going to be shut down. Who is going to have food only the
people who have already had enough money to store all this food we
already know about the privileges of this world. There are so many
levels of privilege, but Subhanallah, this person, what
they're doing is an act of service, the person who's on the
front lines right now for covid, the person who's keeping their
children home and protecting them. There are so many different types
of people. We don't know what level all these different people
are. The adult who is taking care of their disabled child, the
disabled child, the special needs person who Subhanallah, maybe in
the Muslim community. I love the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, so much. Look at what he did. Look at what he created.
Salawat, a community in which who gave the Adan in the community of
the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, two two. He had two
different events. Who are they? One of them mentioned bila radila.
Who is another person?
Any ideas?
So we have Bilal radila, and then we have Abdullah ibn umaktun.
Thank you, Basset, may Allah bless all of you, and rafia and Ira era,
Iram male and Jimmy. Let's May Allah every single one, even
Aisha. Aisha, I said, radiant. Always be pleased with you and all
of you. So we have bila RadiAllahu, anhu, and we have
Abdul ABIM now bidala, one of the sisters here, may Allah bless you.
You mentioned that in Hajj you had so much racism from people because
you're black. That is so real in our community. We have so many
issues with racism in our community. May Allah bless you and
protect you and bless all of our brothers and sisters who are
black, and bless all of our brothers and sisters who are any
type of anything that they're dealing with, with regards to the
lack of privilege, with regard to the racism, with regards to that.
Different types of isms. We have so many. Unfortunately, in our
community, the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa salam, he put two people
to be thummed. Now, why is this so beautiful? It's not just because
it's the person who's making the event that's already so much
reward and so beautiful, but also it's because it's sending a
message that the person who is calling to prayer a huge status in
Islam, who is going to be seen as a representative of Muslims? When
someone who isn't Muslim comes in and sees the community, when
people who are Muslim see the community, they're not just part
of the community, they're not just here. They're not just available.
No, they are integral to the community. They are part of the
fabric of the community. They need, we need you to make this
community work. So Abdullah Abu, a person who was blind, who has a
disability, Bilal radiah, who obviously being black is amazing,
and that's such a beautiful, beautiful blessing from Allah. In
that society, in that racist society, there was problems with
color and that racist society, the fact that he wasn't fully Arab was
an issue because of the racism in that society. Because he was a
freed slave, that was an issue in that society. Now the Prophet
sallallahu, alayhi wasallam is saying, is showing us Look who is
the Prophet sallallahu, alas, going to put in a place where
every single person is going to see these people not just matter,
but they are critical for our community. The Prophet sallallahu,
sallam, puts them there to teach all of us how our communities
should be. So now you don't know who is the most beloved to Allah.
Maybe it is the person who's worshiping day and night, because
Allah give them the privileges to do so, and they use that
privilege. That's the point. So many of us have hours upon hours
upon hours on end, and I have a really funny story. Actually, I
was talking to a sister. I'm not going to mention her name, because
I didn't ask for for her permission, specifically for her
name, but she shared this in a public setting, so I think it's
okay if I share this story, because it was public. It was in a
class with a lot of, like, a lot of attendees someday, let's very
public anyway. That's not the point. The point the point is, she
was saying how sometimes she feels really guilty because she wants to
spend the time, you know, like doing productive things, but she
just needs this moment to like rest, and so she decides to watch
ertugal. Ertugal, which I'm sure many of you know of, is a Turkish
series about the Ottoman Empire. Starting with Ottoman Empire, it's
like, such an Islamic show. It's like, all about Muslims. It's so
Islamic. And she's like, and I was like, so into the show that I
binged watched all five seasons over a period of a year and a
half.
I am literally laughing to myself, because I thought she was gonna
say that she watched The Vampire Diaries and she binged watched all
the seasons over the period of, like a week, because that's what
we usually hear. Usually we hear people find a show and they binge
watch it over like two days, but not, not an Islamic show over a
year and a half, like you see the levels of righteousness, like some
people mashallah, you know, it's a panel,
what the righteous people consider sins are like the average what we
would normally do. But the point is that some people have hours
upon hours upon hours of free time, and that's all that they do.
And then other people have hours upon hours upon hours of free
time, and they use it for worship. And so the real question isn't,
why are all these differences happening in our lives? It's
shifting your perspective. How are you going to make whatever you do
an act of worship to Allah subhanho wa taala? How are you
going to make the intention that no matter what you do, this is for
the sake the Allah SWT, Allah subhanho wa Taala tells us in the
swala t1 Yeah. Yo imati, lilahi, Robin, and your sacrifice and your
death, everything, everything your Salah, everything is for Allah,
and that's when you rest, because you know that you do whatever you
do in your life for His sake, and then you leave everything else up
to him.
So we talked about refuge, the one shift in mentality. So we have r,
O, S, and now we're going to go to E, the E, and Rose is Ay Bada,
and that is looking at how you can increase aribada in your life. So
we have already talked about how ay bada can be basically anything
with the intention, but sometimes your soul needs something more,
right? Sometimes you need to feel something. You might have cried in
sweetness, in worship once, but it's been a really long time since
you felt that way. How do you bring that back to your life? I'm
going to suggest two ways Inshallah, which I'm only
suggesting too, because there are so many ways to worship Allah. But
I'm hoping that maybe in these two ways, it'll bring something
practical for whatever your life circumstances are. The first one
is, yes, grin, absolutely. I gave a lecture recently Sabrina
referenced about grinning, but we're.
Gonna focus on contemplating the verses of Allah.
So the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasallah continuously recited one
night into a vibraham,
faint azizul Hakim, over and over and over and over. He recited the
same verse over and over. Say, aid, I mean, juveilla. He recited
what took, who yo, men, tur una fee he ill Allah,
that be conscious of the day that you're going to return back to
Allah. Asmaa bin Abu Bakr Al Ha, she was known to recite over and
over for men Allahu, Alayna wa samom Oh, over she would recite
the Allah, protect, you know, gave us this bounty and protected us
from the great punishment.
And Hassan Allah, him Allah, he would lay down in his bed and
continuously say
into our dunya matalahila to Suha, what in Allah Rahim,
over and over and over. And he said, every single time he recited
this verse, He saw different types of blessings come into his life.
The point is that you keep finding one verse that speaks to you,
and you think about how that verse relates to your life. You open the
must have. You find an ayah that speaks to your soul, or maybe a
surah that speaks to your soul.
And you think about it, you read the tafsir on that verse. You pray
with it when you're praying, you memorize that one verse. You build
a connection with that ayah. That ayah becomes your form of ay Bada,
when you're in the midst of the crazy you're working in your
office and you have a million meetings, you only have five
minutes to step away. You step away, and you think about that
ayah and how it applies to your life. You say over and over, you
relish it. You hold it to your heart. You hold the must have
physically to you, and you think about how this Quran has changed
the world, how the mountains couldn't handle the revelation of
the Quran, but Allah made your heart strong enough for to carry
the Quran. How can you become someone who sees the Quran as your
form of safe space. You look at the Quran and zaribada, you find
one verse, and you feel connected to it.
And another way that you can do this, if you are you know, in the
midst of everything and so busy is bhikkh, you constantly remember
the Prophet salallahu, some Allah musalliva No Muhammad. You
constantly remember Allah, subhanho wa taala, when you
remember the Prophet, sallAllahu, alayhi wa sallam, your Allah
remembers you 10 times. He raises your rank 10 degrees in paradise.
He forgives you 10
He forgives you 10 times. He gives you reward 10 times. And
subhanAllah, I was very humbled to give a lecture once with a very
famous nasheed singer. I was in the back room, and he has a song
of nasheed that's just Salawat on the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
salam.
And the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa Salam is praised by this
person's words everywhere. And so I asked him, Have you noticed any
blessings in your life? Because you constantly have people sending
Salawat by saying your words. And he said, I am always happy. And
that doesn't mean that you're going to always be happy when you
send Salawat on the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. It
doesn't mean your life is always happy, but it means you're closer
to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and there are angels
that sit on your lips and that wait for you to say, Allahumma
saliva, salamano, habina Muhammad, to take that salam to him. You're
bringing angels into your life by sending Salawat on the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So we've talked about the e as
aribata, and we're going to end with the s of service. Service.
I have a friend who, when she studied in Egypt, all of these
people in Egypt who lived on the streets or lived in, you know,
very difficult circumstances would come and beg constantly of her, of
all people, they would walk and just, you know, grab her clothing
and say, give, give, give. And she didn't have money to constantly
give. And so what she would do is she would turn to them and say,
What's your name? How old are you? How is your family? Where do you
live? And just get to know them. And eventually, when she started
to pass them, when they sat in front of the masjid, they stopped
asking. They just asked her, How are you? They started saying,
Thank you for recognizing us as humans, as people, and how can we
make dua for you? Anything that they would ask her to tell them
what she needs. They would make dua for and Allah would answer
that dua in her life, service when you intend that every action.
You do is an act of service. Allah, like Ibn Al qayyim, Rahima
hula says you might be asleep, but the doors of paradise are being
knocked upon by a poor person that you helped by a sad person that
you made happy by a person who is going through distress and you
eased it for them, they are praying for you while you're
asleep. So never underestimate any act of good. A scholar who passed
away, his student saw him in a dream, and he was in paradise. And
the student said, How did you get there? And the scholar said,
because I used to go to the outskirts of a city and teach
elderly, illiterate women. Surat Al Fatiha, that's it. That was the
action that Allah the act of service is what brought him so
much closer to Allah, in your own life, with your family, with your
loved ones, that is how you act. Make your intention one of
service. And right now, if you are someone who has been privileged
enough in the past to maybe have cleaners in your home, or who
someone privileged enough to have a gym membership or something
where you're constantly paying someone right now in the midst of
this virus, keep paying them. You can do that while they're living
paycheck to paycheck, if it's budgeted for if you have the money
for it, do it because there this is a service that you can do for
individuals Padilla, who might not have the gifts that Allah swt has
blessed you specifically with that is a privilege that very, very few
of the population have, but you can keep giving to them, and you
don't know what types of divide they are making for you while
you're sleeping, the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wasallam has
blessed us with so much to teach us about character, so many
stories and all of the prophets in their lives give us hope that no
matter how many thorns they experienced in their lifetime,
over and over, they saw the pain of the hardship of the of all of
these different types of physical touches of pain in thorns. At the
end of that stem, there's a rose, and to make a bed of roses, you'd
seek ALLAH as your refuge. You know that he's the one you see,
you shift your mentality. You increase in your ay Bada, so that
you have that safe space, and you do service. And in all of those
ways, Inshallah, you can make your life one in which is completely in
service to Him. Baraka Lo Fi come so much for your time. Thank you
so much for everything that you've shared. I've so loved reading your
comments as much as I could while I was speaking so panic. Alamo
behind the conditional in that ilaha illa and tennessa Lo firaka
wanted to we like bottle of thank you so much. Sakala said, Mariam
meloson, bless you. So many gems that I took away and I I know many
of us were chatting, or people typing in the chat, just the
upliftment they felt. So my last one, you and your family, thank
you. Thank you all so much. Alhamdulillah. So Inshallah, you
guys were going to be in the few minutes we have. I know you guys
are asking Q and A, we're not going to have time after each
session for Q and A. It just depends on timing. So this one, we
are running a little late. I want to give you guys a couple minutes
if you want to type in the chat gems you took away from the
session. I think it's always nice to just share it. And for those
people who joined late, you know, they can go through that as well.
So feel free to type that in the chat. And just a reminder, I think
always the best thing you can do for our teachers is make thought
for them. If there was anything that you benefited from Inshallah,
from Sheikha session, please make love for her and her family. I
think that's one of the most important things we can do. And we
forget that we love to praise them and compliment them, which is
wonderful, but definitely make law for her. Inshallah.
Inshallah, we're gonna have you on on again with discover you and
you're part of the discover you and you're part of the discover
you family. We love. Enjoy the rest of your Saturday, and maybe
we'll see you on on the chat and stuff. So I'm going to
just quickly go through some of the gems you guys are sharing
there.
I missed a bunch, but I know we're going to be posting gems
throughout the day as well. So Inshallah, we can use some of
them. I love the section on Ibadah that is something that I start to
implement in my life. Alhamdulillah. One of the gems
that I was writing is Sheikha was speaking was, sometimes a door has
to close for you, for Allah to open, another door of worship, and
another one was we need to experience something that will
remind us a lot, is the refuge, and I love that. Alhamdulillah. So
guys, we're going to get into our next session inshallah. So just
give me a second,
and while I'm doing that, for those who just joined in the last
40 minutes or 30 minutes, say your salams in the chat. Let us know
where you're joining in from. We're trying to cover all the
continents, and we're almost there, Alhamdulillah, so do that
inshallah.
Okay, so we're gonna get rid.
For our next session. Give me a second, guys, bye.