Maryam Amir – When You Think You’re Not Good Enough for Allah
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the feeling of overwhelmed by their guilt over their statement about Islam, and how they believe in Allah and the believers' actions. They suggest that individuals should be in the best shape possible to achieve their spiritual goals, and that finding one's true values to be able to achieve their goals is crucial for success. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of finding one's true values to be able to achieve their goals.
AI: Summary ©
I was in a store once when there were a group of teens just
standing talking, hanging out together one of the aisles, and as
I passed by, one of them called out and said, Assalamu alaikum. I
turned to him, I was like, Wa Alaikum, assalam. And he said, I'm
Muslim, but I'm a bad Muslim. And I was so taken aback by his
statement, and I said, Why would you say you're a bad Muslim? And
he said that his parents told him that he's a bad Muslim because he
doesn't listen to them, because he doesn't pray all the time. And I
just thought, SubhanAllah. There are so many reasons why that broke
my heart, but the one focus I want to reflect on is the fact that
this young man is standing with a bunch of his friends who are not
Muslim in a time where people actively have stereotypes about
Islam, and he chose to call out and give salaam to me. He chose to
recognize his Islam very publicly by acknowledging mine. And
the fact that in his heart he wanted to do that is an incredible
sign of his Iman, we spoke for some time about why he's not a bad
Muslim
and Subhan Allah, by the end of that conversation, he was like,
for real, I'm not for real. And I thought that there are so many of
us who sometimes feel like we're not good enough for Allah.
We feel overwhelmed with our guilt, we feel like we're not
doing all the things we want to do for his worship. We are angry with
ourselves. We think about a sin we committed a few months ago, a few
years ago, and we can't move past it.
There are so many reasons why we feel, especially in Ramadan, a
sense of self loathing, that we're not where we want to be
spiritually, that we can't put our hearts in our dua that we haven't
wept out of sweetness any man for years, if ever.
And we think about how far we wait we are away from Allah.
But do you know what Allah tells us in the Quran? He says,
Al Lali and I Asha man holla, who you said before Nabi Hamdi Robb,
be him. You said, Be Ho. Nabi Hamdi Robb, be him. Why you mean
una Bihi waya steal
Rahman, now there
are
these
group of angels that Allah subhanahu wa has appointed to
surround the ausha of Allah. They are constantly, constantly
praising him, and they believe in Him. And imasha harawi, he makes a
very interesting point, that if you are watching me right now on
this video, you see me. You don't have to say, I believe I see
Miriam. You simply say, I'm watching Miriam. Why would the
angels say they believe? Why would Allah say about the angels that
they believe in Him when they're right there around his Subhan, wa
taala,
Imam Shahra, we mentioned this because it means that they don't
know their animal Abe. They believe in what they are not able
to see, because
is only what Allah allows angels to know. That's just a side point,
but they are constantly making power for the believers menu they
are constantly making for asking for forgiveness for the ladeena
amenu their angels, who Allah has commanded to do absolutely nothing
but praise him, and with his praise, ask for the Forgiveness of
the believers. Now that sounds so incredibly merciful and loving,
but that's because when you hear believers, you might be thinking,
yeah, believers. You know people who read Quran all the time, who
are praying all the time,
Lil la Dina, amen, oh, why didn't Allah Pana wa Taala say lil Lil
mutminin? Why didn't he say little meaning, because little lady na
Amanu are the people who believed in Allah with their hearts. In
their hearts, they have a firm belief in Allah, but
they struggle with always
manifesting the action of that belief.
The people who believe are the people who believe in Him, who
believe in the hereafter, who know that He is Allah. But
sometimes they struggle with the obedience. They struggle with this
submission. Those are the people who Allah has commanded angels to
constantly ask for your forgiveness,
and the verses continue on, and they continue to make dua for the
believers in so many incredibly healing, beautiful ways,
but these are the people who struggle. So imagine if you are
someone and you're struggling with BM and you're struggling with
reading extra Quran and you're struggling with the extra, then
imagine what Allah, Spano, Mata Allah has in store for you.
We don't know who is the most beloved to Allah.
A person could be in the masjid all day and all night in
seclusion, praying to Him, and we say, subhanAllah, look at how
righteous this person is.
But is that person more beloved than a father who is taking care
of an adult son who needs physical support?
Is the person who is cleaning the masjid and all of their work is
just cleaning the masjid to support their family. Is that
person more beloved than a person who is
a doctor, who is helping people get over the coronavirus
is the person who is a mother who is barely able to pray without two
kids on her back and another one screaming her name
is the lack of Her ability to fully focus in her salah, more
beloved than the person who is praying in a cubicle, pre
coronavirus at work,
trying to fit in Salah between this meeting and that meeting so
that they can provide for their elderly parents. Every single one
of these people are beloved to Allah in such a different way, in
such a chosen way, every single one of them with Allah has secrets
that only he knows. There is no way we can know who is more
righteous, who is closer to Him, who he has chosen, who he loves
more. So what we can do instead is just try to be in the best of our
ability the people that he loves.
Your personal circumstances may force you to have to choose
between what type of worship you're going to be able to do.
That doesn't mean that your inability to do so much like
someone else isn't as beloved to him, perhaps in the reward that
that person is receiving for all that extra worship they're able to
do because they choose to use the time that Allah has given them to
fill the time the Allah subhanho wa Taala has chosen for them to
have. Perhaps they are using that for his sake, and he is so pleased
with that.
Perhaps that amount of worship is similar to the smaller amount that
you can do, because you simply don't have the time to be able to
focus like that because of your care of others or your care of
your own self.
Ramadan is a time of blessings. It is a time of forgiveness, and it
is a time of the doors of Allah's Mercy being open. His mercy is
always open to the one who goes back to him, as evidenced by the
fact that he always has angels whom he orders to pray for us.
So if you know that your Lord is the Most Merciful, if you know
that your Lord is the Most forgiving, if you know that your
Lord is the Most Loving, take this time to be a little more merciful
to yourself.
Pick your reality, see what goals you can actually choose are going
to be realistic for you and the rest of this month, and know that,
Inshallah, that because you're trying your literal best with all
of the responsibilities that you have, whatever small amount you
do, and whatever increased amount that you're doing is beloved to
him, because that is the best you can do. And he sees that if he
loves the ladeena amanu so much, then imagine how much he loves al
mumin, how much he loves al muhaneen, those who believe.
In Him who struggle, who try, who are trying their best every single
second despite the reality of their circumstances. How much must
he love you? Subhan wa taala.