Mirza Yawar Baig – It is my Life
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Burning it up at a pace which is
out of control.
We are knowledgeable about health,
but disease,
especially mental illness,
is rampant in our society.
We collectively
have enormous wealth,
but its distribution ensures
that vast populations are deprived,
even starving,
while a few live in luxury.
We have moved from physical conquest of countries
to proxy wars
which can provide
never ending return on investment ROI for weapons
manufacturers.
It is not a war to conquer land
but to achieve macroeconomic
goals
while making profit for both sides.
The devastation of cities and nations is an
opportunity
for contracts
to rebuild, which means more profit.
The deaths of civilians
is collateral,
burned only by their families. Collateral damage,
burned only by their families.
The fastest
spreading
religion in our world
is
materialism,
commercialism.
And its presiding deity
is money.
It runs
on the illusion
of fiat currency.
Its temples are banks,
and its high priests
are those who manipulate interest rates to enrich
and empower people
and nations
at will.
In our world,
sin is good,
greed is virtue,
cruelty is nobility.
Anything that makes money
for those in control is good.
Lying is the biggest ad talent,
and truth is evil.
You are living in a stupor,
intoxicated,
in a 3 d salon sound theater,
wearing virtual reality glasses,
and anyone who tries to wake us up
to the reality of our lives is brutally
silenced
so that it becomes a salutary warning for
others.
We have assets.
What we have lost is our moral compass.
We are like a very
powerful car speeding downhill
without brakes.
Our speed is exhilarating,
but the end is obvious
and inevitable
if we continue on this path.
The rise and fall of civilizations
is not based on how much wealth they
have, but on
how it is used.
That depends on their values.
Values decide how assets are used.
That is destiny,
and it is
in our own hands.
The biggest casualty of this state of affairs
in our brave new world is the almost
total
collapse of credibility.
Today, we trust nobody,
believe nobody,
and suspect
everybody.
Politicians,
religious leaders, business heads, teachers,
media,
doctors,
attorneys,
parents,
spouses, children, elders.
We don't believe any of them.
We are constantly looking for second appearance in
the name of trying to be accurate.
The truth is that we do it because
we don't believe anyone.
Our society feeds us a constant diet of
bad news,
usually exaggerated.
We never hear or think
about the enormous good that there is in
our world today
despite all that is happening.
The result of this is a way of
life
that is filled with stress and anxiety and
depression.
You cannot live in a constant state of
fear,
and its effect shows.
There is a solution
to all this and that is to rebuild
our faith,
to return to the standard
that was taught and exemplified
by Rasulullah
A standard of life
that was birthed in a society
very similar to ours
with similar materialistic
motivations.
He taught us how to deal with it
in practice.
His time and life
were the pilot project,
proof of concept that Islam
works.
His way, the sunnah,
proves that Islam Islam is not merely a
theory,
philosophy or concept,
but like judo or aikido,
Islam is a practice.
Like all practices,
it must be practiced
if you want to benefit from it.
Merely knowing about it or having an academic
interest in it or academic discussions
is of no use.
Allah
drew our attention to
it and called Rasulullah
his son. The prophet Muhammad his son of
peace and blessings be upon him
and his way.
The best choice
for anyone who looks forward to meeting Allah
and the day of judgment.
If we follow it,
if we follow him, we will benefit.
The Rasul Alaihi Salam.
The messenger
Muhammad
for the 1
who looks forward to the meeting with
Allah and the day of judgement
and who remembers Allah
a great deal.
So,
do values matter?
Think of values as a life jacket.
The time you need to hold on to
it and wear it openly
is when you are in the flood. When
you are on dry land,
it doesn't matter.
But when you are caught in a flood,
in danger of drowning,
that's when you need those values most.
We need to hold on to our values
especially when things are difficult.
Sometimes people ask, why should I do it
when nobody else is doing it? I say,
I should do it especially
when nobody is doing it because if I
don't,
there will be nobody else doing it.
As they say, if not me,
then who?
Because in the end,
it is not about them.
It is about me.
It is my life
and only I will answer for my actions.
Allah told us very clearly
the the the the the the the the
the the the the the the the the
the the the the the the the the
the the the the the the the the
the admitted
into Jannah
will indeed triumph.
Whereas the life of this world
is no more than delusion
of enjoyment.
In this Ayatul Karima, Allah
mentioned 4 things,
that this life is finite,
and we will all die.
Number 2, whatever
material we have will be left behind,
but how we got it and what we
did with it will go with us.
That the final reckoning, the reward, and punishment
is on the day of judgment.
No matter who thinks
that they got away with murder and worse,
we'll pay the price
in full.
Nobody gets away.
Likewise, for those who seem to lose out
for being truthful in this life,
they will receive their reward in full on
that
day. Finally,
the criteria
of power and success or failure,
which is
only the 1 who is saved
from punishment
and gets admitted
to Jannah
will have succeeded.
And finally,
beware
this life
is a deception.
Following this means that we must do 2
things.
Always keep
our focus on the goal, which is general,
and know that how
matters more
than what.
How we acquire something matters more than what
it is.
We must think about all our speech and
actions
in terms of their effect in this life
and the Aqiras
and the hereafter.
It is possible to benefit
by lying,
but it but is it a benefit when
the result will be punishment in the hereafter?
It is possible to rule by oppressing others,
but is it worth paying for it on
the day of judgement when those oppressed
would ask Allah for justice?
A
small house acquired without interest
without an interest paying loan
or mortgage
is better than living in a mansion that
really belongs to the bank, but which you
call your own.
And in the process, you also acquire
the enmity of Allah and his Rasool
What makes sense?
So, our speech and actions must never violate
Allah's laws or the rights of people.
We must factor Allah
into our equation
because he is in it
anyway. He cares.
He sees.
He hears.
He knows.
Nothing is hidden from him in the heavens
or the earth,
and to him is our return.
This helps us not to become distracted and
discouraged
when it looks like honesty, integrity,
compassion, kindness, courage to speak the truth, and
so on are all not only
not practical but painful
and possibly attack punishment in our world today.
And we see that those who do the
opposite of all these
become worthy and powerful.
This is a severe test because in a
materialistic world,
we have been conditioned to define success
in terms of what
and not how.
We are told to measure human worth
in dollars
and not character.
We are conditioned
to look up to those who have the
most toys
and the most ostentatious lifestyles
as role models and icons,
driving us to incur Allah, subhanahu, and anger
in the process.
Secondly, it helps us to remember that everything
we have will be left behind when we
leave this world.
Nothing goes with us
even if it is put into our graves.
It helps us to remember that nobody
is free
from trials.
Nobody's life
is free from
trials.
Everyone
without exception
will be tried,
will be tested.
It is impossible for anyone to live without
stress and worry, especially in today's world. It
is only the cause of stress and the
nature of the difficulty that changes.
For us Muslims who believe in the hereafter,
that is the biggest worry,
the greatest concern, the biggest fear that there
is a day of judgment.
The awareness that it can come at any
time.
The deception of Shaitan is that he tells
us that the way to escape what you
fear is to ignore it.
Allah
tells us the truth which is that if
you want to escape
what you fear, prepare for it.
Allah
helps anyone
who prepares and seeks his help.
I know that we are taught to have
life goals,
but do we have a goal for our
soul?
In our materialistic world, we are concerned about
our body's weight and shape and BMI and
fashion and all the rest of it. But
are we concerned about the state of our
soul?
What does my soul look like?
Or the state of our cult?
What does my heart look like?
Told us that the only thing which will
matter with when we meet him is
Allah said the day when neither wealth nor
children
will be of any benefit to you. Only
those who come before Allah with a pure
heart
will be
saved. I asked myself
if I'm satisfied with the state of my
self, with the state of my soul.
And if not, then what am I doing
to at least try to have a pure
heart?
A pure heart
that is free
from ship
and hatred
and greed and envy and jealousy and stinginess
and cruelty and the host of illnesses of
the heart that we are
evils are actually good
and must become my life goals.
The name of that cancer is
materialism.
To believe
that the winner is the 1 who died
with most toys.
Our role models are
the
are the prophets and messengers of
Allah ordered us to obey.
Allah said
said,
obey the Rasul
with our questions.
1 of them is
what the and
I said whatever.
It's a complete blanket statement.
Whatever
the messenger
gives you, take it. And whatever he forbids
you from, leave it.
And fear Allah,
surely Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is severe and
punishment.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala commands us
to obey
in everything without exception,
to do or stay away from whatever he
tells us to do unquestioningly.
Not because we follow blindly
but because we follow with the knowledge that
he commands and commanded
only what Allah commanded
him.
And so we obey him.
And therefore we obey him, we are really
obeying Allah
Allah
confirmed this. And he said,
Allah.
But whoever turns away, then know that we
have not sent you over as
a keeper over them.
The India were usually the only ones
among their people who were who were on
the values of truth
and fidelity.
They had no support. They stood out.
They didn't blend in.
They were not hypocritical or politically correct.
They knew the consequences
of their actions.
They didn't do them because they were mistaken.
They did them out of a deep seated
conviction
that what is right
is right and what is wrong is wrong.
They didn't compromise the truth
because they knew
that truth is an absolute value.
It doesn't come in grades.
You can't be partial. You are slightly truthful
just as you can't be slightly pregnant.
You either are or you're not.
There are no gray areas about truth. The
knew
this in the core of their beings, and
they lived by that. And they paid the
price, and they harvested the rewards
in this life, and they will have the
highest honor in the.
We must weigh everything
in the true scale of the akira and
not get
deceived by the glitter of this dunya.
When someone sells something with permanent value to
buy something with temporary value, you don't call
that smart. You call that stupid.
So what should we call our actions?
If you gain
the whole world but lose Allah,
what have you gained?
And if you lose the whole world and
gain Allah,
what have you lost?
That is the equation.
The beauty of Islam is you don't have
to lose anything.
Just follow Allah, and you will have a
beautiful life in this world
and the next.
Follow the Rasool, obey Allah,
and you will have
a beautiful life in this world
and the next.
I remind myself and knew that it is
always about me. It's always about you. It's
always about the individual man and woman.
All change begins with the individual.
Nobody can force us to change, and nobody
can stop us from changing if we decide
to change.
That is why we and we alone
are solely responsible for ourselves.
We are still in the month of Hajj.
When Ibrahim
and his family decided to obey Allah,
it was not easy.
How easy is it to leave your wife
an infant baby
in a desert valley and leave,
go away,
not knowing when or if you will ever
see them again?
How easy is it to see your husband
leaving you and walking away without a backward
glance.
How easy was it to have a father
you were seeing for the first time as
a little boy as a little boy
asking you
what you thought about the idea of being
sacrificed and slaughtered for the sake of Allah,
yet they all submitted.
They submitted
because
they knew who was asking.
They had a connection with him,
They knew him and had the best expectation
from him.
Needless to say, Allah
never lets you down.
He the
the
the the the the the highest form of
worship
Hajj.
The Hajj is the commemorative
story of Ibrahim
and his family.
Allah
made them and their story
immortal.
I remind myself and you to choose wisely
because our choices
are
permanent.