Mirza Yawar Baig – Living Islam Session #13
AI: Summary ©
The importance of consistency and focus in achieving goals is emphasized in driving success in basketball. The success of Kobe Bryant and the importance of living in a culture where everything is happening is also highlighted. The importance of finding the value of real people and finding the value of work is also emphasized. Consistentity and effort are also emphasized in achieving success, as well as the need for people to make a decision about their investments and not giving up on their own success. The importance of creating a stable environment and avoiding giving up on one's success is also emphasized.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen
wa Salatu was Salam ala Shafi lambay will mousseline
Muhammad Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam lehman
brothers sisters,
we are
the big news.
And sad news very tragic news that we are hearing, or have been hearing for the last couple of days is the
the death of
Kobe Bryant
in the helicopter crunchy and it's his daughter and of course, wherever else was there in the helicopter.
People keep saying over and over again, Kobe Bryant and his daughters. Diana's death is tragic and tragic. And I was thinking myself but others also right. And their death is also tragic. But you know, celebrities get spoken about and others are ignored.
The reason I mentioned that is for two things. One is
that these reminders from Allah subhana wa tada come to us on a daily basis.
Every day we are reminded
that there is a time
which is fixed. And when that time comes, it will not be delayed.
And that time comes to everybody. You don't have to be worried and sick today. You don't have to be young to die.
You don't have to be rich or poor.
Everybody dies.
So that is the one thing is of course, Kobe Bryant was a very good man Alhamdulillah he was a man who inspired a lot of people. I was reading
about his board some things about him and the
many lessons to be learned from his life with regard to consistency focus.
The will to achieve
you know, it's absolutely amazing. It's the
typically after winning a match. When they go home.
They would fly back and then they reach their own base. Everybody would go home. But Kobe Bryant would go to the gym, he would go to the to the basketball court and he would practice the two shots that he missed two shots.
That's it normally those two shot that he did it he didn't you know score there. And those those yards you would practice 100 times each before you went home
after winning them and not losing the match after winning the match.
They said that once they had a 8am team meeting for breakfast, they were playing sour and they said the coach said we must Let's all meet for breakfast. They said we all kind of woke up and most of us have groggy was sitting there and guru brand comes in and he is fully kitted out. And he is soaking in sweat.
This is where it comes from get ice on is this is a Where did this will come from. He came from three hours of practice before the eight hour meeting.
So at 5am the guy was on the porch
alone.
Shaquille O'Neal says once that he went to this place and hear this sound of ball bouncing and whatnot, and it's pitch dark.
And he goes into the into the into the gym and the basketball court. It's pretty dark. So Who the * is playing in darkness, and there's common ground. He's shooting you shooting baskets in the dark.
I mean, amazing, amazing folks. I mean, he's a
people, of course have quoted him now. And somebody wrote, he said he he said that he wanted to remember as an overachiever who squeezed the last drop of juice from the orange and the art and meaning himself.
So many, many good things to learn a very inspiring person. And the thing that I take away from this, the life of the man is that everyone is gets the same thing Allah subhanaw taala gives the opportunity is that it gives the time
to a lot of people.
But not everyone squeezes the last group last drop off
juice out of the orange. That's the that's the key thing, not everybody, school squeezes the last drop of juice out of orange.
And that is a function of focus. And it's a function of consistency of effort.
We all have these stories over and we're stories of the man, after he had achieved everything that there was to achieve. There was nothing else. Whatever was there to achieve, he achieved it, whatever there was to win, he won it.
There was nothing else for him doing. Despite that.
He wakes up at 5am. And is before 8am is three hours of
workouts in the gym, and so on, he used to do a sort of push up with this to call the sweet side push up.
So we're on the upstroke, he will fly up in the air and slam his hands together,
you know, and then come and fall back again.
So that's the that's the level of fitness.
That we are talking about. focus to the extent you got Nike to shave off
micro centimeters of soul from the shoe from his from his shoe, to give him that extra advantage in responding.
You will not overweight obviously. But in order to fight to further he said I want to my needs to have less strain. So he lost 16 pounds.
It's a question of focus.
It is a question of focus. And it's a question of how much you want success as simple as that.
The final point I want to save obviously, this session is not about Kobe Bryant, but it's important. And that's where I want to start from the final thing is is, is the very short the three minute
three to five minutes video that he made, which won the Oscar. It's called dear basketball. That was his favorite farewell speech, so to speak, when he retired at the age of 41. It says you must see it's on. It's on YouTube. To see it. It's a very beautifully made. It's an animation, and very, very well made. And it says the title is my it's not my deal. It says dear basketball.
What struck me in that it's a poem basically, which is reading out and with animations. What struck me was the term that he used again and again. He said, I did this for you.
He's talking about he's talking to the basketball.
Right? He said I did this for you.
I did this for you. I did this for you.
The question I heard that
question I asked myself is
Do I have anything in my life?
That I can say, Carla?
I can do this for you.
What do I have in my life?
That I can say
I did this for you.
That man can wake up
and go to the gym and practice for three hours before 8am?
Not one day,
every day of his life
for basketball.
What am I doing?
I can sit online.
I did this for you.
And that is what I thought that we share with you the fact that
we all die. Everybody dies.
No one denies the fact that we die.
People deny God they deny the Prophet they deny many things. But nobody denies that we die.
The question is what happens thereafter?
What happens after we die
and what is the preparation for that?
Because
if we prepare
or if we believe in something,
design of that belief is that we prepare for that,
if I do not believe are going tomorrow to Seattle, to teach the Sera, Sera solution workshop and then there are three other lectures in Joomla
the fact that I believe I will go
and inshallah Allah will give me the life to do it.
The proof of that is my preparation is all the lecture that I have written, and I have printed and I have gifted the Cirrus vision workshop which I have sent out, I've got my, on my USB, all of that
all of this is evidence that I believe that I will be in Seattle, tomorrow, and then for the next three, four days, this is what I will be doing, what is the evidence that I believe that the preparation for it?
If I didn't believe it, I wouldn't be preparing for or if I say I believed it. If I say I believe in that, and I have not prepared anything. And then tomorrow, I'm on a plane, then what do I do and I landed here.
But there's no preparation.
Obviously, that would be very foolish. That would be a very foolish thing to do.
So how about we live our lives?
Saying that we believe in the meeting with Allah subhanaw taala?
And then we if somebody asks us, or even if nobody has, we ask ourselves and say, Well, I believe you believe in the meeting with Allah. So what is the evidence? What is the
what is the proof?
I mentioned Kobe Bryant also not only because that's recent, and it's you know, it's in the news. And you all know this that we are from basketball land.
The game was invented in the city in Springville.
The reason I mentioned also is because Kobe Bryant is a symbol of success, right?
The symbol of success is an inspiration for a lot of people. You want to be successful like him, he was a man who was a top of his profession. He made a lot of money. Here, a lot of businesses, he was obviously because of his profession. And whatever else he did, he was very well known. He was hugely influential. So there is a standard of success.
And he was a man who fitted that standard. So you say here, this highly successful person.
My question myself under you is what is our standard of success?
What is our standard success?
This whole living Islam session is for us to reflect.
And to seriously ask these questions, is no good saying my standard of success?
Really?
If that is so does that reflect in our lives?
And if it does not reflect in our life, then your life simpler.
And the secret of success is not to tell lies to yourself. never lie to them.
Don't lie to anybody, but definitely not yourself.
So what is my standard of success? One according to
Kobe Bryant center of success was to be number one in basketball, his life is evidence of that belief. It is evidence that this was his standard. And he lived up to that standard.
And you can find fault with that. There was not there was not a move that he missed.
He did whatever needed to be done to become number one in the world, in his profession.
So if I say my standard of success is XYZ, whatever it is, what's the evidence?
The reason why it is important for us to examine our standards of success and to correct that standard of success to reflect what Islam
portrays and what Islam recommends
is because then our life
We'll be geared to achieve that
we do not have an awful lot of time, I have probably less than any of you.
Because I've lived longer than practically all the people here.
I don't think there's anybody here to go to them.
That's it, but he's younger than me. So
my point is that
we do not have and people being older and younger means nothing.
Kobe Bryant was 23 years younger than I am as we stand, he's dead or alive.
So being young and old means nothing, we do not because we don't know when we are going to die, and you know, you might have 50 years left, you might have 10 seconds left, who knows.
And that's why it is very important for us to get our act together and to do it first.
And last, rather than I mentioned in the Quran, Allah subhanaw taala said, for those who want the harvest of this life, that will be given to them.
And for those who want the highest of the era, they will be given an increase in debt.
So, we choose not life of this world House of this world does not mean that it is not permissible for you to desire the
the permissible things so 100 that it does not prevent us from desiring or wanting to or working for halaal wealth and for our families and for our, for our communities and so on and so forth, all of that is included, what it means is to is not to
buy the dounia
in exchange for the eye.
So while for example, accumulating wealth or building, building, you know, your your asset portfolio, to indulge in the disobedience of Allah, because no hair can come from the strong disobedience, Nothing good can come out of the disobedience.
So if somebody says, you know, do all of this, build all of this, but for that I have to borrow money on interest, I have to take do this or that. And if you say I let's do that, because I should build my portfolio, I must have my you know, as a base, that obviously you are buying the dounia
in exchange for the
and that's a that's a bomdila that's that's going to end up only in loss, it can possibly end up in any any profit.
Right?
The thing to understand is that the currencies of the two places are different.
The currency of the linear the currency of the address different, you know, for somebody like me, I come from India,
when I hear the US, one US dollar is what 7080 rupees.
So, if I am sitting in India, and I've got an X amount of money, and I feel Oh, wow, fantastic. Can
I bring that money to the to Erica,
I have to divide by 72 suddenly, all my wealth looks like nothing.
You might sell my house and buy a hamburger or something I don't know.
It's not that bad. But still.
That is the issue of the linear versus the accurate. This stub of this dunya
unless it translates into actions and into good deeds into Hashanah, on the day of judgment has no value.
Because whatever we earn in this dunya stays here.
Only three things
go follow a person after
his actions such as Algeria, or any any deeds that he did, which continued to reward any child that he leaves behind, who make dua for him, and knowledge that he teaches, which is of a beneficial nature. So any book and so on and so forth, that
some people have elaborated on that.
Allah has given an
explanation for this and so on. So the point i'm saying is that all of that
if you if you look at it, and we say, Well, what stays with me is only an
example. It's deeds which you did in your lifetime, which continue to earn reward after you have
children. Again, because you spend time and energy on their thermia on teaching them and so on and so forth, and they do something good and they make love
that come with that that remains with you and
Any knowledge that you teach to people and they practice it, this is a very pretty, it's all three of them are your own tips.
So, when we are doing the valuation of our portfolios or asset portfolios,
environmental we knew that it was important to evaluate them on this basis and say what is the asset value that I have
because all the asset value that I have which is in material terms, my land and property and bank balance this and that and cars and whatnot, is not acid
is not as soon as the result of months
it was summer it was extremely hot. Our aerobic Lee was so incredibly hot that he could stay in his house.
So he came out of his house and that was Abba the place of relief was the company.
So he came out of his house and he started walking and going towards mercy the number three in the house
and on the way he meant
to hard to stay.
And as the near misses and our Sheriff
coming out of it.
To be with you we said it's too hot. I can't stay now so I killed
the three of them went through avoidable and sorry.
I while you were on Alessandra delarue was not home, his wife seated them. Immediately he came and he was so happy to see them.
So he went to his or did orchard and he brought some cold water.
And then he brought he got a whole bunch of dates, which had ripe dates and it had half ripe dates and green dates.
Why did you cut this whole thing is
if you want to eat right dates, they are there if you want to have right they are there and if you want to read it.
And as they were sitting and eating these days and drinking the water he slaughtered there was a small goat killed his daughter that and he gave it to his wife and she made some bread and she cooked this meat.
When they brought the bread and the meat took two loaves of bread, he put the meat in it and he said go and give it to Fatima.
They have not eaten for three days.
diva
and twice a fairy tales. So Allah,
if we did not know that these things are true, they sound like fairy tales.
These were people these were real people.
And they were not like them because they were lazy.
I
used to work.
And he would go and work in a dead garden,
which was owned by a Jewish man.
And he will work so hard and so well.
That by half the day he would have done the work of what any other person would have done in a full day.
And then half the day you suffered.
So the van the owner, the Jewish guy will tell him, I'll give you double wages, please complete the work in the evening. He said no.
I need time to go and spend with us.
He's living in his house.
What time do you want to spend with
the question of productive time?
Maybe there has to be something at that time in the afternoon, evening. And so on and so forth. And and he didn't want to miss that.
So this bread, meat
then they ate,
they drank water and they drank that add it the dates and so on and so on.
And then the supervisors are upset
by the one in whose hand is the life of Mohammed civilize
Allah subhanho wa Taala question about this.
Allah will question you about this.
Oh my gosh, I
was so hungry.
We are so hungry.
And we ate this relevant questions
which is
why should you not question business
Not your right
is not your right that is good this
is a tank that makes sugar of
the world will not
otherwise I level question. The point I want to make is if Allah Allah Allah in divorce or say that Allah subhanaw taala will question people like those
simply for eating their food?
What will I ask what happens?
So what is the preparation?
I submit to you, my brothers sisters that we need to change our standards.
The problem is our standards.
In this country, especially and today, this is more or less true globally.
Our standards are way out.
We have created standards which have enslaved us.
Your working day and night did like DNA back breaking work forward.
Because you send your standard like that
I need to have a million dollar house,
I must have this kind of a portfolio, ourselves, this kind of a car, and so on. And so all of that you can get it get all of that. But it means that you have to break your back doing work for the next 30 years. 35 years.
If instead of saying I want a million dollar house, if you said I am willing to live in a comfortable rented house,
I don't want to buy a house not interested,
I will live in a rented house. comfortable. I'm not saying live on the street dogs come to love, I will try and drive a nice decent car.
Believe me,
you would do that working for 10% of what we're doing today
comfortably without any problem. And then 90% of the time you would then have to do to build your portfolio.
Because that also needs time, believe me it's not that's not going to happen out there.
Today, we have reached a point where we think that if I'm praying five times Allah, I'm doing it.
And on top of that, I'm gonna go on you can do more than that, you know?
So where is the time to work for the answer? If I am so completely Well, I'm not talking about and I'm talking about Allah, even in the * and we've got so completely involved
and engrossed that there is no time. for both of us. I would like to wake up two hours before sir nothing further and I want to pray to that I want to read one to the front, do you have the energy to do that?
Because you work all those hours you come home and then you vote what you want there to go, where is the time to to read the data that
we have to change our standards.
That also requires time.
Just like this requires them that also requires that Allah is Baraka, no doubt.
But it needs time. It needs time it needs focus, it needs effort, it needs consistency like this.
But then
when the time to go cups,
that is when you see the value of that,
then you will just have to rely on me.
I'm so happy that I invested with ally.
As well as on
the whole I'll do a whole series of iterate over just one point I want to make. One of the things he said to his chef, when he asked him what did you learn from me? In the 30 years that you spent with me, one of the things that he said is I looked at the people I saw the people and I saw that people are afraid.
They're very fearful. He said they're fearful of losing what they have.
Somebody who is fearful of losing his business, somebody who is fearful of losing his family is somebody who is fearful of losing money, and so on. And so the fearful, everybody is afraid of losing what they have.
So he said I decided therefore to
Give everything that I have into the protection of Amazon.
So, what is the meaning of that, the meaning of that is that the time used to say that whatever is more than the UI
whatever is more than necessary,
spent in the back office.
And what is necessary he used to define it in I mean, in today's if we if we think about it, then
you know, you have to see it but these are the people I was referring to once
he's going on the street, he
had one thought on his shoulder.
So, he was known to be very ascetic, he was known to be a very, you know, pious and very sort of
aesthetic person very hard on himself.
So, one of his friends we met, he said,
How can you live like this, I mean, I you know, you have nothing.
I wasn't the person who told me nothing. He said, I have this job which I am wearing. He said, I have this one here, which I keep for Juma.
I have a vote which gives me milk.
He said I have a donkey which I ride when I need to write.
He said I have a house in which I live. He said What does a man need?
What does a man need?
The next day the same man but the man he had not talked to is what happened he says somebody needed
These are people who learned from Rasul Allah is a southern dialect
I'm not saying that I'm not promoting you or be to become like
all about you, but I look at this i think i can i can get there. But at least we can have that as a standard and ask ourselves this question and say what is my investment in my asset?
What is it I'm doing? Am I I know my investment adunni I have this this this. What about the what whatever invested in the
Albanian bin Abdul Malik Malik bin Marwan came to Makkah for Amara.
He was available after our rallies, rounds, the length
of the medic
will lead the son of the Bolivian moron. So he came to Makkah Bora Bora averaged over a US salary.
whether any of the terrain were around him, so they took him to one view. He asked him he said Why am I afraid of death? Should I fear death? Why should why why'd Why should
this person said to him, Do you fear death because you have not done anything to prepare for it?
Then all your palaces are here,
then you have nothing.
If you weren't prepared for that, if you are invested, if you had built palaces there, you will look forward to wearing them.
No,
he will come to America come to stay. They don't go back to their countries.
But in the Middle East is very common with the Middle East and the Arabs don't give you citizenship.
So no matter how many years you stay there for 30 3040 5060 years, you still have to go back to your country so many people are most people who work in the Arab countries, they send money back home,
back home to Egypt and Lebanon and wherever right they are bizarre whatnot. So you're building your house there and you're buying land there and whatnot. So they in the in Jeddah or Dubai or wherever they're living, they live very
you know, they live very frugally, small houses, share apartments and so on. But the actual big house is building back home.
So all surplus cash they keep sending back home.
So easy to understand from that
using that as an example. So what is it that we are sending back home? Because that is
that is how Allah subhanaw taala sent us out from there and told us come back.
Home and valley food in general the more Allah subhanaw taala mentioned the
Tsavo The more we need and then at the end, what did he say? Oman very soon said they are the inheritors, meaning what belongs to you.
Do we inherit Jonathan fellows
who we are
they will stay forever
provided they satisfy these conditions.
I want to close with this
by reminding myself when you let us focus on where we are going.
Let us take this and Kobe Bryant didn't have to die to remind us, we get these reminders every day
every day.
So, let us take these reminders seriously
and prepare for the time when we are going to meet others.
By submission, we will not focus on anybody else look at yourself.
Today we are very
very keen to know very readily we look at other people this is wrong within their log with Boyd all that
leave them What is wrong with him, let ALLAH forgive him. You may
focus on yourself and you say what is it that I need to do?
To make sure that when I meet Allah subhanaw taala I beat Allah in a way we're almost done.
With that's the only thing which will come.
That will come. All the money in the world can't protect us from deaths.
Sometimes the money becomes the reason for the COVID Brian wasn't going on in a helicopter maybe we'll go on a bicycle ride.
No
time for his death he would have died Anyway, I'm just saying that you you look at it purely from a materialistic angle he died because he is in a helicopter crash if he wanted to the helicopter crashed?
Why was it because you had the money to afford it.
So let us focus on ourselves and say what are the Amell that I can create for myself, which will be my resource. When I meet
as Carlos run intelligible, please with all of you to
make you and give you a life which is pleasing to Him. I asked Allah subhanaw taala to fill your heart with his new and with his mercy and with the help of his
family values.
ask Allah subhanaw taala to inspire you and enable you to do all the things that please Him and to save you and protect you from any animal that does not please
ask Allah subhanaw taala to cover you in his with his mercy, and with his grace, and to give you protection from all evil of every kind, that you know and that you don't ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to cure all those who are ill, from whatever that is them as the most vital data to take all those who are in debt out of debt, as well as monitor to take and give all of you
risk and halaal until you
without any effort on your part as a gift from him Jelena ask Allah subhanaw taala to free your time to spend in his worship and to learn about his Deen and to learn about him and to make him inshallah asked when he will all of you to make Easter far and to accept your top and to turn towards him gender.
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