Mirza Yawar Baig – Part of the problem or solution
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My brothers and sisters, Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala
said
that
the facade, the trials, tribulations, difficulties, calamities,
which have spread on the sea and the
land are the result of the deeds that
are earned by our hands, the
hands of people.
And Allah says that he allows
these things to happen.
He allows he Allah has the power to
stop it,
but he does not stop it. He allows
it to happen so that
we people can get a taste of our,
the result of our own actions.
And
this is the mercy of Allah because Allah
says so that they can return to Allah.
Return to Allah meaning that they can stop
doing the
kinds of things which are creating the problems,
and they can
correct themselves,
correct their lives, correct their ways,
and therefore,
make their lives and make society
harmonious and pleasant
and free from the
pain and suffering that
society is facing today.
Now usually
in some of my workshops I ask people
to
draw
a circle,
including
just in the air, including
everyone in their lives. And almost invariably,
people draw a circle
in which they are not there. So the
circle they draw is like outside, and they
are outside the circle. Now this is a
big mistake because
we are not,
excluded
when
we are talking about people, when we are
talking about society, when we are talking about
the environment, we are part of that.
We are very much part of that. And
therefore we are we have the choice to
be part of the problem or part of
the solution.
Now consciously we don't make this choice. I
mean, I don't think people actually consciously make
a choice to say I want to be
part of the problem, but you are.
You are, I am, unless
we
become consciously part of a solution.
Only when we decide to,
become part of the solution,
then we
are no longer part of the problem.
Now
what what is the problem?
The problem today?
If if I want
to put it in one
word, it is a one phrase. It is
lack of consideration,
lack of consideration.
We are not concerned about anybody else. We
are concerned only and only about ourselves.
So there is the tyranny of feeling, which
I mentioned about somewhere else in another podcast,
where we feel that
my feelings, whatever I'm feeling is
the most important thing.
And therefore, I can disregard everybody else's feelings.
And if anyone else is doing something
which I like to interpret as making me
feel bad,
then it is
incumbent upon them to change their ways
so that their actions
become
compliant with and become
consistent with
what I want them to do. So my
feelings.
Now this is absolutely
ridiculous. It's a,
extremely arrogant
individualistic
stance.
But that is what has happened in society.
The interesting thing is that
every society, irrespective, I mean, we are here,
we are talking about Islam and so on.
But irrespective of that,
every society
is
based on
one simple principle, and that is
the control
of
individual feelings,
individual
aspirations,
individual desires
in such a way that
that results in goodness for everyone.
So
controlling
myself, controlling,
my feelings, my actions
to the extent that they don't harm or
cause any problem to anybody else. So obviously,
I am free to express my feelings. I
would be free to be myself.
So it's not as if I'm put into
a straight jacket.
But like they say, my freedom ends where
your nose begins. So my freedom has to
be curtailed,
has to be within certain bounds.
So freedom of speech, for example, does not
give me the right to use foul language
to somebody. It does not give me the
right to curse someone
to,
to use profanity,
to scream and and yell and shout,
in the name of freedom of expression.
Similarly,
everything else. Right?
If I'm driving a car, then I follow
I have to I'm compelled
to follow certain rules of the road. I
can't say well, you know I feel like
driving here so I will not if there
is a
if there is a rule in that road,
you have to follow the road. I would
say, oh, why do you see my my
freedom is cut. Of course, it is cut.
It absolutely has to be curtailed
because if you are allowed to exercise your
freedom, you will kill yourself and, and or
somebody else.
Similarly, everything else, my house, my,
surroundings, for example, in the way this in
America, we have this, you know, there's this
social pressure
that
your yard, your,
if you're living in an independent
house, then your lawn, your garden, so on.
There's no there's no pressure that it should
look beautiful, but certainly, it there's pressure to
say that it must not look,
like a garbage dump. Right? Must not do
ugly.
The law if there is a lawn, it
should be moored. If there is, garbage, it
must be kept out. There should not be
trash all over the house, all over the
yard. If you do that, then somebody will
come and and talk to you about
it because
your,
house and your yard,
contributes to
the image of that particular locality, per particular
neighborhood. And people say, well, you know, we
we are welcome to be, you know, to
exercise your freedom, but you cannot do that
in a way which,
detracts from the,
good name and the and the atmosphere
of the place. Similarly, our dog will box
to what somebody will come object. In most,
towns, in America, for example,
you are allowed to give chickens, but you're
not allowed to give roosters because the roosters
will crow in the morning. And people,
say, you know, you can't you can't disturb
the peace. You can't disturb other people. So
you can't keep loud
birds, or animals,
in your in your house. If you want
to do that, then you must you have
to go into a farming area where you,
of course, you can get have boosters and
cow and whatnot,
but not in a town area. So the
whole point is that this is something which
we accept to understand. But
when it comes to individual feelings, we seem
to live in a world of make believe,
where
we feel that whatever we feel like doing,
is fine. As long as you know, as
long as nothing. I mean, as long as
I like it, I can do it. And
this is what Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is
saying that this kind of unbridled,
self intelligence
is
the reason for, and it's the cause of
the facade that we are seeing,
on the land and and in the sea.
So this is
so when I'm talking about a circle, I'm
saying, therefore, what we should do is to
look at ourselves and say,
where am I in this life? Am I
causing this facade?
Are my actions
causing the problems of the world?
Now you want to be on me, one
act, one person. No. But everything is linked.
Everything is connected.
Like we talk about the butterfly.
Yeah. Yeah. The the the in in creating
a,
a global storm. Yeah. You talk about the,
the butterfly,
flapping its wings in the Amazonian rainforest,
causes and, oh, it doesn't doesn't literally do
that, but it's something which is,
figuratively
to be understood that the individual action
has a global impact.
So therefore, I need to look at myself
because my action has a global impact. Number
1, number 2, I'm the only person who
can connect my actions. Nobody else can do
that. I can't do it for somebody else.
So I therefore, I have to look at
my actions and say, what do I contribute?
And one of the most important things to
think about here is that
the thing that truly benefits
is 2 things. 1
is gratitude for what blessings we have and
number 2 is to share that with others
so sharing gratitude and sharing how many times
when we're looking at
our lives,
it is very typical human nature. We,
focus on the negatives.
They they are the things. It's like it's
like it's like getting a little speck of
dust in your eye.
Right?
Now you get focused totally on that speck
of dust.
Your eyes watering and so on. If somebody
says, just look around you, such as you
see this beautiful scenery
or here's this fantastic painting.
You know, you are not capable of doing
anything. You do the speck of dust in
your eye is the overwhelming force in your
life at the time. So until you get
it out of the system, the same thing
we do with our with our with our
lives.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has given us enormous
amount of, you know, benefits.
For example, it's so bad, hot. It's so
hot. It's so hot. But we forget the
fact that we're living in centrally air conditioned
houses,
going to centrally air conditioned offices in air
conditioned cars. So where is this heat? Yeah.
It's so hot. How how is it hot?
Where are you feeling this heat? Are you
are you working on a construction
site, in Kuwait in this in the summer?
I mean, that that is heat. That is
heat. Right? You you you you don't have
to fry eggs. You break the egg on
on on the pavement, and you get a
fried egg.
So the point is that we tend to
look at
the,
the, the negatives almost exclusively.
And, we focus out the positives.
For example, so, you know, I have to,
I need glasses
to read. Sure. But you have glasses. So
it is wonderful. I mean,
If you didn't have glasses,
and then you said I need glasses, that
that would make sense. But if you are
if you are you're wearing glasses. Or what
do you see? What there was a time
when I was
life changes. With life, we change. And therefore,
we it is wisdom to accept
the changes that have come into my life
because of my age and say, Alhamdulillah.
I may be 70 years old,
but
I'm still able to walk freely. I can
get up and and go. I don't have
to use a walking stick. I'm not in
a wheelchair.
My digestion works works perfectly.
I can eat and, you know, any any
kind of food that I want to eat.
I my sight is eyesight is fine. I
can drive a car. Yeah. And so on
and so on and so on. I mean,
the the the the point is that,
instead of that, if you focus on this
fact, oh, you know what? I've got arthritis.
My knees pain and when I wake up
in the morning, my whole body is so
stiff and so on. Now there is no
end to that. If if you want to
focus on that, then all you will remember
and feel is the pain.
But instead of that, it's Alhamdulillah.
Pain, okay, there's pain, but you know, there's
also painkillers. So pain is so wet, it's
a painkiller. I mean, Allah has given
us the antidote for that.
Thank Allah Subha Tahir.
I can't bend down, I can't do such
that.
Made it possible to sit in a chair
and pray, because this is the the the
rukhah and and the, benefit in this deen.
Allah makes it easier for us. So I'm
still praying even though I'm sitting in my
prayer is as valid as it would have
been if I had been going in to
do.
So the point is
to consciously
list
the things that we are to be should
be grateful for. So that's why I recommend,
you know, why my,
the thing that I recommended the other day,
which is to keep this book and say
3 goals for tomorrow. And at the end
of the day, you say, how did I
achieve these goals? Let me add something else
to that, which is after you write the
3 goals for tomorrow. Also write 10 things
that you have to be grateful for. So
do that as part of the exercise.
On the left side of the page of
the book, 3 goals for tomorrow and then
10 things that I need to be grateful
for. What am I conscious of? And doesn't
matter if it's the same 10 things you
write every day. It
does doesn't need to be 10 new things.
10 things that I am grateful for
and you'll be surprised
go into the details. Yes. Small things
with somebody smile, somebody's companionship
and so on and so on. Because otherwise,
you end
up one of the worst things is
even with company. Right? With your spouse, whether
your wife, your husband or or your children
or whatnot.
If you continuously focus on the negative things,
believe me, there will be there will come
a time. There has to come a time
where
you would only be left with bad memories.
Nothing else. It will be as if your
life was only bad memories because you chose
to remember only that. And you will what
you remember, you will recall.
And therefore, don't do that to yourself.
Think about the good things. The bad things
will come and go. The bad things will
come and go. Right? It's like the the
the time you spend in the toilet compared
to the time you spend in your dryer
room, in your living room. Where where do
you spend more time? And if if you
are really spending more time in the toilet,
there's nothing wrong with you. Right? So do
think about that. So do you need it?
You need the toilet. Of course. Absolutely. There
will be some negative thing in your life,
which has to be flushed out. Of course,
you need it. But don't spend all your
time there because that's not a nice place
to be in. It is necessary. It happens.
It's done. Finish.
Washed, get
out, spend time in the nice place.
And in our lives as well, there are
toilets and there are
living rooms and dry rooms and, you know,
places of beautiful aromas
and and and comfort. Spend time there.
And that is where, that is where we
are grateful to Allah's. This
is the key thing to understand. As long
as we are grateful
Allah's increase the blessing. We know the idea
of, you know,
and as I said, share this
share the goodness with people
sharing does not mean only material things. It
doesn't mean you have to give you money
or things sharing is everything. This is share
talking
company.
Just being with somebody, you know,
whatever,
right? Whatever is appropriate, share that. So feel
the goodness,
be grateful for the goodness and share the
goodness inshallah.
This will create a,
add the very least a bubble around you
of goodness
and if these bubbles touch and the bubbles
multiply
we have a society which will be full
of
of grace full of thankfulness
full of gratitude,
full of good companionship
and Insha'Allah
pleasing to Allah