An Ummah of Beauty

dismember wearing a suit and tie that is when you have my father's undivided attention.

And so as much as any human being likes to be complimented, I was deeply saddened more than anything, that there may be people out there that hinder others from benefiting from a Cold War, and also from people that could forsake or dismiss their only half hour, perhaps during the week to recharge, because of how someone looks, regardless of the content they're bringing to them.

Why judge a book by its cover.

And then I learned that I was wrong.

And that even the phrase that we say so often don't judge a book by its cover, it's because it is expected and natural and will always be the case. Most people will judge books by their covers.

It is natural for us as human beings to be drawn to something pleasing to our eyes drawn to beauty. And that's why we need to kind of always be reminded to don't only judge by the exterior, because that's the default. That's everything for us or for most of us.

And then you think about it, why else was our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam given by Allah the most beautiful face?

And then the most radiant smile.

And then NSF or the Allahu anhu

mamasezz tupiza and when I did the Belgian Eliana McAfee Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam I've never touched, silk, velvet, whatever it may be, that is smoother in the form of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wasallam what I showed them to Rehan Wallah orphan. optium written Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam nor have I ever smelled any fragrance, any perfume, any mosque that's more invigorating, more splendid than the fragrance of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, why was he made like that by Allah? Aside from his moral greatness, aside from his ethics that were just impeccable, why the physical? I mean, we know because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi

wa sallam told us that Allah azza wa jal leyendo illa sorry kumala Elijah Sammy, he doesn't look at your faces and your, your, your physical exterior, your physical forms, then why?

Why be physically beautiful?

And then also Allah azza wa jal sends the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam from the noblest of ancestry from the purest of the purest of the purest of lineages. Why, when Islam has no care for lineages, right? The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is the one that told us when bata abbiamo music became a symbol, if you're slowed down by your actions, you're not going to be brought back up to speed by your who your family is. Then why was he like that? If Allah cares about the inner beauty more than outer beauty and actions more than lineage? Why did he give him outer beauty? Why give them a beautiful ancestry?

Because although Allah does not care, people care.

And so it was out of the mercy of Allah, that he makes him that much more appealing, so more people would hear him out. alayhis salatu salam, and consequently more people would have a fighting chance at salvation, more people would be saved and that's what Allah azza wa jal wanted. And so he sent him in a way that met their expectations

in a way that satisfy their need. Yes, it's a need to experience beauty

that is a human need. In fact, you know, in the Quran very fascinating how Allah says I made for you cattle like cows and camels and horses I made for you these four legged animals to transport you and carry your luggage but then he says, this is the point of reference. He says, well, that comfy had Gemma Loon. Hina turi hoonah Hinojosa hoon. And I provided for you through them through these horses with beauty. You know when you behold the majesty of the horse and how it was created, majestic animal, I provided for you beauty. It's a risk from a love that you need. You need to experience beauty I provided for you through them beauty where as you watch them go in the early morning hours

out and in the early evening hours when they come back to stable

and then not just in the creation of Allah. Then Allah legislated a religion, a religion that address that human need for beauty in a way that satisfies it from so many angles. So our Islam taught us about the importance of beauty and appearance, didn't it? Like Islam is not just okay with you looking nice. Islam promotes that you should look nice.

When the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he cautioned people against arrogance that no one enters paradise with a speck of arrogance in their heart. They said they are a pseudo law but what if we like to have

nice clothes and nice shoes, my sandals. They said he said No, that's not it. He said in Allah hi Jimmy Luna Hipple Gemma was beautiful and he loves beauty.

Allah loves that you look tidy that you look orderly, you look presentable. Allow me to say color coordinated, dressed for the occasion without extravagance Of course, but he loves to see that from you. So Panda hautala

to you for you to comb your hair and keep it Kevin.

Even in one narration, there was a shepherd who looked very disheveled, very shabby. And so the Prophet sallallahu Sallam asked him, What do you do? He said, I'm a shepherd. Very laborers work out in the fields does the animals. He said to him, leave her near Matala Holic I'll fly near Mattila Holic make sure the favor of Allah on you is evident. In other words, don't overburden yourself with going into debt using money you don't have becoming a shopaholic? No, not that one. But if Allah has given you something show a lot of generosity to you on you.

Make it visible live, how to make it evident.

And so that's one aspect of beauty our Deen taught also beauty and temperament like beauty in your mood, the people around you the vibe they get from you. Allah azza wa jal says, Why am I being immature because the head did speak up and announce the favors of Allah Allah subhanho wa Taala speak about them not in arrogance, not in conceit but in gratitude and appreciation recognition of Allah favors your mood. When people are around you, what is the vibe that they get? Are you always depressed, they're always about like conspiracy theories and the world is going to end with the next president or the next turn of events. restraining that from people as part of beauty. Just be a

beautiful person be an A positive person that's part of beauty in your temperament in your mood.

You know, even though I am rocklahoma

He says, And Allah knows that I never knew or saw anyone that was as high spirited, as his sheer shiftless laminates emailed him a whole lot. He said, despite the fact that he had the most troubling life. And the most course conditions, he said and the threats he would live with and he died with that sabotage his entire livelihood. He said when we would begin to assume negatively become jaded become like,

clouded regarding what is in store for us. We don't know when we would develop anxieties. He said, we would go to him go to him were go to him in prison. You think he's the one that needs cheering up? No, they would go to him to get cheered up. And he's the one in prison. They said the moment we would look at his face and hear his words filled with positivity filled with contentment, and I must admit, he said that would rejuvenate us in conviction, and it would rejuvenate us in stamina.

He said an after he died. I saw him once in a dream.

And so I began to ask him about some investigation. Some research I used to do about our metal Polo Boudicca about, like how the heart works and like the ideal mechanisms to purify it, like what's the best recipe?

What's the best approach to purification? So he said to me something, I'm paraphrasing here that his entire life was all about. He said to him, mmm, as for me, for party, a party, a suru. Bella, he went for a hobby, my entire approach. It's centrally around, what about being happy with Allah, being rejoicing, celebrating Allah and my relationship with him? My connection with him?

a community member once came to me and said to me, Listen, Brother, you need to understand something, people don't come to your message to gain knowledge. They're not here for the knowledge. If they want knowledge, they have YouTube. And there are way more knowledgeable people than you on YouTube. And he's absolutely right. He said people come to you in person to see how has your knowledge made you any different? Like, are you more like

content happy with life? Are you more stable within yourself and in your marriage? Are you more enduring in

the events, the trials of life that it gets thrown at you? That's what they're looking for. Does that Islam stuff actually work? It was very profound.

To see in you the difference that Islam made in you, has it made you a more beautiful person.

And then another aspect of beauty is a beauty.

In reputation. Many people have this understand that I don't care what people think of me. I only care about what a law student thinks of me. Well, a law as though agenda wants you to care about what people think of you.

Some people, for example, even in the attire we spoke about, they don't really dress up. And they say, because I'm not trying to impress anyone, I don't want anything from this world. This is really a misunderstanding.

Even the client says, actually, one of the clearest signs that you don't want anything from this world is that you hide the fact that you don't want anything from this world you blend in. Because you may not want clothes, you may not want cars, but maybe you want people's praise, recognition. And that's why you're standing out. That's why you dress shabby, you may need to ask yourself that question. He says of zoo, zoo. One of the clearest, most superior forms of disconnecting from the dounia is too high that you're disconnected from the dunya. I don't even want people's praise. I'm not even trying to be that guy that stands out, distinguish myself. So caring about your reputation

also is important. You know, remember Buhari Rahim Mahalo to Allah.

One time he was writing a ship. And a man started saying on the ship, I lost my money who stole my money? They said, How much was your money? He said, 10,000.

The problem was that nobody had a bag of money with the exact same amount.

And so what did he do? He took his money and threw it in the ocean.

So people are saying like, what are you doing? Are you crazy? Like is haram haram to waste money? He explained to them that in this situation, I'm buying my reputation with the money, I'm not wasting it. And he said to them as selama to let it do hashey. Securing myself my reputation is priceless. Because how can I be seen as an authority that is trustworthy, that is credible to relate to people, the Dean of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam via Hadith in the sooner if there is like some question marks about me, we never really got to the bottom of that story about that bag. We found it on that boat, right? So he's saying I'll spend 10,000 and more to be considered a person of

integrity, that it can be a relayer a conveyor of velocity and it's way worth it. And even Yusuf Ali Salaam did this, you know and UCLA, Sam was accused of certain things. And his image was drawn in a very ugly way. He needed to beautify it, he felt he must beautify it. So when they came and told him come, the king wants to you're hired by the king, come interpret the dreams, you got a good skill set. He said, I'm not going anywhere. Go to the women and clear my name. First ask them what the true story is. You know why? Because if he would not have gotten his name cleared, first, he would have been a criminal. That got a free pass from the king, right? The King just let it go. Because he

kind of needed his services with dream interpretation.

He would not have been seen as someone trustworthy.

But he he wanted to be released upon being cleared. And even the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam admired his very much and he said out of his humility,

your hammer Allahu Yusuf, may Allah have mercy on Yusuf Lola to be Sidney Mallaby Fela Egypt to Derry if I stayed in prison for as long as he stayed, I would have responded to the caller like I would have heard my name and ran right out.

But he insisted to stay until it was cleared because it meant that much to him.

And so does our Dean mean that much to us that we ensure whenever there are no red lines whenever it's not going to anger Allah we go out of our way to please and polish our image in front of the people.

Because we will not carry to them our Deen unless they see it first. A Hola Hola. Hello stuff a lot all the money welcome

Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala Medina Viva La ilaha illallah wa ala sharika Donna Mohammed Abu who want to be you who are solo.

So we said beauty in appearance, attire, and then your mood, your temperament, your personality, and also in your reputation. Also very important is beauty and your performance or your work ethic, your diligence, being a perfectionist as much as you can without stagnating yourself some people are there to bent on perfectionism their whole life paralyzes and it comes to a halt, but doing everything within your power. That's not unreasonable to be a perfectionist. You know, even the hadith of aluminium kawi the strong believer is more beloved to Allah and superior than the weak believer but there's good in every believer what was the context of that howdy? It was performance.

Stein Villa what adages seek Allah's help, don't quit, don't be a quitter. Don't be that person that the moment there's an obstacle, you're aborting the mission. That's about what due diligence perfectionist personality, you need to be a person of excellence

and then the other half

Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says in the La Jolla amela screener who Allah loves when you do any deed, any deed that you perfect it.

You know the context of that Hadith as well as very telling in some other narrations of this Hadith, they said we were going on a janazah with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam when we got to the grave site, the grave was not yet dug.

And so we had to wait. And as they were digging the grave, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said to them, sell the Heather.

Smooth in or level Villa Villa is like beyond klaver. That niche that they build at the side, the scrape goes down, and then you're supposed to build a little bit to talk to the deceased person inside. That is how whenever it's in our ability to bury our dead, we're supposed to bury our dead that way. He said, smooth in it. He says, For one and NASA and NASA, the people thought this was like a ritual that you have to like, perfect enclave. And so the prophet SAW Selim had to clarify for them No, no, no, that's not what I meant.

Meaning don't think this is a particular practice that you just open ended Lee address, or else you can imagine over the years, they'll put a pillow inside and make it into a shrine

become wasteful and aggrandized the deceased, it becomes very problematic. But when he saw them about to go overboard, he said to them what he said in a Heather Lyon farolito, what I told you to do of leveling the inside of the grave smoothening, it will not benefit the deceased or harm, it's not about comfort. He said, when I kinema how you hit, either I'm Eli Mila and your sin. But it's really about the fact that Allah loves when a Dewar does something, they do it with excellence, they perfect it.

To be a person of it's on in all the things that you do. You know, this is not supposed to be hard for us Muslims, if we take our Islam seriously, right, because the ABCs of our Deen the building blocks will do is supposed to be done with Isabel which means to be thorough, and your will do. And then you're not supposed to go to prayer while restraining yourself the need the impulse to go to the bathroom. That's another study, right? And you're not supposed to run to the prayer because what's the point of getting there, if you're just hyperventilating, you're breathing fast, it's about quality. It's not just about showing up.

And then you're supposed to come to a full stop anyway, in every posture. And whoever does in the profits all sudden said, Go back and pray you haven't prayed because he was bouncing out of postures.

Even eating, by the way, simplistic day to day activities. He forbid us from eating while standing like Hey, be mindful as you eat, sit down.

In the moment of what you're doing, do that. Well, if we were to take these things seriously, the early Muslims took them seriously. And so they built around them a civilization that was all about raising the bar that was all about this detail that was all about this perfection. You know, even the the structure, the architecture that is symbolic of Islamic history, like the and the Lucien arches, and all these things. These were produced by the Islamic civilization, you know, even the script of Arabic, if you go to the earliest Arabs, the Arabic script was hideous. It was very crude, and it wasn't consistent than it wasn't artistic. None of that was there.

And then Islams insistence on it's gone. made this something symbolic of the Muslim culture and something so desirable that people that have no idea what the Arabic says still want a piece of that in their house. Right.

And so finally, I only have six minutes left.

There is so much to be said about this subject because it can be found in every angle of our Deen. But just remember this one had you and then I'll give you some action items. When the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that excellence isn't perfection beauty all those are used for a son has been prescribed for you on everything. What did he say? He said and even when one of you slaughters at the end of the Hadith, perfect the slaughter sharpen the blade and put the animal to rest. And also have a spoke about what that means not don't slaughter in front of the other. Don't let it wait in front of the knife as you're sharpening the knife put it to as much ease as possible.

But what's the connection? Look at the eloquence of the example.

Perfection is written on everything meaning everything in your life deserves a share of your perfection, excellence due diligence beauty, do everything beautifully. Even the things that are to be imagined the furthest from it right even when you slaughter something, it still applies there. He used the farthest example for you to understand that it applies to everything else automatically.

And so where do we get this from? We already said the basics of Islam. You do your route right you do your Salah right it will start becoming a part of your personality.

Also where do you find the accent? It's very easy just look around. Look at the perfection of a laws design of the universe as an akula, Shay in Calico, he created everything with great the sun, perfect design impeccable design. Soon Allah He led the ads can akula a look at the design of a law that

Allah who designed everything with its con, with fine tuned excellence, like Allah azza wa jal could have created the heavens and the earth in an instant right or wrong Be and it would be. It was created over 60 days Why?

The scholar said perhaps a lot, though agenda is showing for us the universal order how things are supposed to be done, for us to realize that detail takes time on our clock in our world. That's how our universe functions. even think about your day today. When when it's nighttime, do the lights just go out in the universe? Like does it just turn black?

Or is there a gradual, gentle onset of the night? Gentlemen is a part of beauty. It's a part of excellence. Allah is showing it to you in the world around you.

It's even mentioned that one of the

the parents was selling his child look at how Allah beautifully put everything together. And so the child being as inquisitive as children are, he said, but this doesn't make sense. Look, the watermelon grows on this like flimsy vine.

And this huge date tree only lets off fruits this big. He's trying to say the watermelon should be on a bigger plant and the dates should be on a smaller plant doesn't make sense. So his father didn't answer him. Perhaps he was stumped. Like we're stumped so many times with our kids is interesting, out of the box questions, until one time the child was napping under one of those date pumps. And one of the dates fell and hit him in the head. And he said What was that? His father said to him just think a lot wasn't the watermelon. That's part of and I don't mean to prompt laughter in the hotel. But the idea is if you give it the time of day, you will realize you will benefit so much

from reflecting on the it's gone of Allah and His Sona and his manufacturer.

And the last thing is the incentive a lot about our data set and this should certainly be enough.

levena axon husana was Jada for the people of accent, the people of excellence, beauty perfection. Their repayment is what it's not the accent. It's a listener and hostname is the absolute most excellent. It's the superlative if you're into language, it's the absolute most excellent reward and more. Because sometimes, you know, when we know we're getting paid because the surveillance camera is running, or I'm clocked in front of my supervisors, you show up on time and you do your due diligence.

When you know there's incentive for being at the gate of your plane early, and there's a penalty for for taking this too lightly. But then in other spaces like what it's not like it's my job, it's not like I'm getting paid no you're getting paid, and you're getting paid with the reward that is matched it's an husana your payment is nothing less than husana the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said al husana is generally

what the most creative mind can never imagine what humanity collectively can never conjure up

was Jada and more what is the only thing greater than the greatest creation Jenna is the one who created it himself. That's what's more, he said Ziad that that which is more is a laws diligence phase that you get to see you don't get to watch he later Allah May Allah grant us and you that that is certainly enough incentive when you're thinking about the concept of a Muslim employee. How conscientious should I be Muslim appointments amongst ourselves? Thinking about the language we use at home thinking about leaving bathrooms and shoe racks cleaner than we found them? May Allah return us to being an Omega San and oma of beauty and make us worthy incredible in the eyes of those that

are in need of the torch that we carry a lot of them I mean, a lot of them have fallen out. Allah muffuletta ohana y la vida Latina, Elana Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama and to Allah movie Mina until mapa de mo and Tomas Iran Salah coalition de la Molina has an allergy dinner. we'll hop on our antenna. Roku Delica Indiana lomatin fusina taqwa zakia Hiraman Zika antibody you have Amala yeah Paddy Malik Sun Yat Sen hufa kuliah Sun Yamanaka, tena Haider, Matthew Jose inika who and EMA and let him know sir mfe Jose Nick. Well, who will ask Allah who made NACA fool into hibou for HANA wallet to me tonight in La Casa Latina lemon as La San Juan Salalah Hosni Mubarak on BNN Mohammed Ali