Finessing the Balance of Islam’s Core Values

Hola

Rahim Al hamdu lillahi rabbil aalameen level 100% within al Jamila shadow La Ilaha illa Allah who many could have called moving or shadowing them Mohammad Rasool Allah rasool Allah Allah mean when as the Hadith Nikita will later I will play head to head you Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, which I don't know Maury mark the third to how Coolangatta team vida que la vida and voila Hola. Hola. Hola. That's it for now.

All Praise and Glory be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds Certainly Allah is deserving of the best things and the most beautiful praises. And we testify that no one is worthy of worship with Allah alone without any partners the true supreme King at the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa alayhi wa sallam was indeed in truth without doubt, His Prophet and his servant and His messenger.

So with the theme of this conference being healing humanity, allow me to be frank at the onset. It is difficult to imagine that this ummah would be involved or at the forefront of healing humanity as it once was, before it is done, or gaining ground, or making gains on its own health first, healing itself first, beginning to enjoy great health on its own.

And great health could mean its spiritual health, its intellectual health as its scientific health, its industrial health, its physical health, its financial health, its moral health.

And that last one in particular,

is what I wish to spend the next 18 or so minutes on the role of our moral health, our moral greatness.

And how operative how consequential how essential that is towards our mission, our duty

of healing humanity.

So we all know that Allah azza wa jal said about his prophets Allah Allahu Allahu alayhi wa sallam,

we neck Allah Allah Philippine Aleem, right,

you are upon great character. And when Allah the Most High says great character, it's truly great character.

But perhaps the most incredible aspects of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is great character. And what truly puts him at the undisputed pinnacle, the unmatched top apex of human excellence, is not just that he mastered a certain number of virtues or all the particular virtues. But the fact that he was able to finesse the balance between all of those virtues at the exact same time

and an example would probably help a lot.

So I usually like to portray or illustrate to the following seen.

picture with me that the hypocrite has finally died

in Medina, and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam knew full well that he was a hypocrite.

And yet he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam insists on wrapping him in his own shirt as his shroud and blowing his breath into his mouth before burying him. So that the last thing he contracts from this world is the blessing breath of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and then he continues praying for His forgiveness and continues praying for His forgiveness to the point that Ramadan kebab or the Allahu Anhu

comes and stands by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam side, and he begins to protest and begins to remind the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam

that this is no ordinary hypocrites.

That evening. cellule is the man who would publicly insult you and taunt you for a decade.

This is the man that deserted the Muslims that were already undersized right before the Battle of Fort Hood started with a third of the group and he defected This is the man that made up and spread filthy stories about your wife Aisha Radi Allahu Taala Anna

and by doing that he was accusing you as well. of housing under your roof and unchaste woman while you were totally oblivious to it, he's the one that did and did you cannot No no, no, you cannot seek forgiveness for him.

And so the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam standing at the grave Abdullah Hypnobabies say lol. He says to Rania, Omar, Omar, step back, back away. Leave me a

alone,

and he continues to seek forgiveness for him until Allah azza wa jal reveals

interstellar ferula whom I will let Estelle Fiedler whom interested Villa home, Sabrina Murata and Falaya fear Allah hula home,

which essentially means it doesn't make much of a difference. Whether you seek forgiveness for them the hypocrites or you don't seek forgiveness for them. Even if you were to seek forgiveness for them 70 times Allah would still not forgive them in Nam Cafaro because they disbelieve

and so at that point, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he said, low any Alamo. If I knew, lousy to Allah, Sabrina Will Ferrell 70 in avoiding Oh fear Allah Who loves it. If I knew that seeking forgiveness more than 70 times would have gotten him forgiven, I would have sought forgiveness more than 70 times. And he stopped there and didn't proceed any further. After Allah's verse comes down. Picture what just happened here in light of finessing the balance that we're talking about. This is not just our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam ascending to a point where he is able to be gracious and be forgiving, and not hold the grudge and live and let live, though

that by itself is something we can spend our lifetime not being able to do with people that wronged us. He climbs to an even higher level where he's not just forgiving this person. He's concerned about this person, he's compassionate with this person. He's hopeful that this person may somehow survive may somehow attain salvation. And then he doesn't just stop there. He continues to climb even further, to being committed ultimately, above and before all devoted ultimately, to the boundaries of Allah azza wa jal so that when Allah tells him to stop, he stops I know he's Salatu was Salam.

finessing that balance of being selfless and then being compassionate, and then being devoted. That is the pinnacle of human excellence. It's not an easy task.

That's why you find it best and most with the prophets, and not even just any prophets, the best of the best of the prophets have truly mastered this balance. You find in the Quran that Ibrahim alayhis salam, Allah says about him uj do not feel only loot, he came pleading with us regarding the people of Allah loot the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. These people Allah was going to destroy them before he destroyed them in forms. Ibrahim alayhi salam Ibrahim Ali Salam Beggs Allah pleads with Allah to spare them. Like you'd think Ibraheem Alehissalaam above anybody else will be like finally gets rid of this cancer that's destroying humanity. He still had mercy for them. But that's not the

only thing he had. Allah azza wa jal continues to say Ibrahim Allah halimun Welcome Muneeb Ibrahim is so forbearing it's beautiful of him to feel that way despite everything he's been through. Personally, at the hands of those defiance of the prophets and the messages of God. Ibrahim is so forbearing but at the same time he is always calling out to us and always resigning to our judgment always rushing back to us. Yeah, Ibrahim Audubon Heather, oh, Ibrahim, leave this alone, meaning the decision is finalized, do not interfere. And Ibrahim alayhis salam did not fumble the balance between compassion for humanity and between commitments to the bounds of Allah subhanho wa taala.

It's not easy.

You know, interestingly, I always remember the story of unfolded and Al Rahim Allah Allah, and it is related. So just bear with me. Alpha Laila Rahim, Allah when his son died, he was seen cheerful or laughing at the funeral of his son. And so they said to him, like how can you be laughing at the funeral of your child?

He said, I wanted to show Allah that I was pleased with his decree.

You know, for a moment you say wow, Mashallah. It's impressive.

It is at face value, because some of us can't even be that. But this incident caused the big problem for many people. Because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam cried when his son Ibrahim died. And so how can Alfred ln have more Eman? More faith or more contentment with the father of Allah? Then our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam it doesn't add up.

So shaker Islam and Samia Rahim Allah and His perhaps of the reasons why he should hold Islam. He resolves it and he says know what actually happened. Here is the alpha de la Rahim Allah Allah, who was a man of great caliber a man who we will never attain his ranks most likely, but still, he's not the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasallam he's not Ibraheem Alehissalaam he settled for Blaine was not able to combine in his heart, mercy for all

was creation and contentment with Allah's determinations Allah destiny. So he threw out mercy with Allah's creation for Allah's creation, so that he can be able to hold on to being content with destiny. He had to pick one. He says, imitate Me or him or Allah. Whereas the guidance of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, it is more perfect and more complete, where he combined between both he fused between both when his son Ibrahim died,

and he said, The i Tears and the heart aches, but we only say that which pleases Our Lord subhanho wa taala.

So what does this have to do with moral excellence?

Allah's destiny, the laws in his universe and what he distance in this respect is not at all different from Allah's laws, his Afghan, his judgments regarding the behavior of human beings, how we are and aren't supposed to be living our lives. Both of those judgments, we have to accept them, while still balancing that with being compassionate with human beings because many times we fumble this, we're trying to be so compassionate with human beings that we don't want to pass judgments on right and wrong anymore, which is an issue because Allah passed certain judgments as the other end. Sometimes we want to commit ourselves so diligently in a beautiful way to Allah's boundaries, that

we wind up being callous with Allah's creation.

And so here is the idea. Are we allowed to be judgmental as Muslims? Or are we allowed to judge people as Muslims? Well, it depends what you mean by judge people. If judge people means you judge their fates like this person deserves to live this person deserves to die arbitrarily just like that.

Or judge people as in this person is going to hell this person is going to heaven on some individual level, then absolutely not. We're not allowed to judge people as Muslims.

But are we allowed to judge people as in their behavior in terms of facts, not their fate, the facts, what is truth? What is falsehood? What is right what is wrong? We are obligated to do that as Muslims, we are obligated to say what Allah said, and judge as Allah judged and accept what Allah accepted and reject what Allah rejected, at least in principle, if we can't do anything else, because Allah azza wa jal said to us in Zelina, illegal Kitab a bill happy the Takoma Vina, Nursey Bhima aka Allah, We have sent down the book upon you with truth, it is definition of truth. So that you may be able to discern to judge between people using what Allah has shown you subhanahu wa

taala. And so when you judge you kind of have to be out of compliance with your commitment to Allah and also out of concern for humanity because Allah legislates and shows us what's in our best interests. So if we really are concerned, a part of that is going to be presenting to people not withholding not compromising. Allah's did find guidance, his definitive guidance, His revealed guidance, his gift to us.

And also we can judge from the perspective of I need to be able to add value to different actions. So I know what to be grateful for. Like, I need to be able to say me being at the masjid at 7:30pm, to pray arratia is better, more valuable than me being standing at the door of the club waiting to get in at 730 on the same night, right? They're wrong. I have to be able to judge that. But if I'm going to judge that from a place of ownership, as if I own my own guidance, and I'm inherently superior to that person, absolutely not. They could be in the masjid tomorrow. You can be out there. That will be arrogance. Am I allowed to judge people from a place of contempt where I'm hateful of

them and their well being and I don't wish for them to prosper? Absolutely not. In fact, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam when he passed the judgment on a person who kept battling and falling into alcoholism, he carried out the judgment. But when people said words that reflected contempt, they said, How wicked this person is, how curse it he is.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam stopped in there and he said, Let's go for it. Now you have Allah Allah rasool Allah who do not care such a person because this person loves Allah and His messenger.

And so we will have to judge but that will not Eclipse

us wishing well for people because that's inseparable from our Islam. We cannot separate that.

Islam is the religion of Allah. Allah's Mercy is wider than his anger. Allah wishes for us to show goodwill to people that do not see her when the Prophet saw signs is the religion is good.

We'll what does that mean? It's almost like him saying hedges out of hedges a lot of things. It's not just Alpha. But if you miss out if you miss hedge, likewise, if you miss Naziha, if you wish, miss having Goodwill for people, you've missed everything, you've missed the whole point

that doesn't necessitate or mean or entail that we're ever going to fully be able to separate between the sin and the sinner. That just really doesn't make sense. It's just not even logical. Like, is it natural for me to feel exactly the same about my neighbor who puts brownies in front of my door every single day, and my other neighbor who steals the brownies before I get home from work every single day? Would that be natural?

And this is we're not feeling towards people, the way we feel. On a very selfish level. We're saying Allah azza wa jal is the center of our world, the center of our concerns, those that do things that bring them closer to Allah, we try to bring them closer to ourselves, it is natural. Our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, the most beloved of you to me. And those that sit closest to me on the day of judgment are those that are best in character, right character with Allah character with the people.

And so we're not going to be able to fully ignore

the link between the sin and the sinner. But the point is there it's not going to eclipse finessing the balance. It's not going to overwhelm make us forget eclipse, the dominant aspect of our Islam, the central aspect of our Islam, which is still wishing well for these people no matter what. And you know, there's a beautiful incident from Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, Allahu Allahu anhu, where he saw some people

cursing at insulting a sinner.

And so he said to them, if you would have found this man in a weld stuck inside a well, wouldn't you pull him out? They said, Of course, he said fella to Cebu Ha ha ha, Mohammed, Allah, Allah, the alpha come, then stop cursing at your brother. You're stuffing him further. You're not helping him by doing this.

Then stop cursing your brother and just thank your Lord who spared you? They said fly to blue. They said to him, don't you hate him? Don't you hate the sinner? Carla, in namah abodo Angela, who for interlocutor who for whoever he is saying what I hate, this must be interpreted to me and what I really hate what I hate most. What I really hate is his sin.

Once he gives it up, he returns to being my full brother, meaning I don't hate him inherently. I don't hate her. Inherently. It's just the inseparability is impossible sometimes, but you still wish well for them more than anything else. Because you see that this person is a family member. They're parts of the human family. And you see that you are required as part of your faith, to love for people, all people, what you love for yourself.

You know what that means, by the way, first of all, and now we're gonna have our says the correct interpretation because of other wordings of this hadith, that you don't believe until you love for your brother, which you love for yourself. He's saying the brotherhood of humanity is what's intended here, according to the stronger view. And even the raja Rahim, Allah says something very interesting. He says, what that means is you're supposed to wish you're supposed to long and wish as part of your faith, that the person you're looking at be better than you not just like you. Why? He said, Because you're supposed to love for others what you love for yourself, right? And you're

supposed to love for yourself to be higher than you currently are. So you're supposed to love for others to be higher than you currently are. That is the sentiment that is part of the requirements of your faith as a Muslim.

And so how do I know if I feel this way? What's the litmus test for this? Because I don't have any time left.

It's very hard to gauge your emotions. And so our deen didn't leave us to gauge our emotions in a very obscure way. It gave us guidelines for that reflect how we feel at heart, how it translates on the outside. Here's a good guideline you can always use with yourself. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said let's Hakuna only shaytani Allah Pico do not be an aid for shaytaan against your brother. So how do you treat this person? Do you treat this person like someone that wants to hand them off to shaytaan pushing them further down the path? Or do you treat them in a way that wins them over to you closer to the path of man closer to the path of Allah and you distance them from

the shaytaan if that is how you gauge things, then you wish well for them.

And so will you distance yourself from them when they whenever they commit a sin that would not be allowed in Islam boycotting a Muslim in Islam

is only allowed when there's like a super clear benefits in doing that. And when people commit sins they need you now more than ever, so how can you distance yourself from them, except that you're you need to know that you're handing them over to Shane Vaughn. Also of the ways that you don't help shaitan against your brothers and sisters in humanity is that you're sensitive to their conditions. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam tried to advise a person that was weeping at the grave. And when he saw she was not ready for advice, she didn't even realize he was speaking there says Get away from me get away from me, you're not going through what I'm going through. He let her be he was

sensitive to her condition. And then when she came, now she's coming. So she's gonna be receptive. That's when he gave her the advice and said, patience. It really matters when calamities first strike. So being sensitive to people, and even in our time, I'll conclude with these two things, even in our time. Being sensitive to the fact that the dominant culture has riddled people's minds with doubts and so don't just dump information on them without realizing that this information could could destroy them.

The same way really good steak, you know, could kill a baby because they're not ready for it right? An overload of information without the proper tools to process it could kill someone's faith.

You know, I live in Abu Talib Radi Allahu Taala answer booklets reported about him that he said,

address people according to their wavelengths, basically their rationale in a way they can comprehend. Would one of you like that Allah and His messenger be considered liars. Be belied you know many people nowadays the way they just dump Islam on people or provoke people with truth about Islam in the name of pride or whatever else or being principled, uncompromising, or whatever? It's as if they are saying, so what? Say it out how it is, we don't care. Good for them. Yeah, we want them to belie Allah and His messenger. They were faking it all along. Anyway, this is what I hear in their behavior. Why do that to somebody? Do you want them to be picked up and rescued or not?

And I'll end with this incident.

Two of the great Imams of the tampereen. One of them he was his name was innacurate. Allah, He had a limp in his foot. He would limp when he walked. And one of his students was at ama show him a whole lot. So they Mendenhall Amash, he had a bleary eyed, he had one bad eye. So when they were walking into the city one day,

he said to him, let's take different streets because it looks like kind of funny, you know, like a guy with a limp when a guy with a bad eye. So it looks like the scholars are all like impaired. It looks like they're just like, it's awkward, like there's not a person who's like, flawless amongst you.

And so will ama shadow him, Allah said to him, so what Let's walk together, what does it harm us? That we get the good deeds for being made fun of and they get the sense for making fun of us? So enough, I Rahimullah. He said to him, and what does it harm you? That we get saved from being made fun of and they get saved? Meaning from committing that sin. Those are beautiful hearts, pure hearts, balanced hearts, that soaked in Revelation and, and lived these gems. Many times even you know, I was one of the writers. He said if Ibrahim and Nephi Rahula had a social media account today, when he posts things that were provocative and were just gross generalizations and carelessly

or deliberately, you know, spill spark and still controversies

or would he do as many of the early Muslims did worry about the guidance of the people and say to Allah azza wa jal in the depths of the night or in their sujood Oh Allah protect us and protect Islam and the Muslims from us is like a little plate on masala who embark on a Vienna Muhammad Ali who Sofia drain