Mohammad Elshinawy – Islam’s Unique Liberation Theology #02 Serve None but Allah

			And so one by one. The first of them, he said, Allah sent us to remove people from being enslaved to
slaves. Keep in mind, he didn't say from being enslaved to other slaves. Because
		

			Islam did not just come to liberate you from being abused at the hands of others escaping the abuse
of others. And they didn't come to liberate you just from you abusing others. It also came to
liberate you from being a captive of yourself from self the self harm of devoting your life to
yourself.
		

			How do you do that by being overly focused on yourself? Because your function you were created your
programming, sorry, if I borrowed it term, right? Your programming your function is to serve Allah
and his right is that you serve him. And so that is why Schick is the greatest injustice because it
infringes on the greatest right, Allah's right, and it infringes on your right to serve your your
purpose. And so it makes you dysfunctional.
		

			You were created for him, you were not created for you.
		

			And some people may like be a little bit superficial about this, like what do you mean, serve
myself, the four and liberates us from serving ourselves and emphasizes that so much because we
don't realize how far it lurks within us, and how many aspects of our life It affects. And I'll give
you an example. Our fixation on other people in reality is a fixation on our self.
		

			It is still self serving, it's about my self interest, my self perception, my self worth, when
you're always chasing people's pleasure, that they are pleased with me, right? When you're always
fleeing from people's anger, make sure they're not upset at me. When you're always desperate for
people's appreciation that they value me it's all about you. That is really an issue of you, your
self interests, your self worth you serving yourself.
		

			And this makes a person so debilitated Allah liberated us from that revolving around yourself. It
makes you so vulnerable. That's why I don't even have the love right now. Allah beautifully says
that thinking about people too much is a is an illness and thinking about Allah is a remedy.
		

			The Quran NASCI that with equal Allah He already met Muhammad Rahim Allah you know, the the tale of
courageous Imam Muhammad and his fearlessness when people told him that they were afraid what did he
tell them?
		

			He said, Laos or hafta mercy if they hadn't had you been healthier, you would not have feared
anybody. A sign of the illness of the heart is when you have over regard for Allah's creation, at
the expense of your regard for the Restrict for the Creator, when you allow things to crowd or
contend with the number one spot in your life, that is borderline shit and it's a great injustice to
Allah's right and to you and it makes you a captive of it.
		

			You know in a beautiful story, or I'm gonna love as Khalifa once went to a jabya, a region that was
governed by Abu Zubaydah, one of the Great's companions sent promised Jana and I will obey the
received Oman welcomed him happily, he said, Take me to your house. Or Omar had heard that Edward
obey this wife was leaning on him basically to use his position to give them a little bit more
comfortable over life. So you wanted to check what their house looks like what kind of lavish mint
they have kind of furniture. So he went into the house. And when he sat down in the house, his wife
came out. And he said to her Falana you're so and so. Ahmed was very tough on his governors, and
		

			they accepted it from him because they knew he was suffering himself that he wasn't them. May Allah
be pleased with them all. So he said you're so and so she said, Yes, Carla. Hola, hola, Su and
Nikki. I'm going to make you Sorry, I'm gonna humiliate you.
		

			She said Wallah, he lets up the Wallah. You will not be able to
		

			I mean Omar was able to before he was Khalifa so like what happens when Ahmad is the number one men
in the state? He said, let us know and Nikki I'm gonna make you sorry.
		

			She said you will not be able to. So her husband jumped in. He said, Now we have to know he's able
to
		

			because pharma can do can.
		

			So he she said what law he will not be able to. And then she explained, she said I have to do and
yet Zeon nearly Islam faith he will be he can he stripped me of my Islam do away with it?
		

			Almost said no. She said that I don't care what you do after that.
		

			So he realized this is not the language of a woman who is materialistic. And so he said a spell for
Allah seeks for
		

			given us from Allah for trusting the testimony that came his way and he left
		

			or like Kobe Nadi very similarly, when he was executed for defense, his defense of the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
		

			Kobe said, what right before they killed him, he said, Fela rubelli Hina octanol Muslim and Allah
Ajahn being can have led him astray, I could not care less, at the moment that I'm being killed as a
Muslim, in what way I'm being killed. It's just details, so long as it's for Allah that I'm being
killed. So that idea of really simplifying, consolidating all of your concerns, all of your
pursuits, I only seek validation through him, that is liberation. I only fear him, I only answer to
him, I only have vulnerability in front of him. subhanho wa taala. Because if you don't, you're
going to have vulnerability with an in front of everything else. And when you give to people, let's
		

			just be honest with each other human beings, all of us we take from each other so much, and we
return to each other so little, right? This whole nature of this world is like that. It takes so
much from us and the returns are so little.
		

			Whereas Allah azza wa jal, the deen is easy. He takes from you so little, and the returns are so
great.
		

			That's why one of the the poet's he says, Well, I learned of mighty energy until we I'll spare you
the Arabic. He says and perhaps you will find me despite my need to stick around and socialize. It's
a human need, right? But he's recognized that he has a greater need. He says you will find me
despite my need to stick around disappearing and seeking refuge in my prayers and in my moments of
intimacy with Him.
		

			Then He explains why he says unanswered Daijiro Nelia eBay hidden wala Bellone Allah allottee people
no matter what you do for them, they walk away from you for one mistake sometimes. Whereas Allah
accepts me with all of my flaws. Isn't that the truth? He accepts you as you are so kind of
volatile. And so Islam liberates you from being dependent on these things. And Allah azza wa jal
tells you if you don't, you're going to be abusing yourself. You're going to be serving yourself a
shallow service and that will be a disservice in reality because Allah subhanho wa Taala said, when
they usually Kabila whomever sets equals with Allah.
		

			For can NEMA ha Ramona Sana, it's as if they fall from the sky, they're just descending plummeting
for the buffalo plate. And it's as if the birds are pulling him in every direction you feel just so
strained. el-tahawy be really healthy McCann and Sahib or the wind just removes him to a far off
remote place. May Allah never allow us to sit and get stuck and be captive that experience.
		

			Also, by the way, being liberated from from yourself,
		

			is important when you want to resist the oppression that's happening from others, like when you're
pushing back against oppression by people, when you are pursuing justice in society like social
justice, if that's not grounded in a connection with Allah, defined by Allah driven by Allah, like
an authentic God centric spirituality, you will fall into injustice against yourself and against
others. I'll give an example. Which if I was talking about
		

			when, all throughout human history, the phenomena of people that are economically disadvantaged, the
poor, lowest class of society when they become the angry mobs, when they become the hungry mobs, as
they call them, what do they say, down with the rich? That's an imbalanced reaction, right? Because
it's not God centric. It's based off of you and your experience and what you want to be there and so
it will ricochet you'll get the opposite extreme. When women have gone through centuries, if not
millennia of injustice, and the Women's Rights Movements begin. If they are not centered in a god
centric relationship, you're going to ricochet into the opposite extreme. The same way with the rich
		

			and the poor. You'll have reverse classism. Here, you're going to have reverse sexism all men's
think, right. And the ugly cycle will continue it will not stop there. Or take a third example the
African American experience just here in the United States. What did that breed?
		

			reverse racism right? Those that said that the black man is inferior produced as an imbalanced
overreaction, another ism, black nationalism that saw the white man is the devil, right? Why do all
these things happen? Because each one of these you see yourself as the center. And so depending on
how people are close and far from you, that's their rights. That's their regard. That's their
humanity. That's their dignity.
		

			All of that.
		

			That's ego centrism. Like think of all the damage the call of tribalism, racism nationalism has done
to the human experience. How many wars how much exploitation? How much of all of that is what it's
egocentrism, its egotism, my race my tribe, my nation.
		

			That is why Dr. Ouma lush got
		

			right in the Hola. He used to say the ego is like this little idol inside of you that you circle
around. It is the worst idol ever worshipped in human history. May Allah protect us from worshipping
our egos? How does Islam get us to not worship our egos so that we don't transgress against
ourselves and transgress against others, even in the pursuit of justice sometimes, while like
pushing back against their injustice, you fall into counter transgression.
		

			Living for Allah, even the acts by the way, acts of devotion, whether we're talking about ritual
devotion, or service to his creation, devotion, these things get developed in a personal recognition
of Allah and it helps you develop a grip on your lower appetites Right? the appetites of the ego as
Allah subhanho wa Taala said Allah or Salah tea whatever Asha what other people that when they were
careless with their prayers, they fell prey to their desires for more more me, me all of that. But
when you are devoted to Allah, it restores your certainty. It enhances like your moral drive right,
your moral fortitude, it gives you more resilience. It gives you a greater willpower, so you are
		

			enslaved from the slaves and truly someone that is devoted to the Lord of the slaves. May Allah make
us and you worthy to be slaves.