Mohammad Elshinawy – The Need To Know God

AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the need for self-interest and fulfillment to achieve their primary concerns, including pursuing their potential and living their life with clarity. They emphasize the importance of clarity and purpose in life, and stress the need for a clear understanding of one's needs and goals to achieve their primary concern. The speakers also share personal stories about people who experienced the gap between wealth and pleasure, and how it affects their experiences and overall well-being.
AI: Summary ©
Brothers and sisters, in Surah Fatir, Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala says, يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ O
Humanity!
أَنْتُمُ الْفُقَرَاءُ إِلَى اللَّهِ You are all utterly
impoverished before God, inherently needy, dependent on God.
وَاللَّهُ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ And Allah alone is
the One who is free of all needs,
praiseworthy in every circumstance.
إِنْ يَشَىٰ يُذْهِبِكُمْ وَيَأْتِ بِخَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ If He
so wishes, He would get rid of you
all, and bring about another creation.
وَمَا ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِعَزِيزٍ And that would
not be in the least bit difficult for
Allah.
In that reality, the inherent weakness, the utter
dependence of humanity on its Creator, that reality
unlocks a treasure for us brothers and sisters,
if we are to spend the next few
minutes on it.
To realize that it need not be this
way, we are so utterly needy as creatures,
as human beings, we didn't have to be.
The angels don't need to eat or drink
or sleep, but we do.
This is by design.
And this design of the profound wisdom behind
it, is that it keeps us best suited
to fulfill our purpose in life, which is
discovering God, discovering our purpose of devoting our
lives to God.
It stacks the odds in our favor.
You know when we speak about needs, and
I will not spend too much time on
this, but you know in undergraduate studies, in
college, you're all your children and maybe some
of you as well, when you go through
psychology 101, they always run you through Abraham
Maslow's hierarchy of needs.
Basically, Maslow, he's charting out the patterns in
human beings, that we all have the most
basic needs, he says.
You know, food and drink.
And then once you have those secured, you
start having the luxury to think about something
else, you move upward on the pyramid, the
hierarchy.
Let me get some shelter, I need some
warmth, I need to be indoors somewhere.
Then when you're there, wait, I'm alone, I
want to have a sense of belonging, a
relationship, so the need for relationships, whether friendly
relationships, familial, romantic, whatever, the need for relationships
and belonging.
Then once you have like a social circle,
the next need, he says, is self-esteem.
Like I have a need, endless needs, right?
I have a need to feel like, what
makes me different from my social circle?
Like what makes me special?
What unique strength do I have?
What edge do I have?
And then once you secure that one, then
you move up to what he called self
-actualization.
I want to actually see that I have
lived up to what I feel, self-worth,
self-esteem.
I want to actually see that I fulfilled
it.
I lived up to what I could live
up to.
I've reached my potential.
So this is what he says.
And so what did he miss though?
He missed that it's not that we happen
to have needs, and so we should go
to God for our needs.
No.
Allah created us, designed us with all of
these needs so that we may go find
Him.
These needs are there to drive us to
Him.
I need food and drink, His name is
Ar-Razzaq.
He is the ultimate provider.
It's not the supply chain.
It's not the automation that happened after the
industrial revolution.
No, it's not my scheduled paycheck.
He is Ar-Razzaq.
And every once in a while, Allah reminds
us of that.
Hiccups in the chain, right?
In the mundanity of life, the norms.
I need friends.
Of His name is Al-Wali.
He's the best friend you'll ever have.
No one understands me.
People are betraying me.
No one's listening to me.
His name is Al-Sami'a.
He's the best listener ever.
Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
I feel broken.
I feel incompetent.
I feel like His name is Al-Aziz.
He is the Mighty.
He is Al-Jabbar.
He is the Compeller.
He is the Mender.
Every break, every fracture, Al-Jabbar can fix.
Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So that's what he missed.
That these needs were put there to bring
us to our purpose to discover Allah Azza
wa Jal and have a true meaningful relationship
with Him.
You know what he did get right though?
The fact that human beings, even if they
secure these five needs, they're still needy.
You know, he actually wanted to amend his
hierarchy before he died.
But most people don't pay attention to that.
His latest writings, his last writings.
He says when human beings fulfill their personal
potential, they feel like, okay, I fulfilled myself.
I didn't sell myself short.
They still have a need, what he calls
self-transcendence.
Basically, I want to feel like I'm serving
something greater, higher than myself.
Of course, all of the needs, if you
get them fulfilled, you will still have an
infinite hole inside you.
Because they were not it.
They are not the end.
They are a means to the true end.
So even if you get all of these
means, did they bring me to God or
not?
I still have a need to be connected
to my Creator.
Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
That's why in the famous Athar that the
early Muslims used to circulate, يَبْنَ آدَمَ أَوْ
صَنَفَ آدَمَ O human being, أُطُلُبْنِي تَجِدْنِي Seek
me out and you will find me, Allah
says.
فَإِنْ وَجَدْتَنِي وَجَدْتَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ If you find
me, you will have found everything.
وَإِنْ فُتْتُكَ فَاتَكَ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ And if you
miss out on me, if your problem gets
solved, your need gets fulfilled, but you didn't
find God, then really you missed the whole
point.
You actually didn't get anything.
And if you miss me, you miss all
things.
وَأَنَا أَحَبُّ إِلَيْكَ مِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ And I
am more beloved to you than all things.
There is an infinite hole that nothing can
fill inside you, but the infinite, but the
eternal, but the perfect, but the supreme, سُبْحَانَهُ
وَتَعَالَى And this is why in the authentic
hadith, the Prophet ﷺ said, Whomever makes this
world their primary concern, meaning they obsess over,
I need this from life and I need
that from life.
Their needs for this world become their primary
concern.
فَرَّقَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ شَمْلًا Allah scatters for them
their affair.
They're just pulled in every direction.
They're spread thin.
وَجَعَلَ فَقْرَهُ بَيْنَ عَيْنَيْهِ The hadith says, and
he places his poverty, the deficit outlook, the
negative outlook.
He places his poverty right between his eyes.
Meaning wherever you turn, it's all you can
see.
I'm lacking, I'm short.
There's always a shortfall.
He says, وَلَمْ تَأْتِيهِ مِنَ الدُّنْيَ إِلَّا مَا
كُتِبَ لَهِ And this person will not get
anything out of life, but what was written
for them anyway.
Meaning it's fruitless to obsess over it because
what's written is written, what's ordained is ordained.
Then he said, صلى الله عليه وسلم وَمَنْ
جَعَلَ الْآخِرَةَ هَمَّةً Whomever makes the hereafter their
primary concern, the next life.
Let me rephrase that.
Whomever makes their need to prepare to meet
God, their need to be forever in paradise
with God.
Whomever makes the hereafter their primary concern, جَمَعَ
اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ شَمْلَةً Allah consolidates for them, simplifies
for them life, consolidates for them their concerns.
Such clarity.
وَجَعَلَ غِنَاهُ فِي قَلْبِهِ And He places His
riches in His heart.
You feel free of need.
I got my greatest need.
I'm content, right?
He says, وَأَتَتْهُ الدُّنْيَا وَهِيَ رَغِمَةً And their
share of this world comes to such a
person, whether it likes it or not.
Like, He's still gonna get His share of
this world.
He's not gonna miss out on it.
So this is the point of life.
This is the point of the universe.
This is the point of every event in
the universe.
That's not an exaggeration.
The last verse in Surah At-Talaq, Allah
says what?
Allah created the universe and sends His decree
down every day, right?
Why?
لِتَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ All
of this, every ounce, every speck, every molecule
in the world, and every event that transpires
in the world by Allah's destiny, what He
preordains, everything.
So that you may know that your God
is over all things capable.
وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ أَحَاطَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عِلْمًا And
that Allah has encompassed, accounted for all things
in His knowledge.
See, even the events, even the trials of
life, right?
These trials, brothers and sisters, they are not
there of course to break you.
Nor are they to even test your strength.
Are you breakable or not?
They're there to test the strength of your
reliance on Him, your good assumptions of Him.
You know like, think of Ayub A.S.
like 18 years at least.
He lost his family, then lost his fortunes,
and then lost his health.
And he never stopped chanting, God, You're a
good God.
The Qur'an etches for us till the
end of time, رَبِّ مَسَّنِيَ الدُّرُ O my
Lord, O my caretaker, so much suffering has
hit me.
وَأَنْتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّحِمِينَ And You are the most
merciful of anyone.
You are the most merciful of all those
who show mercy.
You know they say the most difficult part
of Ayub's trial was what?
That people started saying all around him, God
must hate Ayub.
Like, look how long it's taken, God must
really hate this guy.
That was the hardest one to resist.
He kept saying, You're arhamu arrahimin.
The next verse tells us, فَاسْتَجَبْنَا لَهُ So
we eventually, ultimately relieved him.
كَشَفْنَا مَا بِهِ مِنْ ضُرٍ We responded to
the supplication, relieved him and gave him back
family, gave him back wealth, gave him back
everything.
And then Allah says what?
You have to capture.
He says, رَحْمَةً مِّنْ عِنْدِنَا وَذِكْرًا لِلْعَابِدِينَ As
a mercy from us and as a reminder
for the worshippers.
When a worshipper of God, a believer, goes
through trials, he needs to know God doesn't
hate him.
When we ask like, Is God punishing me?
That's a wrong question.
Because if you're a believer, even if He's
punishing you, He's purifying you through the punishment
now so that you don't have to see
the punishment later because He loves you.
The Prophet ﷺ in one authentic hadith, he
says that a person may have a certain
station with Allah that his deeds will never
deliver him to.
Allah wants you at a certain rank, certain
status in the hereafter.
And you're too lazy, you're not getting off
the couch.
So He'll send something to you while you're
on the couch.
Had it been left to you, you would
not have been proactive, you would not have
taken the initiative to get yourself to do
those good deeds.
So He'll send you an affliction so that
you're forced to be patient.
Got no choice.
Am I gonna accept and be patient or
am I gonna disbelieve?
So I accept to be patient and by
that Allah delivers me to the station that
He had wanted me at and my deeds
would have never got me there.
The Prophet ﷺ said this in authentic hadith.
This is why Ibn al-Qayyim, rahimahullah, he
says, what is peak intelligence?
Who's the most intelligent person on earth?
He says the biggest favor you can get
after faith, the biggest blessing, he says to
have proper understanding about Allah and His Messenger,
to understand how things work, to have proper
understanding.
You know, of the benefits also of having
a proper comprehension of Allah and His Messenger
ﷺ, the ayahs and the ahadith, the Qur
'an and the sunnah, is that it tightens
the noose on the shaytan.
Like of the perks that shaytan cannot press
you into cutting corners because you see things
as they are.
You know when Allah ﷻ says in the
Qur'an, الشيطان يعدكم الفقرة ويأمركم بالفحشاء Shaytan
threatens you with poverty, you're gonna go broke,
you're gonna go broke, he keeps threatening you
with poverty, and then he commands you with
indecency.
He tells you to cut corners or else
you're gonna go broke.
You will...
With those with knowledge of God, deeply rooted
knowledge of Allah, experiencing His nearness, they've developed
through work, through spiritual labor, trust in Him.
They're able to be patient and await the
verdict of God.
I'm gonna do my part, I'm gonna try,
but I'm not gonna cut corners and that's
it.
You know it's reported that Ali ibn Abi
Talib رضي الله عنه, may Allah be pleased
with him, he was entering a masjid one
day, and he left his horse with some
guy at the door.
Hold my horse for me, I'm just gonna
pray two rak'ahs, catch the salah, be
it out.
He prays and comes out, he finds his
horse there, and the ropes on the horse,
the reins are gone.
The guy stole it and...
So Ali gives someone two dirham, let's just
say two dollars, to go to the market
and buy him a replacement.
So the guy goes to the market, finds
his ropes on sale in the market, he
asks the seller, where did you get this
from?
He said, someone just sold this to me
for two dollars.
So Ali رضي الله عنه, hears about this,
he says, إِنَّ الْعَبْدَ لَيَحْرِمُ نَفْسَهُ بِتَرْكِ الصَّبْرِ
الرِّزْقَ الْحَلَالِ وَلَا يَزْدَادُ عَلَىٰ مَا قُدِّرَ لَهُ
He says, Subhanallah, sometimes a person deprives themself,
it's a moment's patience, alright?
But they don't have the right perspective to
be patient.
A person deprives themselves because they don't have
the patience, halal, lawful, wholesome income.
And at the end of the day, they're
not gonna get anyway except what was written
for them.
That's what it was for, that's what it
was all about.
But when you have that perspective, Allah will
give you in this world, and He will
also give you the ability to handle and
withstand what He will not give you of
this world because He loves you, not because
He's stingy, because He loves you.
Because He wants to give you something better,
so He withholds from you as a different
form of giving.
You know many of the things we want,
we don't actually know what we want.
You think of the idea of the elites
of society.
So many people, they envy them, and they
obsess over them, and I wish I had
the life of this athlete, and we live
like vicariously, they say.
Secondhand, I live their life, I wish I
had their success.
What if they hate their life, brothers and
sisters?
A lot of times they do.
And you will live and die thinking they
don't, while they actually do.
You know one brother was mentioning a story
of an NFL player who was like on
a tear, and they were supposed to win
the Super Bowl, but they got eliminated early,
and they didn't make it to sort of
the final cup, the Super Bowl.
And then out of nowhere, he meets this
football player in a barbershop.
And he's like, oh my God, I can't
believe I'm meeting you, it's the best day
of my life, man.
I've been struggling ever since you guys lost,
I haven't been eating, I haven't been sleeping.
And he said, the guy looked at me
and he's like, he's like, I'm really sorry
what happened to you.
He's like, to be honest, I'm really happy,
I got a longer summer with my kids
this year.
He's like, what?
He goes, I hate my job, it's just
business.
I just gotta perform, I gotta make money.
That's it.
We know the most famous actors in our
day and age, right?
One of them said, I wish everyone can
make it to Hollywood.
So they can realize it's not what they
realize, it's not what they think.
It's a dark place.
Some of the comedians that spend their lives
making us laugh, they wind up taking their
own lives.
Yes or no?
This is the truth.
And Allah protects many of us from that.
I say this and ask Allah to forgive
me and you.
All praise is due to Allah alone.
Peace and blessings be upon those who have
no prophet after him.
I bear witness that there is no god
but Allah.
He is alone and has no partner.
And I bear witness that Muhammad is His
servant, His Prophet and His Messenger.
Brothers and sisters, allow me to share just
one more anecdote, one more example that rests
in my heart for years.
About a person that I believe is very
close to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, has
very deep felt, not theoretical, felt knowledge of
Allah.
And Allah is His final judge.
But I find it to be a perfect
reminder, an example of how knowledge of God
makes life so sustainable, life so livable.
How at the end of the day, I
look at the world and I'm like, yeah,
no big deal.
Whatever happens, happens.
I'm ready.
It's all the same, right?
Allah is truthful when He said to me,
الأخرة خير وأبقى The hereafter is better and
more lasting.
So I've lost nothing.
And I'm gonna read to you some numbers
and then I'll tell you why I'm reading
them to you.
So bear with me.
Most of you know who Jeff Bezos is,
the Amazon empire, right?
This man is worth roughly 250 billion dollars,
right?
That's unimaginable money.
That's more money than his lifetime will allow
him to spend.
You can't even spend it.
Not enough time for all those transactions.
So just to give you some perspective, the
average US household makes 70,000 dollars a
year.
In your lifetime in this country, you will
make on average about 1.7 million dollars.
If you're a physician, it's about 7 million
dollars.
If you're a lawyer, it's about 4 million
dollars.
If you're a hedge fund manager, the big
guys who run everyone else's money, right?
80 million dollars.
Those people, many of us look at them
as like fabulously rich and they look at
themselves as fabulously rich on some level, right?
These are actually the people that oppose like
the policies that are trying to supposedly reduce
inequality because they believe that it's targeting them,
right?
But what they may not realize and we
definitely don't realize is the enormous gap, like
the enormous gulf between the fabulously rich, the
80 million dollars a year guy and between
the super rich.
You know Jeff Bezos?
All of the chemotherapy patients combined would cost
9 million dollars all of their treatment annually.
In July of 2020, he made 13 million
dollars in one day, right?
And this man is only one man.
He's not even the richest.
He's one man of 400 men and a
few women that have more money than the
rest of the 400 million Americans combined, right?
I just want to give you this perspective.
Why did I do that?
Because Allah told me to.
We all know this stuff and we come
across some of these numbers and how like
astronomical it is.
But Allah told us to do it in
a different way that this scholar, mentor of
mine, I heard him doing and I found
it so profound.
He said, Allah said in the Qur'an,
أُنظُرْ كَيْفَ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ Allah says,
look at how disparate, how different the degrees
are between some of them.
Think of someone, refugee camp, doesn't have a
toilet for 10 years.
Every member of their family killed.
They're suffering from diseases and scorpion, right?
I shared this with you a few months
ago and between someone like this, look at
the disparity.
Allah is saying, look at how big the
disparity is.
And then He says, وَلَا الْآخِرَةُ أَكْبَرُ دَرَجَاتٍ
وَأَكْبَرُ تَفْضِيلًۭا And know that the hereafter is
bigger in degrees, in separation, and bigger in
distinction.
So we see this stuff and many of
us, inshaAllah no one in this masjid, salivates,
obsesses, tries to put a plan together to
start climbing, right?
How do I get into the rat race?
And other people through the lens of Allah,
through knowledge of God and His words, they
look at it and say, wow, imagine what
the hereafter is like.
Imagine the difference there.
As he personally said, and I'll close here,
it's like riding an airplane.
Look how simple it is for him.
Some people ride in first class, some people
ride in economy.
What's the difference?
A guy gets a few more inches of
leg room and a few more snacks, but
will it really make a difference if, not
to say all those in first class are,
but if after the flight, that's what really
matters, where are we going when we land?
If he gets sort of a bag thrown
over his head and he gets dragged off
to a dungeon and the guy in economy
gets taken to the high life forever, does
it really make a difference where you rode
on the plane?
This is the nature of this world, crystal
clear in the words of God.
May Allah increase us in knowledge about Him
and patience upon His guidance and His directives.
May Allah make us of those that always
assume the best of Him and always properly
rely on Him.
May Allah Azawajal give strength to Islam and
the Muslims everywhere and make us an asset
for the well-being of humanity everywhere.
May Allah have mercy on our dead.
May Allah accept our martyrs.
May Allah cure our sick all across the
world and in particular the mother of brother
Qasim and our young Zubair and Muhammad Hussain
who's in UPenn Hospital.
May Allah cure them, may Allah cure them,
may Allah cure them.
May Allah grant us all life so long
as life is good for us and put
us to death whenever He knows that death
is better for us.