The Noble Archer

Brothers and sisters, we often speak about humility. And how do I tell outdoor, not thinking too highly of yourself? Right? Because that is, you know, disdain, pride or arrogance.

But we should also remember the importance of talking about holding ourselves to nobility. So you can think of humility, like not thinking too highly of yourself. But at the same time seeing yourself as a noble person doesn't contradict that, when understood the right way, because it's about holding yourself to higher standards. So humility and nobility go hand in hand, when understood from the Islamic lens, the Islamic framework.

And I recall this because in the age of the anything goes ideas, everything's open, everything's on the table. When society in light of these very liberal ideas falls, we have to make sure we rise above that so we don't fall from Allah's approval. We don't fall in Allah subhanho wa Taala as eyes we don't swerve from the standard, the very high standard, our prophets Allah Allahu alayhi wa sallam was set at and set for us were INEC Allah Allah Hoolock in our theme, you have a great standard of character, Allah subhanahu wata, Allah said, and you know the scholars in our tradition, when they were speaking about you being someone that is pursuing use of being someone that is aware

and committed to seeking the heights of good character, they often summarize it in a very useful term, it may help it stick for today's hotbar, which is the term of noble to be Nabil, that term Nabi it means to be someone high ranking someone that is honorable, someone that is noble in the language.

But the scholars of our tradition, when they employed it towards being excellent in your character, they told us what is being noble really about what did Islam do for us? They said being noble is best. They like to word it best as Nabil because Nabil means you exerting the effort to reach as high as you can you see an Arabic, the nebula is the arrow. And that's an asset for a fighter if you're an archer. And you can shoot places that your hand can't reach, or the hands of others can't reach. That gives you an edge, right? And so they said no blase about you reaching for higher standards Noble is about. It's not about seeing yourself as above, that's how people usually do it,

what family I'm born into, it's about your effort to reaching the heights, the highest class of ethical standards, not the highest class of fame, not the highest class of lineage, not the highest class of wealth or otherwise. Noble being there, being in the Islamic sense, is not about what you've gained, what you've collected. It's actually more about they say, as little as Allah Rahim, Allah says, your ability to give things up, your ability to conquer your lower temptations, and transcend them go above.

And so it's not even about being better than others. It's about being better than you want it to be than your shallow appetites. And getting yourself to transform now to a higher standard, where you start liking to conquer your temptations, your greatest joy is in not giving into shallow joys, shallow thrills, shallow pleasures, and you by yourselves can can understand how much there is renewed relevance for this subject now.

You know, in our tradition, for example, Yazzie didn't Mohalla Rahimullah, very wealthy, very generous. He one time was hosted by a woman and he left with her a gift of 800 dinar every dinar is a gold coin, so he left with her fortune.

And so his son objected, and he said to him like that, why do you give her 800 dinar just like a chest of gold? When she doesn't know who you are? It's not she's not gonna say but you gave someone else more she she doesn't know you're you're mister philanthropist. You're Mr. Generous, he said and she would have been satisfied with so much less she's like a middle to lower class. She doesn't have much give her the knowledge She'll be thrilled.

So, to encapsulate the concept of noble of being the bead being truly noble, the archer right, that seeks to exert his effort upwards. He said, If she is satisfied with a little I am not satisfied without giving a lot and if she does not know who I am, I know who I am.

I am not unaware of the standard I hold myself to.

And another, you know, useful or beautiful anecdote in Islamic history, one of the great scholars of Hadith in our tradition, his name was actually Abu ausimm and nubby. But that wasn't his birth name, but that's what he's most famously known as everyone else, him, the Nabil guy, the noble guy now being a noble or close in English and Arabic.

So they say that he

earned he won that name and a bead, because one time when he visited him in the judo age, a great authority and Hadith in Basara, he went to Iraq, settled and busted out to learn from him and your age. And there was an elephant in town. And in that time, in that part of the world, no one's ever seen an elephant in their life. So someone says there's an elephant passing by the whole message empties. Everyone runs an elephant, an elephant.

Except Apple, awesome. And so even the Jura age, the teacher says to him, why didn't you go

he said to him, your company is priceless. I traveled all this way to listen to the Hadith of the Prophet SAW Selim. I don't I see myself above interrupting that, even if it's a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a big animal to see an elephant. And so even though your age said to him, in Nicola Nabil, you truly are Nebby you truly are above everyone in the standards you hold yourself to.

But you know, when you don't have standards, right, when it's you don't live by principles, you just whatever works, fine, don't get caught. It's not wrong. collect as much as you can have reputation of wins of arguments of money of right of praise.

You start becoming petty, and you start becoming undignified, and you start becoming shallow.

Think about how many relationships in the community even in the families are torn apart because of money. You know, a long time ago, there was a very famous, you know, tradition in many cultures, many Middle Eastern cultures, they would say, Hey, man, like Well, enough sack, disgrace your money, but don't disgrace yourself, right? Money is expendable. But my honor, my dignity is not expendable. So I'll give up money that's rightfully mine, for the sake of not fighting like everyone else off over the money. Well, that's in terms of his state inheritance, who's paying here. People allow families to fall apart because of money. This is disgraceful.

This is this is needs to be said. And think of other manifestations as well. People online wear and do the most shameless things, just for some lousy approval, momentary approval. This is because they don't have that sense of noble. They're not pursuing higher standards. They're not holding themselves to a higher bar.

So conflicts, so shamelessness, all of this is tied into this concept of novella that the prophets Allah noble, that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam called us to, you know, speaking of conflict, Mohamed didn't see it in he's the most famous dream interpreter in Islamic history. There used to be a little bit of tension between Muhammad Yunus Ed and, and Al Hassan Al Basri, who was, you know, the Imam, a great Imam of the tampereen unparalleled in many respects, he was an orphan that was raised by the wife of the Prophet SAW Salem, he met over 300 Sahaba, or approximately that much. So there was a little bit of like, tension between them. And one time just in his frustration

or his anger, Al Hassan, was told ethnicity and says, such and such and such and such. So he said to the people, don't listen to

that Taylor, are the son of the tailors. I guess, guys from a lineage of people. These aren't scholars, these aren't people of high rank. These aren't

in a noble just ignore him. He's just this is not his trade. He has no say in these sorts of issues.

But then Al Hasan Basri, a while later he saw in a dream, he saw himself standing over a dump, a dump of garbage. And he was naked, while playing a stringed instrument, like a guitar, basically. Right?

And so he couldn't, he didn't know what it meant. And he couldn't go to even the city and because he just told everyone don't go to the city and he's a nobody. So he sent one of his friends to go ask him the CD and what does it mean when a man sees in his dream that he's standing over a dump? And he's naked, and he's like playing a stringed instrument? What does that mean? So

The man reaches of necessity and release to him the dream and tries to get the interpretation anonymously in the city and says to him, Go tell that man, he should not be seeking the interpretation from the son of a tailor.

And so on. Hassel bossy Rahim Allah, I heard the message. And he came to his message. And he prayed to us. And they, they met, and they hashed it out right to it by means they wasn't comfortable in the beginning, but they squashed it. Ultimately, they hashed out their their past whatever it was, they reconcile the relationship. And then he said to him,

so what is the dream mean?

He said, the dream means that a man is standing over this world, which is a dump doesn't offer us much, right.

And him being naked means he has taken nothing from it to add to himself.

And the stringed instrument meant that his words were like musical, they would warm people's hearts, and he said, so what does that have to do with me? Why did you think why did you How did you know that it was my dream. He said, because when I heard that dream and understood what it meant,

I knew that there was no one in Basra, more deserving of that description, more righteous, and more sweet in their wisdom than you.

You are the most capable of us all to resist the temptations of this world. You are the most profound of us all when you give people more ever honestly how to bring them closer to Allah azza wa jal, you're the most impactful look during a time of tension. Many times if you don't hold yourself to higher standards, right? Forget forgiving someone you can no longer reap, recall their virtues, but them because if he does not see my virtue, I still see his virtue. That is what Noble is about being Naveen is about not treating people the way they treat you. Not doing what everyone is doing. But holding yourself to a standard above that because you don't approve at least for starters with

yourself anything beneath that. A whole Holyhead that was stuck for Allah Allah Mala.

Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala Nabi about that shadow Allah ilaha illallah wa Hola, Sharika or shadow Anna, Mohammed and others who want to be you who are solo.

And so in summary, my brothers and sisters, our dean calls us to the fact that whenever there is a good quality, you should not just be interested in it, but you should pursue its pinnacle aim for perfecting it.

This is the very opposite of what we should expect anyway, from a society that does not have our Islam that does not have our faith. Like at the end of the day, if you believe that we are just one step up from the animals, we're intelligent animals, we hit the jackpot in the evolutionary process. We didn't turn up turn out to be a termite or or virus we turned out then there's not much of a standard, right? It's just like cosmic fluke. It's a random happy accident that we're human. But for the Muslim that understands that Allah chose him to be a candidate for some of Allah's qualities, on the human level, of course, but this is what you see yourself as this is the value of faith. Now, in

this conversation, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said,

in Allah, Allah karimun you hibel Khurana Allah is honorable and he loves the Honorable Joe were doing you Hebrew gelada generous loves generous people. You hate Buma Ali Al Ohmori you a Booma Ali Al OMO. He loves the loftiest of matters when you aim for the heights always. Wyatt Krause, F Safa. And he hates when people settle for less. And so these are some of Allah's qualities, nobility and being honorable and being generous and being merciful and being all of these qualities are qualities of Allah, that on a human level, of course, he wants to see these characteristics reflected in you. And that in and of itself is the ultimate incentive for this. So may Allah azza wa jal allow us to

climb the ladder of character that our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam built for us? May Allah azza wa jal make us people of nobility that hold ourselves to higher standards regardless of what our environments are imposing on us. May Allah help us and our families forgive in times of conflict. May Allah help us spend in times when people are being stingy. May Allah azza wa jal help us stand strong when people are being cowardly. May Allah azza wa jal help us be selfless when people are being petty and may Allah

America with data reunite us with our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam who taught us and showed us all of this Allahumma Amin