Mufti Menk – Dealing With Hardship Zimbabwe

			Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.
		

			smilla rahmanir rahim al hamdu Lillah wa salatu salam ala rasulillah, who Allah Allah, he was happy
he nominated a Buddha who above all praise is due to Allah subhanho wa Taala blessings and
salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his entire household, all his companions, we
ask Allah Subhana, Allah to Allah, to bless them all, and to bless every single one of us and to
grant us goodness and ease in this world in the next. My brothers and sisters, everyone is in search
of contentment, everyone wants to be happy, everyone would like to smile, each person would like
whatever would make their lives easy to be achieved by themselves.
		

			But the plan of Allah subhanho wa Taala is such that he does not give you everything you wish for,
and everything you want. And he makes you and I go through what we termed as hardship, it is
difficulty. Sometimes it is calamity, sometimes it is to the degree that we begin to crack. However,
if we look at it from the angle of a believer, if you believe in Allah subhanho wa Taala, and you
believe in the last day, and you believe in the fact that this world is temporary, then it would
make life much easier for you. And you would achieve that contentment in a very, very short period
of time. How is this possible, say for example, a person's life was very simple, very easygoing. And
		

			suddenly hardship came in the form of perhaps a medical issue, something in your body, something
physical that affected you. And suddenly, you lost sleep because you became worried. And perhaps you
might have visited the doctors, and maybe the doctors may have helped you initially, perhaps they
may not have been able to help you. Maybe you might have run out of money in some cases, to pursue
the medical
		

			solutions for that particular problem that you may have. So that is from Allah subhanho wa Taala. He
wants you to realize he is in control. He wants you to know that every single person will ultimately
leave this temporary world. It is so temporary, do not get excited by what you see around you.
Always be focused by where you are heading. Or always be focused upon where you are heading. So that
you remember the difficulties of life. Even if you take what you want, what you want, and look at
others who have it. They are also not happy. Say for example, today, living in this country
Zimbabwe, we do know that there is a challenge of an economic nature, where everyone is going
		

			through some form of economic hardship. Even those who were wealthy, they have had to downgrade
their lives to a certain extent, some of those who are unable to downgrade their lives, they are
less happy than those who were poor from the very beginning. So if you have a person who was poor
from the very beginning, they have had a tough life. They are happy with a little bit of food,
perhaps an avocado that grows in the tree and perhaps something else. If they were happy with that
they will always remain happy. But for those who are used to meat and chicken and fish and roast and
lamb and leg and so on every day, the day they get vegetables, they are very upset. They cannot
		

			sleep at night. What happened I've got a big problem. I haven't had meat for one week. My brother,
there are people who haven't had meat for two years. What are you talking about? They are happy they
are delighted. They live their lives thanking Allah for the potatoes that they've been having. So
Pamela so to adjust is a gift of Allah subhanho wa Taala when you are not ready and prepared to
adjust your life, to downgrade it, perhaps to sell your vehicle and buy one which is cheaper,
perhaps to take your children out of a private school and put them into a government school, perhaps
to seek medication from a government, institution or hospital. Perhaps to downgrade your life in the
		

			sense that you don't need the latest phone and you don't need the latest of everything in the
perfumes. You just need something basic simple whereby you can live thank Allah subhanho wa Taala if
you are not prepared to adjust your life, do not blame the almighty for what you don't have. He has
given you He has given you your portion he has given you what was yours.
		

			You are not happy with it, you want what someone else has, that is not good enough, because that
person also wants what someone else who has more than him has. So this is something that is never
ending circle. The only time it ends is when you believe in Allah and you are focused upon the fact
that you are returning to Allah very soon. You find wealthy people, they also get sick. They also
are on their deathbed, some of them die quicker, because maybe their eating habits might be not as
good. I normally say those people who struggle with very high cholesterol, perhaps those people who
struggle with some issues and problems, perhaps sometimes it is
		

			around the fact that their food or the way they eat, their eating habits are not healthy. Whereas if
you have a poor person who may not be able to afford all those types of foods that are very tasty,
you will find that the food that is very tasty, sometimes is unhealthy for you.
		

			unhealthy here in this country.
		

			There is a belief that only wealthy people, they are the ones who eat pizza every day. I don't know
if you heard that. If you ask someone, what would you like they would tell you pizza, which means
that's the height of everything in this country. For some reason. This is what we hear people say,
not realizing you cannot have that every day. It is unhealthy for you. once in a blue moon, it's
okay. But that amount of dairy product, that amount of cheese that is actually I'm sorry to say junk
food, if you were to look at it that way, it is something that is not nutritious. It is something
that is just by the way, perhaps, you know, a little snack or some fast food that you may want to
		

			have once in a while, get used to eating proper food and thank Allah for that it will be cheaper and
better for you and healthier in every single way. So when we search for contentment, when we search
for happiness, remember, Allah has given you that happiness, it is glaring you in the face, but you
don't want to look at it. You want to look in another direction. Allah tells you look, I took away
half of your money. Now you are only worth half what you were last year. But I want you to get
happiness and contentment by downgrading your life. You are not prepared to downgrade your life. Who
are you blaming? Can you blame Allah for that Allah says I am testing you, I can test you in another
		

			way by taking your limbs away by taking your family members away by taking something else away from
you. But I am doing you a favor part of your test. It's a simple test. It's only that instead of
eating meat four times a week, you can eat meat once a month. That's all you're not ready to do that
don't blame Allah you are unhappy because you want to live a life higher than what Allah has chosen
for you. I am not saying do not go out to earn, go out and earn but adjust your lifestyle according
to the size of your pockets. Remember that the problem with us we are facing economic hardship. And
on top of that we want to live a life of luxury. We want the latest of phones, the latest of
		

			gadgets, the latest of perfumes, the latest of cars, the latest of everything, and then we blame
Allah subhanho wa Taala to say Allah has not provided for me my brother, there are people who have
nothing, literally nothing. They don't even know what they are going to eat tonight. And they are
happy making the vicar of Allah, they are smiling they are with their families, they have a little
bit of something maybe peanuts, literally when I say peanuts, I'm talking of the nuts, really, they
sometimes have different types of nuts, they will boil them and they sit together as a family have
1015 with a bit of water, they are happy prepared for the next day that I'm talking of this
		

			particular country, the problems we are facing are tremendous. We cannot deny them. But it's our
duty to help each other to look at the positives. There are others who used to spread rumor that
people are dying of hunger in this country.
		

			If they just mean that people are struggling, that may be correct. But if they mean people have died
as in death, I don't believe that. And I don't think you believe that either. In a country like this
where tomatoes can grow just as you throw a seed or spit it out of your mouth by mistake they will
grow out there. Or perhaps a small little bit of food, a little piece of bread, something keeping
you surviving water, the water table is not as far as other countries you might want to get perhaps
20 meters going down on average, maybe sometimes 4060 and hitting 290 perhaps in an area where there
is really no water. That is a gift compared to where the desert is. They don't even have any water.
		

			Take a look at the positives today. People make a plan how do they make a plan? I give you an
example of this machine. And I'm sure there are people from outside the masjid who come here perhaps
to fill water. Why? Because it's a gift of Allah subhanho wa Taala it's coming from the ground and
Mashallah there is a well or a borehole. People are coming and getting
		

			Nobody can say we don't have water.
		

			We are very fast to complain, there is no electricity, no water. Look, if there is rationing of
water and electricity, it's happening even in other countries, it's happening to our south as well.
You all know that in South Africa, there are difficulties as well. They also struggle with power
cuts, and so on. In some areas, they don't have water and so on. So we perhaps might be going
through greater difficulty, but it's been quite a while, at least we are beginning to make a plan.
People have a battery, people have an inverter, people have a generator, people make a plan, they do
something else. And this is how we are proceeding and progressing. So stop complaining about the
		

			situation, start doing something about the situation, doing something positive, try and look at the
positives. Because the reason I say this, my brothers and sisters, if we continue to complain, a
complaint has never solved the problem. We would sit and say right guys, today we're having a big
meeting, everyone must come and complain. And we all complain 3000 complaints, does that suit your
electricity problem? Does that suit your water problem? Will that suddenly bring you know, food
dropping from the heavens and saying right guys, here you are eat? It doesn't. But if you go out you
work, you do something you try you, you know you save electricity, we have a problem. Also, some of
		

			us who do have water, we waste it without realizing the way we bought some of us who have access to
a shower, when the water is there, we say oh, now that what is the Let's switch it on, and we
standing under the shower and we are waiting and you're busy counting sheep under the shower doing
what Subhanallah you don't have to do that. You turn on the tap. Once your body is wet Subhanallah
you turn it off, you might want to soap it up, you turn it on again, you wash the soap off, and you
turn the water off and you are gone. You did not waste more than a few liters. It's not even a
waste. The problem is when we have it we wasted when we don't have it we complain about it. This is
		

			the issue with everything. How many of us when we have food, and then there is so much of food and
there is so much of wastage. And then we don't have and we complain there is no food. But hang on
when you did have
		

			then what did you do? The difficulty is a lot of us when it comes to issues like for example water,
we think to ourselves that okay, by me using a little bit more water, how is it going to affect
others? While law ii 4 million people have to think like you, you have already depleted the whole
lake. Do you know that but you don't realize this? Because people think that Okay, I'm going to
spend another maybe, you know, 50 liters extra what's the big deal? At least it's I'm paying for it,
pay for it or not pay for it you and I know at this moment the whole region is going through a very
severe drought. There is a shortage of water. So much so that today's news was saying that the
		

			levels in kariba are very, very low. They are alarming. We need to pray for rain my brothers and
sisters. And the reason why I have chosen this topic is because it's up to us to turn to Allah. We
have to thank him for what he has given us. Whenever have we really sat and thanked Allah Oh Allah.
I got half a slice of bread today. I thank you for that. Yeah, Allah.
		

			Are we ready to do that?
		

			I have half a slice of bread today. I'm thanking you for that Yama. Alhamdulillah. There are people
who don't even have that half the problem with us you have half a slice of bread. You are Kamala, I
only have half a slice of bread. Look at how we're looking at it. I only have half a slice. It's not
enough. I don't. Allah says you think me I give you more like
		

			Shaka Mottola as Eden. If you are going to be thankful I will grant you increase. So that is it. You
need to thank Allah subhanho wa Taala. And if you are thankful to Allah, and you turn to Allah, you
watch the skies will release the water by the power of Allah subhanho wa Taala trust me, we pray, we
ask Allah for rain, it will be raining before the evening here.
		

			If we are sincere and we ask Allah for forgiveness, go back to the story of the Prophet alayhi
salatu salam
		

			he in that particular life of his there was something unique that we learn. They were floods and
there was a stage before the floods where there was no rain. Did you ever know that? There was a
stage when there was no rain? Allah says in Surah No, no Holly salatu wa sallam was instructed to
tell his people to stop back home in who can have
		

			Uncle Sam.
		

			He says I told my people seek the forgiveness of Allah subhanho wa Taala he is most forgiving. Then
he will send you the rain from the heavens. It will come down beneficial rain when when does the
rain
		

			Come when you and I become better people we become closer to Allah. We think Allah for what he has
given us, thankfulness and gratitude, two main ways of thanking Allah.
		

			We are guilty of not doing either of them.
		

			What are the two ways one is to think a lot by your mouth? Subhana Allah hamdulillah al hamdu wala
cashew Kuru All praise is due to you all things is due to you. Look al hamdu Lillah cashew Kuru All
praise is due to you all thanks is due to you. Oh Allah subhanho wa Taala I thank you for what
you've given me. I thank you today I was able to turn on the candles in my home. There are people
who don't even have candles. We are complaining the generator is not working. The inverter is not
working. But did you have a candle? Yes. Did you have a torch on your phone? Yes, there are people
who don't even have that. So thank Allah Oh, ally, thank you, I thank you for what I have, you know,
		

			you took away something Alhamdulillah at least you have not taken away everything. So panela that's
one way of thanking Allah. The second thing is to seek or to abstain from the prohibitions that
Allah has made clear. When Allah makes something Haram, it is prohibited by us engaging in it, he
might prohibit us from something we need. possible. So this is why no Holly Salaam told his people
you want the rain? Yes. If you would like the rain, you need to get on to the right page with Allah
subhanho wa Taala. What is it? Ask Allah forgiveness, quit your bad ways. You have planned the sin.
Try your best to keep yourself away from it for the sake of Allah, oh, Allah helped me to stay away
		

			from this and be strong about it. You are a believer, you are not a person who does not believe in
Allah, you're going to return to Allah. So ask Allah protection, seek His forgiveness, and you find
a lot of mercy will open. So a person who thinks Allah by tongue only but continues to sin. That is
not correct gratitude. There is it's not the right way of doing things. Imagine a person says, Oh,
you know, I'm so sorry for what I have done. And they do it again.
		

			A person comes to it says, oh, thank you so much for what you've done for me and behind your back.
They are doing something against you. Is that fair? Are they really thankful? We don't even need
someone to come to us and say thank you. We just need them to be a good person who does not harm us.
It's enough right or wrong. And sometimes they might say a good work behind our backs for us. That's
enough. But imagine if you were to say thank you very much. You're a good man and thank you
everything is okay. And behind the back you're stabbing. How can that be? Why do we do that to Allah
subhanho wa Taala so ally, thank you. You gave me eyes, nose, I'm breathing. Everything's okay. I'm
		

			living in a country where fruit and vegetables they just grow like whatever. But Oh Allah, I thank
you. And at the same time we go behind the scenes, we are committing adultery, we are drinking
alcohol, we are gambling. We are doing so many other haram things. nightclubbing for example, drugs
and so on, quit it, cut it for the sake of Allah say Oh ALLAH forgive me. We need to do this
collectively as an oma, all of us. It's not good enough for me or you one person, two people to turn
and the rest of us don't turn or everyone turns into three people don't let us all turn for the sake
of Allah subhanho wa Taala soften your heart you want to see the rain voila, he your heart has to
		

			suffer. If your heart is not going to soften How is the economy going to improve? How is the rain
going to come? Rain is known as the mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala How will it come if we
ourselves have not turned to Allah subhanho wa Taala my brothers and sisters as I end my talk today,
I would like to encourage yourself and myself to turn to Allah May Allah forgive me for my
shortcomings. May He forgive you for your shortcomings. Let us look at the gifts of Allah upon us.
Let us look at what Allah has bestowed upon us. Let us thank him for that. And let us promise Allah
Oh Allah, I will be a better person strengthen me. I really seek forgiveness for the wrong I have
		

			done in my life. Yala. strengthen me in a way that you are happy with me you can improve my
conditions and the conditions of the entire oma and humanity at large. Today we are struggling
across the globe. It's important for us to make mentioned my brothers and sisters. If you think you
are suffering, while law II there are people who are really suffering. If you think you are
suffering, you are in a paradise. There are people who would pay anything to be in your shoes to
enjoy the luxuries that you have. There are people out on the globe who are really, really
struggling in the true sense. They are homeless, they have no food, they have no drink. They have
		

			bombs that are raining on their heads. They have so much of fear and pain, they are losing loved
ones and so much is happening to them yet you find them still worshipping a lion thanking Allah. We
are struggling one one inch compared to their whole kilometer, one little small inch. And yet it
seems like our lives have come to an end. We have no contentment, no happiness. So as I've said, you
will
		

			contentment. Yes, turn to Allah. Thank Allah and Allah subhanho wa Taala will provide that for you.
May Allah grant us or goodness or sal Allahu wa salam o Baraka, Allah Nabina Muhammad