ROU Convention in Trinidad and Tobago April 2015
Mufti Menk – Transformation
AI: Summary ©
The importance of transformation is emphasized, as demonstrated by the heart and the need to forgiveness and embracing change. This includes finding happiness in life, avoiding promises, and finding happiness in life without trying to avoid social media. The first segment ends with a promise to continue the conversation and discuss the importance of finding happiness in life. During the Q&A session, the operator thanks the participants for their patience and introduces the first quarter 2019 results.
AI: Summary ©
Salam aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh
smilla rahmanir rahim In the name of Allah subhanho wa Taala Most Gracious, Most merciful and hamdulillah
All praise is indeed due to Allah subhana wa Jalla created nourishing cherishing sustainable provider protector, you're the one in absolute control of every aspect of existence.
Complete blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his entire household all his companions in Allah subhana wa Jalla.
And may Allah subhanho wa Taala bless every single one of us and grant us all goodness and ease. I mean, my brothers and sisters, you will have to concentrate a little bit in order to listen very carefully. Because we are in this beautiful ron johnson Stadium in Trinidad Mashallah.
And I noticed I have substitutes on my left and my right.
So if something goes wrong, someone else will take over each other. Mashallah put his hands up.
Alhamdulillah it's a beautiful setup. The weather's quite nice, Angela, we thank Allah subhanho wa Taala. for it, I want to start by asking you a question. And each one of you should answer this question within yourselves. How many Islamic reminders Have you heard in your life?
I don't know. Let's be honest.
How many nomic reminders? Have you heard in your life, whether it's a book you've read, or a CD you heard or a radio program? Or a television program or something on the internet, perhaps on YouTube, or Facebook or Twitter, whatever it is, anyway, how many reminders? Have you had someone tell you what to do and what not to do? The answer is countless, I don't know.
lost count?
Well, how many more would you like before you transform before you change yourself before you become closer to Allah before you start cutting your bad habits, and before you begin to fulfill your Salah before you begin to start dressing appropriately? Before you begin to start correcting the way you speak? And the way you address others? How many more reminders would you like?
Can you put a number to these reminders?
The answer is no. We cannot put a number to the remainders. In fact, we should be ashamed of ourselves. If we've been told so many times that we've lost counts what to do and what not to do, and we're still doing the wrong thing. So panela we should be ashamed of ourselves. And this is why you have heard
the last two years,
lectures within what is known as the revival of the oma conferences, some of the best speakers internationally who speak in your language. So panela have come to you to remind you every one reminder was directed towards one thing, get close to Allah.
Get out of the trap of shavonne get closer to your maker, you are going to return to him very very soon, just like your friends and relatives have returned to him.
And so get closer to Allah. So you had the finest from the globe come to you and tell you to get close to Allah subhanho wa Taala and at the same time
I don't mean the Watership okay. At the same time. We are still the same people we are, have we changed. If we haven't changed then something is wrong. Because then it's a waste of time coming to a talk telling yourself Wow, it was a good talk. It was something great and grand but our lives have not moved an inch, not even a centimeter not even a millimeter, nothing. So what's the point? Why should we be from amongst those who just enjoy listening to a good talk? And if we don't bat an eyelid, we don't even change? We're not transformed in any way. What is wrong? Well, I can tell you what is wrong.
Point number one, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam speaks of a certain piece of flesh in the body.
Allah wa even a few Jessa de la moda Eros, Allah azza
wa
jal kulu Allah here
in the Hadith.
In Sahih Muslim the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is reported to have spoken about halal and haram and
Towards the end of the Hadith, he says, indeed, behold, in the body, there is a certain piece of flesh. If it is pure and good, then the entire body will be pure and good. And if it is bad and corrupt, then the entire body will be bad and corrupt. Indeed, behold, that piece of flesh is the heart, the heart has no bone Subhanallah it comes the blood, it is the seat of governance of the entire body, the heart.
If there is a disease within you, you have to have a blood tests. And then you will tell what is in your blood. And what is wrong with you. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us goodness. So the Prophet sallallahu wasallam tells us if this heart is good, and if it is correct, then the entire body will be good and correct. And if the heart is corrupt, everything will be corrupt. Sometimes people have a bad heart. So they have bad thoughts and ideas, everything they see related to something bad and evil.
And sometimes some people are so innocent, they have such good hearts that even when they see evil in front of them, they have a good thought to say no, no, perhaps this is something Jesus, you know, like we say, sometimes we are so good, that when the robber comes to steal, we actually give away our goods. And we think that it's someone who's just come to hold our goods for a while. You know, I recall, a maid who worked for us, she fell for a scam once, after she had her salary at the end of the year.
She went with the salary to one of the markets to the city center. And there was a scam at the time. Where were the shops, you know, you have window shopping, a lot of us are professional window shoppers, which means we don't actually buy but we enjoy looking Mashallah. So, you have the window shopping, and there was some shoes being sold. And she was looking from the window. So a man appears with a desk coat and says, Can I help you, man? She says What do you mean? So the man says, and this is a true story, the man says, I work in the shop, whatever you see in this window, I can get it for you at a 10% discount. So she says okay, I want those shoes. And she gave her size. And she gave him
the money. And the men disappeared completely never to be seen again. So Panama. So if we take a look at this, we would actually realize some people's hearts are so clean, so good, that they give the rubber the money with their own hands, and they say take it. And they know that this man is outside of the shop, for example. And they know Subhanallah that this man has met me outside the door, I'm giving him money, I've got no guarantee I'm going to get my things but that's the heart. Your heart was clean, and his heart was so dirty, that he robbed unsuspecting people. And he took their money away. So Allah subhanho wa Taala warns us through the blessings lips of Mohammed salatu
salam, to have good intentions, when you have sincerity of the heart. Immediately, these talks that you hear will impact upon your life and your life will change. And it will not just change one day, but it will continue changing and you will continue getting closer to Allah subhanho wa Taala until the day you meet him.
Because if I can say that, okay, I heard a certain lecture or lecturing, and I heard a certain reminder, and I heard certain verses of the Quran being recited. And it changed me and I changed my life.
That's not good enough. So Panama, why is it not good enough? Don't use the past tense and say changed my life. But say it started a change in my life that will continue to the day I die. That's what it is. Because if for example, you cry tears of repentance, and you asked Allah forgiveness, and you started reading your five Salah a day, and you think that that's Islam, then there are so many criminals who read five Salah day, what about them?
When I say that, what I mean is there are people who read five Salah a day and think that that is the only thing Islam asks you for. And then they beat up their wives, or maybe they beat up their husbands Allah knows best. And at the same time, they are rough with their mouths, they cheat and deceive, they rob and they might be doing so many other bad things. So that shows us that repentance is not just connected to one thing. transformation is a lifelong commitment that you need to make unto Allah subhanho wa Taala so when I cry tears of repentance and I say Allah, forgive me, grant me a new beginning. It's not like everything is going to become so peaceful overnight.
You might achieve peace in your heart
but
You will have to work so hard to achieve peace in your life. Because to become a true believer, a great effort is required. Allah will test you. Has he been?
Taku?
Do the people think that it is enough for them to say that I believe and then they're not tested to say we believe, and then they are not tested by Allah Subhana Allah Allah. Allah says, indeed we have tested those before you and we will test you as well. This is Allah's plan. This is a system. So Allah says when you become a Muslim, when you repent to Allah, when you become closer to Allah, guess what will happen?
He will test you even more, because you enter the examination room Subhana, Allah.
Allah, Allah.
Allah, the Hadith says when Allah loves his worship, and he tests him or her much more, that's when he tests him. That's when he tests. I declared, I'm a believer. So Allah says, okay, so that means you've entered the exam room. Now let's test you. So you're going to struggle because you're going to suffer financial loss? What do you do? Does it strengthen your faith? Or does it weaken it? You're going to struggle because certain things will not happen the way you want it? What do you do? How will you react to it? So hon Allah, this is Allah subhanho wa Taala his way, this is a last plan. When you're not in the exam room, you may enjoy life, take a look at the disbelievers. Allah
says.
Funny, don't let the fact that the disbelievers are enjoying their life deceive you. Allah says that those are just provisions for a short period of time, after which they will get what they deserve.
They haven't entered the exam room. What's the point of asking me all the old level questions when I haven't even paid my fee for the examination? And I haven't even entered the room. But when I entered the room, I expect a lot of questions and tough ones. And you need to enjoy the hard questions, the difficult ones because those are the questions that separate the horses from the donkeys. So panela
not to say any of any one of us are donkeys but at the same time, none of us are horses either.
It's just an example.
How would you like it? If all the questions of your own a level examinations were so simple that everyone got a plus a star?
It would be worthless pointless. What was the point of me working so hard, we all got a stars, the one who didn't work and the one who struggled all night and every day got the same results. So Allah says the same applies. We will test all of you to see who from amongst you in yours and who does not?
masabi do you think you're simply just going to enter paradise? When Allah subhanho wa Taala says, We have not yet tested you who from amongst you is ready to struggle, who from amongst who is patient can endure Subhana Allah
May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us droplets of mercy I mean
hamdulillah
transformation comes when we feel that Allah subhanho wa Taala has mercy is descending upon us and He wants us to change and it is a huge effort. Do you know now that we feel a slight drizzle, let me give you an example. A beautiful example and that is when you want to plant any plantation. The first thing you need to do is clear the land. So if you have mountains and if you have rocky land, and if you have huge trees, you need to uproot the trees, you need to remove the boulders and the stones and the rocks and you need to flatten the land and perhaps moisture in it and soften it with some water and thereafter make it such that it is now ready to cultivate. So the effort required is
so great. It is not just a simple matter. I don't expect today to be a day when my life has changed and that I don't need to worry anymore. Yes, your life will change and it must be
changing it has to change, but it's only the beginning of the change. That's what it is. Now what you need to do is remove those trees that will disturb the growth of the plantation that you'd like to plant. What are those trees? Those are the trees that have sin in them. For example, the boulders the rocks need to be removed, they require a great effort. And if you're lazy, guess what happens? plantations begins to grow around those rocks and spoiled or should I say the plantation is then spoiled.
But if you make an effort Subhanallah you will find Allah will open your doors, the day the seeds are sown. When another effort is required, what is that effort, that effort is for you to look after, and nurture the seedlings. The most difficult stage is women. It is a seedling stage, your cultivation.
Any little change in weather, some extreme change or lack of water will kill your seedlings, perhaps you won't have the crop that you desire. The same applies now that I've made a firm intention to change. These are the days when I need to water my seedlings I need to make sure laziness does not overtake me. I need to make sure I don't lose hope in the mercy of Allah when the tests come in my direction. I need to thank Allah subhanho wa Taala rise to the occasion as they say you need to utter the phrase of Allah upon all conditions and move further go beyond.
This is how Allah subhanho wa Taala will open your doors.
If for example, you didn't have a job, you remained unemployed for a long time looking for a job. One day, you got the job, Mashallah I looked for in someone's prayers or accepted the effort I made Allah allow me to bear fruit and I found the job and become the first week Can you say to your boss, oh, my boss, do you know what I need leave? Why my son has a cough. My son has a cough, you need to leave, you need to leave or you need leave of work. That's not good enough.
Or you say, you know, my uncle's brother in law's sister in law's wife?
There's a sister No, have a wife.
That's what I mean. You want to create such a story that you start lying? You make a blunder that catches you. And you say oh, well, she died. It's such a distant relative. I need to go. But you just started your work this week? What impression does that leave upon your boss? He's going to say this person is not really serious. It's the seedling phase. Yes, if you've worked for five years without missing a day, then you come to your boss and said, you know what I need a day off. Even if you don't explain why the boss will say you can have two days off.
Sorry, he might not say that. But I hope he does well as to how much Allah make us good bosses. Any one of us who happens to have employed people remember, it's just a phase, it's just a test. It doesn't mean you're greater than them just because you pay them a salary. No, perhaps in the eyes of Allah, they may be greater than you and who knows, maybe your paradise might come through.
They're all through some relation that you've had with them apps, they might have worked on you. How many of us have people working for us who spoken to us in such a beautiful way reminded us of Allah subhanho wa Taala in such a way that our lives have changed yet. In this world, we were actually the ones who paid them.
May Allah subhanho wa Taala make us unique may make us from those who can help one another, whether we're employed or the employee.
So in the early stages, when you've just repented, you need to be sincere in that repentance, say Oh Allah, I don't want to go back to the adultery I've been committing. I don't want to go back to the gambling that I've been engaging in. I don't want to go back to the drugs and to the bottle that I've been having, oh, Allah helped me so that I don't go back and then you need to change your company, that company that drove you to the evil you need to take it out. You need to get rid of it or you need to transform it with you those from amongst them who've transformed with you they will be of help to you and those who haven't will be to your detriment
need to change your company. If you've repented and you say Oh ALLAH forgive me for all the Salah I've missed and you still in the company of those who don't treat Salah. What do you expect?
It will just last a day and that's it. And after a day you say we felt good so we all read salatu salam ala Aisha Mashallah beautiful stadium here, something historic, I would say something really great What a nice feeling.
Resist the only Salah you read in a long time
or you say I'm transformed Allah never gonna miss a Salah again and then when you have to set your clock for Salah when you say it's okay if I wake up I wake up if I don't it's fine set the clock, set the clock and you know what when the clock rings snooze is not an option.
Like I've said before, if you snooze, you lose lavaca Allah subhanho wa Taala pleasures a movement should never press snooze on his clock. No way that is not an option for a believer 530 or five o'clock, the alarm rings you are up that is transformation. You are up and you get up and wash your face with cold water beautiful water and you make sure that you can leave that alarm ringing because the rest of your home also needs to be up Subhanallah bring it loud, even if they get irritated so what it's a blessing irritation
oh if your elder brother smacks you don't come and say there was a blessing smack.
A lot of makers from amongst those
it might have been a blessing smack Alhamdulillah Yes, it was in the right cause Masha Allah Subhana Allah.
My brothers and sisters, the point being raised is when you've turned to Allah make an effort to maintain it and grow upon that. Today we hear a good talk, I want to ask you a question. How many of you are seated here and I want you to show me by raising your hands. How many of us seated here would like to become closer to Allah put up your hand
100% of us Alhamdulillah So how many of us are ready to change our lives for the sake of Allah put up your hand.
There we are. Now let's put our hands down because here comes the tough question. How many of us are prepared to get up for Salatin tomorrow morning? Without fail get up? Put up your hand.
Okay, I've got a talk here. Tomorrow I'm going to ask you, how many of you gotta force Allah to forgive this morning? And then we'll have to show the hands. Mashallah, may Allah subhanho wa Taala help us?
Allah subhanho wa Taala open our doors rarely, it's easy to say I want to change your alarm. But when shaytan starts massaging you at the wrong time, you know, when he starts shaytan starts with you at night. And he tells you it's only a movie, there's only three hours remaining. Just watch it, it's fine. That's the beginning of the end of Salah solfeggio that's what it is. Because he knows you're going to sleep late. You're going to sit with your friends, the corner of the street, the pavement, or sometimes the masjid. So not to Asia. Have you seen people smoking? You know where they go to the house of Allah. They go right to the house of Allah. They sit at the door of the house of
alarm, they light up a cigarette.
You have a bad habit. Please don't go to the house of Allah to prove that you have a bad habit. That bad habit needs to be something that's private between you and Allah. Don't be proud of the bad habit.
So even if you do have the bad habit of smoking a cigarette, I think it's an insult to go to Allah's house and smoke there.
May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us all quit our bad habits. I mean,
I didn't hear loud enough. I mean, I think there are a lot of smokers here. So Allah May Allah help us quit smoking. I mean, oh, there was a loud one. Mashallah. Allah you need to say, I mean, you know, there was a brother who fell in love so much with smoking, that he asks he says, You know what?
Okay, if I give up smoking here, will I be able to smoke in general?
What a question.
So I told him, brother, this just one problem.
to light the cigarette, you're going to need a fire to get the fire. The fire is only found in Jana.
where Allah subhanho wa Taala safe goddess, may Allah protect us.
My brothers and sisters, you want to do something, don't just say oh, I'm weak, you're not weak. You're not weak. You are strong. Allah has created you strong. You need to develop the willpower for the sake of Allah. May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us transform before we meet with him. Take a look at what happened today. In Nepal in Kathmandu. May Allah make it easy for them. May Allah grant those who have been martyred in that earthquake. Shahada May Allah grant him a lofty ranking Jenna those from amongst the oma who lost their lives. While ah here it is so severe, so serious that we need to take a lesson. innocent life just like myself and yourselves. People who are seated just
like we are here today, suddenly no more because an earthquake came in and swallowed them up.
This happened earlier today.
What do we say in Allahu ala June for some strange reason, we still think that can
happen to us, don't we? for some strange reason people die. We still think you know what i know i'm going to die but I don't think I'm doing right now. Come on, you know, I'm still planning a sin, I still got 20 sins that I need to commit a stanza Allah Who knows, don't ever do that this might be our last day of Allah He my brothers and sisters, it could be every prayer that you fulfill. The Prophet sallallahu Sallam says, fulfill it as though it's the last prayer that you ever going to be fulfilling. And you know, what's the secret behind that? One day it will be your last one.
One day it will be your last one.
My brothers and sisters Come on. We need to make an effort. Don't allow shavon to keep you up for no reason. When the time of sleeping has come in, it's bedtime.
You don't just get to bed because you scared of your wife. No, you get to bed because you fear Allah subhanho wa Taala and then you see your wife smiling, Mashallah.
I remember brother telling me that he doesn't get to bed early. There is a baton waiting for him. I told him brother, if you were a good Muslim, you wouldn't even need the baton. You would be in bed before your spouse. May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us May he open our doors. These are just some of the examples of how the world has changed, hasn't it?
So Han Allah. So we will make an effort we will get up we will make sure that we fulfill our Salah come what may. If you've missed your prayer, say for example, I asked the last forgiveness and I said Oh Allah, I don't want to miss a prayer from today. And something happened and I missed one immediately. monoamine Salatin.
Remember the Hadith of the prophets of Salaam, whoever has slept over a Salah by error, and whoever has forgotten it, read it as soon as you remember it. So I slept over salah
and I got up and the sun had already risen as soon as I get up, make my way to read my salah and continue with the rest of my day. Read it as cover. It's definitely something that you've now done.
So your record is still sitting at zero missed from the time I sought forgiveness. Zero missed because I made up those that I missed and do not be lazy. laziness is such that when it comes to food and drink, and nice things, we're not lazy. We can go to a mall and walk around window shopping with Not a penny in our pockets all afternoon just to look nice. And just so that people can say wow, that's all people can do this. Do you know that
I've met a few people in a mall
in a certain country
and I was there with my kids and we were trying to
you know get to the kids area where there was a bit of entertainment for the little ones and I met these people and they greeted me O'Shea's Mashallah you know, and I am on hamdulillah Mashallah, so this is what are you doing here? I said I've just come yz Is this something different that you can do? What are you guys doing this you know, we just walking around walking around Okay, walking around here in the mall? Okay, yeah, yeah, walking around in the mall. I've come with my children for my children to play my children want to see the kids area Do you know is the kids area? No, I'm not sure. Okay, but now
you guys come from here Don't you Yes, we do. You don't know is the kids area Okay, there's an information counter here you can ask me say fine. So we went we enjoyed ourselves we came back we saw the same people on our way out walking around again. So I said guys you still here? Yeah, we walking around. So you're still walking around? It's a few hours later. Oh, we've been here since the morning. Doing what? No shopping no bag no not just walking around disturbing the opposite *. That's what it is nothing else. They just want you you just want to show them I've got muscles. And I've got this and I've got a sense and that sense. They're not foolish. They know you just walked
into the perfume shops and tested all the perfumes. You don't actually own anything. So panela and so you smelling so good. Until the next time you walk into the mall. That's it.
You know when we go into the airport duty free and you find people going into the perfume area, take a look at how many walk out to perfumes very few Subhanallah the rest of them are just like me Mashallah.
May Allah subhanho wa Taala forgive us. We need to be serious. You want to do something, a person is ready to walk all day through the mall and not prepared to read Salah. not prepared to face Allah subhanho wa Taala for a few minutes. Imagine if that's your last day. There are so many whom that has been the last day. You don't want that to happen. So fulfill your prayer. Worship Allah alone cleanse your heart. If you cleanse your heart, it becomes easier for you
To be a good Muslim,
cleanse your heart, learn to love others learn to look at those who have achieved more than you in terms of closeness to Allah. And don't look at those who've achieved more than you in terms of material living. We have a bad habit yesterday I asked a question for those who are at the dinner.
What car they liked, and I think some of the people said, Range Rover?
Can I tell you something? The reality is, we look at people with beautiful cars with lovely homes with so much and sometimes we say When I grow up, I'd like to be like this. How many of us look at those who are close to Allah and say, I want to be like that. Now, closest to Allah has nothing to do with growing up, you got to do it. Now. I want to be like this. Now, I tell you, everyone who has something material, those who passed away from among them from amongst them have left all that behind every single thing behind. But those who did deeds for the sake of Allah took all those deeds with them, and went along.
So we say Wow, what a lucky man.
Does anyone say What a lucky man he left behind $10 million. No one says that. He wasn't lucky.
He left it behind for someone else. He was so miserly
that he spent nothing. Nothing at all. He just amassed it and then he went away, leaving it all behind. But when a person has done good deeds, What a lucky system she went for hombre and guess what Allah took her away in Makkah Mashallah.
What a fortunate brother. He went for hombre Allah took him away in Mecca. Subhana Allah.
What a fortunate sister. She was reading Salah she passed away in sujood in frustration
Subhan Allah, what are the chances of someone passing away in frustration? Well, I can tell you if you don't read Salah the chances are no
because you don't read the Salah, and the more Salah you read the day, the chances are greater and for someone to have passed away in sujood It must be meaning that that person read Salah even when they were feeling not well.
Even when they were unwell, they were still reading their Salah.
How many of us for any little excuse, we won't rissalah
We won't even read the Quran. How many of us have read the Quran with its meaning? cover to cover put up your hand.
Very few hands, okay. I tell you what, if Allah gives us life, and this is a challenge, and I'm not joking, I will remember I see the faces
Mashallah, I pointed you next time inshallah.
Next year, by the will of Allah, if Allah grants us the life.
I want to come here and ask the question, not because you want to show off, but because I want to motivate you, to transform
to change yourself. How dare you live a life given by the owner of that life, and you haven't yet read the booklet that he sent down to you in order to show you why he made you you don't even know.
You haven't bothered looking?
You said Ah, you know what I just heard it from so and so. So and so my brother, you know, the tax laws much better than you know the law of Allah subhanho wa Taala. Why? Because I am worried about my business. I mustn't be fined by the taxman. No.
So how many of us are going to make an effort to look into the Quran and try and understand it cover to cover put up your hands?
I see a lot of hands Mashallah, let's put them down. hamdulillah.
Let's make an effort. Voila, it will change your life. We speaking of transformation, the source of transformation is the word of Allah your maker. That's the source. That is where it will all start. That is the beginning. When you read a verse of the Quran, it affects you It impacts you, it changes you.
This is why take a look at the Naja she you know who's in the joshy the necklace of Abyssinian when the Prophet peace be upon him sends his companions to Abba senior guess what happened?
That man heard a few verses of the Quran and he started crying to three verses of the Quran.
Take a look at Omar Allah and he came out to assassinate Muhammad Sallallahu sallam.
And in the way on the route on the way he happened to divert through his system, and there he heard a few verses of the Quran and guess what happened?
transformation took place. Do you know why? He had a good heart.
He was searching for goodness. He was searching for answers. He found them Subhan Allah. That was Omar.
Take a look at the companions of Muhammad Sallallahu sallam, any one of them who looked at him,
believed in him
if he had a good heart,
and once he believed in him, immediately he was known as the Allah and Allah. May Allah be pleased with him or may Allah be pleased with her. So if you say the name of any of the companions of Muhammad Sallallahu sallam, what do you have to say with it? You have to say, may Allah be pleased with him? May Allah be pleased with her. Wouldn't you like it? If people said your name? And after your name, they said, may Allah have mercy on him. May Allah have mercy on her. Rahmatullah Allah Rahim Allah, may Allah have mercy on him or her, Allah Subhana Allah. Well, if you have the correct heart, you will be able to pick up goodness because there were others from amongst the kuffaar of
Quraysh from amongst the disbelievers who saw Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam and knew him, and some of them were related to him, but they never believed.
Because they looked at him with the wrong eyes. They looked at him with malice. They looked at him with jealousy with hatred within feeling that kept him away from the straight path. It kept them away from goodness SubhanAllah. So if you would like to achieve goodness, you need to fight your hatred and jealousy, envy animosity, you need to fight the bad habits, the bad qualities against others. If I have a bad feeling against my fellow believers, if I have hatred and enmity, how do I expect to be transformed? How do I expect change? I need to learn to be a member of the oma by loving the rest of the oma. In fact, I need to turn to humanity at large, and I need to be able to
reach out to them so that they see the goodness in Islam. Islam, Don't be selfish with it. It does not belong to you as a possession. No, it is an Amana and trust it to you, you need to deliver the goods to the rest of humanity.
So for those who think that every non Muslim out there doesn't even deserve to live, they are so foolish because they've forgotten that somewhere up the ladder. We are our ancestors were not Muslim.
And we accepted Islam. Because of someone, someone's effort, someone somewhere down the line tried, someone definitely spoke someone transformed, someone changed. So today we are seated here.
How many of us are ready to make an effort on others? We are not even ready to make an effort on ourselves, let alone others Subhan Allah?
May Allah subhanahu wa taala help us to make an effort on ourselves, my brothers,
my sisters?
How long are we going to continue swearing?
How long are we going to continue making others lives difficult? Whether it's in the home or outside? How long are we going to continue sinning? when we sin, we don't appreciate what is permissible. When we engage in that which is prohibited. Allah snatches away the beauty and the essence and the sweetness from that which is permissible, because we are seeking pleasure in that which is prohibited.
When a man has earned a lot of wealth, but he goes to gamble, the blessings from that wealth is gone. And he loses his money. When a man or a woman is engaging in that which is prohibited, say for example, illicit relationships, the blessings are snatched away from his or her life, then we start finding difficulties that we cannot resolve in our lives. Our wealth is gone. We don't know why is it that all this money I had? I earn so much at the end of the month, oh, I did such a good deal. And I earned millions and where is it all gone? Well, the blessings were snatched away. This is why those who earned one 10th of your salary, live a much more content life than you may not do that to
us.
Learn to turn to Allah and Allah subhanho wa Taala will turn towards you.
IN TONGUES rely on Sukkot. If you adopt the instruction of Allah, you get close to Allah Allah becomes closer to you, man attain em she attained to her Allah, whoever comes close to Allah walking a lot rushes to the person who has great allies forgiving, never lose hope in the mercy of Allah. We need to change for the sake of Allah subhanho wa Taala I am not going to be here every day to remind you. And my reminders the reminders I get will not be every single day.
But you will have different reminders. It's up to you to make an effort if a reminder makes you feel good. Today we have something known as a recording video.
recording audio recording, go and listen to it, repeat it,
repeat a lecture, go back, go and listen to it again. It's a dose, it's a dose of an antibiotic, for example, to combat the spiritual diseases that we may have. So this is again and again, repeat it, be in good company, be with those who are like minded
and learn to respect those who are not.
When I say learn to respect those who are not remember that one day we might have been in their shoes, we might have been their condition. We might have been in that position, maybe not. But if you are kind and good, and you reach out to those, for example, just a simple example, you see a sister who's not dressed appropriately, for example, if you are arrogant, and you don't greet her because she doesn't, for example, have a scarf on her head. What impression do you leave,
that you know what Islam is only for people? Not for me, for these others, it's for them. But if you greet her, make her feel part of the community and so a day will come when she will feel in her heart. I'm also a part of this nation, this Oman this community, this is mine, my identity. Let me do what I have to finally, may Allah make that easy for us? This is how transformation will come in others as well.
But if I belittle those who might not be on the path, where was it just a few years back? May Allah subhanho wa Taala strengthen us all.
And one of the cornerstones of transformation is when we seek forgiveness Don't let the devil entrap you once again by making you think you know what, okay, Eliza for him He forgives. The Toba is definitely accepted all the time, but not from me because I have just crossed the line.
That is now destroying your seedlings. That's what it is.
The seedlings of change have come and here comes shape on making you think that you're not good enough.
Making you think that Allah's mercy does not encompass you, it encompasses everyone else. My brothers and sisters, no matter what you have done, no matter what it was. Allah's mercy and forgiveness extends well beyond your sin and your crime. All you need to do is to repent, to ask Allah forgiveness, to admit your guilt, to regret it to ask Allah subhanho wa Taala His forgiveness and to promise not to do it again. This is what it is. This is the promise of Allah subhanho wa Taala. He forgives everyone who seeks forgiveness, even those who have engaged in
association of partnership with a law.
If they seek forgiveness before they die,
there is hope for them.
That's the mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala.
If they seek forgiveness before they die, there is hope for him. So never lose hope in the mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala you are forgiven by Allah and Allah is the forgiveness of sin.
and thereafter inshallah we change our lives we become better people become conscious of your words. If you would like to be close to Allah, you cannot have evil words, swear words lies, falsehood, bad things come out of your mouth, no, and you cannot have bad things come into your mouth as well. Today we are conscious about Hillel.
We want to ask is this helpful? Is that helpful? Because we are worried about what goes into our mouths? How many of us are equally worried about what comes out of our mouths that also needs to be highlighted. Sometimes what comes out of our mouths is worse than pork. Worse than swine, so to speak, was in the flesh of a swine of a swine lavaca. It's just blurted out of your mouth.
To those who are closest to you in relation, your spouse, your children, your parents, your brothers and sisters, and guess what? Whether you like it or not, your in laws.
Law. Why? Learn to say good words, learn to speak about the goodness of others. Learn to embrace, learn to smile. Today we only greet people who we know it's a sign of the hour. Do you know that?
The prophets Allah Allah says there will come a time when greeting will only be to those whom people know Salam will mattify people will just greet those who they know Salah Malik that's it. So these five people I just greet you
know, you greet those you know and those you don't know to sell them Allah Colima, NAFTA after
you greet those, you know, in those you don't know. The sisters will read the sisters who they know and whom they don't know how many times do we have Islamic
gatherings where we have little cliques of people, each one is on their own. So when there's a reverb brother or sister, nobody pays attention because nobody knows them. Why? That's terrible. But that's happening in the oma. How do we expect transformation when we live in little cliques? Greet at least who knows that greeting will really help someone to the degree that a burden on their shoulders would be lifted? Just because you told him how are you my brother? How's things? Is everything okay? May you have a nice day, may Allah bless you. May Allah grant you ease in whatever difficulty you may be going through, and the person is looking at you. How did you know I was going
through a difficulty? I don't know. But I do know that all human beings go through difficulties. And I seize this opportunity to say, may Allah bless you all. May Allah grant you all ease in whatever difficulties you are going through, say I mean,
I mean,
my brothers and sisters, it's about time we started caring for one another. We started reaching out to one another. We need to feel like in Oman and oma is a family, a nation, part and parcel of the followers of Muhammad Sallallahu sallam, we always say one maybe one Quran, one Qibla one Allah one this one that but we our hearts are divided. Why? What is the case? Going back to the Hadith I started with. When the heart has a disease, the whole body has a disease. When your heart is clean, your body is clean. you greet someone, you know, one day
in the masjid, I asked the people to greet the people next to him
and to get to know them. And a few days later, somebody came to me and said my brother shift. Do you know what? There's a problem? What's the problem? The problem is you needed to make an announcement to say when you greet people for the sake of Allah, let it be for the sake of Allah. Because a brother asked me, What do you do? So I told him about this business. He says, Okay, I'm coming. He came to my shop. He says, you know, I'm a brother of yours, I need a 10% discount.
So is that why we greeted each other in the masjid?
Why is it that when you walk into a Jewish or a Christian, or a non Muslim shop, you never ever ask for a discount, you pay the price and you walk out with a smile. But when you walk into a Muslim shop, you expecting freebies, why is that the case? Why is it It happens in a lot of instances.
In fact, it's supposed to be the other way around. When you walk into a Muslim shop, you should be happy to be spending because this is your brother in the deen if Allah has kept his sustenance through your spending, let it be it's an act of worship.
Subhan Allah? Yes. If he comes forward and gives you a discount Brother, don't worry, I give it to you at a better rate. Don't worry, you are my brother then. Alhamdulillah but how do you know some people might be struggling and this is why a lot of Muslims have told me in other countries that we don't like to do business with other Muslims. We don't those are the people who don't pay their bills because they think oh, that's Abdullah that's Abdullah Don't worry man. You know he's okay. He's fine. Let me pay John's debts first, you know Subhana Allah.
It because he's a Muslim you trampling all over him?
You know, the days when we used to write checks, I think some people still write checks don't take
bank certified checks and they begin to bounce.
Bounce. What happened? Oh, it was just a fake stuff.
Did you ever hear of that?
It can only be a Muslim festival? I hope not. But that's what I was told. It's a Muslim guy.
Why?
Let's transform. We don't need to be greedy. You don't need to be stingy, miserly, selfish, you need to learn selflessness. Learn to be honest and upright. You cannot afford something. Don't buy it.
And this is why if you want your life to change and you want contentment, then do not live beyond your means. Don't be shy to downgrade your standard of living based on your income. Don't be shy. It doesn't mean they have an iPhone seven, so I need to have the iPhone seven. No.
I don't mind having a phone that is Mashallah made in China. Guess what they work and some of them some of them work even better. Before the dual sim came out in Korea, it was already out in China right now. They've got a phone with foursomes.
So panda life reminds me of that joke.
Yeah, someone said yeah, so inshallah you can tell those who don't know it.
They say there was a guy
whose wife asked him how much do you love me? See? How much do you love me? Okay, this is you got to take it. It's on a lighter note isn't it? Mashallah. So the
guy says, Now he's caught offside because he wants to try and word it in the most romantic way. And at the same time, he doesn't want to lie. That's tough.
He says, Oh, you know, my life wow
I love you so much. I love you so much. You know, you're so important in my life. You know, I'm like the phone and you're like my sim you know? I cannot do without you Subhanallah
my sim imagine the sim without a phone Oh, she was so delighted
Wow, Mashallah. So excited.
And then he goes back and tells his friends do you know this is what happened today. But she doesn't realize I've got a phone with four sons.
Dual Sim Mashallah.
Allah forgive us, is not the attitude that should not be the attitude anyway, that was just a joke. It was just something on a lighter note, because this is the way sometimes we treat one another we lie, we deceive. If you want to be a happy person, live according to your means be happy, say words of romance to the people whom you need to say them too. with us. The problem is we say the sweetest words. Our wives will be shocked that we can actually say those words, but she's just caught it on the phone. You said it to someone else.
I promise you. Some of us are the most romantic people that can be living. But with the wrong people.
Your wife won't believe you bought a rose. Guess what? It wasn't for her. That's why she can't believe it.
Why this is
making us lose the sweetness of that which is really sweet for us in the eyes of Allah subhanho wa Taala.
You lose all sweetness. Why are you now heading in the wrong direction. Like I said, if you want to achieve pleasure through that which is prohibited, Allah takes away the sweetness from that which is permissible, because you don't have any intention of coming back to Allah number one, repent and turn.
And if a few hearts have to be broken, for as long as you're building other hearts, it's fine. Allahu Akbar. Did you hear what I just said? If you have an illicit relationship, haram totally banned, adulterous, and so on. And you're not quitting it because you think you're going to break someone's heart, you need to know that the hearts of those who mean much more are already broken. So panela you need to mend those build them. You need to know that when it comes to the link with Allah, it comes first. That will heal. The people will move on if you allow them to move on to Panama.
But you will never move on, if you clutch to the sins that you've been committed with the excuses that the devil puts in your minds. Now Allah subhanho wa Taala forgive us.
Be honest and upright, don't make false promises to people. No, don't. Don't promise people so many people. And this has just come to my mind because we're talking of marriage
promised others that they will marry them. And when push comes to shove, they walk away. You seem like
why did you promise? Why didn't you just be open from day one, just be honest.
Just be honest, from day one.
Be an upright might mean you will have a lot of contentment. Allah will bless you in so many ways. Trust me, the amount of happiness you achieve by sticking to that which Allah has ordained and made permissible and beautiful and correct and upright and pure and clean is so great, that it is incompatible. You cannot compare it to anything else. That is Allah
and the amount of stress and anxiety
that sin comes with is so much that it is not worth it at all.
May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us transformation. May He make us from those who take lessons.
We don't need to wait until we are
struggling and suffering before we turn.
Are you waiting to lose your eyesight before you become a good person? Are you waiting to suffer a huge car accident and break your looms and be slightly paralyzed this way or that way before you turn to Allah subhanho wa Taala May Allah grant cure to those whom that has happened to but
a wise man is he who learns
by what Allah has revealed and Allah said, Allah make it easy for us.
My brothers and sisters tomorrow inshallah we will be gathering here again
in order to continue
I have something very important to say. And I will keep it in store for you tomorrow by the will of Allah subhanho wa Taala. If Allah gives us the opportunity, we will come back here, and we will speak about it.
As for this evening, we've heard quite a bit. I hope that the few words we've heard, have motivated us to begin this transformation.
The change towards Allah becoming closer to Allah. Islam is a beautiful religion. It allows you to enjoy life, within the limits of Allah. Imagine if the religion was such that we were told you're not allowed to enjoy anything. That's it. You have to remain in the synagogue or in the masjid, or in the place of worship or your life. That's the only time you're going to get paradise. Imagine if that was the instruction, what would we have done.
But the instruction is go out, enjoy each going by going work going earn, but spend in a correct way. Be polite, be people who are upright and have clean fun. You don't need to have dirty fun, because that's not fun. Let it be clean, let it be beautiful. Enjoy yourself, don't be extravagant, go out. And perhaps go for a picnic, go to the ocean, go and enjoy. Whatever it is panela
go for a boat ride, canoe jetski whatever it is, you might want to join me for a skydive the next time
Subhana Allah May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the ability to understand
that He has given us a lot of room, a lot of room to do so many things that would make us happy that we would enjoy in this world and at the same time.
Earn paradise. And this is why to spend time with your family is a good deal. You can actually earn paradise through that
to fulfill the obligations of your home. You can earn paradise through that.
It's an it's an act that is full of reward. May Allah help us imagine and I want to end with this. If it is a reward to smile on the face of a person you don't even know what do you think the reward is to smile at your own wife or husband?
Mashallah, did you hear that?
But when we go home
that's it.
frowning all day. That's it, no smile. Show your tea. Even if one or two are missing, like I say Subhana Allah. The most genuine smile is the smile, where the person has no teeth to show. It's genuine because as embarrassed as they might feel, they broke into the smiles of Allah. And you see no teeth.
Mashallah, wow. So Hanna lights a genuine smile, isn't it? It isn't a bada. It is an act of worship. Remember that? So what's the point of going around the dunya and smiling at everybody? And when you come home? That's a frowny once again.
No, let's see, Shall I show the transformation today? You know hos we'd like to see this change. And don't say oh, I've had a big problem. You don't know my house. It can't happen. Forget about everything. please throw it out. change your life today. Learn to forgive and forget, learn to forgive and forget put it behind you. Turn a new leaf, start a fresh today. ask Allah for forgiveness and open the doors, develop a link with Allah and open the doors, even in your own home, have a brilliant house where when you are there, the house is lit up beautiful. When you're not there. people miss you. They actually miss you so desperately that they sometimes begin to cry
because you're not there. Love. What a home would that be? And as soon as you come, everyone's busy smiling, you know, running rushing towards you. And so on. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us goodness, Allah opened our doors. I spoken for my hour. And I thank Allah subhanho wa Taala for this opportunity to be speaking at this rum john Stadium in Trinidad. Am I saying it wrong? Everyone's laughing?
It's wrong.
Oh, rum is alcohol. Well, at least they didn't say Ron Mohammed but Oh, Rama Abdullah stopzilla it's john Sharla. I saw how it was spelled j h o n. You know, so the Muslims don't drink you know, the
Al Hamdulillah. Is it john?
It's john. I saw I really I looked at how it was spelled habibie Yeah, j h o n Exactly.
Am I right?
Oh, j o h and
Okay, yeah, sorry. Yeah.
Let's hope we are feeling a bit revived. Obviously, you know, normally when I speak, I like to add a little bit of human flavor because we're human beings, you need to speak like a human being not like I'm coming here to just address you, in order to pretend like I'm the big masya telling you what to do. No, I need to do the same. So we just sharing ideas here, that's what we're doing, and we're just trying to live a life that inshallah will be in the pleasure of Allah subhanho wa Taala brothers and sisters, it was such a brilliant idea to have this talk in the stadium You know why? This is the closest that people are actually to me so close, you know, close range, I can actually
see the color of your eyes Mashallah. I hope it's not just colored contact lenses, may Allah subhanahu wa Jalla bless us and grant us ease. Allah wa salam o Baraka, LA. Vina Mohammed, I'm looking forward to tomorrow Subhana Allah Subhana Allah, Masha Allah, Allah, Allah anthracnose