Jumuah Lecture : Redbridge Masjid – London
Mufti Menk – Contentment
AI: Summary ©
The importance of finding happiness and small things to make one happy is emphasized, along with the need for positive thinking and fulfillment. The speaker also emphasizes the importance of not reciting negative words and not giving out words that are not true. The speaker provides a recap of the importance of happiness and staying positive while traveling, as it is difficult to achieve in small ways. The importance of investing in oneself and their families is also emphasized.
AI: Transcript ©
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My brothers, my sisters, the first and foremost piece of advice and reminder that we should be commencing with at all times, is the consciousness of Allah
develop a relationship with your maker,
that is what will help him in this world and the next.
My brothers and sisters, when we came on to the earth, one thing was certain that we tend to forget, we're going to leave this place.
When we came into this world, we came in order to leave it at some point, that is the only thing that is certain when we don't know. Unfortunately, while Allah gives us more days to live, we tend to forget the fact that we are going to go back to him.
when a baby is born, if that baby were to die in the early stages of life,
it would be a great loss for the parents and for humanity at large. But
that particular baby is gone back to the best possible place it could be. Because it didn't even start its life on Earth.
It was not witness to all the distractions on this earth.
And as children grow up, the same applies to them.
Once they clock puberty, they become responsible. at that juncture, the angels begin to write all the good and the bad that is done.
And everything that that child now that it has become an adult will do. To develop. The relationship with Allah is also written, that will be a bonus.
You and I grew up today we are seated here. May Allah grant us contentment.
We're all searching for happiness. Yet when we were babies, we were quite happy and content with the little feed and the little burp. And so on. We started smiling at small things.
For as long as we will not wet, we will not soiled. It wasn't too hot.
And we were not made to be scared. We were okay. For as long as we were fed, we will find small things made us happy.
As time passed.
We were sad with small things. Now we want bigger things. We need more complicated stuff. The toys that made us happy when we were babies no longer made us happy as we grew older, four years, five years. You can't give me the same toy I had when I was two years.
Later on, we were dissatisfied. Until we had the latest of the time in our hands today. The little children are not happy until you give them the latest technology, the phones and the iPads. And sometimes parents give them these things without actually considering how dangerous it is to give the child this piece of technology if it were unrestricted.
But my brothers and sisters, the more Allah gives us life and
The longer we live
why is it
that we become so discontent?
We're not happy anymore.
Nothing makes us happy. We want more and more. You have a job whereby you're getting a salary, you can live, you have clothing, you have food, you have a decent place to live, you have a bedding, you have a place, you can bath and shower, perhaps you have a toilet, you can relieve yourself, but you're not happy. What do you want, I need more.
I want a bigger salary.
I want a promotion, I want a better home, I want a better car, I want the next phone, but you only had the phone just about a year ago. We're not happy. You know what we need to develop content, it won't come on its own.
Your happiness is a switch that you need to turn on, you become conscious of the gift of Allah upon you. The more you concentrate on the fact that you are only here temporary, the greater the chances of you being happy.
You could go right now So could I I could drop from where I am at this moment, and I'm gone.
And how I live the life for example, if someone were to do so of unhappiness, why was I unhappy? But unless when I gave you I gave you a lot I gave you more than you asked for I gave you things you didn't even ask for me from me millions of things.
A few things I kept away from you because I knew it was not good for you. Or I wanted to just make you closer to me. You know when you want to promotion and you start asking Allah
at least it brings you closer to Allah, you asked Allah. So Allah says, We love the way you asked us. We love the way you cried to us. We love the way you came to our house Finally, and we love the way you started praying. So we just said let's hold it back further. So you can keep on coming and going for a longer time.
It was a bonus. change the way you look at things you my brothers and sisters, Allah has blessed you. Allah has blessed you.
Be happy with a morsel of food and always look at those who have less than you. Take a look at those across the globe. Our brothers and sisters not only in humanity, but in faith as well struggling with out a morsel of clean food or water.
And here we are sitting.
And we are still unhappy.
They wouldn't even mind a grain of rice. And we have a plate that we throw into the bin when we're done. May Allah forgive us and we're still not happy.
In order to achieve this happiness, my brothers and sisters, Allah has sent down messengers with messages.
The urn is here only for us to follow him in order to get happiness, contentment.
The sooner the prophets of Allah Salaam and its simplicity is only there for us to get contentment and happiness. This contentment is connected to the dunya as well as the Africa. When you lose focus that you're about to go into the Hereafter, you become very, very sad because the world is such it progresses faster than you can run behind it. So as you're running after the dunya and the world, it will always run faster than you. You can have the best and the latest and you could be the wealthiest someone will overtake you. Something will overtake what you have, they will be things that will progress in a way that you will no longer be at the top.
That's how the world is no matter how much you want something it will always go quicker.
In terms of dunya
it will run faster and it will keep you running behind it. But when you are running behind the law in order to please Allah, then you will definitely be the happiest person even if you have a basic salary.
fulfill
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me
so run towards Allah indeed I am a clear Mona to you.
rush towards Allah. It will solve your problems of this world and the next rush towards your maker. Worship Allah. You will not achieve contentment if there is no five daily prayers in your life. There is no chance of you
You achieving the total contentment of this world and the next zero chance you might have temporary happiness due to something material around you. But that is not contentment, there is a big difference between the two.
contentment is a condition
that you would actually feel and you would live through. Even if you didn't have a lot of what others have. You're still content.
Allah does not promise the believers money, nor does he promise them that you will have authority on land of good looks or good health and so on. With all your sickness and your problems and your unemployment and your difficulties and whatever other issues you have, when you are close to Allah, it becomes irrelevant. My Salah was in order the minute I said a lot, but I had a smile on my face.
We removed our shoes before we entered the machine.
Our connection and contact to the dunya is outside as you come in, forget about it, leave it out behind. The minute you come in and you brought the whole dounia with you, you have a problem. You are here for Allah, it's your chance to get close to Allah. Imagine Allah made us. He says, look, you can spend your 24 hours how you want but a few things I'm going to tell you to do for me, even those few things we're not prepared to do.
I asked you a serious question.
Very serious. And most of us are guilty. And I'm saying it because I want you to change in a nice way.
How many of us have praised a lot today in terms of video?
We can do better. How many of us said Subhana Allah Alhamdulillah Allah Akbar La Ilaha Illa ma how many of us have said that with the Hadith says clearly can be mitanni Sufi Fatah attorney Alan Lee Sani the peel attorney if you miss any Happy botanik Allah Subhana Allah He will be handy he Subhana Allah he'll have in two words. Two words that you say very light on your tongue very loved by Allah, very heavy on the scale. the praise of Allah Subhana Allah He will become de Subhana Allah Allah.
We know that but we don't say it. We need to be reminded we need to be tapped.
alladhina mano de Palma.
Indeed those who believe achieve contentment of the heart through the remembrance of Allah, for indeed it is only through the remembrance of Allah that the hearts will achieve contentment.
You want contentment? simple answer. remember Allah. Increase your remembrance of Allah relate your day to Allah Subhana Allah, Allah, Allah, Allah, Masha, Allah, Allah, Allah and hamdulillah and so many other ways of remembering Allah, even if you were to pick up the word of Allah and read it, it's the remembrance of Allah. If you were to make an effort to try and understand it, it's the remittance of Allah. If you're putting it into practice, it's the remembrance of Allah. If you're teaching it to others, it's the remembrance of Allah say you come into a lemon or Anwar Lama. The best form amongst you is the one who teach who learns this form and teaches it to others. It doesn't
only mean the recitation although the recitation is a part of it definitely. And it is absolutely important and you will achieve a reward and you will achieve contentment even if you just recite it without understanding but the right of the pond extends beyond that. Don't forget.
Even if you were to listen to the pond, you will be having some contentment. If you replace those CDs or those tracks of whatever else that is not beneficial that you have with you. With the with a Koran, you will definitely be able to achieve contentment. Listen to the words of Allah. They are not ordinary words. They are powerful words. experiments have been done with people who don't believe
when they listen to the words of Allah they feel
it has a different impact.
Those are the words of Allah.
But we as Muslims, we don't give so much importance to the word of Allah subhanho wa Taala.
My brothers and sisters, Allah has blessed us with the month of Ramadan.
You want contentment,
learn discipline. Simple. Ramadan is a discipline yourself. With that discipline, you achieve God consciousness It is called taqwa your relationship with Allah improves, you become a person who is refined, beautiful. You speak with respect, because the whole month of Ramadan, no swear words, nothing abusive. No harmful words. My brothers and sisters, many of us,
we don't care how we speak. Why? Because I'm a man, or I'm a boss, I can say what I want. So what we swear, we abuse. We use words as we please that are hurtful to our own family members and we expect contentment and the pleasure of Allah. It's not going to come. If you say bad words from your mouth, forget about true contentment. You might be happy for a moment, those words are going to come back to you to haunt you. In Islam, what you do you pay for what you do you pay for, don't be mistaken.
What you say you pay for, unless you change your ways. unless you repent, seek forgiveness, analysis, nevermind, forgiven. Sometimes Allah says we will replace that with something good.
Because you changed your life.
So watch how you speak if you want contentment, your character must improve. Ramadan is there to improve your character. That's why the Hadith says why you're fasting. Even if someone else swears you, you should just say I'm fasting. Have you heard that Hadith? It says for itself. But what I had done, if a person swears one was fasting, abuses, they should just say, I'm fasting, which means I'm not going to respond in the same way. That doesn't mean that if you were not fasting, you should have swung them back. But it does mean that this discipline I'm going to learn right now will be extended beyond the month of Ramadan, and becoming a better person.
When you can stay away from food and drink. It should make you calm. Many of us become angry. Don't try fasting. Get out of here. Take it easy, it happens to almost all of us, especially when the fast is long. And when your belly is rumbling, you start grumbling. May Allah subhanho wa Taala not let that happen to us.
That should not be the case as the fastest longer the extended period of patients think and keep thinking of those who don't have food.
Those whose days are like this every day, and even their nights are like this. Keep thinking about them. What will that do to you, it will help you to extend your hand into your pocket and take out the 50 p that you can afford or the one pound my brothers and sisters do not under estimate a charity. Even if it is 10 p
your change will make a change. Remember that but be dedicated. Be dedicated. Give even if it is a little bit. You don't know which cause it will be that will grant you that entry into paradise. And if there was a cause, so loved by Allah, your Tempe we're in there, Allah will grant you success.
You see, we're thinking holistically. I want to reach out. The first people I reach out to must be my own family. Change your lives. My brothers, my sisters. Reach out to your family, your spouse, your children, your parents, your brothers, your sisters, it's going to be very hard. You have to do it.
When the Lord tells you you're going to get paradise for something that thing is not going to be easy. It's not a walk in the park
Mashallah, what I know about red bridges in the park, may Allah grant us ease.
So my brothers and sisters, it is something tough work on yourself. Are you prepared to refine to become a better person? Allah guarantees you contentment you'll be happy. Oh, that guy. He was shouting and swearing at me. I just smiled and walked away. How happy do I feel? I feel excited. But no, I paid to the gym. I built my muscles. When he swore me. I lifted him up. I slept
bashed in. And now there is a court case pending, what happened? You lost your contentment, your happiness, you can't even sleep because you went to do something foolish. You must be responsible. You must be a person who's able to respond. You are responsible.
When someone does something, you don't react in a way that is foolish. You're a believer that he teaches you and Ramallah teaches you that you need discipline, control yourself. Think about the reactions of your actions before you act. And if your actions are the reaction of someone else's actions, you still need to consider what will happen as a result of that.
Think about it.
Another blessing way of achieving contentment. We spoke about the good words regarding Allah. It's called the remembrance of Allah as car in the morning in the evening after Salah etc.
are you going to do those? A little bit? Are you going to try? I promise you Your life will change.
First Guney.
Remember me, I will remember you. Allah says, you engage in my remembrance, I'll remember you. But we don't engage in the remembrance of Allah. What do we want? Allah says, Be thankful. Don't be ungrateful. We've given you a lot. How do I show gratitude to Allah?
is five salani Did you hear that? What did Allah give you? He gave you everything. How am I going to show gratitude to Allah, five Salah D it's amazing to show gratitude to Allah is very different from showing gratitude to a human being. When you say thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you to a human being, I really appreciate it. They're probably not their head and say, okay, when you say to Allah, I'm going to fulfill my Salah because I'm thanking you the reward of that Salah will be bigger than the thing that you actually got initially from Allah. That's how Allah works.
Amazing. But you need to fulfill Salah.
We must meaning and so many young people come up and say I'm struggling with Salah. Yes, it's interesting to hear that. And we will still continue to encourage you, but you are a Muslim, the five Salah you should be enthusiastic about it, you should get up with honor with dignity as though you're catching a flight to go to your favorite destination. Because one day you will be you'll be catching a flight to kennametal those fantasies.
You start off the day with one verse of the Quran, you will change your life, your day will be content and then you don't spoil. You don't spoil your good deeds. with bad deeds in the middle, you don't
what's the point of struggling to extract the juice from a beautiful succulent orange, and I've got a glass of orange juice and then you spoil it with one droplet of Naja and dead in it, who's going to drink the juice, you won't drink it the whole, the whole glass was beautiful. And last minute, we dropped one drop of death in it. No one wants it. The same applies we work hard, we do a lot of good. And we spoil it with one drop, don't do that that drop is dangerous, it can spoil your entire effort.
Keep it up. So I was saying that as you praise Allah, you need to understand saying good words to those who deserve the good words around you and those whom you are living with. And your parents, your spouse, etc, is also an act of worship, say good words to them.
It's free. you're investing today, if I told you listen, there is an investment
opportunity here and the returns are really really great. Everyone wants to say what is it? What is it? So panela we want to know this I need a bit of extra income, even if I'm wealthy, the wealthier we get the bigger investments we are looking at amazing. But have you invested for the hereafter? How do you do that? Go to your wife and tell her I love you so much. He looks so good. Even if for example, she may have just gotten up from her sleep or she might have been busy. That is your investment. You know the returns then, not only will Allah be happy, but it will improve your relationship in your home.
She will be very happy
Subhana Allah attitudes change.
This is a simple example. Go to your children and sit with them for 20 minutes putting your phone away. you're investing with 1 billion pounds.
You have your phone investment comes down. There's a loss the waterleaf gonna have to repair it one day
but we don't communicate with our kids and we think we will achieve control
tend to hunt what contentment your faults your problem you will never there for your child as your child grew up and today when the child is deviated old and doing things that are unacceptable to humanity, let alone to the deen of Allah then you want to complain. But dad, were you all along my way? Well, you all along you were never here to guide you were never here to speak you were on your phone when you were here physically or you were never here because you are out with your friends.
What did you invest? What contentment do you want? What happiness do you want? Happiness is when you appreciate the family Allah gave you by spending time with them by telling them good words by going out of your way to tell them how lovely they look. Your children need to hear it from you how much you love them. They need the embrace. They need protection. They need a male figure a female figure as far as possible. Yes, there are people living in broken homes, you're going to have to do a double job because Allah subhanho wa Taala has placed it on your shoulders. May Allah make it easy for all those living in such homes.
Life is tough. The difficulty with us, we're looking for contentment, we're looking for happiness. We're looking for everything else. But do you know what? We're looking in the wrong places. Someone wants happiness. So they go and commit adultery with the prettiest girl they can find who's accessible to them. What happened? Two minutes of joy, they were actually a seed that you sold of the destruction of the tree of contentment.
It's a wild weed that came up and destroyed the proper tree that was growing in your yard. Your wife, your children, your family, and the entire tree that is solid in its bark and beautiful in its branches and the fruit that you got. You destroy it by a poisonous plant around it that just took you one minute to throw the CD in. What did you gain? What really did you gain by the adulting? What did you gain by the gambling? What did you gain by the intoxicants? What did you gain by the *? What did you gain? Nothing.
If anything, it was a seed of destruction of my contentment. No longer happy. Why? Because I've been watching these dirty things for so many years. Cut it out, you'll be content. You'll be happy with your spouse and everyone else.
This is contentment this is only a tip of the iceberg.
My brothers and sisters, what's important for us to know is the month of Ramadan is coming.
I have chosen to speak on a series known as contentment from Revelation
where we will look at verses of the Quran and extract lessons for all of us to be able to derive happiness and contentment. What does Allah say? We want to be happy. We want to be content actually. And Allah tells you what I've told you what contentment is all about. If you want it you've got to follow this path and you know what you will achieve it you will definitely achieve it. We've tried everything else it doesn't work. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant a success. For this reason I decided to speak about the topic today. We need a tapping and I encourage you once again, increase the remembrance of Allah for indeed when you do that, you will be changed.
barakallahu li walakum
wa