Mufti Menk – Didn’t Allah Give You The Brain

			I remember a young boy driving beyond the speed limit crazy
		

			on roads that were unsafe to even go on the limit on the speed limit, you know, I come from a
country where even if it says 120, on the speed limit, sometimes there are potholes that make you
move at 50 and 60, and 40, and even less. So if you're going to cruise at 121 30. It's dangerous.
And you have a young boy with a beautiful motor vehicle trying to cruise at whatever high speeds.
And then I remember telling this boy, you know what, don't do this. He told me, Well, whatever is
written is going to happen.
		

			Whatever is written is going to happen, I won't be harmed unless Allah has written the harm, while
Allah may have written that you are foolish, so you harmed yourself. It doesn't mean that because
Allah has written it, that you need to now become careless, and lose yourself. Didn't Allah give you
the brain? Didn't he give you safety rules and regulations that people reminded you of? Didn't he
give you the ability to distinguish between what was safe and not, you have to work towards what you
believe is going to protect you do what you believe is going to save you. And then if something
happens, you can say you know what it was in the hands of Allah, otherwise you are to blame? The
		

			whole of judgment is based on how you and I used the choice that Allah gave us. On the Day of
Judgment, What is Allah going to ask you to? You know, he's only going to ask you about how you use
the choice he gave you when he gave it to you. If he did not give you a choice. There's no question
asked,
		

			if suddenly the roof dropped and the earth opened and people died and something happened, Allah is
not going to ask you why did you die? Because you had no role to play, you will not given a choice.
But when you have a choice, and you committed suicide, you're going to be asked, Why did you do
that? You can't say, Well, I was just thinking, if it's my death, I'm gonna go. And if it's not my
death, I'm not going to go. So I decided to stab myself. Come on, come on. Come on, you can't do
that. May Allah Almighty grant us protection. So to protect yourself, you make dua to Allah, like I
said a minute ago, what did I say? May Allah grant us protection, say I mean,
		

			but you also need to apply your mind and the capacity given to you by Allah, the energy, the effort,
you walk in a certain way, it's cold out there, if I'm not wearing a jacket, and I know I've got one
mile to walk, and I have a jacket, and I leave it, who is to blame. If you were to get ill and sick,
it's you. You should have covered yourself a little. If you know, it's a short distance, I'm just
jumping into the vehicle. It's a different thing. Notice how I'm covering myself because I didn't
wear anything today. I jumped from the vehicle came straight into the building. But there was a
reason because I knew if I'm going to carry massive coats and everything, I'm going to have to take
		

			it out. I just need to walk in, walk out. But if I were to walk a whole mile, I would have brought
something so warm with me, because Allah has given me the capacity and the energy and the ability. I
can't blame Allah then to say, well, it's okay if I meant to be sick, I'll be sick. Can you say
that? Some people do say these things? Well, if I'm meant to, then it will happen. No, no, no, no.
If Allah gave you the capacity, he expects you to use that capacity. If Allah gave you the ability,
he expects you to use that ability. That's what he's going to ask you about on the Day of Judgment.
So we make dua Oh Allah protect me. But with that, don't put yourself into a situation where you
		

			know you're going to be harmed.