Muscat Oman
Mufti Menk – Message of all Prophets PBUH
AI: Summary ©
The importance of learning the truth in Islam is emphasized, as it is essential to achieve character and success. The struggles of working in a workforce and the importance of endurance are also discussed. The speakers emphasize the importance of trusting oneself and showing one's true stance in Islam, as it is essential to achieving success. They also mention a program where people can earn their]].
AI: Transcript ©
Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.
May the peace and blessings of the Almighty be upon one and all Indeed, it is a very, very happy moment I start off by saying Alhamdulillah All praise is indeed due to Allah subhanho wa Taala, the creator, the nourish the cherisher, the Sustainer, the provider, the protector, the cure, the one in whose hands lies, the control of entire existence, we send blessings and salutations as well upon all the messengers of the Almighty the prophets, whom we will be speaking about this evening,
we asked the almighty to bless them, to bless the companions to bless the household of the of Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam, as well as every one of us and all those to come up to the end, may Allah subhanho wa Taala, bless us and guide us and keep us rightly guided my brothers, my sisters, it is my first time in this beautiful country, Oman. And this is my first public lecture. And I'm really happy to be here. It's been long overdue. And I always felt after I heard about the goodness of the people of Oman, and after I heard about their character and conduct and had the good fortune of interacting with some dude, sorry, during my stay in the Middle East,
it was always my wish and my dream to come and see for myself, how this beautiful place is and how the people actually are. And for your information, as I spent the last few days here, I've been taking every positive factor that I knew and everything I knew was positive. So Alhamdulillah congratulations to you. And really, if I had to choose a home besides where I was, perhaps Oman would be somewhere at the top of the list.
The weather this evening is also extremely beautiful, Mashallah, I think we're in the season where, you know, the goodness has just descended upon us May Allah subhanho wa Taala, bless us also in every single way. My brothers and sisters, it's important for us to understand
that the Almighty Who created us, and this is a message that's powerful, it will stand up or out for those who believe those who have a conviction within them that there is a greater picture than what meets the eye. Because sometimes when we speak to people, they fall into different categories. Some of them have no clue, or they don't want to know about what might come after they've died, or what was before they were born. If we don't think about where we were before we were born, and we don't contemplate over perhaps where we're going to be going after we die, then Wouldn't you agree that we'd be at a loss, we'd be at a loss. I don't think any sane person would actually just think that
the sophisticated human beings that we are right now we can feel we have emotions, we have intellect, we have technological advancement, we have so much we have relatives we have so much that belongs to us so much that we can do and like I say, the feelings we have the brains we have the faculties we have, do these all just come to an end? Or is there something beyond that? So in order to understand this, it's important for us to look into religion, to look into faith, to look into the scriptures, the scriptures of all faiths are very important to look into not just the scriptures of Islam. But if a person is searching for the truth, it's important for them to know the truth
based on what they've looked into based on the studies based on what they then believe firmly was correct. And this is why in Islam, we always believe in questions. When you have a question you ask it no matter what it is, you ask it in a very respectful, polite way, you might get an answer that suits what you were looking for, or that is what you were looking for, and you might not so you keep asking the question again, and again, our understanding is different, you might ask me a question. And that answer might be very different from another person who's also a Muslim. It depends on our understanding. And it also depends on the skills of communication. Some people make religion to be
that which is impossible that which is there to waste your time to, you know, put hurdles within your life so that you don't enjoy life, the rules and regulations without purpose. That's how some people put religion across while others enjoy practicing the beautiful teachings of faith. And they bring about lots of contentment and happiness, purity, morality, conduct character in a way that we reach out not only to the rest of the creatures of the Almighty, but even to the almighty himself. And we develop such a relationship that all the difficulties we face on earth and by the way, every single person on earth will definitely face some form of hardship different
Faculty adversity, calamity, sickness, all this is part of the broader plan. But if we have that belief and that relationship with the Almighty, it's made very easy, it's made very easy. So the topic I was given to speak about this evening is connected to the prophets, the message of the prophets of the Almighty, a unified message. We all know that as Muslims, and I would suppose predominantly were Muslim, but we're our brothers and sisters of other faiths are also more than welcome. Because, like, you know, when we speak, the speech is not just for a specific religion, but it's for all of us. But if we are Muslim, we would definitely be able to look at the names of the
messengers, and relate with respect to all of them. If I were to say, Jesus, for example, I'm not allowed to say the name Jesus without saying immediately after it, peace be upon him, it would be considered disrespectful. So when I say Jesus May peace be upon him, Moses, may peace be upon him, David May peace be upon him, Solomon, also the man may peace be upon him, his money May peace be upon him, and so on. You know, Joseph, and Jacob, these are all the names in the English language, but if you were to say them in the Arabic language, I'm sure you heard the young students who recited the Quran earlier, with all the names of the Prophets, almost 18 of them were read, all at
once, one after the other. And they were all in the Arabic language, the respect that we actually have for every one of them, is such that we appreciate the fact that the almighty send them to us. So in order to, to know this message, let's go back to the beginning.
We believe we were created by the almighty
in a unique way that he told us about so Allah Almighty tells us what you call
feeding the body. Remember, when the Almighty said to his angels that I'm going to place on the earth,
I'm going to place on the earth, he was going to come one after the other represent what I want him to represent on the earth. And there was a discussion between the angels and the Almighty. And Allah subhanho wa Taala says, what are called upon upon sand I mean, Sula.
Indeed, we have created mankind from a specific type of soil and mud, the soil mixed with water. So this is the creation from the beginning of mankind, according to us, and according to Semitic faiths, we were created by the almighty in a unique way. And the Almighty is the only one who choose who chooses or who chose how that would happen.
When we look at what we will create from the dust, or the soil, or the mud, all of that refers to stages of creation, there is no contradiction. If a verse says, we will create it from mud. Another verse says, you we will create it from sand, soil, dust, etc, all that is connected, because different stages of creation from the dust, if you were to add water, in a lot of it, you would get the mud etc. So the Almighty is telling us about how he has honored us even though we will create it from dust. Imagine if I were to look at you and say, keep quiet, you created from dust.
That's silly. Keep quiet you created from dust. I mean, we would say How could you say that but I am created from dust annaleigh don't get insulted. And this is why there is a discrepancy and a difference of opinion when it comes to how a woman was created. You know, there was men and then a woman came into being and she was created by the almighty the Quran speaks about it. And I remember when one of the scholars was addressing the the gathering about how a woman was created from Adam and from the first soul.
There was a lady who got angry and said no, I was not created from a man I was. So the scholar says, Well, what were you created from you have a choice you either created from dust, or you created from something living, you know, something dead or something alive, what would you like to be?
And the bottom, meaning the point was that forget about what you were created from let's talk about who you are right now. Don't let that become a huge debate such that you lose focus where you're heading. I mean, okay, I believe in
The verses and I will believe in the verses and I do know the Almighty has honored me, Allah says in the Quran, Allah pada.
Ronnie Adam, indeed, we have honored the children of Adam and honor. And this honor is not just for the Muslims, but for the non Muslims, for the children of Adam, everyone, those who agree with those you don't those who you're at war with and those whom you're not, there is an honor, a dignity, a certain level of respect, that is supposed to be accorded and afforded to those who are Banu Adam. And beyond that it even goes to the animals and the other creatures of the Almighty. So when the Almighty created us, he didn't just leave us without a purpose. He wanted us to know why he made us I mean, if you made, I'm just thinking about it. Now, if someone invented something, it wouldn't be
a wrong question to say, Well, why did you invent this? What's the benefit of it? What would you like from it? You know, what is it therefore? So the almighty tells us why He created us. But in order to let us know this, he did it through a unique system. What was it, he decided from the beginning that Adam alayhis salam will be given rules and regulations. Adam, the first of humankind will be given rules and regulations. And he will be told to tell his children to tell his children what to do and what not to do. Now, if you look at it, myself, as a father, and all of us here who are parents, who don't we guide our children to tell them what they should and shouldn't be doing.
According to us, sometimes your children will agree. And unfortunately, nowadays, a lot of the times they might have a little comment that would engage you in discussion before they agree or disagree, which is healthy. But at the same time, it's no longer as it was when I was a child when my dad just had to show me his eyes.
And that was enough, totally enough. I just
Okay, okay, that's fine. You know, it's no longer like that. today. You tell your child, please come here. Nah, I'm busy. I'll think about it. That's what's happening. But wouldn't we love it if our child would actually just listen to us, and we would never say something or do something, I hope we don't say something or do something to the detriment of the child. We would love to see their success and their growth. So Adam and his son, he taught his children but unfortunately, there was a little bit that happened amongst them that's mentioned in Revelation, not just in the Quran, but even if you go to the Bible, and to the Old Testament, you will find it the dispute between Abel and
Cain or happyland kabhi. Those were the children of Adam. When Allah subhanho wa Taala speaks about it in the Quran. He says, If
belimbing howdy Hema.
Paula portolan. Like, when they had given the sacrifice in the name of the Almighty, according to the teachings that were given to them, they sacrifice, a sacrifice for the almighty one was accepted, and the other was not accepted. So the one became jealous of the other and says, I'm going to kill you.
If you sit and think about it, in reality, How did he know how to kill when it was the beginning of the creation of humankind? And it's the first murder the first life that would be lost? How did he know he was taught by someone who was that? That was shaped and that was the devil? That was Satan. Satan taught the children of Adam to do that which was evil. So Allah sent to them, messengers, one after the other, to remind them about their covenant unto the Almighty.
What was this covenant? It's a very interesting covenant to worship me alone. If you look at the poem, Allah subhanho wa Taala says,
Pantone gene is a lania bow. I have only created mankind or gene, so that they worship Me, so that they worship me. Now, when we look at this verse, and we don't understand it,
people begin to feel Oh, that's so boring. I've had young children who have come up to me and says, We will mighty created me to worship him. That's boring. And I say, hey, hang on. Don't say that. Do you know what is meant by He created you to worship Him? Even your games, even your play time, even that which is done in terms of leisure is actually an act of worship when the intention is correct. If you were to play a game, cheating and deceiving people, wouldn't you be sinful? Well, then, if you were to play the same game, but without cheating and deceiving, perhaps you would earn a reward. It's converted into an act of worship when you are spending time with your spouse. Or, in fact,
let's
We did a little bit differently when you are spending time with the opposite * in the wrong way, surely you would be sinful. So if you were doing it in the right way with your spouse, your family members, etc, the intimate moments that are permissible and encouraged, surely you would be earning a reward. So that is an act of worship. So when the Almighty says to worship me, what he means is
to do what I've instructed not to go against my commands not to actually earn the wrath of the Almighty.
Again, people might think, Well, you know what, that's also a little bit boring. Why does he need me to worship before what? Well, there are certain things that you need to believe, believe without belief, you won't really get to understand what the almighty wants from you. If you look at the Quran right at the beginning, the Almighty speaks about belief. And he says, he's describing the people who will benefit from Revelation and the good people. And he says alladhina you know, Naveen, ye when you came una sala
was upon
those who believe in the unseen and they pray, they fulfill their prayer, and they give alms to the poor. Those are the successful ones. That's what the Almighty says. So in order to, in order for your prayer to be correct, you need to believe if you don't believe in the unseen, you won't even want to pray. And for that reason today on the globe, because materialism is taking over so much. And so quick.
people begin to forget that they have a hereafter to go to. They think that it's just the 60 to 70 years that we will live, enjoy. And that's it. I'm sure you've heard of YOLO. Right? You only live once. That's what they say. So what they mean by that is just enjoy yourself, do what ever you want during this time, because you're not going to get another chance. Well, that's the wrong way of looking at things because yes, you only live once now but in this world, but in the hereafter you're going to live the eternal life, the soul lives on it will continue into the hereafter into eternal bliss. And I am extremely hopeful in the mercy of the Almighty to forgive myself and yourselves and
to be able to grant us that paradise that he has prepared for us the one he has spoken about. I'm extremely hopeful, and I have a lot of conviction within me that we will earn that paradise I mean.
So the almighty decided to send messages through messengers, and there are so many
what also called cosna
kaaboo, Cabo Sula,
la waka, llama la moussaka. Nima, Allah says, messengers whom we have related their stories about to you, and others who have not related to you about which means the Almighty has spoken to you, oh, Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and the message is for all of us about some of these prophets. And some of them. He hasn't told us about. There was so many. He hasn't given us the names of every single one of them. Perhaps they were in their 1000s.
So Allah says, We sent messengers with what messages from us? What were these messages? I'd like to know. They were they're saying to us worship the almighty alone.
I asked you a question my brothers and sisters.
If someone created you, they made you. They brought you into existence today, your heart pumps more than 130,000 times a day.
He is the one if someone has actually brought you into such existence that you can see you can feel they can speak you can earn you can spend.
Surely you owe him something? What do you owe him? You owe him what he wants from you. You owe him your entire existence, actually, because he made you and guess what? He can take you away at any time. If you notice, right at the beginning of my speech, I said and hamdulillah All praise is due to Allah. And then I refer to the Creator, the nourisher, the charity, the Sustainer, the provider, the protector, the cure, because that's who I wish. I wish the one supreme deity who made me and that's the message of all the messages there was no difference in their message.
When it came to belief, when it came to matters of belief, there was no difference in their message Not at all. They all taught, worshiping one God, you worship god alone, Who is he, he who made you. So if you look at the term ally in the Arabic language, it's from Le hyah, Allah who you know, the worship one, the one who is worshipped the deity alone, who do I worship who made me, whom I'm going to return to the one who has control of my existence, I will actually put my head on the ground for him and him alone. So when we pray five times a day, in a beautiful way, we put our head on the ground, and we will say Subhana, Allah, you can say various other statements of, you know, correct
statements praising the Almighty, but you would generally say, glory be to he who is the highest, my Rob. Now, Rob is made up of three letters in the Arabic language,
and the double bath.
But what it means it means he who has created he is in his nourishing cherishing, he is providing for you, he has nurtured you all along, and the one who's in control of you, he's my arm. That's the meaning of Robbie made me in the first place. So I'm declaring him to be the highest, the highest when I am telling myself in front of you, in the lowest nothing, and absolutely nothing. Look at all of us seated here. I promise you, we're all the same. The same Almighty Who made the wealthy from amongst us made those who perhaps are struggling financially from amongst us, we take a moment to pray for you may Allah subhanho wa Taala help those who are struggling financially, those who are
well meaning healthy as well. They were created by the same maker and those who are struggling with ill health, we take a moment to say maybe Almighty grant all those who are struggling with health cure. I mean,
so my brothers and sisters, don't we owe this deity, you know, our existence? Now comes a question. After we say yes, well, actually I do. Because if I'm going to go back to him, and I said, Oh, you whom I'm going to go back to when I go back to when I come back to you have mercy on me? What am I doing, I'm communicating with him Who is he? He is the one, the one and only who made me who ever made me Subhana Allah, He is the worship one, the one who's old worship, I call him Allah.
Allah, the worship one, hello him, Allah Subhana. Allah, we're talking of the Hebrew language, for example, referring to the one God, the one God.
It's similar to the Arabic language, Allah.
And he has many names and qualities amazing to understand who he is and what he does, and what he has done and what he's capable of.
The fact that we are in complete need of the Almighty, we wouldn't even have been able to attend here had it not been for the permission of the Almighty. And if I can explain to you quickly about that, I plan to come you plan to come. But if you are mighty doesn't want us to be here, something else could have cropped up and perhaps we wouldn't have been here. So that's why we start off in the name of the Almighty in the name of God, why? Because in his name, I hear I actually hear his name. He allowed me to come. When you talk to children, they say how I came, I came myself. That's because their children, they don't realize that you know what the energy you had was given to you by whom by
someone. It's not just yourself, it came from somewhere, it started somewhere.
And the same applies when you have someone who has achieved something in life, whether they have authority, power, wealth, good health, whatever else. If we were to say this is solely and only from me, we've lost what the messengers brought.
Because the story of Cameroon at the time of the Prophet Moses, may peace be upon him is glaring in the Quran, where Allah subhanho wa Taala says he was such a wealthy man.
That in fact, let me read for you the verse The Almighty describing the wealth of this man our own. Allah says, We're at a nominal uzima In fact, he has
been lost.
One, we gave him treasures, such that the keys, just the keys to those treasures. Were so heavy for a group of men to lift.
Imagine what kind of treasure he had today, even the wealthiest from amongst us. I think he just has a little plastic card, right? So Panama, that he can swipe along everywhere. Imagine the keys to the treasures how they were
Huge.
Just the keys. Allah says a group of men, and you know, what was his sin? One thing, just one thing, may Allah protect us from it in gratitude. He didn't show gratitude to the Almighty, He related it to himself. He says in ama.
All this that I've been given, is only because of my own knowledge. But Allah tells him Don't you know who gave you the brain? Don't you know who gave you the understanding? If you come out first in class, Mashallah you need to thank the almighty because he gave you the brain, there are others who may not be have that level of understanding or intellect, everyone's levels different. So who gave it to you, the Almighty be grateful to him? How are you grateful to him by worshiping Him by thanking him? By worshipping Him alone, he wants you to not to take risks in worship. If I were to worship things, or people, or sticks or stones or anything else, surely I'm taking a big risk,
because
purely from an arguments point of view from you know, if we want for argument's sake, if someone were to say, Well, you know, perhaps this, this water might have created me, right?
I'm just saying it from for argument's sake.
Well, one might say, look, it's either right or wrong, maybe, maybe, right maybe wrong.
The fact that there's a maybe in there, it's too big a risk, I'm only going to live once on Earth, I need to have the right answer. I need to say, Oh, you who made me and stop it. That's it. Your qualities, what are they, you are the Most Merciful, you are the most magnificent, you are the most forgiving, you are the most kind you are the most able etc, etc, etc. But I'm not going to take a risk, I'm going to say, Oh, you who made me, I love you. I know you love me, because you made me. And I know there is a reason for me to exist. And I know there is a reason for me to be here tonight as well. And I know that you are the one who's going to give me the contentment I'm searching for.
And I know that all of us who are here on earth will go through problems and issues and difficulties because that's part of your plan.
What am I doing? I'm not taking risks at all. When I put my head on the ground, I've said Glory be to my job. What is the meaning of my job?
The one who made me Glory be to he who made me what risk Have you taken, I haven't taken the name of a person, I haven't taken the name of a thing. I haven't. All I've done is I've said oh you who made me, you are the greatest or you whom I'm going to return to you're the greatest. And this is why when we say Allahu Akbar, it actually is has such a beautiful meaning. Unfortunately, today, when you say Allahu Akbar, you know, people have
become from among those who misunderstand meanings of terminologies that are abused by some, unfortunately, there are some who blow themselves up and keep repeating this beautiful word in the wrong place.
You know, Allahu Akbar actually means Allah is the Greatest. The worship one is the greatest, the one who made me is the greatest Indeed, he is the greatest. There's no statement that could be more true than that statement, the one who made entire creation is definitely the greatest. So when we say Allahu Akbar, we actually commence our prayer in that way. We repeat that so many times a day as Muslims, we repeat it, when it comes to the call to prayer, because indeed, the Almighty Who made us is the greatest. But unfortunately, people have misunderstood this, they've taken it to another level, where today, if you were to say, Allahu Akbar, somewhere in one of the Western countries,
people might run away, thinking what's going to happen? I just heard the statement, that's, that's, you know, terrible stuff, it'll it's not, it actually has a beautiful meaning. The Lord's the greatest, the Almighty is the highest. So speaking about the risk factor, there is no risk involved when you're worshiping the almighty unknown, but the minute you add and subtract, then there is a risk involved. And we live once so we cannot take that risk. And this is why if I were to say to anyone, that if you worship the one who made you, if you put your head on the ground for the one who made you, you can never go wrong, never ever go wrong. Because when you get to the other side, after
death, and this again, is just to be explaining it to you.
After I die, I'm gonna go somewhere. Right?
It's a matter of belief. The Quran speaks about it. The various Scriptures speak about it the Hereafter, you will be taken account of all your deeds, the good and the bad you did and the Almighty will forgive you or he may choose you know, to do whatever he would like to do. Like I said, we should be convinced within ourselves regarding the mercy of the Almighty but when you get to the other side, surely if you've been saying are you whom I'm going to return to have mercy on me
He's there, he's going to be there. I didn't take risks and worshipping the one whom I'm going to return to. And worshiping the one whom I'm asking he whom I'm going to return to, to have mercy on me what Russ did it. But if, for example, I took a name of a person, and I said, You know what, this person, I'm going to return to Him, when you get to the other side, you'll be surprised.
He may not be there.
I would tell you as a firm believer that he won't be there.
Because the Creator is going to be there, the one who made you in the first place is going to be there.
So this risk factor is what all the prophets addressed. So here's the verse of the Quran. Allah says
womma
cobbly, coming soon in a
there has never been a messenger Before You Owe Muhammad peace be upon him, except that we have instructed him what he has said to his people, as per the instruction of the Almighty, that there is none worthy of worship besides Allah, so worship Him alone. In fact, the verses worded in a unique way where Allah says, We have instructed them to say, from Allah subhanho wa Taala, that there is none worthy of worship besides me, so worship Me alone, which should me alone, that's the message to worship Allah and worship Him alone. So if we were to worship Allah alone, or our maker alone, we have eradicated the risks completely. And we've entered into the fold of Islam, what's the meaning
of Islam? People argue that, you know, Islam is a religion that started just a few, a few centuries ago, with the advent of Muhammad Sallallahu, alayhi wasallam. In actual fact, Islam simply means to submit.
If you submitted at the time of Adam, you will known as a Muslim person who submitted. Now, I want you for a moment, my brothers and sisters, who are Muslim from amongst us,
to say to yourself, I'm going to translate the word Muslim,
just for a moment. And I'm going to say to myself, instead of, I'm a Muslim,
I'm a submitter.
And ask yourself, Am I really a submitter? Because the reason I say that's so powerful is it helps me to check myself. Am I really a submitter? Because in actual fact, you're saying, I submit, I submit, if I were to ask you, who is a Muslim form amongst you, we will be raising our hands. And if I were to ask you, who has submitted from amongst you, the same hands should be up? Because that's the same meaning?
Who has submitted we would also submit a sub Do you really submit? Okay, that's another question. That's another question. Because submission to the almighty should bring about peace and comfort and contentment and beauty and the elevation of character and conduct. You should be treating others with absolute respect. Even those you differ with you treat them with so much of kindness, because you'd love for them to see the goodness that you've seen. So therefore, you reach out to them. That is a true sign of submission. submission to the almighty never ever comes with a dread. And, and you know, this envy and jealousy and malice and debt, and the feeling within oneself to hurt people and
to be violent. That's not a sign of submission to the Almighty. submission to the almighty comes with beauty. It comes with calmness, it's a sign that can be seen on the face of an individual. It's a calmness that is unmatched. And therefore, you and I would know those who believe when you have a problem and an issue. When you cry to the almighty in prayer, you feel so good, even though it was just a 10 minute prayer and nothing has happened yet about your problem. You feel so good. Why, because you have that conviction within you that you know what my neck has been helped me through this. And you know what, my makers put me through this for a reason.
Amazing. So didn't believe help you through your problem, your issue.
If a person doesn't believe at all, they would have issues and blame this and blame that and when they have issues, they wouldn't even,
you know, when they have difficulties and hardship. They wouldn't know where to turn it would be a problem. It would be a point of so much of stress and depression. And yes, we are human beings. We could suffer at times. But if you believe in the Almighty, I tell you, it's so amazing because when things happen your way, you say Alhamdulillah if I want something and it happens how I want it
What will I say? I will say Alhamdulillah. All praise is due to Allah. But I want to teach you something tonight, when things don't happen your way,
say Alhamdulillah even more, because now they've happened the way your boss wanted them to happen. Your creator wanted them to happen. Imagine
if I missed my flight, I need to sell him during the overlay. Thank you. There must be a reason that we are Why do I thank you. I thank you more because I wanted to get on the flight if I did. Alhamdulillah I praise you. But now that I haven't I know there's some plan you have. You're my boss. You're my maker. I'm totally at your disposal. Alhamdulillah and then you get on with your life. Was I depressed? Was I stressed? Did I shout anyone? Did I scream? Did I yell? No, I didn't. Not at all. Not at all. I was a happy man. I smile. Trust me. I've tried this, and I am trying my best. None of us are perfect, including myself. We try our best to practice upon what we preach. And
I've tried this where things go wrong. You arrive somewhere at the hotel, and they tell you Sorry, there's no booking here.
Oh, wow, start smiling. So let's check again, try and look at look at it again. Well, can we can we make a booking now and then they tell you no. And then you've got to leave the hotel. It's in a bit of an embarrassment. And you've got to go somewhere else. But if you leave with a smile that people are looking at you think this guy's crazy. He's not even angry, not even upset. You know.
I remember arriving at
check in counter with a lot of luggage. And I arrived and I looked at the lady at the counter and I told her you know what, ma'am? I'm slightly overweight, but I'm ready to pay it. It's okay, fine. You just let me know how much it isn't.
You the first person was telling me I'm gonna pay a lot of people say come on is five kilos. Let it go. It's five kilos lady. 10 kilos, let it go. I said I'm gonna pay it. It means my texture is overweight, you know? And she looked at me, she said, Well, I'll let it go. I said, Well, it worked. Didn't it? Mashallah.
So these things, you know, when you react, we actually make things difficult. If you're a true believer, and you really believe it will show in your character, it will show in the the softness of your nature, religion softens you, it doesn't make you hard. Your closeness to the almighty softens you, it doesn't make you hard. Why?
Because if you truly understand who the maker is, you will definitely understand that that's the same maker who made him as well, who made this one and that one who made those I get along with those I don't who made those who belong to the same faith and those who don't, those whom I agree with, and those who don't, they all belong to the same maker, he made them for a purpose. I am just one from amongst all the creatures of the Almighty, who gives me the right to become harsh against another creature of the same almighty.
But we still become hard. And this is why I've always challenged people I said, You know what?
You pray five times a day, you read as much. And you probably engage in a lot of remembrance of the Almighty you do you give lots of charity, but if your tongue is not clean, and if you don't make the life of those around you good and easy and cool and calm to the best of your ability.
Then what's all that prayer about? Is it not hypocrisy?
It's hypocrisy. You prayed all your life you reading the best statement, but after that, you saying hurtful words. Who is the person you're saying hurtful words to? It's either a child, a spouse, a parent, an uncle, an aunt or a creature of the Almighty. Imagine? We are all supposed to be VIPs to one another? Because we were created by Allah, what makes me respect you.
I feel God Almighty, I fear the Almighty He made he surely he loves you too. Surely I need to respect you too. You have the eyes you have the hands I need to think about it that you know what? The Almighty is made this person I can't I cannot swear them. I cannot be violent, I cannot hurt them. I cannot harm them. And this is why the almighty speaks about saving lives in the Quran. And Allah says, woman are here. For
me. Whoever saves one life is equivalent to having saved all of humanity. Where did that come from? It came from the message of the messages. It's all part of worshiping one God. We are part of this beautiful, beautiful faith that worships one God. It's the messengers from the beginning. I was saying at the time of Adam, they were called submitters, those who submitted later on the messengers, whether it was sheath May peace be upon him. Whoever the other prophets were. There is a long list of names like I say the boron has named perhaps 25 of them in the Quran. There are several chapters named after some of these prophets in the Quran. All of them had one message
While a quarter of a sudden hon ala Tommy, Tommy Bowden, La hamanako illa him are you remember when we sent Noah to his people? And what did he tell his people worship Allah alone You have no deity none worthy of worship besides Him, your maker your Creator. What happened was in Medina Fung Shui, Allah, Buddha law, the same message to medion we sent the proper tribe at the time of Moses May peace be upon him, upon them all. Allah says we he told his people Oh my people worship the almighty alone. What else the Prophet Jesus May peace be upon him the Almighty says he told his people worship Allah alone.
My opponent una Hoon Illa, Mo Tony de todo la have been back home. The plan says Jesus made peace be upon him told his people that worship Allah Who is my Lord and your Lord, who is my creator and your Creator. That's what the Quran says. So it's the same message. Those who agree they are called submitters, those who followed with submitters, the same applies to Moses May peace be upon him.
That was the same message. The same applies to the people of add, who dallisa Isla
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Allah says, Who should we send him to? To the people of Allah?
Subhana Allah Alayhi Salaam, Allah says, What did he say to his people? He says worship Allah alone, you don't have a deity worthy of worship besides your maker, besides the one you're going to return to worship Him alone, any act of worship rendered to him and nobody else. Now comes a question. So how do I worship the almighty?
Well, I tell you,
if I were to employ you and tell you, you're going to be working for me for a month, two months, five months, or you work for me, you know, for a certain period of time, and I will pay you every month.
First question is, what do I do? What do you want me to do? I'm going to come into your business, what should I do? So the boss, your boss will tell you, I'd like you to sit here, I'd like you to manage this, I'd like you to achieve this. I'd like you to do this. And I'd like you not to do this. And what will happen? Trust me 30 days from now. And every 30 days, money shall be deposited into your account.
Wow. 20,000 are materials by the way, I have to say or materials, because I've learned that Omani reels are
far more valuable than just any other else. Right? 20,000 on materials, the boss tells you, I need you to sit here to stand in this way to go here to make sure this is done to make sure that is done. And to do this and that and don't do this in a month's time. Every month, 30 days, you're going to get in your bank straight 20,000 Ria, what will you do? You must be thinking, where's the job?
Tell me looking for it. I don't mind changing. I need a little certificate from the old boss of mine so that I can shift to this one here, right? So why are you so excited?
Because you're going to follow these instructions that are very followable. Very easy to follow, right. And even if they're slightly difficult, but I'm going to follow instruction to the tee, I've got such a good job, I'm going to make sure that I'm going to try my best to fulfill this job. And I know for a fact this boss is such a good guy. He's such a wealthy guy, he's going to give me the salary, my brothers and sisters.
We trust a boss
who promises that if you were to do something the way I tell you to do it.
I'm going to give you trust me, trust me, believe me. I'm going to give you 20,000 years.
But we don't trust the creator of the universe when he says just do what I told you to do. And trust me, trust me. Soon as you close your eyes are going to give you something that you wouldn't have imagined would be yours. Subhan Allah Subhana Allah.
Have you seen this example?
We are prepared to trust the human
and sign the document to say, after a month or a year or a week if it's a weekly wage, so I'm working hard.
And I'm expecting a salary. I'm expecting and when I get the salary, how excited I am. And Allah telling you Subhanallah that you know what, if you do things the way I want these things to be done, I promise you, I promise you, I promise you you're going to get something way beyond me.
Imagination that which no AI has ever seen, that which no ears have ever heard, that which no one has even thought about. That's how beautiful it would be will be whatever you like will be yours.
And we're ready to believe the one. And we're not ready to believe the Lord of the worlds, the one who created me.
So this is where we need to start thinking, you know what, I will get a salary today, tomorrow for one year for 10 years for 20 years, I will be excited I'll be using I'll be spending and have a car and have a house, I'll have a wife and have a life, etc, etc. And you know what? I'll have children and have grandchildren, then. Then
close my eyes. Now what do I want
all your salaries and all your checks and all your jewelry and all your cars and everything else cannot join you in your tomb. They cannot join you in your grave. They will not even help you later on. Nobody can ever write a certificate say this man on 3 billion. Just make it easy for him. Who are you addressing into? What are you doing? So the messengers came to us to tell us Hang on. If you really believe in the Almighty, you would enjoy this life. And you would consider every challenge and opportunity to prove yourself.
When I qualify in a field and become an engineer. Life is about a challenge. I need to prove myself I'm going to I'm going to do this. And I'm going to do that and this challenge and I'm going to solve this matter and that matter and my value begins to increase the more I show the world I've achieved, it's a challenge and I'm enjoying it and I get a salary in return. But when the almighty puts challenges in our lives, then we cannot we say No, it's too stressful. I can't take this it's too much. Because the belief is weak.
Now you can live on long enough sand in Messiah, the Almighty will never burden a soul with more than it can take suicide is never an option. never an option. Why? Because the Almighty knows you can go through it Come on. After the darkest hour comes the daybreak you see the night. Wow, this night. Finally this light you smile. I've seen people who get so upset, and they are not patient. And when you tell them Be patient, they say I'm being patient for so long, you know, you're digging, digging, digging you You're just a few centimeters away from the diamond. And you're giving up come on a little bit more, let's push let's push a bit more have hope. That is the belief in the
Almighty, I have total conviction that the worst thing that would happen to me as a human if belief wasn't within me was dead. But the best thing that could happen to me as a believer is that I succeeded on earth. And now I'm gone to the next stage. Now I'm going to the next stage that everyone has to go to. And this is why we as believers always say it's not about when you die, it's about the condition upon which you die.
If someone passed away at 20, another at 30, another at 50. Another at 100. If the almighty was pleased with them and the way they tried to do their job that he had actually sent them for, they have succeeded all of them. It doesn't mean okay, you were 20 you lost out on the worldly life. How many of us sometimes we hear that someone died at a young age. And later on when we think about it, we think wow, they were saved from all these problems and difficulties and issues that we're going through. I know of people who've asked me, is it okay if we don't have children, because look at the earth, look at the globe, look at how bad the situation is, what type of kids that we're gonna raise
here.
For now I can tell them shift to our man, it's okay.
To make it easy for all of us. But people look, sometimes these situations are tough, you have to keep going, you have to keep going, you have to keep going. Just like you wouldn't like to lose a good job. You don't want to lose the happiness of the Almighty, you're going to be getting something grand and great. So these messages came with the messages. And each time that people listened to them and adopted and understood that he was successful. And each time they didn't the Almighty gave them some time. Respect. Look at the time of Noah, Noah May peace be upon him. even mentioned in the Old Testament. He called his people for hundreds of years. And according to some of the narrations,
the maximum number that accepted his message in 950 years
was just 80 people.
80 people the almighty told him Okay, you know what?
You build an ark.
And you take with you all those who have believed
because those who have not believed you know, I remember young people are very creative in their thinking. So you get these questions, very innocent questions. So one youngster asked me
He says, you know,
if the Almighty is so merciful, why did he tell Noah that just take the believers with you?
Good question. He should have said, just take everyone with you, so that even those who don't believe could have been with.
So I told him, the little boy, I said, Look, I want you to go now to your school, and tell the whole school, that there is a boat that we are going to go into. And I want all of you to come.
How many will come? He said, I don't think many of my friends will come Firstly, they won't believe me.
So can you force them? No. But if those who believe that yes, we're going to go to the boat, what will happen is I'll take him as it that's exactly what happened to Noah. It's only the believers anyway. The others were laughing at him. They were laughing at him, ya know, certain ajarn vida and container via, they used to say to him, oh, Noah, you used to be a prophet. Now you become a carpenter. What's happening here, man, you know, you became a carpenter. And they were laughing because his Ark was built in this right in on land, not near the water. Normally, if you're building a huge ship, it should be closer to the water so that you can get into the water, but he's was
somewhere else. They said, This guy is surely crazy. But at the end of the day, the floods came, things happened. And all this it's part and parcel of the plan of the Almighty.
So Allah tells us, if you were to submit, you will see the fruit of it.
All the messengers of the Almighty, have been through difficulty and hardship themselves, including the Prophet Jesus May peace be upon him, the hardship, the difficulty, the accusation that he faced, tremendous we have lessons to learn from this. At the end, they they tried to kill him. So Panama.
They accused him so much they did. The same applies with Muhammad peace be upon him, they accused him, they tried to harm him, they prepared armies, but they were the best of people, they were the happiest of the lot. They were content. Do you know why? They knew within themselves were worshipping the one who made us we're all going to return to Him whether we had or we didn't have on earth, and you're not going to escape hardship. The challenges have to come. Think about it for a moment, everyone, even those whom you look at, because of Facebook or Instagram, and you look at them and you think, wow, this is the life I want to live. Trust me, if you were to live their real
life, you would say, let me go back to what I was, man. It's cooler this side here. Because the life that people show us online, is Photoshop. It's video shot. It's beautified. They just show you the food that they eat. Wow. These people are eating out every day. Every day.
I asked a certain person, someone Okay. Wow, you guys eat. So well. Michelle, I see these posts. I think it's not such a good idea to post your food every day online. So she tells me
Those are just pictures that are taken off of the internet said you're not allowed to do that. But you know, it just makes me feel good. Makes you feel so what do you eat? hardly eat. I don't gain weight.
So you're showing the world one thing. Look at the hypocrisy. You pretending like you have the best life on Earth. I remember when I went to England to the UK, someone was telling me that you know, there are people who actually go to these these stalls. These huge, you know, designer shops and they try out the shoes and the handbags and the clothes and busy taking pictures and photos. And then they put it back and then they go away. But what was the benefit? Well, that day on Instagram, oh, look at what I've got look at this and look at that. Come on. Why do we need to do that the same applies to the men. Some of them will go to the showroom and pretend like they bought this car and
the latest this and you're sitting in the vehicle and you've taken the pictures and you've done everything, all that is going to depress you just leave the normal, General happy life of contentment with what the Almighty is giving you. You know, there was a scholar who was once asked a question
about being happy. And the question was
why is it that some people have it easy and others have have it difficult, really hard. He says wait. Tomorrow when we come back to the lesson, I want each one of you to bring on a piece of paper
10 difficulties that you're going through in your life.
So the following day, each one of them came with a piece of paper and they wrote down 10 hardships that they had in their lives. He said let's put it all into a box. They put it into a box. Then he says now I want to he shook the box and he says make a line and each one of you pick a paper. It's not going to be yours
and choose which one you want.
So I've written my problems I've written my issues in the paper you've written yours in sorry, the in the box. He's written his in the box. So now the people came in the one pick the one.
You ready? This is no No, no way. Pick the other one.
Not at all. Pick the other one. What are you doing? You reading the problems of others and you're thanking the almighty that no, no, no, mine is mine. Okay? This is a little bit heavy, you know. And then, so the point he raised he said, Look, each one of you is saying no, bring me back my own paper. I want my own paper back because now this is reality. You wouldn't believe when you see me standing here what I might be going through and you might be thinking, hey, this guy must be having a cool easy life. You know, Mashallah, he arrived there with this little police escort and wow, oh, wow, that was just an honor. from from from Oman. I wasn't even expecting it myself. And you must be
thinking, big man big. Not at all. My wife always tells me give them my number. They can know what's going on.
Now, Allah Subhana, Allah, Allah forgive us.
But it's a reality. We all go through our difficulties, our hardships. When you look at someone else's life, it appears so nice, so sweet, so good. But when you know what they're going through, you begin to realize that you know what, it's actually the almighty who's favored me, he's blessed me, let's look at what we have been given. Let's not look at what perhaps we're going through in terms of challenges, build on what you have, and build your character, your conduct, all the prophets of people mighty,
were trained by the almighty with hardship.
What type of hardship mean to be in illawarra? Elena, you know what that means? There was never a prophet, except
that he was a shepherd at some stage in his life, of a flock of sheep, real sheep. So what did the almighty do? He trained his own messengers, at some stage in their lives, through taking care of animals, and the flock of sheep,
all the prophets so that they could be patient, and they could enjoy when it came to a greater message. You look at Jesus, he was a shepherd at the time. You look at the Prophet Moses, he was such a great Shepherd, that when he got to Medina, and he saw the ladies, you know, taking their time and sitting back, he said, Why are you guys sitting back? Why don't you go ahead and sort out your your sheep? They said, No, you know, our Father is an old man, and we're waiting for all the others to go, you know, law learners, we had the
answers that we're not going to take our sheep, you know, to drink water until the rest of the shepherds are gone, we'll sit and wait. He says, No, I'll do the job for you. I will do it for you to get the honor how he honored the women, and that's one of our topics, inshallah. The day.
And he says, I'll do it for you Come, let's go. Don't be afraid. And he did it in such a short time. He was amazing, because blessings from the Almighty, He was already trained in this regard. A wonderful, successful shepherd. What is this all about endurance, you've got to endure, I have to endure in life. All the messengers have actually taught us that we have to endure.
All the messengers have taught us that we have to endure. So Panama.
I give you another quick example.
You see,
when it comes to us, many of us feel that we're going through tough times, we're going through a lot. But if you were to think for a moment, for a moment, if you were to think about those who came a few decades before us, I promise you they had almost nothing compared to what we have, but they were happier. Yesterday, I had the good fortune of driving to nizwa.
And I met elderly people, their marketplaces are so so you know, original, the olden day style and they are happy looking at each other, sitting with each other drinking coffee, excited greeting and everyone smiling at you that love where's it gone? It's disappeared. Why? Because technology is taken over and everyone's become busy with materialism. If you look at the profits of the Almighty,
the Almighty love them more than you and I you mighty love the Prophet Jesus way more than you and I made peace be upon him and the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam we we say to the best of creation, the most noble of all prophets of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And I promise you had the almighty wanted. The Almighty would have given him all the technology that we have. But he chose that not to be for him.
Because the fact that you have technological advancement is not a sign of the happiness of the Almighty or the
contentment of a human being. In fact, if anything, technology has made us less content, I remember there was a sister who was very depressed. And she came to me asking, What can I pray? What can I and I gave her a good answer. And, you know, we tried to reach out to the best of our ability, we cannot help everyone, but sometimes we could help a few. And some time later, when I met her, she told me, and much better. I said, Oh, Mashallah, that's great. She said, You know how I said, Well, I just got rid of my phone.
And I was like, You got rid of your phone? She said, Yeah. All my stress was about my phone. So you happy with it? She said, very happy.
And then she told me if you want to encourage people to give up their phones, trust me, it works. And unlike the minute I say that they'll never invite me there again, guys give up your phones will be happy. Come on, it depends how you're going to use your phone, right, we might want to revert back to the Nakia. The brick that we used to have many years ago, the Motorola the old one in 1996. I don't know if some of you remember that. The old used to flap and it used to pick and make a sound. And the only thing you could do was send an SMS and perhaps receive and make phone calls. Big thing, big thing like this.
But suhara Look, technology's made us depressed to a certain degree to a certain degree, perhaps that's true. The point I was raising is the messengers of the Almighty are far more loved by the almighty than you and I, but what did they have? In terms of technology, I promise you the water they drank was not from a tap, it was from a river or a well, the transport mode of transport was not the lovely Mercedes that we drive today. But rather donkeys and camels and horses, they enjoyed it.
When they went from point A to point B, that when they needed to cook the fire was actually made in a different way up to now there was no electricity, it was just, you know, a fire that was lit in order for for them to see the little lanterns.
We have click switch. In fact, not even that you can you can have a voice command. Some of you might have it was command on off motion the lights on off in a second, see what I've gone on of.
I remember watching a clip of a guy who was boasting about his latest technology. And he he tells the door open when it opens because of his voice. And one day he came back from the dentist to the big mouth. Oh, and it's not opening anymore. Oh, and it was raining and the neighbors looking at him as in technology, right?
Look at that.
Some of you must have seen that clip, right?
So it's a fact we see these things and we start thinking wow, as much as technology is so great, you know, but sometimes it can let you down, you'd rather go back to the original always have a plan B. But the others who didn't have it were much more content because they had real life. They were real people they were true. They reach out to others for me to talk to you to sit with you. You know, I went to nizwa They told me it's approximately an hour or more than an hour away from here. And I was thinking to myself you know we'll see the places and all that and I hope we'll pass the time quickly. The weather was good everything was on our side so Mashallah, when I arrived at the
hospitality was on another level, I promise you another level, I'd have to talk to you, you know, give you a whole speech about it. And I'm thinking to myself, we felt so good because we interacted with real people. We sat with them we heard from them, we saw the expressions on their faces, we felt their happiness, we shared their joy, we hugged each other and we went away feeling like if we had the time we could have stayed here longer.
We've actually replaced it with the with WhatsApp.
We replaced all of that with WhatsApp Anahata Allah, grant us ease now open our doors. So as you can see,
the messengers of the Almighty will not given all of this, although they were more loved by the Almighty. So that goes to show that it's all about the contentment. It's not about what you have.
In terms of materialistic items. Even if you have less you can be a happier person. And even if you have more you can use it to earn the pleasure of the Almighty those from amongst us whom the Almighty has blessed. thank him for it by worshiping Him alone.
By worshipping Him alone may Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us ease I've spoken for more than an hour. And inshallah we moving on to the second part of this this evening's program. There's a common love hate. It's been an absolute pleasure and I look forward to seeing more of you inshallah. Tomorrow akuto Kohli had our Salam aleikum