Mufti Menk – Navigating the TOUGHEST challenges Lagos Nigeria
AI: Summary ©
The importance of fear and testing one's faith is crucial in Islam, as it is essential for personal spirituality and health. The speaker emphasizes the need for acceptance and faith in one's relationship with Allah, as it is a test and a test for one's faith. The challenges faced by society, including persecution and negative comments from media, are also discussed. The importance of helping others, not just oneself, is emphasized, and the speaker emphasizes the importance of avoiding harms and not trying to be conscious.
AI: Summary ©
Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Bismillahi walhamdulillahi wassalatu wassalamu ala rasoolillahi wa ala
alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in.
My brothers and sisters, I attended a kids
kindergarten session, I attended a pre teen session,
I attended a teen session and now I'm
attending the adult session.
In those sessions I had to say, I
speak or you speak, we choose one.
If you want to speak, you can take
over.
If you want me to speak, you can
give me the opportunity by remaining silent.
But I don't want to repeat the same
thing here.
So I won't say that.
May Allah bless you all.
The Naira has crashed.
Are you aware of it?
Not today.
I'm talking of from the last time I
came to now.
If I'm not mistaken, it has moved a
lot.
I'm a Zimbabwean.
I still envy you because it is nowhere
near what happened to our currency some time
back.
Nonetheless, it's not a joke.
It has resulted in many people swimming in
waters that are very very tough to navigate.
People who had large savings found those savings
suddenly being diminished.
It was not a joke.
People who thought they could afford something and
were saving towards it, suddenly found themselves unable
to afford those things they almost were able
to afford.
People who have been saving to go for
Hajj, who have told me, I can no
longer afford this journey.
Now, sometimes a person can become despondent and
start questioning.
In fact, it could result in a mental
breakdown.
When you have so much that you are
losing, yet you are a decent believer.
You pray five times a day.
What's going wrong?
You are dressed in hijab.
You are trying to please Allah.
What's going wrong?
How come we are struggling?
And subhanAllah, these questions are just human.
You are a human.
You will feel the loss.
You may cry.
You may feel anxious.
You might be depressed and suffer some mental
health challenges.
This happens and it is normal.
You are not abnormal.
When something comes crashing and it was yours,
you definitely, as a human, would have some
sadness, some negative feeling to say the least.
And it could go beyond that and it
has gone beyond that.
So here we are trying to let you
know part of the plan of Allah who
created us in the first place.
Nothing that moves on earth except that Allah
has taken it upon Himself to provide for
it.
So Allah will take care of you.
Believe in Allah.
I always say if Allah takes care of
the ants that you do not see, do
you think he has missed you and I?
Sometimes we have to adjust our lifestyle because
we can no longer afford what we used
to afford.
If you are not prepared to adjust it
accordingly, don't blame Allah.
Don't blame Allah.
Allah has taken it upon Himself to provide
for you the basic necessity.
Beyond that, it's a luxury whether you agree
or you do not agree.
Allah Almighty has created us for a purpose.
When I was young and I was told
that purpose, in my mind I had not
yet fully comprehended what it was.
What is the purpose of the creation of
creation?
As for us, humankind, Allah says He wants
us to worship Him.
He has chosen that we will be a
species that will involve or that will fulfill
what He has said but at times involve
in that which He said you should not
involve in and quickly repent because repentance itself
is an act of worship.
Had it not been for the sin, you
would not be able to engage in repentance.
That's a very very deep statement.
Repentance is an act of worship so loved
by Allah.
Had it not been for the sin, you
would not be able to engage in repentance.
That does not mean I'm encouraging you to
sin but all I am doing is to
tell you, you are a human.
If you have fallen, it's not the end.
In fact, you can convert it into an
act of worship that you would not have
been able to engage in, had it not
been for your mistake.
So if you've made a mistake or you've
committed a sin, don't lose hope in the
mercy of Allah.
You are a human.
You made an error.
Quickly turn to Allah.
I have not created mankind or jinn kind
except so that they worship Me, so that
they fulfill what I want them to fulfill.
So Allah says, Surah Al-Baqarah, Allah clearly
says using in the Arabic language emphasis that
we will definitely test you.
Definitely, without a doubt, we will test you.
That's a promise from whom?
From your Lord.
Who is He addressing?
All of us.
So Allah will test every one of us.
Allah says, we will definitely test you.
Oh Allah, what are you going to test
me with?
Please let me know.
Allah says, Arabic He
mentions many things, the first three.
He says, I will test you with some
fear.
What is fear?
You all have to have some anxiety.
Sometimes the concern, the worry, the worry of
what?
So many different factors.
Don't we worry sometimes?
And what do we say when we are
worried, when we comfort each other?
Don't worry, Allah will take care of you.
Don't we say that?
Because it's faith.
It's a test of your faith, your closeness
to Allah.
Allah wants you to respond in a certain
way, but that test, He always planned it
for you.
Allah says, we will test you with some
of fear.
Fear includes all the different aspects of it.
Anxiety has an element of fear in it.
I'm worried about something.
Sometimes people develop an OCD, intrusive thoughts.
You are a human, there is a possibility
that you will have intrusive thoughts.
It's up to you to fight those intrusive
thoughts and to push them away and to
keep telling yourself, I'm a human.
These intrusive thoughts are wrong.
For example, some people doubt Allah.
Many of us may have passed through a
stage and a phase where we had doubts
of Allah.
We had doubts of the authenticity of the
Quran.
Many of us may have passed through a
phase where we have had doubts of the
Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, or so
many other things.
You need to tell yourself, this is a
doubt.
Learn more, understand more, appreciate more, and what
has helped a lot of people is when
they look at all there is in the
market, they realize the product or the what
they have with them is actually the most
valuable of all.
I remember a young boy coming to me
and saying, you know, I doubt the authenticity
of Islam.
So I told him, my son, and remember,
he's a human.
I'm not going to condemn him.
I need to help him.
I need to talk to him.
I have some answers we can exchange.
My duty is to try.
Allah's duty is to guide.
Allah promises if you really are searching for
guidance, I will guide you.
So I told him, listen, what other faith
is there in the market?
I want you to go out and do
some research and check.
If you are claiming there are blunders in
the Quran, show me an alternative.
Something else, perhaps, where if you look into
it, it outshines the Quran.
He came back to me after about three
weeks and he told me, you know what,
I am fully convinced that Islam is the
truth.
I said, subhanallah, what changed?
He said, I looked into all the different
faiths.
I'm not going to name them because there
are so many and the idea here is
not to do down someone, but just to
explain to you.
He says, there are so many.
I've looked at this and this and this
and I looked at the books and I
checked and you know what, Islam outshines all
of them and I finally realized why the
discipline, why the morals and the values, why
all rules and regulations.
Not all of them have I fully comprehended,
but I appreciate that discipline brings about a
lot of contentment.
It brings about contentment.
It might be hard, it might be difficult
in the moment to abstain from something when
you really have a desire to fulfill it,
but the long-term contentment is unmatched and
priceless.
Remember that.
So Allah says, we will test you with
a little bit of fear.
I was talking about OCD, intrusive thoughts.
They will come, it's okay, it's fine.
We will manage them with the help of
Allah.
We are human, we will be able to
navigate these by the help of Allah.
But remember, if you don't want to help
yourself and if you are not going to
be strong and if you are not going
to tell yourself that I'm a human, I'm
just a human, you won't be able to
be helped.
Quick example, sometimes people keep doubting whether their
hands are clean or not, whether they have
washed up after using the bathroom or not,
whether their wudu is correct or not.
You have to understand, Allah does not benefit
from those actions of yours, you benefit.
If there is a small blunder here and
there, Allah has catered for it and He
says, it's okay, keep moving.
But shaitan comes to create doubt, because doubt
is definitely from the handiwork of the devil.
It's okay, it doesn't have to be absolutely
perfect.
I washed, I did my best and I
move on.
When I'm praying, I'm not going to be
able to have 100% concentration.
It's not going to be 100% perfect.
It might be 80, it might be 90.
By the help of Allah, I did my
best and I move on to the next
prayer.
But if I'm going to allow myself to
believe that I'm not perfect enough, it's the
door through which shaitan enters.
And then he makes it seep into everything
else.
The reason I say this, people begin to
doubt their Lord because they are struggling, they
are going through tough times.
Rather, look at it another way.
And I'm getting to it in a few
minutes.
I want to mention the second thing before
I come back.
Juu'a, Allah says, we will test you
with hunger.
Hunger, you will be hungry.
What is hunger?
Today, we were leaving Abuja, at the traffic
light, there were people begging.
What were they saying?
In other words, as much as I didn't
understand it, but through the actions and the
motions, I'm hungry.
It happens in my country and many countries.
They look at you and say, I'm hungry.
Okay.
What is this?
It is Allah testing you, testing them, testing
everyone.
We are caught between a rock and a
hard place.
I want to help, but I don't want
to encourage laziness.
But I need to look, and it might
be a syndicate, and it might not be
a syndicate, and I don't know.
And you need to make up your mind.
How you make up your mind is your
business.
For as long as you have Allah in
mind, inshallah, you're doing the right thing.
You might not give for the sake of
Allah, and you might give for the sake
of Allah.
It's all okay.
It's up to you.
You make your decision.
I'm not here to tell you give or
don't give.
I don't know this uniqueness of every single
country and what happens.
But I do know, in my country, sometimes
you do not give, because you are encouraging
something that may be negative.
And sometimes you give, and sometimes you stop,
you gather data, you get those people, you
help to house them, to educate them, and
that if you are on that level, then
we need definitely to thank Allah.
That Allah has given you the ability.
And I know some who have done that.
May Allah make it easy.
But the hunger was somebody else's hunger.
Why was I helping?
Why was I thinking to help?
The minimum you can do as a believer
is to pray for them.
You are not helping.
Don't look and make a bad gesture, or
say a bad word, because Allah says, if
you don't want to give a beggar, don't
rebuke the beggar.
Don't say a bad word to the beggar.
Don't give.
Respectfully decline.
No disrespect.
I love this verse.
I've spoken about it so many times before.
Allah says, as for the beggar, the one
who's asking, don't rebuke.
Imagine he could have said, as for the
one who's asking, just give them.
He didn't even mention the giving.
Why the giving is up to you.
You gave, you didn't give for as long
as you applied your mind, and you thought
about it, and so on, and you were
respectful about it, you have succeeded.
But there will be times when the hunger
is on the other side.
In order to help you at that time,
you needed to have given at a time
when the hunger was on this side.
Subhanallah.
When I saw the beggars and I helped
them, I realized I'm a beggar to Allah.
There are things I'm begging from Allah that
no one can do for me.
You want happiness, you want contentment, you want
joy, you want good health, you want good
kids, you want a lovely spouse, you want
beautiful, so many different things.
MashaAllah.
And you want Jannatul Firdaus.
Who is in control of those things?
It is Allah.
So if Allah has allowed someone to come
in front of you, in order for you
to be tested whether you are going to
respect them or not, and you have disrespected
them, you have failed.
How do you expect the help of Allah?
But if you have respected them, you will
earn the help of Allah whether you gave
them or not.
And if you were able to give and
you gave something, remember, the reward will be
multiplied even more, obviously based on the circumstances.
The day you are in need, Allah would
have already taken care of your need.
In fact, you might be in a blissful,
beautiful situation simply because Allah Almighty has accepted
all your beautiful charities and gestures that you
have given those in need.
تعرف إلى الله في الرخاء يعرفك في الشدة.
Get acquainted with Allah at times of ease
and watch what He does at times of
difficulty.
He will get acquainted with you.
He will come to you even faster.
So remember this.
My brothers and sisters, Allah says, hunger will
come to you.
You might not be able to eat because
you are unhealthy.
When I was told by the doctor a
few months ago that I have a certain
condition, I imposed on myself to cut out
certain foods.
I imposed it on myself, more than what
the doctor said.
Because I told myself, I need to be
serious, this matter can get worse.
But the food is there.
I see beautiful cakes.
Before I used to say Bismillah, now I
just say mashallah.
I see amazing chocolates.
I see beautiful soft drinks and nice mojitos
and whatever else and juices.
Wallahi, now try me.
I look at it and say mashallah, subhanallah.
Enjoy my brothers, enjoy.
There was a time I used to say
Bismillah.
Sometimes without Bismillah, astaghfirullah, I used to just
send it.
We were kids, even as a human.
And then you got to say Allahumma or
you got to say Bismillah fi awwalihi wa
akhirihi.
There are so many different duas.
But the point I'm raising is sometimes you
can't consume it because of whatever reason.
And sometimes it may not be there.
So Allah continues, khawf, ju'a, naqsim min
al-amwali wal-anfus.
You will have to lose wealth.
Wow, wow.
Who said that?
Allah said, we will definitely test you with
loss of wealth.
Someone might steal it, you might suffer a
loss in your business.
You made profit for 10 years.
One year you will suffer so badly.
Because we just want to test you.
Allah says your currency might crash.
Although it's not worded that way in the
Quran, but it's included in that.
To say you enjoy it.
Now there is time you may not enjoy.
What is the idea?
The idea, here it is.
Allah wants to test you.
Will you worship Him upon all conditions?
That's why a believer is taught to say
alhamdulillahi ala kulli hal.
The whole of Lagos knows that, mashallah.
Alhamdulillahi ala kulli hal.
All praise is due to Allah upon all
conditions.
Strong naira, weak naira, we will navigate through
it inshallah.
We will survive when it becomes very very
strong.
When one naira is 20 US dollars, by
that time we will be saying subhanallah.
At least say amen, come on.
That was the loudest amen I've heard in
a long long time.
I can see the crunch.
May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala grant us ease.
Yes, a day will come when things will
be better.
They will, they have to.
And you know what, sometimes you are in
a good situation.
Allah does things for a reason.
The idea is, when I gave you, did
you come close to me?
Yes.
When I took away, did you come close
to me?
Yes.
You won and you passed both tests.
That's what it is.
When we had, we were not close to
Allah.
So when he loves you, he takes it
away.
Because sometimes by taking away, you become close
to Allah.
It was a gift.
It's never a punishment.
If you come closer to Allah by your
negativity, it's not a punishment.
It's a gift of Allah.
I tell you, if Allah loves you, what
will he do?
He will draw you closer to him because
he loves you.
Anyone who loves you, they want you to
come closer to them.
Agree?
They want you to know them.
I love you.
I love you so much.
What do you want out of that?
Well, I need you to be nearer.
You know, subhanallah.
Allah says, when Allah loves someone, he will
test him.
Why will he test him?
Through the test, he becomes closer.
Allah gives you an opportunity, a chance to
prove yourself.
They say you marry someone.
When are they tested?
When you have nothing.
Suddenly you lost everything.
Do they stand by you?
They stood by you.
What do they say?
Through thick and thin.
They stood by you through thick and thin.
What happens?
You will never forget what the mother of
my children have done.
Wallahi, she stood by me even the time
when I had absolutely nothing.
The five years out of the fifty, we
suffered so badly.
Not a day did she complain.
Wallahi, that is my wife.
Allahu Akbar.
Haven't you heard people say that?
When we faced the hardest challenge, who was
by me?
My spouse.
Allah.
May Allah make us spouses like that.
So what does Allah do?
Allah tests you.
I put hardship during your hardest days.
Who was the closest to you?
If it was Allah, you are a true
believer.
Let's go to paradise.
If it was not Allah and you started
doing wrong things in order to survive, and
became corrupt, and started pinching, and deceiving, and
cheating, and Ponzi scamming, and whatever else you
thought of, then you are distanced from Allah.
The worst of the lot are those who
do it while they don't even need it.
When they have everything, they are far from
Allah.
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why do you need to wait for a
day when hardship strikes, then you get close
to Allah?
Rather get to Allah while hardship is not
even there yet.
So when hardship comes, you will enjoy the
ride.
Oh my Lord, for as long as you
are pleased with me, whatever is happening is
by the way.
That's the Prophet Muhammad's attitude.
He says, Oh Allah, if you are happy
with me, what the people of Ta'if
are doing, it's okay.
Whatever these people of Quraysh are doing, it's
okay.
Are you pleased with me?
If you are pleased with me, I don't
mind, I don't care.
The day you stop praying is the day
you need to worry, not the day the
Naira crashes.
And I'm so sorry to start with the
Naira, but it's a reality.
I wanted to bring it close to you
because every single one of you, without a
single exception, knows how it pinched.
You know how it pinched.
May Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala grant us days
when we see the opposite and we see
the goodness.
During the difficult times and during these challenges,
definitely it is your faith that Allah is
testing.
Are you loyal?
Are you faithful?
Are you dutiful?
Are you going to honor your word?
We say, Ash hadu an la ilaha illallah,
wa ash hadu anna muhammadan rasulullah.
I bear witness there is none worthy of
worship besides Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad, peace be upon
him, is his messenger.
Do you really bear witness or are you
worshiping things besides Allah?
Do you really believe this was the messenger?
How serious is your relationship with his message?
Right?
If you believe he was the messenger, how's
your connection with the message?
Sometimes you heard what he said, but you
are far away.
Sometimes society and community, family and those around
you might make it difficult to adopt what
is pleasing to Allah.
It is your test.
Today I was asked a question about someone
who really wants to be a Muslim, but
the whole family or the tribe would never
accept it.
What to do?
Now if it is someone young, I can
never give you advice to say abandon them
when I have not made an alternative arrangement
for them.
Where are they going to go and what
will happen?
Things will get worse.
Shaytan will come to them and say, you
see when you entered Islam, things became worse.
You better leave it.
Now that statement is so false because you
look at the companions of the prophets and
all of the prophets, when they surrendered to
Allah and the prophets themselves, they it was
already there, but the people who accepted from
around him, they were almost instantly persecuted.
Look at the people of Mecca.
As soon as they declared their Shahada, they
were instantly persecuted.
What happened to them?
Have you read that any one of them
gave up their faith in Mecca?
That's why they say in Mecca, those who
accepted Islam are known as As-Sabiqoon, Al
-Awwaloon.
The ones who first initially made haste towards
accepting Islam, there is no hypocrisy, no hypocrite
from among the early Muslims, no hypocrites.
Why?
Because it was so difficult to be a
Muslim that for you to be a Muslim,
you had to have been so true that
when persecution shook you to the core, you
still kept on saying Ahadun Ahad, Ahadun Ahad,
Ahadun Ahad.
I believe in one God, the one who
made me.
I will only worship He who made me.
That's it.
And you keep repeating the statement and you
endured the suffering and the struggles.
I tell you, economic hardship is never a
sign of the displeasure or anger of Allah,
when you yourself are faithful to Allah.
Evidence of it is, look at Shi'ab
Abi Talib, when the Muslims were surrounded and
for a long long time, nothing, no food
or drink, nothing went to them.
Their own people boycotted them and said, you
don't give them food, you don't give them
drink, you don't do business, and you don't
cheat.
In fact they were punishing those who tried
to cheat.
And it happened for a long long time,
not for a short time.
What did it do to the believers?
Wallahi, it made them strong.
It made them stronger in their faith.
They say, this is what Allah told us
about.
Did Allah not tell you He's going to
test you with fear?
Did He not say that He's going to
test you with loss?
Did He not tell you He's going to
test you with X, Y and Z?
Here are the tests.
They were so thankful to Allah, none of
them rejected Islam.
In fact, more and more came into the
fold of Islam.
Look at our brothers and sisters in Palestine,
in Gaza.
What are they going through?
What are they going through?
Unbearable to hear about it and to see
it.
Imagine going through it yourself.
Little kids being targeted, not one, thousands of
them intentionally blown to pieces and ripped, yet
the child can't even walk.
I promise you, the media and the way
things have been covered and the way things
have been distorted and changed.
In this day and age, there are so
many documented videos of the reality.
You cannot really cheat.
May Allah Almighty forgive our inability to help
them.
And may Allah assist them and grant them
victory.
Imagine, I was asked a question a few
days ago in another country by someone who
said, why would Allah do that if He
is so merciful?
And I said, Allah didn't do it, human
beings did it.
Don't blame Allah for the ill of someone
else's deeds and say, why did Allah allow
the thief to steal?
The thief stole.
Allah told him not to steal.
He stole.
Don't blame Allah for the crime, the criminal.
Why did these people who are criminals commit
the genocide?
They committed it because they are criminals, that's
why.
Because they have beliefs that are toxic.
When they believe they are the only ones
who are chosen by God and all of
us are worse than animals, then what?
They begin to become that type of attitude.
They wouldn't bother and they wouldn't mind and
they don't mind.
To nuke the whole world, if need be,
they would do it.
That is one nation who would do it
without batting an eyelid.
They've proven it already.
They have gagged, blocked, chased away anyone who's
watching and what have they done?
They came to perpetrate crimes.
Here we are talking, restoring the faith of
those who are losing faith by thinking, why
is God doing it?
By telling them God didn't do it, they
are doing it.
And it's not the first time it's happening.
It has happened before in history.
Look at the Pharaoh, what did he do?
يُقَتِّلُ أَبْنَاءَكُمْ He was killing the kids.
He was killing the kids, one after the
other.
He did not bat an eyelid.
That was the Pharaoh.
And it happened for years on end.
One day Allah stopped him.
But if you say, if Allah was merciful,
why did the Pharaoh do what he's doing?
Because the Pharaoh is merciless.
And Allah says, I'm going to put you
on earth, I'm going to tell you what's
right and wrong.
I want you to do what's right and
stay away from what is wrong.
Anyway, what I'm talking about, the challenges that
we are facing should never make you despondent
or distanced from Allah.
Rather they should bring you closer to Allah.
Let's move further with the verse.
Allah Almighty says, نَقْسِمْ مِنَ الْأَمْوَالِ We spoke
of loss, loss of wealth in any way.
There are so many ways.
I haven't spoken about all of them, but
so many ways.
وَالْأَنْفُسِ Loss of life.
Allah says, I will test you with loss
of life.
What does that mean?
Someone around you whom you really love and
is very very close to you, has to
go back to Allah.
Whether you like it or you don't like
it.
I ask those who are married for a
long long time, how old are you?
So the uncle said, 75.
When did you get married?
25.
How long are you married for?
50 years?
50 years.
And how is your marriage?
It's the most blissful thing ever.
I thank Allah.
I said, do you realize a day will
come when one of the two of you
is going to go back to Allah?
No one knows how many years the other
one is going to live for until they
also go back to Allah.
Have you planned for that day?
Have you thought about it?
There is a chance that both of you
may go together.
Can I quickly divert and tell you something
interesting?
I noticed it.
I haven't read it in a book, but
I noticed when couples are very close to
each other and they've lived with each other
for a long long time, if one dies
a short while later, the other one passes
away too.
The sad...
have you seen what I've seen?
There we go.
That means it's happening in Nigeria too.
MashaAllah.
At least you love each other.
It's a fact because you are so close,
your life feels empty and immediately your health
begins to deteriorate.
No one will understand.
You spent a lifetime together, whatever the reasons
might be, but it's part of the plan
of Allah.
Allah tells you never ever get attached to
anything you found on earth because inna lillahi,
we belong to Allah.
Wa inna ilayhi raji'oon, we will return
to Allah.
I don't belong to you, you don't belong
to me.
My kids don't belong to me, my parents
don't belong to me and I don't belong
to them, except according to what Allah has
willed.
Except according to what Allah has willed.
I call my child my child, but that
child was with Allah before they were born
and they will be with Allah after they
pass away.
It's a temporary ability to say mine.
Actually you and your child are both belong
to Allah.
There we go, there we go.
So Allah says we will test you with
death.
People will die, the people of Gaza, the
people of here, the people of there.
What are you going to do?
How are you going to navigate it?
Don't try to solve a problem by creating
a bigger problem, but whatever the ability you
have, the capacity you have, you do whatever.
Different people have different capacities.
I personally do not doubt that all of
you here have at least prayed for them,
have at least tried.
Maybe many of you, if not most of
you, could have also donated to be able
to reach out to them and their needs,
the needs of those who have survived.
While there are some who are so frustrated,
they will tell you that it's not a
charity cause.
It's not a charity cause, but charity is
also part of assisting those who are surviving.
So don't belittle the charity because you are
so frustrated about the problem, but at the
same time we know what you mean.
We know that there has to be a
bigger solution, and the solution is going to
be political, and if you are not up
the hierarchy of politics, you may not be
able to do much about it.
All this is the plan of Allah.
Loss, how are we going to navigate it?
Allah says, you know what, anyway I've got
to tell you the answer of that uncle.
So he says to me, yes we've thought
about it, and we said to each other,
bear patience for the few years of separation,
inshallah we will unite and be gathered again
after some moments in Jannatul Firdaus for eternity.
I said Wallahi, these people have prepared.
These people, imagine you answering that way.
In our case, the wife will say, hey
good riddance, goodbye.
May Allah forgive us, right?
May Allah forgive us.
I hope that's not true.
That was banter, but nonetheless it's loss.
It's a loss.
So many challenges.
Allah says, you will lose.
Then what does Allah say?
What tamarat is one word which is towards
the end of the verse or the middle
of that particular verse, the end of what
he's mentioning.
He says produce.
You will also lose produce.
Produce here can refer to so many different
things, but literally when you say produce, the
farms.
One year they will produce.
There might be a drought.
You might lose.
When you lose, Allah is telling you, the
whole idea of this verse is that when
you are tested and when you lose, give
good news to those who bear patience.
Give glad tidings to those who bear patience,
those whom when calamity affects them, when they
are afflicted what happens?
They bear patience and they say, we belong
to Allah.
We will ultimately return to Allah.
What's the big deal about these things here?
These we found them on earth.
When you came on earth, you had nothing.
You didn't even have clothing.
Whatever you were clothed with, that was from
the earth.
Nothing is from paradise.
From the earth.
When you leave, they will take away all
your valuables, put you in two pieces or
three pieces of cloth and put you into
the grave.
What did you go with?
Nothing.
So what was all this war about?
What was everything about?
Wallahi, you failed the test if you distance
from Allah and you pass the test if
you were closer to Allah.
So this is Allah Almighty.
Allah Almighty telling us, reminding us, those whom
when calamity strikes, when negativity happens, they take
it in their stride.
Allah is testing you.
Are you happy with what I have done?
Allahu Akbar.
That's a tough question because if you suffer
a loss, how can you say I'm happy
with what Allah has done?
How can you say I'm happy with what
Allah has done when you just lost your
husband?
You just lost your wife?
Wallahi, there are believers who firmly believe that
actually the test is for me to earn
paradise or not.
So whatever happens here on earth, I am
definitely going to thank Allah and that is
why, do you know, on the Day of
Judgment, ahead of everybody else, there are certain
categories of people who will be allowed to
enter paradise first.
First, imagine billions and trillions and quadrillions of
people from Adam a.s. right to the
last person, including all of us, we will
be standing in front of Allah to answer.
And a caller will call, أَيْنَ الَّذِينَ كَانُوا
يَحْمَدُونَ اللَّهَ فِي السَّرَّاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ Where are those
who used to praise Allah during tough times
and during good times all the time?
Where are they?
And a group will come out.
May we be from amongst them.
A group will come out.
They used to thank Allah upon all conditions.
They will be praised and they will be
told to enter Jannah first.
Go before everyone else quickly.
You guys can go in.
Why?
You passed your test.
What was the test?
When you went through the hardest of days,
you said, الحمد لله على كل حال.
And you kept moving.
Allahu Akbar.
Allahu Akbar.
That gives me a lot of courage.
It makes me say, الحمد لله, even if
the leg is broken, something is happening, you
have bad news about your health, you went
through loss, you missed the flight, your bag
got lost, your money is lost, a robber
came, someone smashed your car, you lost your
phone, someone pinched your laptop, something.
You just say, الحمد لله.
That does not mean let it go, let
it go.
Robber, you took one laptop.
There are two more here.
Come take them.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no.
We are not talking that.
We are saying, when you have suffered the
loss, after you tried your best not to
suffer it, then you need to know, I
did my duty, Allah chose this for me.
الحمد لله.
It was never meant for me.
I know a brother who lost some money
in a taxi.
And he lost this money in a taxi
in the UAE, in Dubai, to be precise.
And he was frantic, and he didn't know
what to do, and he was confused, and
he's trying to look, and he's trying to
check, and someone told him, was this a
registered car?
He said, I don't even know.
So confused.
I don't even know.
And then he visited one, he went to
the masjid for salah, and he visited the
Imam.
Imam, make dua for me, because you know
what, I lost so much money, X amount,
big amount.
How did you lose it?
No, I think I left it in the
cab.
He says, thank Allah.
First you must thank Allah.
But I lost it.
Thank Allah.
Say Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah.
You start understanding, the money is lost, my
limbs didn't go, my eyes are not taken,
my nose is not gone, my nothing else
is gone, even my shoes are not gone,
my passport is okay.
To me the passport is very important also
in the sense that it would disturb your
days.
But mind you, that amount was quite big.
Maybe we wouldn't mind the, maybe we wouldn't
mind the passport going, for such big money.
Can I tell you why I paused for
a moment?
I remember laughter.
There was a fight between Mike Tyson and
another guy, last night or this morning.
And people were saying, I don't know how
true it is, it might not be so
true, but people were saying that for 16
minutes, Mike Tyson got 20 million dollars.
Wallahi, one brother in Nigeria said, I wouldn't
mind being in there for 90 minutes and
losing.
Why?
Because I will get, imagine, I'm just, just
to be punched up, I'm going to get
so much of money.
I said, brother, you might not survive the
90 minutes.
But the point I'm saying is, human being
is like this, to say, you know what?
It's human, it's normal, it's natural.
I also would, I would say, brother, the
money or the box?
I said, just give me the money and
let me move, right?
When people come and give me gifts.
I'm traveling, they give me a big gift,
sheikh, this big box for you, mashallah, we
bought you a towel and a hat and
a this and a that.
In my mind I'm thinking, brother, just give
me the money, leave the box.
Don't we think like that?
Someone comes to you, they give you something
so expensive that you are not going to
use, they tell you, you know what?
We are giving you this, this something, it's
worth $3,000.
I say, brother, keep it, give me the
$3,000 and let me go.
Wallahi, I'm, I also, I come from Zimbabwe,
I'm not silly.
May Allah bless you.
So the Imam says, thank Allah first.
So as he's thanking Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala,
alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, the Imam says, let me
take you to the police station.
So there is a police station nearby, they
walked together.
The taxi driver was at the police station
with the bag of money, handing it in
while they were walking in.
Look, look how Allah only wanted him perhaps
to say alhamdulillah.
Allah says, now you passed your test, take
it back and move.
Subhanallah, subhanallah.
Look, this is why I say, when Allah
has written something for you, it will never
be taken away from you.
Trust Allah, have faith in Allah, that tawheed,
that oneness of Allah.
May Allah make it easy.
So my brothers and sisters, mashallah, tabarakallah, when
we struggle and suffer, if we have Allah
with us, it's made easy.
It's definitely going to be a sail as
difficult as it is.
I remember always the story of Ayyub alayhis
-salam, when he was suffering with his ill
health and his wife told him, call out
to Allah.
One of the narration say, he was shy
to call out to Allah because he said,
how many years did I have good health
and now I'm suffering for a short time
and you want me to complain to Allah.
Imagine if we had that mentality.
I would ask you, how many years did
your business go well?
A few days ago, I was with someone
who was investing in cryptocurrency and I'm neither
pro nor am I anti.
I'm not promoting it nor demoting it.
I'm giving you a true story.
And the brother lost, he lost a lot
of money because he put money in crypto.
What is crypto?
Crypto is equivalent to birds in the sky.
So what you do, you say for example,
I've invested, I have five million crypto.
I'll tell you those 500 birds, they are
yours.
My brother, my sister, bring one bird, let's
talk.
Bring one of those 500, we will talk.
The fact is those birds, they are not
yours until they're in your hand.
You call it crypto, call it whatever you
want.
When it's in your hand, it's something.
Anyway, the brother lost a lot.
A few days ago, he tells me, guess
what?
He shows me his phone.
I see a big figure.
I said, what's going on?
Crypto's gone up.
I said, good for you.
He said, I can't believe, and this is
the moral of the story, I can't believe
I was prepared to accept the loss.
But here I am making a profit.
I said, that is Allah.
The minute you accept, he then says, you
passed your test, let's move to the next
one.
That is Allah.
You passed your test, let's move to the
next one.
Look at Ibrahim A.S. Allah instructed him
through a dream to sacrifice his son.
When was the point where the ram came
in?
Not from the beginning, as he's walking, there's
a ram walking.
No, when he went down to actually do
what Allah instructed him, Allah says, We
called, O Ibrahim, you have fulfilled that dream,
you have done it.
Allahu Akbar.
Allahu Akbar.
When he surrendered, Allah elevated.
That is the message.
We surrender to Allah.
May Allah grant us ease.
May Allah elevate our status.
Don't ever let the hardship and the difficulty
you are facing in life make you a
bad person, make you snappy.
I want to give you one more example.
As we grow older, our health will not
remain the same.
It's a topic on its own about opportunities
given by Allah, your wealth, your health, your
young age, your life and so on.
It's from Allah.
These are opportunities.
Seize them while they are there.
When you grow older, as you are walking,
you might sense a little bit of discomfort.
Where's the discomfort?
In your bones.
What happens as a result?
You are in pain.
When you are in pain, guess what?
You are a human.
When a human is in pain, the level,
the level of patience diminishes.
Why?
I'm a human, I'm in pain.
These kids are making noise, get them out
of here.
Why?
Because you are old, you are in pain.
That's what it is.
My mother, may Allah grant her a healthy
life.
She's still alive, mashallah, almost close to her
90s and may Allah bless her.
What a lovely woman.
I tell my wife immediately, she's in pain.
Just leave her, keep quiet.
Why?
She does, her nature is not to snap.
She has a cool, calm nature.
When she snaps, when she says something, I
know there's something wrong.
It's a human thing.
So there are two things.
Either you and I, if that's a parent
of ours, we might want to endure.
I, as a son whom she loves, I
go to her, I say, are you in
pain?
Is there something wrong?
How is your health?
Everything okay?
And I'll extract the answer.
And I say, you see, I told you.
The reason I say this is, it's not
going to remain the same.
But you should try your best to be
conscious of it.
Become easier.
Don't start snapping just because you suffered a
loss.
Men and women, when they are under pressure
at work, what do they do?
Wallahi, they vent that upon the one they
love the most.
Because they know they are going nowhere.
That's why.
You come home, you start swearing, shouting, the
food is cold, this is happening.
Why?
Because at work you could not do this
to those men.
They would beat you up.
Yes.
It's a fact.
Sorry, I'm a man and you know what,
we are all guilty of the same.
When I've had a tough day, I need
to keep reminding yourself, calm down, calm down,
calm down.
And I say, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah.
We are quiet.
The same happens perhaps to the sisters.
When you've had a rough day, what do
you do?
The kid, suddenly you are shouting, screaming, pushing
the child this way, that way.
I don't want to say beating, but in
Nigeria, I wouldn't put it past it.
It probably is beating.
Am I right?
Innalillah.
Don't let the world hear what you just
said.
May Allah forgive you.
And what went wrong?
You had an argument with the father of
the same kids.
So you couldn't beat the father, you started
beating the kids.
La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah.
Wallahi, it's happening.
Be careful.
May Allah Almighty forgive us.
Again, the moral of it, no matter what
happens, don't forget your duty unto Allah.
Don't lose your goodness.
Become a better person as time passes.
Seek the help of Allah.
Turn to the Quran.
Many of us don't read Quran.
Wallahi, I'm telling you, many of us do
not read Quran every day, besides the portion
in salah.
We don't.
We are guilty.
Get close to the word of Allah.
See, you will automatically get close to Allah
because it's his word.
The Quran has many miracles.
Can I mention one?
One miracle of the Quran is when you
don't have time.
The Quran is the word of the owner
of time.
So when you make time when you don't
have time, the rest of your day is
blessed and you have so much extra time
that you don't know where it came from.
That's a miracle of the Quran.
Because I've asked people, do you read Quran
every day?
No, I don't.
Why?
Wallahi, I don't have time.
Do yourself a favor, when you get up
immediately after fajr, pick up the mushaf, read
one verse and close it and put it
back.
You can't say you don't have time.
When you do that, automatically the rest of
your day is amazing because you started your
day with the word of Allah.
Who is Allah?
He's the owner of time.
What did he do?
He blessed the time of the rest of
the day because you started the day with
his word and you made the time.
What is your priority?
Prioritizing would definitely mean your Lord comes before
anything else.
With us, first thing in the morning, before
salatul fajr, we are on whatsapp.
Who are you whatsapping?
I'm just checking that anyone messaged me or
did not message me.
Allah already told you as salatu khairum minal
naum.
For us it's whatsapp khairum minal naum.
La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah.
Facts.
We are talking facts.
We are not even joking.
You get up, immediately pick up your phone.
Half eyes open, half closed.
Suddenly you see a message.
Then you want to reply.
First thing in the morning, you are disturbing
someone else's peace.
Beep beep, beep beep, that other side.
What will they do?
They either block you, stop you, mute you,
do whatever.
That's what happens.
Allah will never block you when you knock
his door, no matter what time of the
day.
Allah will never stop you, mute you.
You are never muted.
Allah says, when you are mute, I can
hear you.
Allahu Akbar.
That means when you don't know how to
say what you want, but you really want
it.
Allah says, it's okay.
I have heard it, but you haven't yet
said it.
That's Allah.
May Allah bless you all.
You know, I can go on talking and
talking and talking and talking, but inshallah, we'll
leave some for next year.
May Allah grant us the opportunity to meet
again.
May Allah bless you and all of us.
May Allah Almighty grant us the best of
this world and the next.
May Allah accept this beautiful effort from all
of you.
May Allah accept it from those who made
it possible.
May Allah forgive our shortcomings.
May Allah grant ease to our brothers and
sisters in Palestine and in Ashsham.
And may Allah grant ease to all of
us who are struggling.
And finally, and I mean it seriously, may
Allah grant this country lots of goodness, security,
peace, and economic growth in a way that
the next time I come here, the Naira
will be one-to-one.
Ameen.