Mufti Menk – In Pursuit of the Pleasure of Allah

			Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.
		

			smilla rahmanir rahim In the name of Allah subhanho wa Taala Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Alhamdulillah All praise is indeed due to Allah subhanho wa Taala Allah, Who created us, who
nourishes, who has provided for us, who continues to provide for us who takes care of us, who has
mercy on us, who is very, very compassionate towards us. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us from
all this goodness that he has, we send blessings and salutations to Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, his entire household all his companions, we ask Allah Subhana Allah Allah to bless them all.
And may Allah subhanho wa Taala Bless you all and your families, your offspring, your loved ones,
		

			may Allah subhanho wa Taala keep us all guided and bless us all up to the end of time. I mean, my
beloved brothers and sisters in Islam, I'm very happy to be here with you. And at the same time I
ask you all to pray for me and inshallah I pray that Allah subhanho wa Taala. Grant us all genital
Farah dose, may Allah grant us paradise and May Allah subhanho wa Taala make us from among those
whom he is pleased with? As you know, we are speaking of the pleasure of Allah subhanho wa Taala.
One might ask, why do we need to please Allah? That's a question I was asked by a little child once.
Why do you Why do we need to please Allah subhanho? wa Taala? I think that's a good question.
		

			It will take us back to where we were before we were born. So if I were to ask you, if you were, say
45 years old, where were you? 46 years ago, 4750 years ago? Where were you? You would have to say,
one of a few things. If you didn't believe perhaps you might say, I don't know.
		

			Or sometimes if you do believe but you really don't know you might want to say I don't know if you
want to hear the correct answer. You might say I don't know. But it's very important for you to keep
asking yourself the question, why was I created? Where was I before I was born, and Where will I go?
After I die? That will help you understand why you need to please Allah subhanho wa Taala who is
Allah? Allah is not a human being alive is not a creature. Allah is the Creator. Allah is the one
who made Allah is the supreme deity who we all worship we call him the maker. When we say a boon, it
is actually a powerful term, it means the one who made you the one who nourishes provides protects
		

			who cures the one who's in absolute control of every aspect, not only of your existence, but entire
existence. He's in control of it. So if he created he says, Allah Allah Hoon, hello, Paul amo,
tabara con la buena me, indeed, it is he for him
		

			was the creation, for him is the creation. The creation not only belongs to Allah, it was made by
Allah. If he made it, he has the right to instruct that's something you need to know. Why does Allah
have the right to instruct me, love will help you while Allah Maru because he created so he has the
right to instruct, if you made something you will choose, you will decide if you are a head of a
school, you will decide the rules of the school or you will fulfill what the system would like you
to fulfill in terms of rules that govern that particular school. So if you go back to Allah subhanho
wa Taala, the fact that he made us it is definitely his right to decide what he wants from us. But
		

			now I need to know where I was before I was created. There is only one option, only one option. I
need to read what my maker said, because science doesn't have the answer. Doesn't
		

			medicine does not have that answer was I say someone might say well, you know what? You might have
been separated in the form of, you know, a droplet of sperm and perhaps an egg. What about before
that? What about before my mom and dad?
		

			And what about Well, before that I was definitely nothing Allah says. Hello,
		

			Sonny Hanan Mina daddy lahmacun lamea Shea
		

			has men not passed through a time where he was nothing
		

			To be mentioned, the beginning of surah, two da
		

			before you were born, nothing to be mentioned, no one could talk about you at there was a stage when
people didn't even know whether you were male or female.
		

			Only later on they found out after a certain period of time, or when the embryo was there, then they
could test and see male or female. What about before that they didn't know. They had no idea.
		

			So that is Allah subhanho wa Taala. He created, he decides, the only thing I have to be able to tell
me where I was, is Allah subhanho wa Taala its revelation. It's Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, the previous prophets. They brought that news and information, confirmed by Muhammad
sallallahu alayhi wasallam. We were you. We were in the form of souls, a lot decided subhanho wa
Taala, that he wants to be worshipped. And he wants to test whom he will call Bhanu. Adam, he calls
us back to Adam in the Quran, the children of Adam alayhi salatu wa salam, O Allah subhanho wa Taala
chose that. And therefore He created us.
		

			And he tells us
		

			don't lose the path. Don't lose the path. There is a path, I will show you. So panela you know the
beginning of pseudocode. If you read the first verse, I just read it. Do you know what the next one
says?
		

			In caught up on an
		

			M shajing beta d.
		

			Sammy,
		

			raw. Indeed we have created men from a droplet of *.
		

			Mixed Allah subhanho wa Taala says obviously it mixes it mixes with what you have the male the
female gametes fuse, creating a little zygote, embryo fetus, call it what you want at a different
stage.
		

			But Allah subhanho wa Taala says in order to test him, in order to test him, that's why we created
him. And in order to pass your test we gave you faculties, you have a brain, if you didn't have a
brain, you don't worry, the test is not yours, the pen will never be lifted. If you are born without
the faculty of the mind. Don't worry, if you are born, unable to see unable to hear your test is
limited to what you've seen and heard, understood. A person who, for example, is told this is beef,
he cannot see. And he relied on being told that it was halal. And he couldn't see he couldn't take
it a step further, he happened to consume it, his tests stopped at the point where his ability
		

			stops. The same with all of us. If you are unable to do something, your test is stopped.
		

			But when you are able to do something, your test continues up to that ability. So Allah says we gave
you the faculty of hearing and sight, it's part of your test, you're going to come on to the earth.
And yes, after a while, we will take you away like we've taken away those before you.
		

			Now the difficulty is on Earth. When we get here there are many distractions, so much so that the
distractions become the main focus of the people.
		

			And this is why Allah reminds us to go and look at where you're going to go after your life here.
And I want to spend a moment if you would like to know what the world will be like after you have
departed. Take a look
		

			at what has happened when those you have known have departed.
		

			I want to ask you guys a question.
		

			And I know May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant all those who passed away general fear those may Allah
have mercy on those.
		

			And may Allah subhanho wa Taala bless us all and have mercy on us the day he takes us away to as
meaning you and I know that when a person passes away,
		

			we are taught to make to ask for them to supplicate for them to ask for them, goodness, the mercy of
Allah and so on. How many of you have lost a family member? Please put up your hand Hi.
		

			Almost all or a lot. Thank you.
		

			Now, I'm not going to ask you if you miss them or not. And I'm not going to ask you how much you
think of them. I'm going to tell you.
		

			I'm going to inform you how much you think of them.
		

			I want to tell you that when they died, you missed them more. You cried for them. You perhaps missed
		

			A lot. And as the days passed, it's not like you did not want to miss them. It could have been a
father, it could have been a mother, a grandfather, grandmother, your brother, your sister, your
child, may Allah subhanho wa Taala grant them gender.
		

			But I promise you, you become busy with your own life. And what happens, there comes a time when if
I were to ask you, 10 years later, you will say, I had a child who drowned May Allah grant in
general for those and make it a means of you entering Gentlemen, I had a child who drowned. And that
child I, you know, I missed the child so much. But nowadays, I think of the child once in a while.
		

			We have a father, for example, who may have passed away. Initially, it was difficult. Initially, we
cried. Those of you who've lost a father, maybe 15 years back, you will admit that it's not like you
don't want to miss them. But Allah has kept your tests separate from your father's test. So
therefore, you tend to remember them less, you become busy with work with earning, you go to work,
every day, you come back, you become busy with your own spouse and children, and so on. So what
happened, life continuing, people forgot those whom they love exactly the same way they're going to
forget you, your children will think about you less and less and less. When you get much older. It's
		

			no longer about your father, your mother, you may remember them once in a while and say like, Hey,
Mom, Allah have mercy on them. But in all honesty, it becomes less as time passes. Isn't that the
same? assign that. At a certain point. Your most beloved people will forget about you. You were
buried and gone just like you buried others. And they went and it started diminishing the amount you
thought of them and missed them began to diminish.
		

			Why did Allah keep it that way? Because before you came on to the earth, there was no connection
between you guys, there was no connection between you, your father didn't know he's going to have
you alone you. But that was all a test. Allah says in the Quran, warmer holla bow to Jin
		

			Bo, I have not created mankind or humankind, except that they worship me, it's a test for them. So
when we get engrossed in what the world has to offer, in a way that it makes us lose focus upon that
which we are definitely going to encounter. When we are at loss. I'm not saying don't live your
life. I'm not saying don't have nice things, good things. But that is all secondary, to be honest
with you. Primarily. You don't know when you're going to go, you don't know how long you're going to
live for. You don't know if you're going to be able to use what you are striving towards earning.
Regarding this world. A person is after a million pounds, and he thinks to himself or she thinks to
		

			herself, look, I am going to really earn my first million. And I want to make sure that I get it.
And Subhanallah they start working towards it.
		

			If they have forgotten their dress code, they've forgotten their Salah they have forgotten the halal
and haram they have forgotten all about their duties unto Allah subhanho wa Taala. Even if they get
that million, let's be honest, what's going to happen? A day will come when they have to return to
Allah, they have to go back to Allah Come what may, you could have had the latest phone, the latest
car, the latest home, the most updated kitchen, so pan Allah
		

			voice control kitchen, I'm sure you know about it.
		

			You could have had anything but at the same time you will leave it behind. When you came onto the
earth. When you came onto the earth, you came with nothing.
		

			Many of us our fathers or mothers or parents couldn't afford
		

			even to send us to school.
		

			And then Allah blessed us and Allah bestowed upon us. But it becomes so sweet that we forget what
the real sweetnesses and that is the pleasure of Allah. When Allah is pleased with you.
		

			You taste the sweetness in whatever he's given you, whatever he's bestowed upon you, whatever comes
in your direction. I genuinely am remote meaning you know the affairs of a true believer amazing. If
goodness comes in his direction, he's happy he thinks Allah and he and everything is okay for him.
And if something befalls him in terms of calamity or negativity, he bears patience. He knows Allah
is happy with me. Nothing more I want. Look at Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
		

			He says on more than one occasion and one of those instances was just at the time when he was in pif
coming out of Cardiff and the angels came to him saying we can destroy these people because they are
harming you. And he says, Oh Allah if you are pleased
		

			With me, there's nothing more I want. If you are happy with me, there's nothing more I want, why?
All this, I'm going to leave here. Now I'm talking about ourselves, right? Those who have hassled us
and harassed us, we're going to leave them behind those who have helped us and kissed us, we're
going to leave them behind those who we've had children with, we're going to leave them behind the
very children, we're going to leave them behind our money left behind iPhones
		

			left behind, you can hand them over inshallah, when I'm complete.
		

			Everything left behind Subhana Allah completely left behind, have you thought of it, and we fought
for it. I'm not saying you're not allowed to pursue that, to a degree you are not beyond that limit.
		

			So the true pursuit is for the pleasure of Allah, I will have my iPhone, but I will work towards it.
I will make sure I don't do something haram to get it and I will make sure that it does not make me
go against the rules of Allah subhanho wa Taala. Once you get your iPhone Subhana Allah, or it's
just an example. Okay? I use Samsung, by the way. So once you have that phone, what happens? in how
you use it really will be for you or against you, everything you do, is actually a test for you or
against you. Is it within the pleasure of Allah or not? If it is, take you past it, if it is not
crossed, you failed it. That's what it is. So we ask Allah Subhana Allah to Allah to open our doors
		

			to be pleased with us. work towards it. If you come to Allah even a little bit, he comes to you much
more than that. He's the Creator. He does not need our worship. We need it. It's our test. You know,
the examiner knows the answers to the test, the mathematics test, the examiner knows the answers,
but the examiner will not tell you the answers because then the test does not become yours. We know
Allah subhanho wa Taala has case, yes, he's the examiner. He's testing us indeed. He told us the
answers and he's telling us I'm going to put you through situations you know the answer. My brothers
and sisters, we all know what is right and wrong. We all know what is expected of us as Muslim in
		

			and it's beautiful. Yes, there is a lot of discipline, goodness, kindness, so much more worship
Allah alone, follow the footsteps of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam as best as you can stay
away from sin and where you have faulted. Go back and repent. That's an answer. Imagine that's,
that's like erasing the answer the wrong answer and putting the right one, you know, when you enter
the examination room, there is a specific period of time, and you must answer in that period of
time. And what happens is, if you've written the wrong answer, you can ask for another paper, you
can cross out the wrong answer for as long as it's within the time and you can write the correct
		

			answer. Once the bell rings. Once the time is up, you have to hand those papers in, it's gone. The
same applies in this world. We are in the exam room for as long as we are breathing for as long as
we're alive. You can keep changing the answers you can ask for a new sheet Toba Subhan Allah, you
can turn back to Allah I made a mistake. For example, those who might have committed big crimes,
those who are hooked on to *, for example, or adultery or gambling or drugs, or anything
else. They can say, Oh ALLAH forgive me, or Allah, I have changed my ways I regret I'm not going to
do that again. You're given a new page. Now you write the correct answer. And what happens? That
		

			carrot will dangle itself again, I know of a young man who quit * after a few years, may
Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the strength to quit whatever bad we might be doing, whether it's
that or something else. So he quit it. And then he says, After a while, that, you know, immediately
after that, things happened to me, that seemed to be making this bad habit of mine dangled in front
of my eyes as though it's teasing me. Now you've asked a lot forgiveness. Let's see. It's gonna be
made much easy. You're gonna come, you're gonna come.
		

			That's your test. That's Allah subhanho wa Taala. A person who says, Okay, I'm not going to do this
anymore. I'm not going to drink alcohol anymore. And suddenly they enter test goes in, there's a
huge sale, you know, that which he used to drink so much. And suddenly it's, you know, two for the
price of one and he's looking at it. He says, Allah, I promised you I'm not going to do it. So it's
over.
		

			That's a winner. That's the pleasure of Allah. Whereas Another one would say, Allah, I know you're
so merciful. So you know what, after the sale, I'm going to quit again. If that's the case, there'll
be another sale and another sale and another sale. But when you pleased Allah, there is a sweetness
that is of a different nature.
		

			There is a sweetness of a different nature. You know, sin has a sweetness that is fake. It has a
sweetness, people are excited. It's a boost and you go it's like cheating in the examination. It's
so exciting until you get caught and then
		

			Suddenly your headlines on the news why you cheated after having all A's. What did they do? It's
like those who, you know, the Olympics just passed. Now I don't know about this particular one. But
in previous ones the example is those who won the race. And six months down the line or after the
race a few weeks down the line, it was found that their blood sample was or had traces of something
that was unacceptable. How do they feel?
		

			It's a disgrace not only to themselves, but the whole nation that they were serving. So imagine when
a person commits a sin, I told you there is a fake sweetness, there is a sweetness shaytan pushes
you to it. Adultery is far sweeter than being intimate with your own spouse. But it's a fake
sweetness. It comes with a lot of regret afterwards, it comes with a lot of darkness afterwards, it
comes with a lot of bad within a person, it leads you to something else. And another, it leads you
to take a lot out of the equation in a way that when you're on your deathbed, you start thinking
Whoa, what did I do my entire life? Did I pursue the pleasure of Allah? No, I didn't. I pursued the
		

			pleasure, my own pleasures, the pleasure of the devil, I became a devil myself. I went against the
commands of Allah. People say Islam has too many rules and regulations, I say, he is full of
discipline. You if you're disciplined you achieve, we've given examples in the past of private
schools, they have many more rules sometimes, then schools that are perhaps public, not to say any
one of the two might be getting better results that's got to do with how hard they work, perhaps.
But the general idea that we have, especially in my part of the world is when you ascend to a school
that has a lot of rules and regulations, your character is refined your conduct, people can see just
		

			from the way you speak, the way you interact, many rules regulation, so we too as Muslims and have a
lot of rules and regulations. And Allah says, when I have prohibited you something this is these are
the words of Muhammad Sallallahu sallam,
		

			when something is prohibited, when Allah subhanho wa Taala has prohibited something, stay away from
it. And when when something is instructed, do it as best as you can.
		

			Do it as best as you can. Amazing that's how you will achieve the pleasure of Allah subhanho wa
Taala. So be focused my brothers and sisters upon something that will destroy all prohibited
desires. Anything that is lustful prohibited, that which is immoral, that which is filled with sin,
the regret, or should I say this, that which is transgression, against the commands of Allah
subhanho wa Taala. If you really are focused upon the fact that in a few moments, you're going to be
meeting with Allah,
		

			then by his will, by the help of Allah subhanho wa Taala, you will be able to do more to please
Allah subhanho wa Taala you will be able to do much more. Like I said,
		

			the worldly life is marketed today in such a way that it makes it seem like that is the focus. That
is the main aim. Those people are at a loss. The day they die, everything comes to an end, whatever
they lived for, is over. No, they are in a place where they did not prepare for that's the
difference between a believer and the one who doesn't believe a believer believes that I'm going to
go somewhere I need to prepare for that eternal place more than I've prepared for the few years I'm
here. You know, a lot of us we want to buy a home house. Mashallah. So, what happens we end up
paying towards the house for many years, say 20 years. That sounds realistic, right? 20 to 30 years,
		

			we end up paying slowly in installments, inshallah halaal installments by the word of Allah subhanho
wa Taala. But we ended up paying slowly. How many years did you pay for the house? You paid for it?
25 years, let's say 25 years, okay, because I didn't hear here. Yes. When I said Is it realistic? So
maybe in Britain, it's five more years. Okay. So
		

			25 years you paid. You started at the age of 25. You paid for another 25 years. By the time the
house became yours. You were 50 years old. You had another 30 years if you lived as long as
Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam who was the most loved by Allah subhanho wa Taala say you died at 63
that's where he passed away. So 63 you had another 13 years to enjoy what the house 13 years later
you went, Oh, I wait May Allah grant agenda to serve those. But if we didn't prepare for the Palace
of the Hereafter, which is eternal, then we would have just had a house for 13 years here in the
world. That too. You have roof leaks, you need to update the house, you need to paint it you need to
		

			change the wallpaper every now and again. And if you have a bossy spouse, you need to change it
every so often.
		

			Notice I didn't say wife.
		

			So my brothers and sisters, the idea here is yes, you want your home you will have your home
Everything is fine. It's beautiful, but just prepare for the other one. It's not so difficult, it's
intertwined. Don't miss your Salah while you're earning for the house, the house. So I'm paying for
that house in this house. You hear that? worship Allah alone, that's by far the biggest payment. So
wherever others are being worshipped besides Allah deities or wherever polytheism is being
committed, just by staying away. It's a payment for the euro. It's a payment for the hereafter.
Wherever Mohammed Salah Salem his path is you follow that path. It's a payment for the hereafter. by
		

			seeking Allah forgiveness, it's a payment for the hereafter you paying for that house. That is the
pleasure of Allah. Because a true winner is He who he or she who is going to be on the Day of
Judgment, proud of what he or she has done. You know, the ideal the ideal as a Muslim is as follows.
It's called
		

			or should I say it's encapsulated in a duel robina Tina dunya Hashanah, Warfield acclivity Hashanah
		

			joaquina de
		

			la Akbar Allah grant us goodness in this world we all want it all I want a beautiful spouse I want
lovely children. I want those who will be the coolness of my eyes in a bit of cash as well. And I
need so many other things I need you know I need a beautiful house a nice car I need ease. I need
good health Mashallah, let's do near Hashanah. That's the the center of the dunya it's a powerful
right I know tonight we're going to be saying that Mashallah. 10 times 11 times 12 times no
restriction number of times we're going to be repeating
		

			and you're going to think of all the things I said right, maybe even more so. panela you want a good
collection the nice skin without makeup? Mashallah. Yeah, I know. But at the same time Subhana Allah
you got to say what we are here at the house and and that's not it. That's not it. Even if you would
stop. Okay, let's say, even if when you die, they had to put makeup on your face to look good. Trust
me when you went into your grave that face will still decompose.
		

			sounds gross, doesn't it? I had to say it for you to understand the power of Warfield.
		

			Oh Allah when my bones are decomposed when my face is no longer recognized by human beings. You
recognize me as a friend of yours.
		

			Wow, how will Allah subhanho wa Taala before befriend you when you have made it your business to
befriend him.
		

			By doing what
		

			I'm going to get for Salatin family, no matter how difficult it is. I'm going to try
		

			my sisters I want to tell you something one of my relatives told me
		

			you know nowadays the industry of makeup has become serious. It's become face painting rather than,
you know, makeup. It's become something totally different. It used to be makeup people used to say
halal Haram, we used to say okay, within certain limits nowadays, it's become so so much. And one of
my relatives says we get lazy to fulfill Salah because you're holding in your womb knowing that you
know what I don't want to break my will do because I don't want to remove my makeup. If that's the
case, go without makeup.
		

			You might be saying What did you say?
		

			I'm honest with you, if you have a choice, and if that's going to shift you out of Salah make it you
know, we have cover we have Salah that is shortened and perhaps you know read in a different way in
Germany. There is no verse of the Quran that says when you put makeup the same rule applies. There
isn't. So if you want to make Allah happy, if you're in pursuit of the pleasure of Allah, you will
know your limits and if you have to make will do so what I will wipe it off, I will take it out I
will make my will do correctly. And then I will end the pleasure of Allah I will fulfill my sadhna
but that comes first.
		

			Some things just come to my mind. I'm going to share it with you because I don't know when next
we'll get an opportunity to speak. You see sometimes there are certain things that are questionable.
If you know Helen is clear Haram is clear in the middle there is something that may not be so clear,
the Hadith teaches you to stay away from it to save yourself. That's the Hadith. In Sahih Muslim
it's a hadith of nomadic niboshi robiola and it's a powerful Howdy, everyone should know it. So one
of the examples is I was asked once and I didn't do deep research, okay. I was asked once about a
certain types of nail polish and people told me, You know what, it's breathable. And then others say
		

			it's not breathable, and others say can we can we not so I said forget about breathable, non
breathable, there is
		

			argument, okay, you agree
		

			for one inch of paint? How much for one inch of paint? I don't want to arrive on the day of judgment
and suddenly find out, you know what, all your salaries were wrong? No, no man, I don't want to find
out on the day of judgment that because of one inch of paint, when there were other alternatives
such as hiner, or anything else that nobody argued with, because of one inch of paint, all my Salah
was not in order. And the opinion that stated that it was not valid, was the correct opinion. And I
find that out on the day of judgment in Arabic language called Hebrew gentlemen well enough to come
out of the difference of opinion, do that which is safer, you're not going to die without putting a
		

			specific thing on your nails. You're not going to die without these things. I promise you.
		

			It's not going to kill you. People won't even notice. So what we just wanted people to say Wow, it
looks nice and your salary is gone. Everything's gone. So halala it looked nice, but it wasn't in
pursuit of the pleasure of Allah. It was in pursuit of the comments of the people. That's what
Instagram is all about. That's what Facebook is all about. That's what fingernail groove book is all
about. If there is a book called fingernail book, I can't even say it is Facebook is supposed to be
the face. I don't know they show everything but the face.
		

			So my brothers and sisters
		

			in reality just be focused upon the pleasure of Allah you'll enjoy the world. dounia has an accurate
data. The last part of the job is working at habanero Allah, give us goodness in this world, give us
goodness in the hereafter save us from the punishment, save us from the punishment of the Fire. We
all would like to be saved. My brothers and sisters, I hope that I've touched on the pursuit of the
pleasure of Allah subhanho wa Taala why it is and also a few examples of how to be able to achieve
it to be focused in sha Allah on that which is coming. It's definitely coming. There's no point in
being frightened about death because it's definitely going to come and take every one of us rather
		

			prepare for it. We are concerned we are worried to a certain extent because we have to, but we know
definitely there is something far better awaiting us and that is the pleasure of Allah. If Allah is
pleased with you, you notice your dunya will be in order your alpha will be in order and everything
else will be in order. I spoken to you for 32 minutes and 2526 28 seconds Mashallah May Allah
Subhana Allah Allah forgive us all. It's just been an absolute honor and a pleasure. sallallahu
wasallam Ababa Carla and Amina Mohammed Al Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.