Mufti Menk – Ramadan 2016 – Save Yourself Series – 1

			Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.
		

			smilla rahmanir rahim al hamdu Lillah wa salatu salam ala rasulillah who Allah Allah He was happy
here Jemaine we praise Allah subhanho wa Taala we send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his entire household all his companions We ask Allah Subhana Allah
Allah to bless them all we ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to bless his entire household all his
companions We ask Allah Subhana Allah Allah to bless every single one of us. My brothers and
sisters, a beautiful Ramadan 1437 eG 2016 in this beautiful Masjid in Botswana.
		

			At the same time we ask Allah to forgive our sins to accept from us that are aware that we have just
fulfilled the first tarawih this year. I have entitled The series save yourself.
		

			You might want to know where is this from? It is from Seurat to him verse number six where Allah
subhanho wa Taala says, Yeah, I you
		

			know, poo, poo Sakuma Lee.
		

			Oh, you who believe Save yourselves and your family members from the fire? Save yourselves and your
family members from the fire. So we would like to know how do we save ourselves? It's extremely
important Allah subhanho wa Taala has instructed us he has told us he has made the verses very
clear. He has sent Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam to explain to us exactly what he wants.
		

			And so we will be looking at how to save ourselves. every verse we look at, we will be looking at it
from the angle of adopting it or learning a lesson from it, in the sense that if we do learn that
lesson, we will be able to save ourselves. Let's start off from the beginning. And we will be moving
through the verses that we will be reading through the tarawih that particular night. So the first
night, as you know we have read one and a quarter parts of the Quran and this is from the 30 paths
that we have also known as a desert or the Jews. So you find that Allah subhanho wa Taala says
Alhamdulillah beenleigh me in the opening verses of Surah Fatiha, we read it so many times it is the
		

			most powerful surah in the Quran. It is the most repeated surah in the Quran, where Allah subhanho
wa Taala is starting it off by praise, the praise of whom the praise of Allah subhanho wa Taala
himself he says All praise is due to Allah subhanho wa Taala the simple translation is Lord of the
worlds but if you take a deeper look, the term Rob boon means the creator nourisher cherishes
sustainer provider protector cura the one in whose hands lies absolute control of every aspect of
existence that is the term Robin. So he who is the rub of entire al amin, what would we be achieving
by praising Allah? Why should we be praising Allah upon all conditions my brothers and sisters, we
		

			would be depressed if we did not praise Allah subhanho wa Taala so save yourself from depression,
from anxiety from stress by praising Allah and thanking him Alhamdulillah he Allah Callahan, the
prophet peace be upon him told us to thank Allah upon all conditions. This is why it is such an
important statement. This is why it is so powerful Alhamdulillah All praise is indeed due to Allah
subhanho wa Taala the Hadith says I Japan The Emeril movement for in Amara hula hula Hussain strange
the affairs of a true believer For indeed all his affairs are indeed better for him they are good
for him.
		

			For him number of hula hula who fail everything he does is actually better for him. A believe in all
his affairs are good for him. How are all our affairs good for us? When goodness comes in our
direction we are thankful to Allah and when something negative comes in our direction, we are
patient, we bear a lot of patience. So we would think Allah upon all conditions it would be good for
us May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us steadfastness. Similarly in the same surah we are taught to
save ourselves from being cast into Hellfire from earning the Wrath of Allah from being from among
those who are astray. Do you know that to our we make in Surah Al Fatiha
		

			we make it after declaring that it is Allah alone we worship and Allah alone we seek help from
		

			Allah subhanho wa Taala says, he cannot Budo
		

			stoning you alone we wish him You alone we seek help from. This is the verse of Surah Fatiha, we
repeat it 1000s in fact millions of times in our lives, but do we understand it? It is the prime
objective of our existence on earth to worship Allah alone, we know that. And this is why
immediately after that, we say, Maliki amin,
		

			Owner of the Day of Judgment, why Owner of the Day of Judgment, I want to be saved on the day of
judgment from the Wrath of Allah subhanho wa Taala. From his punishment. So I worship Allah alone, I
call out to Allah alone, and I want to be saved because he is the owner of that day, I'm asking him
in the long haul must
		

			Guide us to the straight path, oh, Allah Guide us to the straight path. My brothers and sisters, if
you and I are guided to the straight path, we will indeed be saved on the Day of Judgment, we will
be saved on Earth as well from a lot of anxiety, from a lot of stress from a lot of difficulty from
a lot of hardship. This is why it is important to and it is not good enough for us to say a dinner
Serato stuck in a million times. And we don't search for the path. It's not good enough for us to
say Oh Allah guide me to the straight path. But we still go to the nightclubs. We still go to the
casinos, we still commit adultery, we are still on drugs, we still cannot quit the alcohol that
		

			we've been drinking, we still cannot quit the sins and perhaps the * that we might be
involved in or watching without even quitting it. And then we have the audacity to stand in front of
Allah subhanho wa Taala and keep telling him Allah guide me. And sometimes we have the audacity to
say, Oh Allah, well, you know, guidance is in your hands. So if you want to guide me guide me
through law, that's not how it should work, we should ask clearly for guidance. And Allah subhanho
wa Taala says, Whoever searches for it, we have a once it whoever looks for it, Allah will show him
the path and Allah will guide him for that particular path. May Allah subhanahu wa taala strengthen
		

			us and this is why Allah says, Guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom you have
favored, not the path of those who have earned your anger or those who have gone astray. Why does
Allah say that because those who have gone astray, they will not saved? Those who earn the anger of
Allah they will not saved. As for us, we don't want those paths we want to be saved. And in order to
be saved, we will have to tread the path. It's not an easy path, but it is indeed the path that will
lead to Jenna the path that will lead to paradise May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us all Jenna and
paradise I mean,
		

			then if we take a look at Surat Al Baqarah, Allah subhanho wa Taala is telling us something very
important. Do you know when you have a warning people want? For example today I've got up and I'm
warning warning about what about a punishment to come both in this world as well as the next that we
all know there is the punishment of Hellfire, we need to be careful, we need to be worried we need
to be bothered, we need to be concerned.
		

			Do you know that this warning if we are from among those who hear it and we couldn't be bothered. In
that particular case, we would enter a category of people who have disbelieved. Because you hear a
warning and you do nothing about it. You know that is heaven and *, you know that there is a
hereafter but you do absolutely nothing about it. What would happen? What's the difference between
us and those who just believe this is why Allah subhanho wa Taala says, verse number six of pseudo
tillbaka
		

			in the Naka follows
		

			indeed those who disbelieve
		

			whether you want them or you don't want them, they will not believe they are not interested.
		

			They leave it whether you say something to them, or you don't say to them, it's equal. It's the same
server on Allah him. It's equal. ask ourselves, we are not disbelievers. We believe in Allah
subhanho wa Taala. But sometimes equality creeps in that is very dangerous for our image and our
belief, what is the quality? When the warning comes in your direction, you don't take heed. It's
equal, whether you are warned or you will not want it becomes the same. If that's the case, don't we
fall under those whom Allah has described here in this verse? We may not be confirmed as such
because we have a man but we are not keeping that Eman intact. We are now playing the full playing
		

			games. This is why we ask Allah Subhana Allah to Allah to guide us
		

			When we continue in those ways and habits that we don't want to take heed, Allah says there comes a
time when the hearts will be saved, the eyes will be closed, the ears will be saved as well. katama
Allahu Allah,
		

			wa Sallim wa ala Juana de militia, Allah sealed their hearts.
		

			And the last scene there is, and Allah subhanho wa Taala created a barrier between them. And this
message by blocking There is everything gone. You know, when you commit a sin The first time you
feel guilty, if you repeat it the second time without taking heed, you feel less guilty. If you
repeat it a third time you feel even less guilty such that when you repeat it a fourth time, fifth
time, you're not worried. Allah says the hearts become hard. And inshallah we'll see that in a few
moments. Allah subhanho wa Taala then speaks of another quality. We need to save ourselves from
hypocrisy. Don't you agree? What is hypocrisy? Those who say we believe, but they're not really
		

			believers, two types of hypocrisy. The first is those who say they are Muslim, but they are not
Muslim inshallah there are none amongst us from that group. Those who say we are Muslim, but they
are lying to you, they're not Muslim, may Allah protect us.
		

			But the second category is what we need to fear. What is it? Those who say they are Muslim, but
their lives are led in a way that does not depict that
		

			wamena see my
		

			mini verse number eight of certain bacara where Allah speaks about some of the people they say we
are believers, but and we believe in the Hereafter, but they are not believers. I've already
explained both types of hypocrites. And I've said that sometimes we are from the second category
whereby we say we are mean we say we follow Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam but we're lucky our
deeds are heading in another direction. Imagine you say you the amount of Muhammad Sallallahu
sallam, there's no Salah there's no Quran, there's no ibadah there's no tilava How do you expect to
have happiness, contentment? How do you expect to be protected from anxiety and depression and
		

			stress? This is what we want to save ourselves from. You really want to save yourself from all of
that, you will definitely need to follow the instruction of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he
is the one who came with the word of Allah subhanho wa Taala. Listen to what Allah Subhana Allah
Allah says, regarding worshiping Him, people might ask, why should I worship Allah? So Allah
responds, verse number 21, of Salatu batara
		

			como levy fala paku, Manuel levena
		

			babine, calm, oh people, this address is not just for the believers, or people, worship your Lord
who created you and those before you That is why you should worship Him because He made you. So this
is why when we say upon as I explained earlier, it actually refers to the one who made you the one
who is in absolute control of every aspect of your existence in mind. That is the term Robin. So we
are saying, oh, Allah subhanho wa Taala is telling us all people worship Allah worship, you're
		

			alone, the one who created you and those before you, whoever made me, I owe him worship. Whoever
made me whoever I'm going to return to. I owe him the fact that I put my head on the ground every
day. I will not put it on the ground for anyone besides he who made me May Allah subhanho wa Taala
protect us and grant us goodness, in order for me to be saved from the difficulties of this world
and the next Imagine if every one of us had to do as we desired.
		

			Whatever you wanted, you did. If that was the case, we would be stressed, we would be depressed. We
would really be suffering we would be ducking and diving from the police and everybody else. Well,
Allah subhanho wa Taala says, Be careful, you have an enemy, just like you and I are worried about
thieves. And we are worried about people who might come into our homes and break in to those homes
to steal our property. We should also be worried about someone who is bigger than just an ordinary
thief coming to usurp material wealth, who is that someone known as a police shavon if you take a
careful notice, you will come to realize that in Surah Baqarah, verse number 34, Allah subhanho wa
		

			Taala speaks about the beliefs and what he did shaytan
		

			This is the beginning of the Parana lies already warning you save yourself. Save yourself from what
the whispers of the devil he's an evil creature. Allah says when we instructed him to bow or
Prostrate to Adam, he refused.
		

			was that? What can I mean? caffee he refused and he was arrogant. So don't be arrogant because if
you are, you won't be able to save yourself from the clutches of that devil. Remove all pride from
your heart and arrogant sportiness become humble. Don't follow the footsteps of the devil recognize
the devil For indeed he is the one who is going to try and trap you no matter where you are.
		

			May Allah subhanahu wa taala protect us from Shaban. So we all need to promise Allah subhanho wa
Taala and we promised ourselves that we will look out for how the devil is trying to affect us.
Sometimes it is through jealousy, envy, the qualities of the heart. Sometimes our hearts are
blackened or darkened or made murky because of those qualities and sometimes they are open
qualities, a person starts going into habits that are terrible. All this is from the devil. Allah
says protect yourself from the devil. If you want to save yourself from the punishment of the
Hereafter, as well as from the disaster of this dunya then Allah subhanho wa Taala makes mention of
		

			something very, very powerful. When you read these verses, we don't pick up some of these points
unless we ponder over them. I'm sure you've heard verse number 40 and 47 of Surah Baqarah. Tonight
we are losses. Yeah Benny, is
		

			it an
		

			old children of the Prophet Jacob, who was also known as Israel in May peace be upon him?
		

			Oh children of the Prophet Jacob. Remember the favours of Allah upon you? Subhana Allah, why does
Allah say this to us? The Quran was revealed for us, the children of Jacob were already gone long
before the Quran was revealed. So Allah is saying, Oh children of Jacob, remember the favors upon
you that Allah has bestowed Subhana Allah. This shows us that in order to achieve goodness, in order
to protect ourselves from evil, we must be people who show gratitude, who are thankful. Allah has
given you so much we concentrate on the things we don't have. That's why we are depressed. We forget
about how much we have my brothers and sisters. Today we look at the problem we have. I have a cough
		

			For example, I have a sore throat for example. But guess what, I am walking, I'm talking I'm looking
I can smell I can hear Mashallah. I'm okay. I can feel I can catch I can hold I've earned I have a
family and so on. We forget about it. We only concentrate because the devil wants us to on matters
that happened to seem negative to us. Sometimes Allah takes away things from you and I my brothers
and sisters, because he wants you and I to concentrate on thanking him for what he's given us. And
sometimes he takes things away because he knows those things are bad for us. He takes them away from
us. We're looking for jobs, all of us looking for better jobs, looking for more money and so on.
		

			Hang on. Allah subhanho wa Taala warns us by telling us that it is not material, materialistic items
that you should be running behind. Rather, you should be running behind the pleasure of Allah. If
that comes as a result or in the process Alhamdulillah we think Allah subhanho wa Taala but we don't
make it our main aim, we will be dying one day without anything in our hands. May Allah subhanho wa
Taala be pleased with us.
		

			Then Allah subhanho wa Taala says thereafter, regarding acts of worship, it's important for us to
worship Allah one might say, what is the Salah? The five daily prayers why one might say the charity
is the arms to the poor, the zakka Allah says in Surah Baqarah verse number 43 what are the masala
Dawa da
		

			da da
		

			da Kimmy, establish your prayer, fulfill your soccer or the charities to the poor? and bow with
those who are borrowing? Do you know why?
		

			Look what it will do for you. We're only going to mention one or two things. If you pray five times
a day, you are showing gratitude to Allah. At the same time your day is tailor made. Everything is
in order, get up early, you sleep early. And at the same time, in the middle of the day, you have a
prayer you are thanking Allah, you have a beautiful time through the day everything is in order. You
are relating the fact that Allah has bestowed upon you
		

			So many things to Allah Subhana Allah to Allah.
		

			Allah gave me the morning. What do I do? So when the bullhorn strikes, I read salado to thank Allah
for what he just gave me. When I sort of strikes, I thank Allah for what he's just given me. And
because our entire life is connected to earning in most cases, Allah says, Don't forget to give the
arms to the poor, so that your heart is not stuck to materialism. Imagine if we didn't have to give
charities Why did Allah make some of us poor, some of us rich, some of us filthy rich and some of us
extremely poor, in order to test us to see whose heart is stuck to wealth.
		

			Entry into paradise will never be connected to how much you have, it will be connected to what you
did with whatever you had. Remember, this entry into paradise is connected to what you did with
whatever you have. There are people who are filthy rich, who knows they may not go to gentlemen, and
there are some filthy rich, they will use their wealth to go to gentlemen by spending it in the
right course. And there are some who are very poor, if that makes them this believe they question
Allah Some say I've been calling out to Allah for years on end doesn't respond. I don't want to call
out to Him again. Guess what? The tunnel was almost complete and you pulled out so you lost.
		

			It's like You almost had a job. And suddenly you stop trying had you gone the one more day you would
have perhaps got that job. But you know what you didn't go You lost hope in Allah. Allah knows when
it's the right time for you to get what he wants to give you. Allah knows that. So my brothers and
sisters, let's not fool anyone, we will be only fooling ourselves Allah Subhana Allah, Allah says,
establish your prayer, give alms to the poor, don't be attached to this world. Do you know the
general percentage of Zakah the normal percentage of Zika for the general wealth that we have two
and a half percent which means for every $100 two and a half dollars or for Allah not actually for
		

			you. So Allah says, when you have $100 in your pocket, it's actually 97.5 the change his mind, give
it to me. So when you give it to Allah subhanho wa Taala you are fulfilling your duty unto Allah. If
you don't, you have robbed from Allah subhanho wa Taala. Thereafter, over and above that you give
extra voluntary charities from your own heart, the Zakah is necessary. That's from Allah, it always
belongs to Allah. It's not yours. It's like something costed 97 and a half rands, for example, and
you have to give the person two and a half brands change. You have to you can't just say, by the
way, it's 100. It's okay go away. They want that change. Subhana Allah Allah once that two and a
		

			half.
		

			So when you give it you've just fulfilled your duty. Yes, you will be rewarded for fulfilling your
duty. But if you want an extra reward, you will need to give much more than just that. Zakah Subhana
Allah.
		

			So my brothers and sisters, let's learn to be charitable. Let's learn to give a lot Let's learn to
give because giving will indeed save us from hellfire. The Hadith speaks about Bella you know what
is Bella Bella means calamity, or tests that Allah puts in your path. It says a sadaqa to Allah,
which means charities will actually extinguish the tests that are coming in your direction. If you
were supposed to have a massive test from Allah subhanho wa Taala an accident whereby your bones
would be broken, perhaps due to a charity that you have given? Allah subhanho wa Taala would then
make you go through the test in a lighter way where the accident happened and you just bumped your
		

			head on the side What happened? The charity extinguished the magnitude of that balla This was from
Allah subhanho wa Taala. This is part and parcel of that deal. It does not negate predestiny because
Allah already knew that the charity was going to come through that's a topic on its own. Perhaps we
may discuss it one of the nights May Allah subhanho wa Taala, grant us ease and understanding.
Remember, my beloved brothers and sisters?
		

			Usually we like to tell our children to do things and we like to tell others to do things and
sometimes if you have an opportunity like mine here, you will tell everyone to do things Mashallah
Allah warns us, Allah warns us, verse number 44, of Surah Al Baqarah. When you instruct people to do
things, don't find yourself going against the very instruction that you have dished out.
		

			Imagine with a cigarette.
		

			I'm actually puffing away and telling my son Hey, you dare smoke. And he looks at you and says, but
they're No, don't smoke. What is far more effective is for you to say son, I stopped smoking. I
don't smoke. I will never smoke.
		

			Again, and I don't want you to touch a cigarette because and then you can rattle out whatever you
want to in terms of the harms of the cigarettes. What's the point of a person saying, Don't ever go
and watch bad movies but dad at night You're the one who's flicking all these channels and you stop
when you see dirty things. The children are sharp they know. So Allah says, verse number 44 Muna
		

			fu Saku?
		

			No Nikita
		

			Are you ordering and instructing people to do good while forgetting yourselves? The lesson is for
myself and yourselves. Let's try and improve ourselves in a way that we Allah subhanho wa Taala is
pleased with us and we achieve the pleasure of Allah subhanho wa Taala. In this way, we would be
able to save ourselves from the calamities and difficulties of this world as well as the next you
have children who don't listen to parents anymore. Do you know that you have children sometimes we
instruct their parents what to do. Some of the scholars say when you obey the instructions of Allah
without delay, you will find your children obeying your instruction for as long as that instruction
		

			is within the command of Allah subhanho wa Taala May Allah make it easy for us? May Allah subhanahu
wa taala help us bring up our children and very important to those who don't have children. Yet May
Allah bless you and bestow upon you children. I mean, so my brothers and sisters,
		

			another extremely important point is for us to be patient, bear a lot of patience. If you want
happiness in this world, you need to bear somebody without suberb you will never ever be able to be
happy. Somebody is patience forbearance things will happen that you don't like someone has to die
close to you or you have to die leaving behind people close to you crying mela grande all the more
homie and Jenna, just today I got a message. A very good friend of mine. His mother passed away
suddenly as good as my own mother. What can I do? I'm far away the best gift to make a do our May
Allah grant her agenda to fill those? I mean, and May Allah grant all the more who mean Jelena to
		

			fill those from all our families and the day we go May Allah grant us genda to those without
reckoning, bear patience. Allah subhanho wa Taala says more than once was in ob savini was Sana
verse number 45, as well as 153 of Surah Baqarah. You will hear the words seek help through seek
help through Sabra and Salah What does that mean? That means through patience and prayer, you will
have difficulties in life. Allah says we will test you, we will test you negative things will happen
to you but they will all be perceived as good and positive through two things, patience and prayer.
keep on praying to Allah keep on bearing patience, don't lose hope. Never, ever lose hope in the
		

			mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala look at what happened to those who lost hope or to those who did
not bear patience. Do you know the children of jacobellis salatu salam, all those who are known as
the followers of Musa alayhis salatu salam, the People of the Book of Allah makes mention of a story
in Surah Al Baqarah, in verse number 61, Allah says, what he will do Mia moves
		

			on you.
		

			When you told meaning the children of Yaqoob when they told the Prophet Moses May peace be upon him,
that we are not going to be a patients with this one type of food. Listen carefully. It's a very
important point. Allah bless them with men and Salwa, the heavenly food that which came from Jenna,
that which came from Allah subhanho wa Taala. They were eating it. But after a while they got fed
up, we eating the same thing every day. That's what they said, We eating the same thing every day.
		

			So they said, Oh sir, we don't want this food anymore. We're not going to bear patients any longer.
We want the various different types of Herbes and cucumbers and corn or garlic or various types of
lentils and onions. We don't want one and silver every single day. So Allah subhanho wa Taala says
that was in gratitude. We gave them something they didn't want it or they got fed up and sick, how
many of us we don't have as much as the others who have unique exotic dishes every single day to
select from rather we just have the pump and vegetable Mashallah
		

			thank Allah
		

			Subhana Allah, thank Allah
		

			and keep on having it and thanking Allah even if it means every single day because Allah subhanho wa
Taala says in these verses, so
		

			Subhan Allah Subhana Allah, Allah subhanahu wa dialysis at Esteban de Luna lanie. Who
		

			are you trying to change that Which is better?
		

			for that which is not even better that which is okay.
		

			You want to change something which is better Allah has given it to you he knows it's good for you. I
want to pause for a moment. Do you know the people who have high cholesterol, high sugar high and
high red? Do you know a lot of the times it's those who are wealthy who are eating all the different
types of food, you take a look at the poor people who cannot even afford all of that they eat a
basic meal, a lot of them, they are healthy, they work hard to panela and they don't have all those
struggles. This is not a rule but I'm saying it's an observation. Now Allah subhanho wa Taala grant
us an understanding my brothers and sisters, inshallah we continue tomorrow.
		

			Allah subhanho wa Taala makes mention of something very interesting. I will close with it in sha
Allah. Allah says those people who are not patient, with that food that we bestowed upon them, we
converted them or we effect we inflicted upon them humiliation and poverty. Why? Because they did
not appreciate the need and the gifts of Allah upon them. When you don't appreciate what Allah has
given you. He takes it away and replaces it with something worse. Remember that so thank Allah even
if you have to eat the same thing every day. Even if you are leading a life that may not be as high
as you wanted it to be keep on thanking Allah who knows he might take it away from you and replace
		

			it with something worse. Look at those across the globe who don't even have what you have, when I
have May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us be thankful.
		

			Subhan Allah Subhana Allah humblebee Hamdi the shadow Allah Allah highlanda