Ramadan 2017 – Save Yourself – Part 2 – Episode 18
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Channel: Mufti Menk
Series: Mufti Menk - Ramadan 2017
Episode Notes
Taraweeh Lecture at Masjidul Quds Gatesville Cape Town
Date : 12th June 2017
Topic : Save Ourselves Part 2
Speaker : Mufti Ismail Menk
Episode Transcript
© No part of this transcript may be copied or referenced or transmitted in any way whatsoever. Transcripts are auto-generated and thus will be be inaccurate. We are working on a system to allow volunteers to edit transcripts in a controlled system.
Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.
smilla rahmanir rahim al hamdu Lillah wa salatu salam ala rasulillah.
Ali he was happy when
we praise Allah subhanho wa Taala. We thank him upon all conditions we send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his household his companions May Allah subhanho wa Taala bless them all and bless every one of us, grant us goodness in this beautiful month of Ramadan, my brothers and sisters,
we know of many prophets of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And I'm sure we know many of the names of a lot of the prophets of Allah subhanho wa Taala. But the exact number of prophets we don't know we were not told. So Allah subhanho wa Taala says from among them, he gave some of the stories to us, some of them he didn't. And in the Quran, he has made mention of stories of some who are not even prophets, because of the value of the statement and the speech that perhaps they had stated or because of the lesson derived from their life or from something that happened. An example of this is Look man, look, man was not a prophet of Allah subhanho wa Taala melas peace be upon him to he was
an African from Africa. According to the narrations. He was from Sudan, what is known as a nova, and he was a very wise man, he was known as Al Hakim, the wise, there is an entire surah named after this man, even though according to the most correct opinion, he was not a prophet of Allah subhanho wa Taala. But his advice to his son is what held value such that in the eyes of Allah subhanho wa Taala, Allah chose to make mention of it in the Quran. Now, the point I want to raise is my brothers and sisters, if you speak good, do you know that Allah speaks about you to the angels? If you encourage people to do good, Allah talks about you if you get the people and you actually are
encouraging them regarding the word of Allah, the Quran, Allah houfy manga, the Hadith says Allah makes mention of this gathering with the angels and Allah subhanho wa Taala literally boasts to the angels to say look at my worshipers, they are worshiping me against the shape on and shape ons promise, they have defied the devil. They have come and they have actually worshipped me they are encouraging one another to come closer to me. So my brothers and sisters, don't think for a moment that Allah subhanho wa Taala is unaware For indeed, not only is he aware, but he even mentions us he knows everyone by name. He knows everyone. Absolutely personally he knows more about me than I know
about myself, is that he will general May Allah subhanho wa Taala Have mercy on every one of us. We started yesterday making mention of Luqman and what he had said to his son, the first point he makes mention of Yamuna Yalla to Sri Lanka in a ship cannibal mon alim or my son, do not associate partners with Allah for indeed associating partners with Allah is the great transgression the great operation, it is totally wrong. That's the first piece of advice. So we save ourselves from calamity and disaster by worshipping Allah alone. And by protecting ourselves from association of partnership with Allah subhanho wa Taala. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us protection thereafter, I spoke at
length yesterday about the parents and how important it is for us to respect our parents, no matter what. Today I want to continue with some of that advice of Luqman al Hakim, the wise, he says, Oh, my son fulfill and establish your prayer. At that time. The prayer was not like ours five times a day. It was different, but there was an injunction regarding prayer. There was an obligation regarding prayer. He says, Yeah, bonanni Athenian salata. Oh my son, fulfill your prayer. Why? Because you will save yourself from the calamities you become closer to Allah your maker. You know today we are seated here Mashallah. It's a very cold evening here in Cape Town. And you know, the
rains and the winds that have been Subhanallah persistent for the last perhaps 10 days. And you know, how it feels how difficult it is we come, we warm ourselves, we make a plan we arrive we'd like Subhanallah the temperature in the masjid to be good. Do you know one day you will not exist anymore on Earth, one day, all your clothing and everything you have and whatever you are worth will actually be zero except your deeds that you have done for the sake of Allah subhanho wa Taala. We are all whether you like it or not, we are all going to cross over into the hereafter. Even those who don't believe in the Hereafter, they have to cross over whether they like it or not into the
hereafter. So panela it's something amazing because they will not even be able to tell you where they go. At least with us. We know we are convinced where we are
To go May Allah subhanho wa Taala take us to a better place. So you want to prepare for the day be a better person, improve your link with Allah start off with your five daily Salah in our case they are five Salah come on you can do better my brothers and sisters Save yourselves. We are struggling on Earth. I'm sure we can do better regarding these five daily prayers, my brothers and sisters Enough is enough. We are suffering so much on the earth. Each one of us individually we have problems. Start off with your Salah, start off with your Salah, look at Look, man, Allah makes mention of him. He's encouraging his son, oh my son, fulfill your Salah. It has to have been
something absolutely important. So this is a very important point. Then he says what more Bill Murray have won her Anil munkar encourage people to do good. Encourage them to do good discourage them from bad in a beautiful way. When you are encouraging people. Don't insult them, don't swear them. Don't belittle them, encourage them in a lovely way. When you want someone to do good whether it's your children or anyone in society or community or anyone anywhere across the globe, if you are to choose a beautiful way of communicating with them, the chances of them listening to you are far greater than if you were to insult or if you were to be disrespectful, or even just abrupt May Allah
subhanahu wa taala help us to use good words to encourage people, because people generally have within them the capacity to be good. And they are very receptive to a good method and a smile on the face. This is why it's important for us to use that which Allah has bestowed upon us in terms of the methods of communication so that we can actually get the message of Allah, more importantly, to everyone else, and ourselves included, then when we discourage people from bad again, do not be literal, Do not insult, do not curse, choose the prophetic way. Someone is doing something bad, you need to be so concerned about them that when you speak to them, you need to think within yourself. I
hope I don't make them worse. Sometimes the way we communicate with people, we make them worse. We drive them further away from the machine. I recall Once there was a youngster who walked into the machine after a long, long pause, and he had a T shirt which had at the back a picture of some popstar and he walked into the machine and people knew that this youngster has not been in the machine for a long time. And one brother actually insulted him and told him get lost get out of the machine you don't understand. This is very bad. How could you wear this? How could you do that? And you know what? I noticed an elderly man who went to the back of the machine. And this youngster was
shocked he wanted to get up and punch someone but the elderly man said, Son come here. You know their jackets at the back. He got a little jacket a coat he said don't worry, ignore him. He doesn't know just wear this fulfill your prey Subhanallah look at the elderly look at how wise they are. That one was driving and this man was a religious man but he didn't have wisdom. He was driving the young boy out of the masjid. You can solve the problem. It is not difficult to panela you can resolve it very easily. Give him your own jacket away or at least explain to him the next time when he comes he'll feel welcome so panela A man came and peed in the masjid the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam was present. You know what the prophet sallallahu Sallam did not rebuke him and told the people don't rebuke him if they did rebuked him, he may never have come to the masjid again. Subhan Allah Subhana Allah. So this is something we learn from the story of Luqman was B Rama Saba The third thing The fourth thing, be patient regarding that which has hit you that which has come in your direction, be patient regarding that all of us, we will have calamity, disaster, difficulty, hardship, any form of adversity, be patient sobre is the key, the key to the happiness of Allah subhanho wa Taala. Remember this because Allah is the one who decides and decrees when you
are happy with the decree of Allah. It's known as a river bill Kava to be happy with that which Allah has decided. It's a very, very high level of belief in conviction and closeness to Allah subhanho wa Taala. I'd like to move further Subhan Allah He teaches his son how to treat people we spoke about respect yesterday, but the verse verse number 18 of the surah number 31 of the Quran, Allah subhanho wa Taala says, Look, man tells his son Wallah to suck a hot duckling, Sinhala Thomas even alima raha don't turn your cheek against the people in arrogance and haughtiness, and don't walk with pride on Earth. He's telling his son, Allah love that advice so much that it's really it's
read in the Quran, in the Word of Allah, Allah spoke these words and Allah that's how much I love this advice. So let's learn to advise one another. So perhaps Allah can love our words too. Obviously the Quran is is revealed already. It's already sealed and complete, but at least we can earn the love of Allah by saying good words if Allah loves these words so much when that man advised his son What about us?
advising one another and our own children. Then he says, Oh my son wako CDFI machig what would mean? Celtic in
Kerala, Swati lasagna. Hamid Oh my son. When you walk, walk with humbleness, humility, make sure that you don't walk in such a way that you give the idea and impression to people that you are haughty. You are arrogant, you are bigger than them. No, you are just a number. like everybody else. You are just like everyone else. The day that Allah gives you your book in your right hand. That is the day you can consider yourself successful. Up to that day. You ought to be worried May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us May Allah grant us ease then he says oh my son Lower your voice. When you speak no need to scream and yell No need to shout No need to raise your voice such that you sound
like a donkey. The you know what the Hadith you know what the verse says? The worst sound is that of a brain as a brain donkey. Why? It makes a noise. It's loud. nobody hears it disturbs it is irritating. That's how some people operate. They talk loud, they scream they irritate no one understands what they're saying. The Quran says the worst sound is this. You are supposed to lower your voice speak nicely, respectfully with the people no matter what you'd like to say. Anyway, that is as far as I'm going to speak about Seurat look man. And I asked Allah subhanho wa Taala to help us to save ourselves from the difficulties calamities within society, community and even in our
social living. Look at the advice of local man, it encompassed worshiping Allah, then the parents and then general advice regarding everyone else, threefold May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us acknowledge this and learn from it. I mean,
we have another beautiful Surah Surah number 32 of the Quran surah number 32. That surah is read and repeated by us. I'm sure a lot of us you know, in Salah on a Friday, a lot of the time the Imam because of the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu sallam, he may just start off Alif.
Me and you know now he's going to lengthen it a bit because this is a sooner it is sort of such that but what is it in the surah my brothers and sisters there is a lot in the surah but it is named after the prostration the prostration those who truly believe and this is in verse number 15 of that surah those who truly believe whenever they are reminded of the verses of Allah subhanho wa Taala they fall prostrate. Some people when we are reminded of Allah, we get angry, we get upset, we go further away, save yourself someone is sent to you by Allah, they may not have chosen the best method because perhaps they are human beings. But if what they are saying is correct, soften up.
Allah loves those who soften up. So Allah says the true believers are those whom when they are reminded of the verses of Allah, they drop in prostration and in the next verse, Allah says that the Jaffa Juno boohooman, l Moto G Yeah, the owner of Bahama
Mama at night, their sides forsake their biddings because they are calling out to Allah in hope and fear how many of us call out to Allah we forsake our bidding sit up in your bidding and cry out to Allah Oh Allah I'm in need I need you Yeah, Allah we talking here of da supplication. You know, people say okay, I don't know it's time of the head. Dude, I might not be able to get up I might be lazy. I might be this. My brothers and sisters, when the third of the night remains. Allah subhanho wa Taala descends to the lowest heaven calling out Is there anyone who wants anything that I can give them? You know what a lot of us are just sleeping, set your clock for the time, no one said you
have to read Salatu tahajjud. You can get up and make just at least call out to Allah. This Allah says Yeah.
How often what a man, these people call out to Allah. When in the darkness of the night, they make sure that their sides have forsaken the beddings How many of us are ready to do this yet we are in need. We are desperate, every one of us here and all those listening and all those viewing and whoever may see this ever again. We are all in desperate need of the mercy of Allah. Ask him for it. May Allah have mercy on us. May Allah forgive us? May Allah help us all in the difficulties and challenges that we are going through in our lives. I mean, my brothers and sisters, what a great creator of ours, what the merciful Lord, He is telling us call out to me, I'll give it to you. The
difficulty is we don't imagine when you're sitting on a table. And you need for example, the ketchup that is on the other side of the table and you're just sitting looking at everyone at the table and looking they're expecting people to understand that you know what, this is supposed to come here. So Allah is just looking at it. It's not going to suddenly come up and get there. You know, the mercy of Allah can do miracles for you. Yes, indeed. But in the same way, you know, you
You've got to ask for what you want. Allah has kept it an act of worship to ask him what you want, even though he knows what you want, because he wants you to soften up to admit that he is the king. He is the Lord. He is the owner. He owns you. So when you ask him, you are acknowledging You are nothing He is the Lord. May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us understand his greatness.
Then Allah subhanho wa Taala in the next surah which is a very, very beautiful powerful surah Allah subhanho wa Taala commences this Surah Surah number 33 of this beautiful quote
by making mention of several matters, one of them Allah says, Masha Allah Allah Julio Julio
polyethyleneimine jiofi. Allah has not created any man with two hearts in his
throat or in his chest, the upper part of his chest. Allah has not created two hearts in a person. Now one might ask, why did Allah subhanho wa Taala reveal this? Sometimes, you know, my brothers and sisters, a dual role that a person plays sometimes Allah subhanho wa Taala is drawing our attention to the fact that hang on, there is one thing that Allah has created you by and for. Remember, at that time Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had taken a young man known as a dibny haritha radi Allahu anhu, who was given to him by his wife as a slave, but he freed him. And he used to be called zedi bin Muhammad
sallallahu alayhi wasallam. So Allah wanted to clarify that hang on, don't hide this lineage. And don't let it be a means of deception. Just be clear, this is a given haritha This is a son of haritha. Don't let them say Zayed bin Mohammed because that is confusing. And it is wrong in the eyes of Allah. So Allah subhanho wa Taala says they cannot be two lineages with one man, you cannot have both the correct one is they they've inherited. So Allah subhanho wa Taala. Thereafter, in the next verse number five, Allah says, who the only Abba
de la, call them with their father's names, that is justice in the eyes of Allah subhanho wa Taala.
Now, there is another matter addressed here as well. And that is the difficulty where people were telling their wives when they were not interested anymore in fulfilling the rights of their elderly wives, or those perhaps who may have become a little bit older, etc. They used to say, you know what, you're just like my mother. And when they say you're just like my mother, the idea was to stay away from them to say, now you can just look after the kids as for the fulfillment of your rights, and you know, the the intimate rights and so on, that's okay, it's fine. Allah says, How dare you say this, this is prohibited, it is wrong, and it could be equivalent to divorce, if you're not
careful. You cannot equate your wife with someone who's a Muharram. You cannot do that with the intention of insulting her and telling her that I'm no longer going to fulfill your rights and your duties. Let's save ourselves from insulting our wives. They have given birth, they have been our children, we need to respect and honor the changes that may have taken place in their bodies as a result.
It has to happen it's a test for you the time you married her she might have been some had a lot, you know, improved property.
I'm not saying that women should allow themselves to you know, to to race themselves without even being concerned about what they look like. No, but I am saying that sometimes we as men do not appreciate what they've been through for us. And we just say words that are so hurtful, yet they have sacrificed for us well life, that is your wife that is the mother of your children. Be careful how you speak to them. So Allah subhanho wa Taala says when Masha Allah, Allah
Allah says those women whom you call your mothers and you are engaged in something known as the heart, the heart is to assimilate your wife to your mother. They are not your mother's How dare you say that? Allah warns the men Watch out. Watch these statements. Be careful another woman, she has taken care of your your children. Subhana Allah.
May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the ability to save ourselves and our homes from disaster because of the bad tongue we have sometimes Subhan Allah and I've heard some really nasty words. Some good people, you can't believe the man is fulfilling Salah he's a decent person, but listen to what he says to his wife. Listen to how he treats his children, his mother, etc. Voila. It's unacceptable. If you don't have anything good to say remain silent. But if you are a husband create good words to say to your spouse because if you don't say them, what do you expect?
To get those words from May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us and guide us.
So my brothers and sisters, that is a very, very interesting point, the point of naming the children, it's important for us to realize that we are not allowed to hide lineage, because that is sacred is chosen from Allah subhanho wa Taala. And it's important for us also to realize that we need to be careful the way we address our wives. In that way, we will be able to live in harmony and peace and Alhamdulillah the mercy of Allah will descend upon us. And we ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to grant us forgiveness for what we may have said in the past, make amends, make amends, never lose hope. admit your error, and you are wrong. say so. And tell yourself I'm not going to do this again.
Go back home. Look at the mother of your children. And feel within your heart, that connection and say to yourself, you know what, this is a human being. This is somebody whose daughter, this is somebody whose child I need definitely to appreciate and acknowledge that I am going to die I may die anytime now. I'd rather die having pleased Allah regarding one of his beloved creatures whom destiny had brought me together with May Allah subhanho wa Taala contest ease.
Let's move on the same surah Allah says again regarding the favors of Allah, regarding the favors of Allah, verse number nine. Yeah, are you Hello Lavina Manoj Cooney
This was speaking about the favors of Allah when Allah protected the believers from the enemy. But I want to take it further and tell you so many places in the Quran, Allah says oh you who believe. Remember the favors of Allah upon you. Allah has bestowed upon you favor upon favor. Remember, by sitting and thinking of the favors of Allah, you are actually engaged in an act of worship. Did you know that when you sit down you think what has given me Okay, he gave me eyes, he gave me a nose he gave me this he gave me that when you sit and think about what Allah has given you. SubhanAllah the food we have, even if it's dates, more or less, look at what others do not have. These are the
favors of Allah sit and thank Allah. Allah says yeah, you have Medina, amen. Oh you who believe gurunath Allah Allah can remember the favors of Allah upon you, he has bestowed upon you so much. No matter who you are, you may have less but you are favored by Allah, you may have more you are favored by Allah. Remember the favors and when you remember the favors of Allah, they should draw you closer to Allah, your love of Allah should increase. So a sign of gratitude to Allah for the favors he has bestowed upon me is that now my Salah falls in place, I stay away from sin, my zaka falls in place, the way I treat threats, the rest of the creatures have the same Allah happens to be
much better than before because obviously I'm now conscious that Allah has favored me. So Panama, what has not given you Allah has given you so much. We as humankind have a sickness, we only look at what we don't have. And we become depressed because of that. And there are millions of other things we have, we don't even consider them. So Allah reminds us save yourself from the depression. Stop thinking only about what we have not given you think about what we gave you, not what we did not give you. If you were to draw a list what we did not give you 10 things and what we gave you a million things why
there are no natella Hilah talk so if you are definitely going to try and count the favors of Allah upon you, you will never ever be able to count them all. You want Subhan Allah so that is a gift of Allah subhanho wa Taala thereafter there is mentioned made of the beloved gift that we have, what is the biggest gift that you and I have? It is the fact that we have a man and belief and we are followers of Amazon Allahu alayhi wa sallam. That's the best gift we have. We have Eman believe what we have is La ilaha illAllah Muhammad Rasulullah. There is none worthy of worship besides Allah and Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is his final messenger. That is the ultimate gift. Verse number
21. So to Azov which is Surah 33. Allah says, nakada can Allah comfy rasulillah he has Anna Lima
Raja Corolla Kerala kathina Indeed, there is a beautiful example in the life of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam for you to emulate for those who remember Allah a lot and those who are looking forward for the meeting with Allah subhanho wa Taala.
So his entire life was a blessing. his entire life is to be celebrated by us. We follow him to the tee and Subhan Allah that is a gift Allah says, look, we have given you a gift. What is that gift, Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, follow him. follow his path, follow His ways, follow his habits and you will never go wrong whether it is in your health, whether it is in your social life, spiritual religious, your relation with Allah, your relation with whatever and whoever it can never go wrong. Subhan Allah but
I think a lot of us take this for granted. When it comes to the celebrities and the pop stars of the dunya. We are quick to emulate them to follow them to wear t shirts depicting who we are and what we follow. But when it comes to Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. It takes a long time before we can even look a little bit like what we have learned. He looked like. So Panama. I like to give an example of the footballers, the minute they cut their hair in a certain way, a lot of our kids cutting the hair in the same way. They're not worried whether it looks like a baboon, or whether it looks like something else. They're not worried it becomes a new hairstyle. Why? Because my man did
it. I don't want to even comment about that, whether it's right or wrong, you would know but the point I want to raise is when we want to do something that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam brought, why do we find it so difficult? I mean, when we are resurrected, where do you want to be resurrected from Allah? Ask yourself, which way do you want to actually be resurrected? If you were to die right now? Who would you like to be with? It's quite simple. My mom and I have the the Hadith says clearly a man will be resurrected with whom he loves. That's it with whom he follows. May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us and may we be saved on that day from the calamities and the disasters? I
mean,
my brothers and sisters, then we have a verse that we read tonight regarding the choice, a true believer, those who have claimed to believe they need to save themselves from disbelief. We were free to enter Islam we entered the fold of Islam, which means we declared that we believe Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is the messenger. Once that happens, it means whatever he says, we will follow. That's what a Muslim is. If you don't want to follow Why call yourself a Muslim. That's the point. If you don't want to follow Why call yourself a Muslim. If you are calling yourself a Muslim, be honest about it and follow Islam. What does Islam say? Yeah, Allah subhanho wa Taala says verse
number 36 of Surat Al Azhar American Allah, Allah minute in either
a Zulu Amman, Khun Allah, tiara, Annie Kuhn Allahu mukhiya to mean me him. It is not befitting for a true believing male or female, that when Allah or his messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam have declared something that they then feel that they have a choice in that regard.
Subhan Allah, if Allah has declared something a true believer says Amina wattana. We have heard we have obeyed. If Allah's Messenger has declared something a true believer says we have heard we have obeyed but those who don't believe truly they feel You know what? Something wrong here? I don't think so that this is actually the way it should be. Why excuses if you haven't understood something, go and learn it. But don't come and say something against Allah and His Rasulullah sallallahu wasallam when there is clear cut instruction, May Allah forgive us. May Allah strengthen us May Allah guide us May Allah educate us may we be from among those who make an effort to learn
for indeed when you learn you will be able to get closer to Allah in sha Allah Ameen Abadi no llama, indeed those who are truly fearful of Allah are those who have knowledge of who Allah is. You don't know who Allah is how are you going to be conscious of Allah subhanho wa Taala so let's inshallah increase that knowledge of ours.
So, these are just some of the verses that we recited tonight and inshallah tomorrow we will continue with more of these verses, but my brothers and sisters before I end one quick point, do you realize that there are only a few more days left for the month of Ramadan? Do you realize that we are almost about to begin the last 10 nights? Do you realize that? Well, la heat has gone by quicker than before every year? It seems like the Ramadan becomes faster and faster. My brothers and sisters advice for myself and for everyone else, please don't waste the next 10 nights of Ramadan or the 12 1514 nights that are remaining less than that. In fact, let us not waste them let us take it
seriously. The Prophet sallallahu Sallam himself being the best of creation, the most noble of all messengers Subhan Allah, the last 10 nights the Hadith says
he used to take them very, very seriously Subhan Allah
He used to live in the night because he used to know hey, this is a sales from Han Allah, all the deeds and everything are on sale literally. Allah is giving away his mercy. And it my brothers and sisters Let's not waste the last 10 nights let's take it seriously it will be a little bit tough so Han Allah, you know, long nights Mashallah we have in this part of the world but to get here for Salah to be able to fulfill it to listen to something that would move us my brothers and sisters we need that movement. The forward movement is what we want. We ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to granted us
Kuru kolyada masala Allahu wa Sallim wa barik ala nabina Muhammad Subhan Allah Subhana Allah homoeopathic to Allah Allah, Allah and Muslim Furukawa to boy