Mufti Menk – Dealing with Difficulty #13 Sustenance

			As
		

			Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. We're living in a world where things are becoming very
expensive. Many people cannot afford a lot of things. How do we deal with this difficulty?
		

			The Sustainer is Allah, He provides. Number one, turn to Allah. Make sure your connection with Allah
is correct, to the best of your ability, call out to Allah supplicate to Him and pray as you are
meant to pray and even more. So when you turn to Allah, doors of sustenance begin to open, seek lots
of forgiveness from Allah Almighty. He will help you in your sustenance he will sustain you and
provide for you
		

			know Hello he salaam called his people. One of the things he said is when you seek the forgiveness
of Allah sincerely, he will open the doors of wealth for you as well. Then make sure you haven't
harmed someone else. When we harm others, the curse of the evil deed may come to us and affect the
blessings in our lives. So even if we have some wealth, there will be sickness disease, unruliness,
so much of stress and anxiety, lack of sleep and so on. Because we've harmed another human being.
Either we said something about them, we belittle them, abused them, maybe even stolen from them. In
some cases, people have shortchanged others, and they've laughed at how intelligent they were and
		

			how silly the other people were not realizing Allah is watching. So you lose out on the broader
benefits of your sustenance, because you wronged someone. So number one, you connect with Allah.
Number two, make sure you didn't wrong, someone, seek forgiveness from the people Humble yourself.
Number three, make sure you try hard every avenue there is to earn or to get a job or to earn some
form of money through a business deal, whatever it is, be vigilant and keep trying without giving
up. So when you keep trying without giving up, the doors open, because sometimes they will be closed
doors. But one door is going to open, you've knocked on 5060 doors, maybe the 61st door is the one
		

			that will fling open so wide, that you will be smiling all the way. Then you need to learn to adjust
your expenditure to exactly what your standing is. Don't borrow money in order to live a life of
luxury. That's the biggest mistake you would make. The Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, allowed
us to lend and borrow. But he did not allow us to do that for extravagance something that's not
necessary at all. If it's needed, Alhamdulillah it's a good thing. But to pay back is not going to
be so easy. And to get it for that which is futile, is never filled with blessings. It's void of
blessings. So, another very interesting factor is if Allah has blessed you with a spouse or family
		

			members or children, make sure you invest in them inculcating how important it is to connect with
Allah, when you have children, and you've never taught them about Allah, you haven't taught them
about the Quran, you haven't taught them about some of the rules and regulations of simple
cleanliness and simple, you know, duties Unto Allah as a Muslim, how do you expect sustenance from
the owner of sustenance or blessings in the sustenance from the owner of sustenance. So in order to
achieve that, we must make sure we invest in this, recite the Quran and encourage your family
members to recite the Quran, engage in a car and the DUA, the supplications, where the prophet peace
		

			be upon him asked for the alleviation from poverty. And he's asked to make us independent in such a
way that we depend only on Allah. So this is something we need to take into consideration. Many
people complain about, how is it that I'm going to sustain myself? How is it in this world that is
becoming very expensive? Well, here you are. Allah has helped you to deal with this difficulty by
teaching you so many things. This issue of adjusting your life is very important because today we
watch others living on Instagram, on social media, perhaps sometimes in real life terms, those who
have more than us. Sometimes people have motor vehicles that are flashy, and yet they're taken on a
		

			bank loan, which means the car doesn't belong to them, the house doesn't belong to them. And here we
are comparing ourselves with those people who are flushing something that they do not wholly own.
How is that? So therefore be happy with what Allah has given you? That is a favor of
		

			Allah that He favors those who connect with him, those whom we mentioned the qualities of earlier.
So remember if you are going to connect with Allah and if you are going to be content with what
Allah has given you, and you are going to be from among those who thanks Allah, for what is bestowed
upon you, then definitely you will be from among those who achieves you will be from among those who
are absolutely happy at all times, when you adjust your life. And when you begin to live a life
based on what Allah has given you, then you begin to taste the sweetness that is beyond the
imagination. It's okay if I can't afford to go on a holiday all the time. It's okay if I can't
		

			afford to fly business class or I can't afford to fly at all. Or it's okay. For example, if I can't
afford a car, and I need to go in public transport, no problem, let me go. Don't be embarrassed. And
don't be too proud to downgrade your life at times, even after there was a time when you might have
been able to afford it. And then you didn't. So don't be a person who don't be a person who is too
afraid, or like I said proud of adjusting downwards or downgrading May Allah Almighty grant us from
His goodness. So my brothers and sisters, many times sins actually come in the way of the blessings.
They * away the blessings. The person is sitting, there's no more blessings in his wealth
		

			because he needs to spend on something that is displeasing to Allah, something that is he's not
supposed to spend on, it's not his responsibility to spend on he needs to spend on those things. Or
he feels he needs to spend on those things. And guess what is left with nothing. So this is why we
say if you have wealth that suddenly depleting it, like there's a hole in your sack, it probably
would be that you're engaged in doing something you're not supposed to be doing. And that's where
the money is going. Now, why do we say this? Allah has written the sustenance of yourself, your
spouse and everyone else, you are now putting it into a place that Allah did not ask you to put it
		

			into. So it's going out of the coffers. It's going out of the general kitty that you're supposed to
be having. And Allah Almighty grant us goodness and a good understanding. Remember, if you want to
live in this day and age, you need to save as well. When you save, don't save in a way that
inflation keeps eating your wealth or zakat might eat it two and a half percent every year. And what
happens your money is just depleting. You need to try and think of ways of saving whereby you have
some wealth that is kept some amount that is kept perhaps for a rainy day. But the bulk of it needs
to be reinvested, go into something do something because Allah's plan is that he wants the wealth to
		

			benefit so many others. Usually when you invest money, what happens you're getting a an income, or
you're getting part of the profit. There will be people who will be employed, don't be afraid of
employing others because by you giving them their sustenance that was written by Allah Almighty,
you're earning blessings. Imagine your company is feeding 20 families, and you're still making a
profit. Why not? Don't want to have it all for yourself. The minute you want it all for yourself,
you find you become attached to it. When you're attached to it, the blessings are snatched away. You
they say we keep our wealth in our hands, not in our hearts. So money is here. It's there to be
		

			spent. It's you receive and give the money. It's not in your heart. If it's in your heart, you begin
to hate and love because of money.
		

			That's a very, very interesting point. So when Allah has blessed you remain humble. When Allah has
given you a lot, be even more humble. Reach out to others, help them and Allah will grant you ease.
I pray that Allah help us to navigate through these difficult times. challenging times people are
struggling, struggling with their health, struggling finding jobs, don't give up alone, open your
doors, adjust your life. Write the wave for now. Go through the difficulty and hardship for a for a
little while. It might prolong a little bit, but the good days are coming by the will of Allah
Subhana Allah Allah. May Allah bless us all. And may Allah sustain us in our offspring May Allah
		

			give us and may he be the one whom we rely on and none else I mean, a co loco li ha SallAllahu
wasallam albaraka ala Nabina Muhammad was salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.