Light Upon Light – Cardiff
Mufti Menk – The Power of Secret Worship
AI: Summary ©
The importance of belief in Allah's weighty act and the loss of life is discussed, as well as the importance of preparing for life events such as war or job loss. The speakers stress the need for balance between fear and joy in order to achieve success in life, and the importance of praying for others to help them through their health issues and achieve their dreams. They also discuss the importance of living in a community where there is lack of worship and the need for more breathing. The segment ends with a discussion of the power of Islam and the importance of staying healthy.
AI: Summary ©
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.
Bismillah walhamdulillahi wassalatu wassalamu ala rasulullahi wa ala
alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in.
I want to start off by telling you
that whenever Allah has taken something away from
you, if you do what he's told you
to do, he will always replace it with
something better, no matter what.
He will always replace it with something better.
You need belief, conviction in Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
You need to be steadfast and you need
to keep going.
So you don't give up, number one.
You ensure that you're connected with your Maker
at all times and you make sure that
you have the conviction within you that Allah
Almighty will replace it for you with something
better.
In fact, when Allah has taken something away
from you, no matter what it was, it
is better for you.
Now that's a tough one to hear, especially
if you've lost a limb or you've lost
a loved one or you've lost a job
or wealth or something to whatever it might
be, like a fire has eaten up maybe
your home.
May Allah protect all of us.
How can I stand here and say that
you need to believe as a believer it
was better for you?
Well, I'm going to explain.
From a worldly perspective, we will look at
it and say, ah, that was not good
for you, that was very bad, terrible and
so on.
However, at hindsight, when you think of the
whole purpose of why you're on earth and
how you're going to end up, can I
ask you a question?
How old are you?
Sixteen.
How old would you like to be when
the angel of death comes to you?
You have no clue.
Okay, let me word it in a more
palatable way, in a less harsh way, okay?
How long would you like to live?
How many years?
Seventy years?
No, no, no, that's a bit too little.
Because I'm almost there.
Anyway, what I want to say, let's say
for example, a hundred years.
It sounds unreasonable, but there's nothing unreasonable for
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
It's okay.
I want to live for a hundred years,
for example.
Okay, then what?
Then what's going to happen at a hundred?
If Allah gives you life for a hundred,
what happens at a hundred?
You're going to go back to Allah.
So, everything you had on earth, what happened
to it?
It stays here.
What about the people you met here?
What happens to them?
Part of them stays here.
What happens to them?
Yes, they go to Allah as well at
some point.
They've either gone before or they're going to
go later on.
Do you understand what I mean?
So, when you finally go back to Allah,
people will be crying, right?
They're either crying because you were a pain
and they're so happy that you're gone, or
they're crying because you were such a lovely
person and they're going to miss you, right?
But you are actually gone to where you're
supposed to be going.
And there is no one on earth that
is not going to go.
Not one.
That goes to show you this world is
temporary.
I'm standing in front of you.
I ironed my clothing.
You can see the little beak here on
my scarf.
I made sure that my bisht is fine
and it's well.
I made sure that I'm okay.
I have a beautiful ironed thobe and I've
got my shoes that's matching in color with
my white socks and whatever else.
And this young man is impressed with all
of that.
Alhamdulillah.
You better say, Allahumma barik.
MashaAllah.
Anyway, so to be honest with you, that's
all going to be left behind.
When I die, they're going to enshroud me
in a kafan.
Shroud, right?
Few pieces of cloth and I'm gone.
They know the person is gone, but he's
gone.
Either burnt beyond recognition, may Allah grant him
Jannah.
May Allah grant him the rank of martyrdom.
Or drowned in the ocean, no trace.
Or lost.
Two days ago, a few days ago, someone
fell into a drain in Malaysia.
No trace.
No trace of this person.
They were walking and suddenly the pavement just
opened and they fell through.
I don't know if anyone has seen the
news.
But what do you tell that family?
What do you tell the husband if there
was one?
Or the children?
What do you tell them?
How do you explain to them?
That listen, mama's not coming back.
May Allah grant her Jannatul Firdaus if that
is what she believed in.
Ameen.
So I tell you something.
For us, we need to realize ultimately everything
is going from this earth.
When it goes while we're here, we get
so sad.
But Allah says, hey hang on man.
When you came here, you had nothing.
When you're leaving, you're going to leave with
nothing.
It's literally like when you're playing a game.
Although life is not a game.
But I'm giving you an example to bring
it closer to your mind only.
You make your move.
Say for example, okay I don't want to
name a game.
But you can name some in your own
mind.
You're playing.
You're scoring.
You're winning.
You're becoming.
And after that what happens when the game
ends?
The game ends.
One won.
One lost.
Few people might have won a bit.
Some lost.
But it's end of game and you carry
on and you proceed.
You say this one won and this one
lost.
Life is different but from one aspect it
is similar.
Because, just from one aspect.
Because you need to score as much as
you can while you're alive.
A day will come when your life will
be over.
No more scoring because Allah says, you know
what?
Whatever you did, it comes with you.
Now let's see how you did.
When you get there, you're going to meet
your brother, your father, your uncle, your aunt.
Whether you like it or not.
Your in-laws and everyone else.
MashaAllah.
You're going to see them there.
Uh-oh.
MashaAllah.
But you're going to have a beautiful heart
so you won't say the uh-oh.
Right?
Because everyone is going to be perfect.
Everyone is going to be perfect.
In this world we have something called ghil.
We have something called, you know, the ill
feeling.
Right?
You have something called the pride.
Sometimes the haughtiness.
Sometimes you have a bit of hatred.
Astaghfirullah.
Between people.
Allah Almighty speaks about the hereafter and Jannah
in particular.
And He says, there is no ghil.
There is no ill feeling.
There is no negative feeling at all.
People will be upon perfection.
So if you felt perhaps your spouse might
have had a few things you could have
had better.
Don't just give up on that spouse.
For the worldly purposes that was the best
parent of your child.
That was the best person for you.
Not everyone is perfect.
I'm not perfect.
You're not perfect.
You know you have someone, they drop dead
gorgeous.
Notice how they worded that.
I didn't coin that term.
What did they say?
Drop what?
Drop what?
Dead.
Drop dead.
Why drop dead?
Why didn't they say come alive gorgeous?
Let's be honest.
If anything you come alive gorgeous.
You're just alive now.
Right?
But they said it the other way around.
Drop dead gorgeous.
Because one day you're going to have to
drop dead anyway.
Allahu Akbar.
You go into the hereafter, you see someone.
In this world they might have appeared to
have imperfections.
When you see them in the hereafter they
will be perfect.
Absolute perfection to your liking.
Whoa, I can't wait to see what Allah
has kept in store for me.
And I'm sure you can't either.
So, the losses of this world, when you
take them in your stride and you realize
that you know, ultimately I'm going to lose
my life at some point.
Even those who don't want to talk about
it.
You have to go.
Come on.
I have to go, you have to go.
And I always tell people, just prepare for
it.
And yes, we are concerned about it.
Iman is a balance between hope and fear.
Sometimes in some people the hope needs to
be a bit more because they're going through
so many challenges on earth that they've got
enough stress and enough of that fear that
they need to have a little bit more
hope, right?
But in some people, perhaps the fear factor
needs to be a bit more.
They've got it too luxurious, right?
So, when someone says, what's the right balance
between fear and hope?
When the hadith says, الإيمان بين الخوف والرجاء
True belief is the balance between fear and
hope.
I can tell you it differs from person
to person.
You need enough hope to keep you going,
and to keep you doing, and to keep
you wanting to connect with Allah.
And you need enough fear also to keep
you going, and to keep you connected with
Allah.
If you have too much of fear, you
might become despondent and you start thinking, Allah
is not going to accept my worship.
Allah is not going to forgive me.
I'm too far from Allah.
Why?
You've got too much fear.
Someone has spoken to you and depressed you,
and given you a bit too much, a
bit of a dose too much of fear.
And if you have too much hope, what
happens?
We'll sin and we'll say Astaghfirullah after we're
done.
People do that, isn't it?
Say, brother, what are you doing in the
club?
He says, but I'm going to go for
fajr just now.
Allah will wipe it out.
Come on!
Sorry, no one's ever said that.
I'm just saying, it's just an example.
But nonetheless, you need a balance between the
two.
When someone fears too much, there is a
problem.
Too much of fear, it does something to
you.
You can develop, for example, conditions such as
OCD.
And OCD is not necessarily from that.
But at times, that is a contributing factor.
When too much of fear, I've seen some
people, they listen to some, and listen, you
can listen to any scholars who are beneficial,
who actually benefit you, and they give you
a boost to get closer to Allah.
But sometimes, some might listen to those who
make them feel so non-Muslim, yet they're
Muslim.
And they make you feel like you are
far away from Allah.
Your salah is not correct.
Your zakah is not correct.
The way you use the bathroom is nowhere
near correct.
And so what happens?
You go into the bathroom and you don't
come out for two hours.
May Allah cure us.
What happened?
Too much fear.
Come on, you're a human.
You're not going to be perfect.
It's not going to be so...
You know, there's no perfection.
There's going to be a few errors and
blunders.
The hadith has allowed for it.
The Islam has allowed for it.
Did you try your best?
MashaAllah, relieved yourself.
You washed in a way that you couldn't.
You walked out a little bit here and
there.
Is forgiven.
Is what?
Is forgiven.
Don't go too hard on yourself.
Maybe you didn't know this.
Because you've been hearing someone say, It's got
to be squeaky clean.
In the sense that if there is a
single droplet of this, that's it.
It's over your salah and your ibadah and
your connection with Allah.
And shaitan is going to come and the
jinn is going to...
And you're like...
So even if everything is clean, you're like,
I can't, I can't.
Why can't you?
Because someone has instilled too much of fear
in you.
On the other hand, when there's too much
of hope, the opposite happens.
You didn't even wash, brother.
You just walked out.
Ah, don't worry.
When the World Cup happened in Qatar, I
promise you, one of the big hits was
what?
Shattaf.
Big hit, right?
A shower.
Let's not lie to ourselves.
It is.
And it was.
Why?
Oh, we just found out something.
Gosh, there are 2 billion pins.
Even if there wasn't a shattaf, there was
always a little...
In Urdu, they call it a lota, right?
Yeah.
It was always there.
It was always there.
So, but may Allah Almighty grant us goodness.
May Allah grant us the balance.
The reason I bring up all of this
is to show you this religion.
Allah is simply preparing you for 2 things.
Number 1, to lead a better life filled
with greater contentment, cleanliness, purity, goodness, and so
on.
And thereafter, to have the best life after
death.
So, the theme of this entire series is
the power of worship.
You worship Allah, you are not perfect.
Allah is perfect.
In your salah, in your zakah, in your
fasting, in your hajj, in your shahada, and
so on, you are not perfect.
Allah is perfect.
You give it your best shot and you
understand Allah will accept it.
If I've done my fasting as per the
teachings to the best of my ability, I'm
a human.
So, therefore, it's okay.
Someone says, you know, the, what do they
call it?
The nasal drip at the back.
When I'm fasting, does that break my fast?
So, someone says, well, it depends how much
it is.
Now, what happened?
You start developing a bit of OCD.
It happens to a lot of people.
Even if you're not unwell per se.
But you start thinking, oh, I swallowed.
I don't know if my fast is valid.
Come on, man.
You're allowed to swallow.
You didn't put anything into your mouth.
You didn't munch.
You didn't drink something.
And so, it's okay.
The guys are just, you know, scaring you.
But the reason why they say, no, it
depends how much is because if you can
take it out, take it out.
It's better for you.
If you can, for example, remove it in
a nice way, it doesn't mean in Ramadan
you just hear all the Muslims going, you
know, it's not supposed to be that way.
Sorry, mind the sound.
But you know what I mean.
But, go easy.
When you're in Salah, you know, we were
there.
We worked out the Qiblah slightly to the
left.
The Hadith tells you of how you need
to just face the direction.
So even if we face straight, it was
okay.
Because why?
Slightly to the left, slightly this way, that
way.
It's fine.
But some people are so, you know, they
want to know, no, brother, one more degree.
Okay, okay.
No, not this way, this way.
Okay, what's the difference?
Be controversial.
Maybe you never knew it.
The most accurate Qiblah, Masjid al-Nabawi, the
Prophet's salallahu alayhi wa sallam mosque.
He did it himself with Jibreel alayhi salam.
According to today's maps, go and draw a
line, you'll see.
What will you see?
Open your maps if you want, and check
Masjid al-Nabawi, look at the Masjid, make
a line between there and Makkah.
It misses it by a few degrees.
According to technology.
I believe the Hadith and the Prophet's salallahu
alayhi wa sallam, and I'll throw that technology
out of the room.
That's my iman.
What does this prove to you?
Hey, maybe that technology didn't take into consideration
a certain factor that science might discover after
a hundred years, or two hundred years.
The earth is round, maybe there is something.
Whatever it might be, I believe in my
Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam.
I'll do it exactly as he did it,
even if someone says, it's one degree, one
degree.
Relax, I'm a human, and come on, I'm
going to do it what I believe is
right.
That's what it is.
Imagine finding someone in Masjid al-Nabawi telling
you, you know what, it's eight degrees this
way.
Come on, what you did is actually wrong.
So the reason I say this is because
Allah knows you are imperfect, but he's telling
you, do your best.
When I'm praying, I'm not going to have
full concentration, but the power of the worship
is such that Allah will accept the salah
even with less concentration.
That's the power of worship.
I said Allahu Akbar, I did three units
of maghrib.
I might have heard a child crying at
the back, and my mind is like, oh,
I better hurry up because there's a child
crying at the back.
That means I lacked a little bit of
concentration there for a moment, right?
It's okay, it's normal, it's human.
So much so that they say, when you
are praying, I remember teaching this years ago
to kids, about to fall into a well,
you break your prayer, and you go and
help the blind person.
Ustaz, how could you have seen the blind
person if you're supposed to be looking down?
Right?
That's a beautiful question, don't you agree?
That's because when there's hazard or whatever, you
can, you may look up to a degree
that does not disturb you, and you don't
move your whole head and your face and
your whole body, no, you're facing the qibla.
I read one fatwa from a scholar years
ago, where he said, if your shoes are
valued more than certain value, and someone is
pinching them, you can actually break your prayer
and run behind your shoes.
I promise you, so that's why in Masjid
Naba, we sometimes, back in the day, when
we used to have the problem in a
bigger way, you find people just picking up
slippers and walking away.
Say, hey, that's my slipper, but I thought
you were praying.
Hey, hang on, you know what, we are
praying, but come on, these are my slippers,
I can always pray again, I can always
start again, it might not have been ideal,
where was your concentration?
Wallahi, not 100%, right?
May Allah make it easy.
So, the point being raised is, even from
a fatwa perspective, from a jurisprudence perspective, you
may notice and you will notice things in
your prayer.
I remember an earthquake that happened in Lombok,
in Indonesia some time back, may Allah protect
them and all of us, and grant alleviation
and ease to those who really lost everything
at the time.
Because what happens, you know, we are hearing
brother Rahim raise funds and so on, what
happens sometimes is earthquake in Morocco, floods in
Libya, everything happens, and some people have lost
their entire lives, we've helped, we've assisted, two
years later, they don't have their lives back,
but we've moved on to another problem.
It's happening, right?
So, we make dua for them, and we
ask Allah to grant them, and we ask
Allah to make it easy for them.
In Lombok when that thing happened, there are
videos, CCTVs of the masjid when the earthquake
hit, and what, how could they have been
in salah, small shake and they start running
out.
I said, hey, hey, I promise you without
the shaking, you would have run out.
And you're calling them hypocrites?
You are taught by Allah to walk out
when your life is in danger, you don't
just stand there.
But if you are prepared to stand and
have faith in Allah, that nothing will happen,
I'm in the masjid, it's built well, it's
the house of Allah and so on.
Wallahi, that's up to you.
Yes, it's a good level, but sometimes, who
knows?
We might argue that those who did not
run away, if they lost their lives, and
by the way, they didn't because that masjid
was saved.
If they lost their lives, someone might say,
well, they're in trouble with Allah because they
did not save their lives.
And Allah wants you to save your life.
Allah wouldn't have wanted you to just remain
there when you know that everything is going
to fall apart.
And the counter argument is, well, they did
not know whether it was going to fall
apart or not.
So, it goes this way and that way.
Allah knows you're not perfect.
Allah says, you know what?
Do your best.
Worship is such that Allah does not benefit
from it.
You and I benefit from it.
Allah has ordained it and taught it to
us in order for us to lead a
better life and in order for us to
go to a place in the hereafter where
we meet our loved ones once again.
Yesterday we had an event for sisters in
London, and one young girl says, how do
I cope with family members like my grandparents
who passed on and so on?
And one of the bonuses is that as
a believer you know you're going to meet
them.
Yes, where will you meet them?
Jannah.
Mashallah.
Little girl saying Jannah.
Mashallah.
So, Allah Almighty knows you're going to meet
them just now.
Don't worry.
Yes, it's sad.
I may cry.
But Allah gave them a good age.
How long did your grandparents live for?
Oh, 75 years, 80 years.
That was amazing.
That was beautiful.
That was lovely.
Sometimes when a person gets old and they
start having pains and they start having health
difficulties, may Allah give cure to all those
who have health matters and problems.
I saw someone, with crutches a little bit
earlier.
May Allah grant them such health that they
don't need those crutches.
But I tell you, when you get to
the point where you have health problems, you
can't really get up, you're struggling with this
and struggling.
You will tell yourself, Oh Allah, have mercy
on me.
And you're meaning, Oh Allah, take me away
when you know it's better for me to
go.
Because I'm relying on this person sometimes even
to help you go to the bathroom.
It's not easy.
When you cannot see yourself getting better, if
you're ill and you're young and you're getting
better inch by inch, at least there's a
bit of hope that, you know what, one
day I'm gonna get out of this and
I'll be back to normal or I will
not need what I'm dependent on right now
because I'm young.
But when you're older, what happens?
Allah has created a system where you are
already starting to think, I need to prepare
for the day I'm gonna meet with Allah
and we're gonna be going.
And then when you're gone, well, people are
gonna miss you if you're a good person.
But it's okay, we're gonna meet them soon.
That's Allah, that's Allah.
So the acts of worship they engaged in
benefited whom?
Them or Allah?
Them.
They don't benefit Allah.
When you sin, you don't harm Allah, you
harm yourself.
So an act of worship is something Allah
taught you through a prophet that you engage
in, in order to please Allah.
Or something you're going to do with the
correct intention that's permissible in your faith in
order to convert that particular thing into an
act of worship.
For example, sleeping, eating, drinking, something that is
permissible, eating halal, all of those can be
acts of worship when coupled with the correct
intention.
When we go to bed, what do we
do?
We're just tired, going to bed and we're
off to sleep.
If you went to bed, you reclined, you
read your dua, you're thanking Allah and you're
hoping to get up for Salatul Fajr and
you know that your heart needs to rest
when you don't sleep properly, your heart becomes
weak because your heart rate goes to a
different level when you're in your sleep and
you need that recharge of that, I can
call it a battery, okay?
Every so often, and you need it regular,
that's why we tell people, sleep on time,
get up on time.
Hadith says, get to bed if you have
nothing constructive to do after Salatul Isha, go
to bed and rise early because you're a
believer.
When you have that, you are healthy.
Why?
Because your heart is healthy, everything is healthy,
you're sleeping on time, you're getting up on
time, mashaAllah your system, that's how Allah made
it and alhamdulillah, when you don't do that,
what happens?
You become unhealthy and when you become unhealthy,
you won't be able to worship Allah in
a proper way.
So if I'm doing it with the right
intention, it becomes an act of worship to
sleep.
So much so, I'm gonna say it, I
know there's youngsters in our midst but it's
okay, very soon they will be married too.
To fulfill the needs of your spouse, act
of worship.
And I worded it in a beautiful way.
I tell you something, people don't realize this,
you need to make an effort to fulfill
the desires of your spouse.
That's your spouse.
To make an effort to fulfill those desires
are an act of worship for the sake
of Allah.
And an effort is required.
You can't just say, I'm tired, I'm lazy,
I'm this, I'm that, I'm on my phone,
I'm watching football or whatever else I'm doing
or I'm going out with my friend.
Hang on, relax.
Ibadah, act of worship.
You know when we saw the theme, the
power of worship.
Did you guys see the theme?
The power of worship.
You wouldn't have imagined we were going to
speak about this, right?
The power of worship.
MashaAllah.
May Allah Almighty grant us the ability.
It is a topic that a lot of
people don't even consider important.
Yet it is absolutely important.
The Sahaba r.a. were surprised when the
Prophet s.a.w. says to fulfill the
need of your spouse is an act of
worship.
And they say, he called it a Sadaqah.
The Sahaba says, oh really, really?
You know, it's like a tough one man.
Sure, wow, okay.
Can it be a Sadaqah?
He says, well look, if you did it
in Haram, would it be sinful?
Yes it would.
Well then this would be an act of
worship.
You're achieving the pleasure.
Why would Allah be pleased when Allah doesn't
need you and I at all?
Allah is pleased because He wants goodness for
you.
And He knows when you make an effort
to do something that you are feeling lazy
to fulfill because there are two people in
it.
And just because you're lazy does not mean
the other one's lazy.
Make an effort.
Fulfill it in a proper way.
See what Allah does for you.
Allah will open your doors, all other doors.
I started off this talk by saying when
Allah takes something away from you, He will
always give you back better.
So when you take it in your stride
that Allah has taken away from you something
like a relative or something like your health
and you are patient about it and you
still connect with Allah, Allah says, we gave
you an opportunity to engage in greater acts
of worship.
I want to ask you a question.
Okay, let me not ask you who prays
five times a day because I don't want
to know who doesn't.
Okay, that's why I'm not going to ask
you.
I'd expect that you pray five times a
day inshallah.
But how many of us could do better
in our prayer?
Put up your hands, mine is first.
Okay, put your hands down.
Do you not agree with me that primarily
we want to fulfill our five salah on
time in a proper way?
We're living in the most beautiful city of
Cardiff, mashallah.
But unfortunately, the winters and the summers are
not the same.
And sometimes it's not so easy for us
to fulfill the five daily prayers because we're
not from Zimbabwe.
You know, you know, right?
We have beautiful weather and we have almost
the same time throughout the year for salah.
Wow, mashallah.
I think the difference in Salatul Maghrib in
my country is one and a half hours
through the whole year.
So it's either 5.30 or quarter to
seven is the latest and 5.30 is
the earliest, not even one and a half
hours.
We don't have Maghrib before 5.30 and
we don't ever have Maghrib after quarter to
seven.
How's that?
Amazing.
Come to Zimbabwe.
I'll come to Cardiff, mashallah.
But nonetheless, why I'm raising this is because
it's tough sometimes when you, you know, you
got to get up, you got to work,
you got to eat, you got to do
this.
And people say, can I join my prayers?
Can I do this?
Find out from the scholars anyway.
I don't want to issue fatwas for a
place that I don't live in.
However, however, we all want to do better.
Do you not agree that sometimes Allah loves
you so much that He puts such a
huge issue in your life that let alone
the five daily prayers, you start doing a
sixth one.
What's it called?
The Hajjaj.
You see, we know it because we've been
there.
How did you come?
Those of you who read the Hajjaj, how
did you get to read the Hajjaj?
In most cases, it's because of something that
Allah took away from you or didn't give
you or you really wanted and so on.
Am I right or wrong?
You see?
So what was the power of worship?
Worship is magnetizing.
When you are doing it, enjoying it, Allah
pulls you to do more and more and
more and more.
I want to dress appropriately.
I need to make the first most difficult
step ever.
I'm living in a community and a society
where it's almost impossible to live as a
Muslim without facing some form of negativity.
So it's so hard to have that identity.
But I'm going to make the effort for
the pleasure of my Maker to take the
first step.
Before you know it, you're rollercoasting into so
many other steps.
You suddenly find yourself, your friends have improved,
you might lose friends, you might gain friends,
you will gain friends, but you lose some
and some people may comment negative, some may
not and some you might lose your job,
but you're gonna get a better job.
You're going to get a better job.
Subhanallahi Rabbil Alameen.
You know brother Anwar Al Ghazi was here
a little while ago.
He's gone so I can talk about him.
Do you know what happened to him?
Why is he in Cardiff?
Allah!
He's playing football for you guys.
Do you know where Cardiff's gonna go?
Oh, you don't?
Let me tell you where Cardiff's going to
go.
Bi'ithnillah it will go up by the
help of Allah.
He lost out because of standing up for
Palestine.
And what happened?
Short time, he gained.
Check the news, just see what happened.
He lost.
But when he lost, it might not have
been so easy, but he stood his grounds
with us.
He can't even please Allah with the basic
pillars of Islam at times.
The basic pillars.
May Allah Almighty strengthen us.
People say, when I ask them, how much
Quran did you read today?
I don't want to ask you this question
because trust me, I don't need to know
your answer, but you need to know your
answer.
How much Quran did you read today?
If you answer to yourself, many of us
will say, we didn't read Quran.
Am I right?
It's facts.
Okay.
Why didn't you read Quran?
What are the answers that they're going to
give?
Generally, they'll tell you, that you know what?
Perhaps, I didn't have time.
I don't have time.
That's what they say.
Isn't it?
I want to read Quran, but I don't
have time.
Okay, you don't have time.
Quran is such that it's the word of
the maker and creator of time.
So if you really want time, read Quran.
You'll find how it will create time for
you.
What do you mean?
Try it.
Try it.
Same applies to your salah.
They say, I say at times, we're guilty.
Let me quickly pray, and I'm coming.
What was wrong with that sentence?
What was it?
Quickly.
Why quickly?
That's my prayer.
Say, let me pray, and I'm coming.
Take out the word quickly.
Become conscious of it.
Why?
My Lord, might be my last prayer.
I say, Allahu Akbar, let me take my
time.
That doesn't mean I must be so children
relaxed that half an hour later, they're saying,
where is she?
She's praying.
Three hours later, where is she?
She's praying.
No, no, no.
We're not saying that, but be balanced.
Be balanced.
However, Allah Almighty has kept it in such
a beautiful way that when you read Quran,
one verse every day, promise Allah.
We made pledges and promises earlier to donate
so much, to give daily or monthly, but
I'm telling you something non-monetary that will
bring you back also a beautiful return that's
unmatched, that you need.
Make time for the Quran in your own
way.
Push yourself one verse a day.
How many verses a day?
One.
Guess what will happen?
You read the verse, you read the meaning,
and you close it and you carry on
on your app, whether it's Quran Lee or
whatever it might be.
Any app that you like.
Read one verse, the meaning, and close it.
Next day, one verse, the meaning, and close
it.
Before you know it, you're gonna come to
verses where you can't just read one.
You're gonna read one, two verses, and close
it.
The following day, one, two, three verses, close
it.
You're gonna start enjoying.
What's happening?
You are coming to...
It's a hadith.
You are coming to Allah, walking, and He
is coming to you, rushing.
Subhanallah.
Subhanallah.
You are just making an effort.
Although you know you are hard for time,
the day you start your day with Quran,
you will have so much of blessings in
your time that at the end of the
day, you're going to say, gosh, I achieved
so much today.
Because you started off with the word of
the owner of time.
That's why.
You started off with the word of the
owner of time.
He's gonna bless your time through that whole
day.
Did you start off in the morning with
prayer and with one verse of the Quran?
If the answer is yes, I guarantee you,
almost a guarantee, that when your day is
over, you'll have achieved more than a day
where that didn't happen.
Why?
Because He's the owner of time.
So the magnetizing effect, when you started one,
two prayers, three prayers, it will pull you.
You start feeling guilty.
I'm not making the fourth one.
Oh, I'm at work.
I'm at school or college or whatever.
And I've had to do joining of my...
I'm not talking of the jurisprudence ruling.
I'm talking of reality of the people.
I feel so bad because...
I'm glad you're feeling bad.
Because you know what?
That's the beginning of the solution to your
problem.
If you don't feel bad about it, you're
not gonna solve it.
If you're feeling bad, you're gonna solve it,
resolve it.
And then what happens?
Then you start off with tahajjud.
And when tahajjud comes about, Ah!
It's just you and Allah.
Where is everyone?
They're sleeping.
And what's happening?
You're up very late, just before fajr.
That doesn't happen usually.
If you're serious about tahajjud, you get up
a bit early, you make wudhu, you may
want to tiptoe, and you want to fulfill
your salah, you've got something you're gonna cry
to Allah about, and you go and you
cry to Allah.
When you're crying to Allah about something, you
take your time, don't you?
Because you need something.
What you don't realize is what you need
more desperately is Jannah.
Because before getting the thing you're asking about,
you may not make it in this world.
You're gonna go back to Allah.
When you go back to Allah, He's gonna
love the fact that you asked Him about
something He was never going to give you
with the passion and conviction that you did.
Now, I can't believe I only have 8
minutes left.
I just can't believe it.
So, let's ignore the time.
As I said, in card of time is
a bit confusing, right?
So, I think they just joined it by
mistake.
But I can tell you something.
What I said, the last sentence is very,
very important.
Because when you cry to Allah to give
you something that He knows He's not going
to give you, He loves it because of
your faith in Him, your conviction in Him.
You are asking Allah, Oh Allah, get me
married to this person.
Now, Allah knows, sorry to give you the
marriage example, but you know, that everyone asks
me, please make do I marry this person.
Okay, wait, you know what?
A lot of the times, it may not
happen.
Because Allah knows that person is not who
you think they are.
Do you know that?
So, just chill.
But nonetheless, you want to marry this person
and you're crying, you're crying, you go for
Umrah, you're asking Allah, what are you doing?
When you're asking Allah, He knows you're not
going to get it.
Because He doesn't want to give it to
you because He wants to protect you from
something you don't know.
Maybe that person is not a good parent.
Maybe they're going to break your heart and
crush it to a billion pieces three months
down the line.
I know of a sister, may Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala grant her ease, she told
me you can give my example in your
talks, so I can tell you what happened.
Three years, she was crying and fighting with
her folks to marry a certain person and
she was so desperate.
The guy was a decent guy.
And I met both of them.
And ultimately, they said, our parents are really,
really lovely people.
But this particular matter, something went wrong.
They're not seeing eye to eye.
And I told her, I said, you know
what?
I don't believe you should just hurt your
parents.
But they're lovely people.
I mean, try to talk to them and
again and again and again and maybe if
they're a bit upset and they're arguing, no
problem, let that happen.
But don't do something, especially when there's nothing.
The reasons they gave were there.
They were relatively, you know.
But they don't know this particular person.
They're saying, we've got this and this condition.
And the guy's family is saying, no way,
no conditions.
And so, three years passed.
It didn't happen.
Until I told the sister, I said, you
know what, set yourself a deadline.
December.
It doesn't happen by this date, just move
on.
How can I move on?
You know, I've invested so many emotions and
so on.
One wonders what must have happened.
May Allah bless you.
You're not the first person who's gonna have
to move on and you're never gonna be
the last one.
We've all moved on.
We've all...
Notice how I worded that.
We've all what?
Moved on.
When we were kids, we all wanted to
do things.
We had to move on, man.
Come on.
Not practical.
It happens in life.
It's part of life.
Move on, move on.
You know, you make each other big, big
promises and then when you grow old, you
start laughing and say, you know, when I
was in grade two, I remember someone, we
made promises we're gonna get married.
Wallahi, I still remember.
And we made promises and we used to
walk back from school together.
Will you be my wife?
Yeah, you know, and so on.
Wallahi, trust me, we didn't even get to
grade seven, eight and we were already out
of all of that.
What was that?
That was just puppy love, you know.
May Allah Almighty grant us ease.
The point is, this particular example, the sister
reluctantly moved, well, tried to move on, said,
okay, the guy got married a little while
later, three months in, he died in a
crash.
No, no, no.
He was murdered.
Three months in, he was murdered.
Right?
Guess what happened?
Very, very sad.
Very, very sad.
The in-laws decided they want to file
a case against the wife that she was
involved in all of this.
She lost a spouse, whom she loved so
much, and she also was accused of something
she didn't do.
Can you imagine how broken she was?
And this sister, I didn't know about it,
but the sister calls me, the first one,
and says, this is what happened, and now
I know why Allah didn't want me to
be in that situation because his death was
always written, I wouldn't have known.
But now, if I was in there, and
I was accused of something of this nature,
imagine what would have happened to me.
I said, my sister, make du'a for
me.
The matter was solved and everything happened, but
I'm just giving you an example, why sometimes
Allah holds things back.
So going to the point of making du
'a to Allah, going for umrah, crying to
Allah, and asking Him with conviction, I want
to explain something to you that you should
never forget today.
When Allah knows He's not going to give
this to you, and you're crying and you're
begging, and you're convinced He's going to give
it to you, and you keep on crying,
and He knows He's not going to give
it to you, guess what happens?
That conviction and du'a is such a
powerful act of worship because you are acknowledging
the supreme ability of Allah, and He knows
I'm not going to give it to you.
What does He do in return?
Through that, He may just look at only
that scenario and tell you, for you is
Jannah.
For you is what?
Jannah.
Why?
We just watched how you worshipped us and
we loved it.
All of what you were asking for is
besides the point.
In the process, you didn't realize that you've
actually gotten so close to Allah and acknowledged
His qualities, His supremacy, the fact that He's
in control, the fact that He can give
you the impossible.
He said, no, nothing can happen.
I'll give you one last example on the
same thing.
Two minutes remaining, two and a half, mashallah.
I can't believe the time's up, guys.
Okay.
Okay.
Oh Allah, grant us more time.
Okay.
I'm convinced.
Guess what?
It says 45 minutes.
Allahu Akbar.
I think they're playing with it, you guys.
Anyway, okay.
So, Allahu Akbar.
Okay, they've revised it to 9 minutes, 52
seconds.
Fine.
Can I tell you, when people are terminally
ill, say cancer, may Allah grant shifa to
those who are ill, right?
Right?
The power of this worship, I'm showing you
power.
Power of dua, power of any worship, right?
Ultimately, I want jannah.
Even if Allah's not gonna give me, I'm
gonna get jannah.
Because I believed in Allah.
Someone's terminally ill, and the doctors come, and
what do they say sometimes?
They say, maximum two months.
Have they not said it to some people?
A lot of people.
They tell you, you know what, if you're
really, really fortunate, this type of cancer or
this type of problem, people don't live for
more than two months, or one month, or
six months.
Now, health is deteriorating.
It's going down, it's plunging very, very fast.
You have the anxiety of knowing that this
is terminal.
It's not an easy thing.
You have the anxiety of knowing that you're
going down.
So, you have to connect with Allah, and
you have to come to terms with the
reality, and make peace with Allah, and hope
for the best in the hereafter, while you're
going down.
And at the same time, guess what you
have to do?
As a believer, you have to be convinced
that Allah will cure you.
Miracle will happen.
So, everyday the person is making dua, Oh
Allah, cure me, I know you can, you
will, you shall.
Give me the miracle.
And Allah knows that He's not going to
give you the cure.
So, what's the point of the dua?
The point of the dua is that because
of your conviction, and how you cried to
Allah, and believed in His power, and His
ability, and His divine control, He gave you
paradise.
That's all I needed, that's all I wanted.
I mean, I would have died even without
that cancer.
I would have died whenever Allah wanted me
to die, even without disease and sickness.
So many people have died healthy, suddenly boom,
and next thing they're gone.
What happened to them?
Allah gave you an opportunity.
Do you trust me?
That's what Allah says.
Yes, I trust you, oh Allah.
You will cure me, you shall cure me,
you do cure, you owner of the whole
of existence.
For you, it is nothing.
You will cure, oh Allah, cure me, I'm
convinced you will.
Five minutes later, you died.
That act of worship you engaged in just
prior to your death is unmatched, unmatched.
Who gave you the chance to engage in
that act of worship?
Was it not Allah?
It was Allah.
So Allah gave you an opportunity to engage
in such a powerful plug-in with Him
and He took you away.
Where do you think you're going to go?
Wallahi, it was a good death.
May Allah Almighty grant us all Jannatul Firdaus.
May Allah Almighty bless every one of us.
May Allah Almighty replace for us whatever He's
taken away from us with something better.
Learn to let go of certain things at
certain times when the time is right, depending
on what it is.
When I say that, what I mean is,
we spoke about marriage a bit earlier.
Too many people have a system whereby they
put the cart before the horse.
They already plan a wedding.
And the folks don't even know that these
two are planning anything.
They don't even know who you are, nothing.
And yet they come from homes that are
very family orientated.
They can't budge.
I normally say when a guy is fully
financially independent and perhaps the sister comes from
a home whereby they don't really care, in
that case, yeah, mashallah, you might be able
to get married quite easily.
But when you come from a background where
it's cultural, everyone's there.
A lot of the times people are dependent
on some folks and so you need their
blessings.
Without that, it's going to cause...
So you'd better think about someone whom you
know your parents or your folks are going
to be proud of.
Don't just go and select someone and say,
right, guy, I'm going to marry that person.
Sorry, I'm pointing at the glass upstairs.
I'm going to marry that guy up there,
right, for example.
You can't.
I mean, who is the person?
Will your folks accept it?
Will his folks accept you?
Do you think that things are workable here?
If they are, you can invest a little
bit more.
If not, please, get your folks involved from
day one.
If it was meant to be, it will
happen, alhamdulillah.
It has happened in many cases where you
go and you don't expect your folks to
say, no problem, come, let's go and talk
to them and let's see what's happening.
And next thing you know, there's a wedding
announcement.
MashaAllah.
It's true.
But if you've got them cultural folks, trust
me, they'll ask you, which side of the
river do these people come from in Pakistan?
Am I right?
Oh, they're 60 miles away.
No, that's too far.
It's got to be nearer.
Sometimes it happens.
Same, whether it's Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, I don't
mean to pick on a specific place, but
what I am saying is it is a
problem culturally, even in other countries, where some
people are so cultured that they don't realize,
listen, we're all living in Cardiff here and
we all went to the same schools here.
We all ate the same, what's something you
guys eat here?
Say it again.
Come on, come on.
Kebab?
Probably is kebab.
You all ate from the same kebab shop.
You all ate, whatever.
May Allah bless you guys.
Allah grant you ease.
You know, I love Cardiff.
The drive to Cardiff is just awesome.
Especially when we get onto the bridge, I
say, I think we've arrived.
Here goes that bridge.
You know there's a bridge there, right?
That's amazing.
MashaAllah.
The only problem is I'm going to be
driving back right now.
May Allah make it easy.
And grant us goodness.
I hope you enjoyed the talk.
I tried to keep it light-hearted but
at the same time, very, very strong points
that I mentioned in my talk regarding worship
and the power of worship, the power of
Allah, how you should enjoy worshipping Allah, how
to trust Allah.
If He hasn't given you something, no problem.
He will give you something better.
If not in this world, then the next.
And sometimes both in this world and the
next.
Trust Him, make peace with Him, love Him
and understand He loves you more than you
love yourself.
I say this.
May Allah's peace, mercy and blessings be upon
our Prophet Muhammad.
May the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah
be upon you.