Mufti Menk – Threats of Being Jailed

			Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.
		

			smilla rahmanir rahim al hamdu Lillah wa salatu salam ala rasulillah. Who Allah Allah, he was happy
he nominated a Buddha. We praise Allah subhanho wa Taala we thank him upon all conditions we send
blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his entire household, all his
companions, may Allah subhanho wa Taala bless them all. And may Allah subhanahu wa taala bless every
single one of us, I mean, my brothers and sisters, when we are born, everyone is happy.
		

			Everyone is happy, and everyone is congratulating the parents to say that a child is born Mashallah.
And there is a lot of excitement. The innocent child grows up without knowing that already, they are
prejudiced against depending on their race, depending on where they were born, depending on the
family they were born into, depending on a lot of other circumstances, people don't realize that
already when you are born, there is a lot that happens the choice was allows for you to be born in a
specific family in a specific area, in a specific locality, under certain circumstances. Some people
are born in a war zone, it was not them who requested that it was Allah subhanho wa Taala. And then
		

			sometimes born into a society where things are normal meaning the child grows up, the child
progresses into a school, the innocent child really knows very little of what goes on in the real
world. And as they grow up, they begin to become more and more acquainted with the news around them.
So as they read the papers, they begin to see things they are educated based on what is told to
them. So if they are told certain things or bombarded with certain things, they become influenced or
affected by that. And this is what Allah subhanho wa Taala refers to when Muhammad sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam made reference or to a beautiful Hadith, where he says mommy mo luden illa. Allah do
		

			alfetta every single one who's given birth to no one who's given birth to is given birth to except
upon Fedora, Fedora, meaning the nature, pure clean, if they had remained uncontaminated, perhaps in
a secluded place, they would never have associated partners with Allah, if you take a human being
from the point of birth. And if they happened to have been in an island, only them just one human
from birth, they would turn towards one maker, they would realize that you know what, by nature, I'm
supposed to be pure, I'm supposed to be truthful, I'm supposed to be good. I'm supposed to be kind.
And I'm supposed to worship whoever made me. And this was the most important thing for men. This is
		

			the whole test of men. How do you allow your environment to make you or break you? How do you allow
it to influence you the environment, if your parents happened to be people who drove you to a
certain habit, a certain quality, a certain faith that comes in age or a stage in your life, when
you should start asking questions, perhaps my father is wrong, perhaps my mother is wrong, perhaps
whom or what they are worshipping is absolutely unacceptable. We need to start asking questions.
Perhaps what they are doing is not taught by the maker. Perhaps they are innovators, perhaps. And
these type of questions are extremely healthy. In fact, they are normal, natural, and they are a
		

			requirement of every human being. Because on the Day of Judgment, Ally's going to ask you,
		

			he's not going to say what did your father say? What did your mother say? What did you do? How did
you respond? We gave you a mind of your own? Why didn't you ask the questions? Why didn't you
respond? Why didn't you go forth and find the answers to those questions? Why were you so engrossed
in the worldly materialistic life, knowing that people are dying, knowing that people do not live on
this earth for longer than a few decades? That's it. So it was the duty and responsibility of
everyone to ask, including ourselves, still to this day, we should keep on asking why am I praying
this way? Where was it taught from? Is it right? Why are they doing this? Is it okay? You need to
		

			search for answers. People might not give you the answers immediately, but you need to keep on
looking until you find it from divine revelation you are satisfied and convinced. Similarly, as the
child grows older, the child begins to find that the world out there, sadly, is very dirty. so
dirty, that they are crooks.
		

			They, they are people who are deceivers, they are people who are out there to get you. There are
people who are not happy when you progress. There are people who become jealous of any achievement
of yours. There are people who will lie deceive, they when, for example, the child grows up and goes
into business doesn't realize this is the system, wherever they may be on the globe could be
corrupt, and innocent child thinking, you know what, I've got my degree. Now I'm going to go into
the field and everything's going to be rosy, my brother, my sister, you don't know what the real
world is all about. When you first apply, you make your first application for something, and people
		

			ask you for a bribe. And then you wake up, you say, but I'm a human. Well, now you're exposed to the
reality. May Allah forgive us. May Allah strengthen us. It's not supposed to be that way. But guess
what, in a lot of instances, it has become that way. So this corrupt society where people do so many
things that are wrong. We become despondent as human beings, it's natural when you are working in a
system, and you feel like I'm earning legitimate halaal income, but people are making it so
difficult for me. That comes days when you are quite sad, not to angry with Allah subhanho wa Taala.
But upset that others are not honest. And sometimes shaytan drives us to dishonesty as well, because
		

			I tell you the system that Allah has placed within a human being, when you have good company and the
righteous people around you, you become a better person. When you have dirty people around you who
are not worth even being spoken to. It makes you a different person over time. If you are married to
someone who's really horrible, after 10 years, you might tell yourself, you know what, I've become
horrible. Not because I'm horrible. But because I've had to put up with such horrendous situations,
I've had to put up with something I've become a person I wasn't. For example, if you happen to be in
a society where there is so much of ugliness, you don't realize you've also taken a bit of that
		

			ugliness into yourself. It's just, it happens because you are a human being you are affected by it.
This is why sometimes you have to move out of the whole society and community go alone to wherever
you are in order to be protected from the harm of that society, especially when it comes to drugs,
when it comes to bad habits when it comes to a situation whereby there's no good people in the
entire society. May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us to understand.
		

			This is the advice of Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam when he was asked that what if there's no one who's
good, there's nothing happening in the direction of Allah subhanho wa Taala, meaning no one's going
in that direction. He says, Go and stick to a tree stump until you meet me on the house on the Day
of Judgment. Go be on your own. Because when you're on your own, what would happen is you won't be
let contaminated by the society around you. So obviously, you and I were human beings we trust Allah
subhanho wa Taala totally we believe completely, that whatever Allah subhanho wa Taala has
predestined for me. That's the best for me, it's the best for me. And I keep on asking Allah
		

			goodness, the condition is I need to be satisfied with Allah, I need to keep on worshiping Allah, I
need to keep on thanking Allah, I need to keep on checking myself have I become contaminated due to
the society around me. And if I am heading in the right direction, that hamdulillah I have nothing
to worry about my brothers and sisters. Very interestingly, I want to pick up some points from Surah
Yusuf. Why? Because he was an innocent child who, who was born into a family where his own brothers
were so jealous of him, they decided to eradicate, literally to kill him off. So what did they do?
They started discussing, and I don't want to go into the first part of the story, but they came a
		

			stage when he ended up being imprisoned. Why was he imprisoned? He was threatened.
		

			And he was told we will imprison you. He was threatened, he was asked to do something criminal,
something wrong. If you don't do this, that is wrong. We're going to jail you. Now, obviously, with
us, all of us. We become despondent, sometimes, to a certain degree. It's our man that keeps us
afloat. Every time you are feeling low. It's your Eman that makes you feel high. Again, it's a good
word from someone that makes you feel worthwhile once again, because the world is full of warfare.
It's full of so much of negativity, only, it is only human for us to feel sad that the situation
around us. So Allah gives us stories in the Quran. And Allah Subhana Allah Allah has narrated the
		

			stories of those of the past in order for me to draw a lesson from I need to look at it and tell
myself Wow, Yusuf Alayhi Salam was better than me. But he went through greater hardship than me. I
haven't been jailed. Yes, I may have been threatened. How did I react to threats, Yusuf Alayhi Salam
was told if you don't commit this sin you
		

			Today is going to be big problem for you. And you know what type of a problem they told him, we're
going to make sure you brought in jail.
		

			SubhanAllah that was the threat. Now it happens sometimes in our own lives, people threaten us watch
out, you better do this, otherwise this will happen and that will happen. So these type of threats
come to us in business, in community, in family, wherever else it may be. It's, it's becoming more
and more common people threaten, I'm going to fix you, you're going to see what I will do with you.
And every time I hear comments of that nature, I always say, well, you will see what Allah does with
you love, you will see you might be able to achieve something in this dunya nothing that is not
written for me can happen to me. So whatever you're trying to do, if it's best for me, it will
		

			happen. If it is good for me to spend 10 years in the jail each Allah if Allah wills it may happen.
It's better for me, I will always be a happy man. You know why I draw inspiration from Revelation.
And that revelation has told me that someone far better than you spent many years in jail with a
smile, knowing that they were totally innocent people concocted evidence, listen to what Allah
Subhana Allah Allah says, Allah subhanho wa Taala says in Surah Yusuf and this is put so
beautifully, that if you are not these women told us of alayhis salam, if you are not going to
commit this crime, we will jail you. Do you know what he says? Or BCG? No, I have Bo Li m i don't
		

			Annie LA. Oh my God. It is better for me to be jailed than to commit a crime against you or Allah.
Imagine he's saying, oh, Allah, I'd rather go to the jail. I will sit there and hamdulillah I will
thank you. But I don't want to commit a sin against you look at his priorities, how many of us would
prioritize that way where there's a crime to be committed or a jail sentence looming? And we say I
don't mind going to jail, but I'm not going to do this. Allahu Akbar. Look at the inspiration. Allah
says those are the chosen ones. Do you know what Allah says?
		

			festa jab Allah Oh boo fissara fan who can either
		

			Allah responded, Allah answered his job. He made the do out, Oh Allah, I don't mind jail, but I
don't want to commit the sin. So Allah says we gave him we answered his da amazing. So Allah says
from
		

			de ma.
		

			de la Yes. junoon. June? No has he been after the saw the concocted evidence against use of alayhis
salam, the decision was made by the courts to jail him concocted evidence. So it means people
concocted evidence against use of Alli salon, they could do it against me against you. It's quite
simple, it's quite easy, and the system may decide to jail you or me. What's the big deal? If it is
corrupt, it's corrupt. I will go into the jail just like use of La Sallam did. But that does not
make me guilty of anything. It makes me a moment I can go in with a smile. Yusuf alayhi salam, one
of the most beautiful characteristics that we pick up from him is that all this evil did not make
		

			him evil. That's something I need to learn from all the evil, the bad people, the rot in society,
the people that have let you down in the biggest way possible. They must not make you a bad person,
your character must be loftier than theirs, you must be far higher than them in your link with
Allah, you must be far higher than them in your conduct and your character. Because those types of
people will keep on coming into your life and out of your life. They will continue until the point
of death as a test from Allah. But the lesson that you and I have to learn from it is has he changed
me as a person? That's the question if he changed you, you lost because that was your tailor made
		

			test. evil people had to come to you to threaten you to ask you to do crimes to let you down to
commit crimes against you. Only for Allah to test you. What do you do? We gave you an inspirational
story we told you about use of Allah Islam, we explained we loved him more than any one of you. He
was in the B of Allah, a son of an OB of Allah, a son of another Nabhi and the son of another Nabhi.
He was one of the most blessed people possible. He was one of the great grandchildren of Ibrahim
alayhi salatu was Salam. And we are showing you that all this bad. Evil that was happening did not
change him. He was still a man who could smile. He could thank Allah He told Allah subhanho wa Taala
		

			like Thank you, you answered my prayer. I'm sitting in the jail. And Allah says Subhana Allah, he
was so happy. He went in with a smile. And when he went in with such a beautiful smile, the people
in the prison his companions noticed that this man is such a blessed person. He's been sentenced
here to a long jail term. And here he walks in saying Alhamdulillah I thank you, Oh Allah. They were
shocked who was shocked the two who were there in the cell.
		

			They looked at him and they said in communal machining first point we realize we notice you are from
amongst them. I mean those who do good those who are you are one of the pious people I can see it in
your face. It's simple. You know when we're standing in a petrol queue for example that takes 12
hours and there are certain people who are stressed they are phoning swearing, shouting and others
are smiling one is reading the Koran. One is looking at someone else. Few people lay the carpet out
there reading Salah, you can see the difference. They both going to get the fuel but one was getting
it with a smile and the other they were stressed in depressed tension. They had to go to the
		

			doctors, they had to get medication, they came out and they got sick. So Pamela and the other one
was smiling. It's strengthen their mandate their Salah, they invited others people were inspired by
them and they carried on that was the test. That's what we learned from Yusuf Alayhi Salam very
quickly so his companions tell him
		

			Carla had oma in Nia Ronnie, comma
		

			in the arani, amino fukada see hooba kuno una Bittner beatha wheelie, we see you as a good man. One
of them said, I have seen that I am squeezing wines. And the other one says I have seen in my dream
that I have meaning there there is a tray on my head and the birds are eating from it. So please
give us the interpretation of our dreams because you're a good man. You look like a very good man.
You're so happy here. Unlike us, we are stressed we are literally depressed Subhan Allah use of
Allah He Salam says Hang on. Now listen, his character didn't change. His conduct didn't change.
Nothing changed for use of alayhi salaatu wa Salaam Do you know what he says? He says yes. Ah, ABC
		

			Genie. He says Oh, my companions. Look at how he respects them the way he's talking to them with us.
You look at someone who looks like okay, this guy looks like a criminal. You don't want to even
greet properly. You don't want to talk properly. Nevermind the criminals, the good people in
society, you don't want to talk to them. You don't want to greet them nothing. Why? It's a weakness
that we all have as a society, as a community as as humanity. We are losing this human side of us.
May Allah subhanho wa Taala strengthen us once again. So use of Allah is Salatu was Salam. What does
he do? He says, Oh, my companions of the prison. Oh, my cellmates. Do you know what? What you've
		

			asked me to interpret? I will get to that. But there is something much more important than that.
What is it? I will before the food comes to us. You will have the interpretation of the dream but
lend me an ear to do what? He knows that look, this world is temporary. The link I have with Allah
the knowledge I have about Allah. The fact that I'm a Muslim, I believe I'm the child of Yaqoob
Jacob May peace be upon him. Let me share it with them. So he says
		

			la t Kuma tamo sacani. Ilana back to Kuma bita v cabela. To coma he explained to them I will give
you the interpretation of your dream before the food comes to you You don't worry. But then he says
yes our ABC Jenny our Babu, Tiffany una Ameen.
		

			All my companions of the cell, do you think that all these gods that are being worshipped besides
Allah are better or to worship he who made you alone. So he sees the opportunity to do dour to talk
about the One God but he was in jail. If we had to go into the jail for one day, we are so depressed
so stressed that Subhanallah a person would come out sick and Ill it would traumatize them for
decades to come. This man was in there for years. He was so happy, so delighted. He sees the
opportunity. It didn't change him. It didn't make him ugly. It didn't make him bad. He sees the
opportunity to my companions let me teach you something you know about Allah. Let me tell you
		

			Subhana Allah, imagine in our case, teaching someone Salah, making them a Muslim, teaching them for
an reading whatever, you know, the difficulty is how much do we know to start with, then what
happened? Use of Allah His salatu salam later on interpreted the dream and later on he told them
look, one of you is going to be with these with the king here or with the chief minister here. When
you are there. Remember me please mention me. Allah wanted that person to forget. You see that again
shows us that in society when people are in need, they will quickly say things but the minute they
are in ease again they forget you. They forget who helped them. They forget everything. Why? Because
		

			they are in ease. Once again. Allah is teaching us a true believer you don't forget some help.
		

			In a PSA
		

			is the recompense of goodness. According to a believer, anything besides goodness, someone did good
to you too good. Back to them.
		

			panela with us it's the opposite way you can do good to someone for for an entire lifetime, there
will come a time when you only see evil in return. May Allah subhanho wa Taala Forgive us, rectify
us and correct us. That is the nature of humankind today. Like I say it's not a problem just in one
society or community. It's across the globe. People forget goodness because now they are in ease.
They step back, they don't realize, with use of alayhi salatu wa sallam, the man forgot totally. And
Allah created a scenario where that man had a dream The king or the chief minister had a dream. And
as a result, use of alayhi salatu salam was called upon once again to interpret that beautiful
		

			dream. He was not arrogant. He didn't say you guys jailed me for nothing. Now I'm not going to talk
to you. No, he rose to the occasion. In such a beautiful way his character and conduct didn't
change. He responded he helped he assisted, Allah gave him both Prophethood as well as power on the
earth. Allah made him a leader. And at the same time when the day came Subhana Allah when he met his
parents or his brothers, he was so humble. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us all benefit. May
Allah subhanahu wa taala grant us a beautiful lesson from these few words that I've uttered. Many of
us going through a lot of difficult times in our business, in our families, in our societies, it is
		

			definitely inspiration to be looked at, within the story of use of La salatu salam, may Allah grant
that to us or sallallahu wasallam or Baraka, Allah, Allah Nabina Muhammad