Mufti Menk – Two Blessed Gifts

			Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa Salatu was Salam O Allah Shafi
Gambia even mousseline, Nabina Muhammad, Allah Allah He was happy as we praise Allah subhanho wa
Taala we thank him upon all conditions. We asked him to send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad
salallahu alayhi wa sallam, his entire household, all his companions May Allah subhanho wa Taala
bless them all, and may He bless every single one of us, I mean,
		

			my beloved brothers and sisters, the gifts of Allah subhanho wa Taala upon us, many, some of them
are quite clear for us to see. And others we would need to dig a little bit before we realize that
this is a gift of Allah subhanho wa Taala some of these gifts that are hidden, in fact not so
hidden, but they would require an effort from us to discover them or to realize what exactly they
are. Some of these the reason why they are not so clear, is because as we grew up, we did not really
pick up the difference between us and the others of a similar age group.
		

			And there are two such gifts that are made mentioned of in the hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam that I wish to talk about this afternoon. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
says mahtani maamoun Fie Hema Cassio meanness. There are two gifts and the neon, the name of Allah
subhanho wa Taala, referring to the gifts or the boons of Allah subhanho wa Taala in one verse in
the Quran, or in a few places in the Quran, Allah subhanho wa Taala says, What?
		

			Ma de la isla. So,
		

			if you are ever going to try to count the gifts of Allah upon you, you will not be able to do that
you will never be able to circumscribe them or to count them all, you might start writing a list you
will have a few 1000 things and it will still continue up to the day you die, you will not be able
to to actually get all of them jotted down. So this shows that they are gifts of Allah, that we need
to search for, understand their value and appreciate them. So the two gifts that are spoken about in
the Hadith, the Prophet sallallahu Sallam says these two gifts, many people are deceived regarding
them, and have been robbing is when a person doesn't really know the reality. They are deceived in
		

			some regard. You know, for example, if you are buying just an example if you're buying a watermelon,
Mashallah, and you don't know whether the taste of it inside is actually going to be as the person
who is selling it to you is telling you so by right you have an option of asking him to slicey on
condition that you pay his price. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us an understanding. So going
back to this two things many people are deceived about the first one is health. Your health is such
a gift of Allah, like I said, when we are young and we grow up, those in our age group, the bulk of
them, they would probably we would not pick up if anyone was really seriously sick. And even if they
		

			were, we always feel sometimes when we are normal and healthy, that you know what, it won't happen
to me. We feel that and one day suddenly when it overtakes you, you realize Guess what, it was too
late and it now is too late. May Allah subhanho wa Taala, forgive us, and May He grant us an
understanding of the value of this beautiful gift of Allah, the health. If I spend a few moments
speaking about health, we will realize the entire body is so sophisticatedly connected, that if
something goes wrong with a single part of your body, the rest of the body is restless, and the rest
of the body is affected. Take for example, the breathing that we have. Do you know if you sit for a
		

			moment and think and this is why Allah says wafi
		

			fujichrome alfalah tubo Do you not look within yourselves to discover the signs and the greatness of
Allah subhanho wa Taala look within yourself. If you have to sit and think about the breathing You
and I are breathing right now. Do you know what happens? It starts off with your nose and mouth and
it goes through the entire respiratory system the lungs if there is anything wrong with any part of
the body connected to your breathing, you would feel lethargic, you would probably feel sickly you
might feel lazy and various other problems. You know they say the oxygen levels that are actually
taken in would vary
		

			from person to person and depending on how good your oxygen intake is, that is how healthy you feel,
because the body means the oxygen. But did we ever think of this when we were born, we were too
young to understand and as we became of understanding age, well, we had other according to us bigger
things to think about. So we never ever thought about these things. So Allah subhanho wa Taala is
asking us to ponder over this gift and to make sure we do not waste it. And we do not lose the value
of this beautiful gift. We appreciate it. So I look at how I breathe. I look at the Faculty of sight
seeing, ask those who cannot see the hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam says whomsoever Allah
		

			has taken away his eyesight or her eyesight in this life, He grants them in return for their
patience, Jana, without reckoning Subhana Allah, if Allah has taken your eyesight away, and you born
the suburb, or the patience required, he gives you Jelena in return because it is such a big gift of
Allah, one of the senses. So this is why I asked those who have a problem with their eyesight, and
you realize the value of yours. Ask those who have a problem with their hearing, and you will
realize the value of yours but if you do not ask you Do not look you do not take time to consider
the value of your gift, then May Allah subhanahu wa taala Forgive us, perhaps you spend an entire
		

			lifetime without having thanked Allah for such a blessing gift. This is why it is a great sooner of
Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam to visit the sick. One of the reasons is exactly what we are talking
about today that you visit the sickly those who are struggling in one way or another, you make dua
for them. And when you are with them, you appreciate what you have. Allahu Akbar, you appreciate you
thank Allah Allah, at least I can fulfill my Salah, for example, standing, ask those who cannot, at
least I am a person who, for example, can walk without any assistance. At least I'm a person who can
hear without any hearing aids, or I'm a person perhaps we can, you know, reach out to get whatever I
		

			want without the assistance of others ask those who are paralyzed, those who have lost limbs, but it
would require from us the deep thinking thought and the pondering over the gifts of Allah in order
to be able to appreciate such a blessed gift known as health. It's one simple word, but believe me,
it is your entire life health is actually a treasure that is granted to us from Allah subhanho wa
Taala. So how do I show my appreciation for the health that Allah subhanho wa Taala has blessed me
with point number one, I need to ensure that I use the limbs and the health that Allah has given me
to obey Allah has instructions, he has asked me to obey to re fulfill Salah to abstain from
		

			prohibition. And for example, to speak correctly. You know, there are certain people who cannot talk
they are May Allah protect us all, but they they, I wouldn't like to use the word dumb but for all
practical purposes they cannot speak. And certain people for example, who can all of us the bulk of
us who can speak is it not true that sometimes we use the same time, the same voice and the same
gift of Allah to disobey Allah subhanho wa Taala may He forgive us Really? What a blessing gift, the
mouth and the capacity to speak. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us all an understanding. So the
first point of showing appreciation to Allah subhanho wa Taala is to be able to use these faculties
		

			to obey Allah subhanho wa Taala. Secondly, to thank him verbally to say Oh Allah, I thank you for
the eyesight you've given me for the breathing for the nose, the senses that you've blessed me with
the health that you've granted me. Yeah, Allah, I thank you for this. And I appreciate it. Sometimes
what happens, people turn far away from Allah subhanho wa Taala. And then as a blessing and the
mercy He takes part of their health away so that they turn back to Allah subhanho wa Taala. And this
is why with all of us, every single one of us has been through what is known as the common cold and
we are affected by it on a regular basis, perhaps once a year or a few years. A common cold cough,
		

			sometimes a little allergy we have these are signs of Allah and the fact that he is in control. If
he wanted, we would not need we would not have needed to go through these phases or these seasonal
sicknesses that come through we would not have needed or he would not have needed to make us go
through that. But it's for us to realize the gift of Allah upon us you have a little allergy, a
small tablet might help you by the help of Allah subhanho wa Taala but without that what would
happen we would probably get up in the morning all clogged up and you know, the eyes would be red
and so much would happen and we wouldn't even know
		

			Allah subhanho wa Taala bless us may make us from those who can use this health in the right
direction. So, to think Allah subhanho wa Taala without tongues to attune to appreciate what Allah
subhanho wa Taala has blessed us by thanking him or Allah, I thank you for what you've given me and
to be from amongst those whom, whenever any part of our health is affected, immediately we become
closer to Allah never ever become angry and agitated and irritated because you are suffering a
health problem. No, take it in your stride. Understand, call out to Allah, ask him for help and go
and seek medication. It would be wrong for us to say I lay my trust in Allah subhanho wa Taala and I
		

			do not need to visit the doctor. That is wrong. Because part and parcel of laying your trust in
Allah subhana wa Taala is to go out to seek cure for what Allah subhanho wa Taala has inflicted you
with
		

			within your capacity so I have the capacity to visit the doctor I must go because this health is
actually a test from Allah subhanho wa Taala. It is a last choice to test us through the body that
we have, isn't it that this body is going to be buried in the grave when we die And isn't it that
the body will return into the soil as Allah subhanho wa Taala says, men have fall upon us komachi
hanani docum woman Han creado koonta
		

			we have created you from the same soil, we will return you into the soil and we will resurrect you
from it once again that shows that we will be returned to the soil. So the body I have and you have
today is actually not ours. It belongs to Allah He has entrusted us with it for a short period of
time when something goes wrong with it, your duty to seek medication, your duty to give it a rest.
And this is why Allah subhanho wa Taala has created the night in order to rest and he has created
the daytime in order to work. Obviously if you're on night shift sometime you might have you know
have it the other way around. But we're talking here of the general rule. So if you do not rest, you
		

			are actually doing a great disservice to yourself and your body. You are transgressing because Allah
subhanho wa Taala has instructed you to rest your body the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu wasallam
says well enough Sica Allah Kappa libera, Nika alayka haka, you have a right that needs to be
fulfilled of your bodies and of yourself. You have a right to fulfill. May Allah subhanho wa Taala
help us to fulfill this beautiful, right? In a way, if we take a look at sickness, like I said a few
moments ago, it is a blessing of Allah subhanho wa Taala an opportunity to get close to Allah, every
one of us, myself included, when we are ill. And sometimes we are maybe sick in a different way.
		

			They would come a stage when we would understand Look, I need to call out to Allah. Different people
understand that a different state. Some people immediately they would call out to Allah and some
people it takes time, they will first say you know what, let's go and have this medication. Let's
try this painkiller. Let's try that. And then they say yeah, Allah, we've tried everything help us.
A moment a believer is he or she home from the time before the health is negatively affected?
They're already asking Allah, Allah protect our health. That is a belief. And this is the hadith of
Muhammad Sallallahu sallam, he used to make dua for health, and for so many other factors, even
		

			before he was ever sick before he was affected by anything. He says, Oh Allah, grant me the goodness
or the good use of of the faculties that you've given me, my hearing my sight, and all the energies
you've granted me or Allah helped me to use it in a good way. Do not take it away from us in a way
that we would be left sick and Ill May Allah subhanahu wa taala help us to understand these great
doors, and may He make us from those who would call out to Allah whilst we are healthy. And this is
why another narration of Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam he makes it quite clear where he says there
are five things. If you do not seize those opportunities, five opportunities, if you don't seize
		

			them, they will be definitely overtaken by five conditions which would then result in regret. One of
them is your health. Whilst you are healthy, do what you have to whilst you're healthy, thank Allah,
ask Allah to protect you, there will come a day when you will not perhaps be able to worship Allah,
the way you would have been able to when you were healthy, or the way you are able to today. And
this is why moments ago I said, Ask those who cannot read Salah standing anymore and make the sujood
in the proper way. Perhaps they would regret the days that they did not increase their voluntary
prayer to Allah subhanho wa Taala because it's not the same May Allah subhanahu wa taala help
		

			All May He grant cure to all those who are sick and ill. And it brings me to one of the main points
when it comes to the sicknesses of others always learn to pray for other people never become
delighted and happy that this person is sick that one is sick or Mashallah, you know, they deserved
it. That is not a movement. A true believer knows that whatever they are afflicted with, it can come
to me today, it can come to me tomorrow, anything can happen, and I can be affected by it. And even
if I am not the fact that I call out for my fellow Muslim, the fact that I call out for a person who
is suffering and struggling in their health, do you know the angels are calling out with the same
		

			job for me? So why don't we achieve that? Why don't we seize the opportunity? You see someone you
make a dua for them, la hora de sha Allah, the son of Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam asking for the Cure
and asking for, you know, reward to be given to them for the summer that they are going through. And
you say, Well, I don't test me with the same May Allah subhanho wa Taala bless us. So the point, the
first point that I had, that the Hadith that we are speaking about today, makes mention of is the
issue of health. I hope I've said enough regarding health that would convince us or at least move us
to the degree that we appreciate the help we have, you know, to fulfill your Salah on time to be
		

			able to read the Quran whilst you can actually read correctly to be able to obey Allah subhanho wa
Taala instruction all this we need to ponder over and we need to ask Allah subhanho wa Taala. The
second issue that is mentioned in the same Hadith we started with the Prophet sallallahu wasallam
says alpha, alpha meaning free time, your free time in my free time. When we are young. What do we
do with the free time let's be honest, we play games. And sometimes we use it in something that is
few times. Because you are very young, a little toddler and infant There is nothing more you could
do. And as you grow up, you then go to school, your free time becomes less. You know, the your first
		

			days at a nursery school, for example, what we would call a preschool, your first days at preschool
would occupy you so much that when you come back, you're tired, you need to sleep a little child and
then what happens your free time is reduced. As you grow up a little bit more free time reduced.
When you graduate from primary school to high school, your free time is reduced even more. And when
you go up further, your free time is actually almost diminishing, you just have a weekend and that
too sometimes how you spend it Allah knows. So the Hadith of the Prophet sallahu wa sallam, he tells
us free time is a nygma it's actually a gift from Allah to test you, what do you do in it? And where
		

			do we get this from the beginning of the Hadith where the prophets Allah wa salam says, mahtani
these are two gifts of Allah. And Allah says, from Allah to Allah Yama, even and in him. On the day
of judgment, you will be asked about the gifts of Allah, one of them is your free time. What did you
do in your time that was free? Did you use it to gain closeness to Allah? Did you use it to solve
crises and problems? Did you use it with your family constructively? Did you use it with the oma
constructively? Or did you sin? Did you waste it? You see, there are several categories of this free
time and the way it is used, the best of which is in the obedience of Allah or constructively. The
		

			second is a person who does nothing waste, I was just sleeping, I was free and I was sleeping. If
that is the case, we have failed the test as well. Because life is like an hourglass where the sand
keeps going, whether you are sleeping or awake, the same sand is going you are still losing your
time. So you'd rather make sure that you do not unnecessarily waste that time in a way or should I
say you do not waste the time in a way that you could have done something constructive in one day.
When you become occupied, you realize and it would be too late by then. So this is why the worst
person is He who spends his free time sinning and transgressing against Allah. And this people the
		

			young of today. Sometimes we sit and we think, oh, I've got two hours to kill. Come, let's go and
watch a movie. What are you doing? You could have spent that time so constructively and here you are
a movie. The Hadith says if a person says Subhana Allah He will be handy 100 times a day his sins
are washed away, even if they were like the froth of the ocean. Subhana Allah, how many times and
how many of us, myself included, have said Subhana Allah, He will be handy, you know, glorifying
Allah and praising Allah more than 100 times a day or 100 times a day. Allah forgive us really, it's
a powerful narration. But we should repeat these words. Today is a Friday. I call on you to praise
		

			Allah and glorify him using your tongue, your free time, the first thing that must come to your
mind. Let me go and learn the Quran a bit more. It's the only word of Allah that we have available
here. Hello, my maker
		

			Yours has given me a word. It's the only word of a lie. Spend some time in the day don't get tired
and sick of it because they will come a day when you will not have that free time. Now Allah
subhanho wa Taala help us understand these two great gifts of his a see how to one for the health
that he has blessed us with the free time we have and may we spend our free time constructively and
may we use all the faculties he has blessed us with in the best possible way so that the day it is
taken away we do not regret and the day we return to Allah subhanho wa Taala we have no regrets. May
Allah forgive us all for Sol Allahu wa salam ala nabina Muhammad