Mufti Menk – Will Dua Change Destiny?
AI: Summary ©
The segment discusses the beliefs of Islam, including the future based on what is happening across the globe and the importance of having children and loss of loved ones in difficult situations. The speakers emphasize the importance of gratitude and forgiveness in a situation where one is already in goodness, as it is a marriage of both. They also stress the need for faith in oneself and protecting oneself from harm, and offer advice on achieving a positive experience. The importance of forgiveness is emphasized, and forgiveness is also discussed as a recap of experiences.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa Salatu was Salam ala Rasulillah Allah, Allah, he was happy ah mine, my beloved brothers and sisters.
When Allah Almighty created us, he has already predestined several things about us in a little bit of detail. Some of the finer details
comes about on a yearly basis, some of it on a daily basis.
But the general date of birth date of death, whether you are fortunate or unfortunate, is destined by Allah subhanho wa taala.
And they say this is based on certain things and factors, Allah knows about the future because the knowledge of Allah is unique, unlike yours and mine, the knowledge of Allah does not only encompass the details in the very, very
minute test of them,
of what has happened.
But it actually includes what is happening right now everywhere across, not just the globe, and not just humankind, but the entire creation. Man doesn't even know how many planets they are in existence. Yet Allah knows the grain of sand or molecules in every single planet.
That's amazing. That's mind boggling. And not only that, what will happen in the future?
Allah knows exactly how it will pan out. He knows exactly the what choices people will make. That's something tremendous
and more mind boggling than all of that is, Allah knows what will not happen in the future.
And is not going to happen in the future. If it were to happen, how it would have happened. Subhanallah that is mind boggling.
Did you hear the last part of what I just said, now?
Let me give you an example.
I didn't marry so and so but if I did, what type of kids would I have had? Allah will show that to you? Allahu Akbar. And if I did, how would it have been? Allah will show that to you if you want to see it. And if you remember it, as he some of the people here are laughing but yeah, you might have someone in mind, don't you?
May Allah grant us ease. This world is so finite, and Allah is infinite.
This world is so limited.
Allah is unlimited Subhanallah
imagine Allah knows what is never going to happen. If it had happened, how it would have happened. Look at Surah Toluca half, when the story of a liberal is mentioned towards the end of the 15th part of the Quran.
And Allah Almighty says very beautifully that this man who accompanied Musa alayhis salam, or whom Musa alayhis, Salam accompanied, he did a few things that didn't make sense to the Prophet Musa, or Moses May peace be upon him. And later on, he explained that look, I did this because if I did not do this, then this was going to happen. So Allah already inspired me or instructed me in a certain way to do this. What does that mean? That means what was never going to happen had it happened. Allah knows how it would have happened. You had a child, may Allah grant us all goodness and children. I mean,
may Allah bless those without children, with children. I mean, and may Allah bless those who have children such that the children are the coolness of their eyes. I mean, it's a tough one living in today's world, with all the different difficulties, hardships that people face, you know, it's not easy. But Allah Almighty is great. So we've got to continue trying and we've got to continue having hope and calling out to Allah. So
if you do not have children, or you have a child and the child passes away early, early on, may Allah make it easy for those who have lost their children, because that is so difficult. So difficult. People actually say I wish I didn't even have this child in the first place. My brother, my sister, Allah chose for you this test and examination. He wants you to pass with flying colors. He wants you he's tested you with an examination that is way beyond the others. That's why your reward will be
Bigger than those who have been through minor issues in their lives, you have had major issues. That's a hadith. Prophet peace be upon him says the greater the test, naturally, the greater the reward, the more difficult the examination naturally, the greater the certificate mean, you're not going to be asked simple questions for your PhD exams, it's going to be sophisticated, it might take a while, you've got to present a thesis that takes long to prepare, and so on. So if you've lost a child, or if you do not have a child, trust me when you meet Allah and you remember, if you do remember, and you want to see Oh Allah, how would it have been if I had children? Or if my child had
survived and lived so many more years? Perhaps you will say just as well you did what you did, Oh Allah, your mercy is great.
Imagine having a child you've cried for all your life and suddenly they grow older, and they are the source of your sadness, your stress, your depression, your anxiety, your health problems, and every negativity that's been in your life source of it your own child would you like? Or would you would not have liked for Allah to have protected you from that without you having known yet? We cry to Allah for things. We don't know whether they're good for us or not. Hence, the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him the greatest of inspiration. He tells us, ask Allah to give it to you, if it is better for you, Allahu Akbar. I remember a guy again, get wanting to get married, saying, Oh Allah,
grant me the marriage to this person, if it is better for me, and a week later he comes to me says, Allah is not answering my dua. I've been making dua for this person, but it's just not happening. So what do you say? I say, oh, Allah, grant me marriage to this person, if it is better for me, said Well then, if it's not happening, you've got to know that it's not better for you. No, but Allah is not answering the DUA. karma, karma make up your mind, make up your mind.
And that's why in the dua of St. Hara that I mentioned last night, in a different place.
You are asking Allah saying oh Allah if this is good for me make it easy for me and give it to me and if it is not good for me then take it away from me make me happy with your decree. Why because Allah knows the future in a way that even that which will not happen if it were to happen how it would have happened only Allah knows ya allah mama Karna, Amaya Cornwall Mala Mia can either can okay for your corner for those who know the Arabic language.
So my brothers, my sisters, there is one point that I want to raise tonight.
Dua supplication what role does it play in my life and yours if Allah has already predestined things, good question, right? Why should I even ask Allah it's already predestined. While I tell you the Hadith says one thing that can move your predestined matters to a degree is DUA and another is charity. Did you hear that? So yes, perhaps your date of death might not change, but
inside of that there is a lot that can be maneuvered through your DUA and through your charity. So keep being good doing good. Keep calling out to Allah be charitable.
And the charity for us you and I know is not just monetary.
Even your expression, the expression on your face
is a charity mashallah
you can
convert the expression on your face to a charity by what?
By making it pleasant, making people feel welcome, creating that warmth. You don't have to be miserable because when you're miserable, it is also contagious. And when you're cheerful, it is also contagious, or you at least help people who might feel sad. No, it's not all about doom and gloom. Look at these guys. They're smiling. Let me break into a smile as well. For a while your burden is lessened mashallah, imagine entering a room people are smiling, they greet you, you automatically feel welcome. Imagine entering another room where everybody's just looking down as you enter. They don't even look at you. It's like, where did this person come from? Right. You don't even feel
welcome. You go in there. Even if you were happy walking in, you're already sad because I think I'm in the wrong place. These people don't even want me here. They're not even acknowledging look at how this has an impact on you. Hence it is called a sadaqa bazooka for what he Africa South Africa to smile at the face of your brethren.
A charity
and where did I speak about charity from the fact that it will help you where
When it comes to your destiny to a degree.
So Allah created us in a unique way. He has Yes, predestined things, but he creates needs in us within us. And those needs, he wants us, to fulfill them by the ability that He's given us, I want to get married, I need to do something about it. I want to earn, I want to get a job I want, I need to do something about it with the capacity that was given to me by Allah. But I do not take prayer and supplication out of the equation.
prayer and supplication, more powerful than anything you will do. But it is coupled with what you shall do. Because Allah gives you the ability to do it. So you have some people saying, You know what, I want this, but I'm just going to pray about it. That's it, I need the job. And I'm going to ask Allah all night, every night.
Allah has
allowed you to discover the email of perhaps the place where you want to work, Allah has allowed you to discover the name of the person who's at Human Resources, who is perhaps dishing out the jobs. And Allah expects you to utilize your mind that he gave you, your capacity he gave you, you're sitting next to me you're meeting me today is not a coincidence. It's not it was planned by Allah. But didn't you make a little effort given the ability that Allah gave you, there were others after you had perhaps booked who wanted to book who couldn't book because it was all sold out.
It was so May Allah grant us goodness, you have to use that capacity. But does that mean you only use the capacity without dua or you only make dua without using your capacity, a true moment, it's a marriage of both. It's a marriage of both, but which is more powerful.
The DUA
the prayer supplication is definitely more powerful. But in order to acknowledge the greatness of Allah, you must acknowledge the ability he has given you. If you can sit and stand today, it's only because Allah gave you the power to do that. That's why when Qarun
the very wealthy person at the time of the Prophet Moses, may peace be upon him.
mentioned in surah cosas, if I'm not mistaken, Allah Almighty, says that his crime was not that he had wealth. His crime was he allowed the wealth to make him arrogant.
And on top of that,
he told everyone, this has nothing to do with God Almighty. This is me my intellect, my brain, my capacity, my physical strength, and my sharp brain. I got all this and I major on Hang on, hang on.
Who gave you the brain? Did you give yourself the brain? Who gave you the capacity? Who gave you the ability? Who allowed you to network and to meet? We think we're intelligent? Hang on, hang on. It's Allah Who allowed you to Network. Today we have social media through which the bulk of us have gotten to know each other.
Am I right? Where did that come from? Did Allah not you might say, Oh, it's a human being. It's these people, those people, this social media belongs to that one and this one and this one invented this and did Allah not give them the capacity in their brains? Where did their brains come from? So go back to the source, the root is always ALLAH, do not allow yourself to forget Allah, Allah is the first of that entire equation. So cardones crime was, he says, In ama od to who Allah in
the, I was given all of this because of me, myself and I my knowledge, the knowledge that is within me, hang on. Allah says, Does he not see we've destroyed people before him who had much more than him? Because he became arrogant. He needs to witness the destruction of those who were similarly arrogant that happened in the past. When Allah destroys, he doesn't just you slap and you get a slap back on your on your cheek. That's not how Allah works.
Allah gives you a moment. It gives you some time, difference from person to person, situation to situation nation to nation.
Imagine if every time you did something bad you had the punishment instantly, instantly.
We wouldn't be able to do any bad.
Imagine you're trying to walk away from the masjid and the next thing you just get pulled back. Come back. You would have to fulfill your Salah. Imagine time of Salah and you want to do something and suddenly you just freeze.
What option do you have? Allah says it defeats the purpose. We give you time. We want you
To return on your own, one day you have to go back there is no option. One day you're going to have to fulfill the instruction of Allah, you have no option. One day when you go back to Allah, you will be at his mercy completely and you know what the best thing about it He is the Most Merciful, the Most kind, the most generous, he is, above all in terms of forgiveness.
If you think you're a forgiving person who can forgive others, Allah is a billion times more than that. In fact, we cannot even
compare it.
So, where does this do I come in, I will call out to Allah. Oh Allah grant me. When you want something good you ask Allah. When you want to be protected from bad you ask Allah. Those are the two main types of dua, supplication.
But there is a third type of dua
filled with gratitude to Allah to ask Allah to allow you to continue to receive from his mercy when you're already in goodness.
That's probably one of the most important to us. Because naturally if I desperately want something good, say for example, I want to pass my exams, what happens? Human beings I'm a human being, I will get up for prayer. I will read a little bit of Quran I will remember Allah a bit more in terms of Vicki, I will give a little charity do a bit of good why because I need a good rapport with Allah good relationship with Allah. And I'm going to say Oh, Allah helped me to pass my exams helped me to pass my exams helped me to pass my exams. Grant me goodness, let the questions in the examination be exactly what I have studied. Powerful dua.
You want goodness, you called out to Allah. Okay, that's good enough. Very good. Allah created the need, in order for you to call out to Allah, the beauty of calling out to Allah for something that he may never give you is that you have other things that you will receive as a reward for that particular dua. You might have failed your exams. But guess what, as a result, you were cured from a disease you didn't know that you actually had. How's that? Well, how were you cured? Because the Destiny here goes, you called out to Allah, acknowledging his greatness, acknowledging he is the owner of what you want, and he knew is not going to give it to you as a result, he gave you
something else Subhanallah Was it not worth it making a dua even if I didn't get it? So don't come about and say I've been calling Allah for 20 years. In order for me, for example, what can I say? You know, besides marriage, there's hardly anything else people talk about these days.
And we still find it difficult to get married, Mashallah.
Yeah, may Allah bless those who don't have spouses with spouses, and those who do have spouses don't ask me to make another dua for you because it becomes spice.
My brothers, my sisters, so Allah subhanahu wa taala held back one thing for 20 years that you were asking for, but for those 20 years, he gave you sustenance, he gave you some things that no one else had, but you were too busy, only calling for that which you didn't have. So you began to feel Allah is not responding to your DUA, but all along he was only giving you the blessings that He was giving you because of the DUA that he kept rejecting knowing that if I gave this to you, it would not be good for you. How many of us have gotten into situations we were praying to get into and when we got into them, we regretted ever having prayed to get into those situations.
Human beings goes back to what I said right at the beginning the knowledge of Allah that's Allah He knows.
So you make a dua for the goodness I gave an example of that.
Say you are unwell you are sick May Allah grant cure to all those who are sick and ill I mean,
you ask hola hola hola que el me from the cancer from whatever else it may be from the blindness from the sickness I have in my whatever organ it may be from this whatever Oh ALLAH and you cry and you you're hoping you have a procedure tomorrow for example, and you're busy saying oh Allah guide the doctor to be able to diagnose to be able to effectively eradicate this. Oh Allah you are the guide guide his hand don't we say that mashallah beautiful. Even if it resulted in your death
by the virtue of that dua, Allah may give you paradise. And you might wonder, did I really deserve this? Allah says, Well, you desperately sought a certain thing from us, which we didn't give you because we didn't give that to you.
We love the way you asked us and your sincerity and the way you worshipped us by asking us, we will give you paradise in return. That was okay. That was ultimately I still have to go even if it's 10 years from now you find a guy who's 7580 Oh ALLAH can't me a good life I can't go now I really can't go now. Oh Allah I need to see my grandchildren get married. But you know what, 40 years back he was saying oh Allah I need to see my children get married. And if Allah gave him life to 120 Oh Allah I need to see my great great grandchildren get married.
May Allah grant us ease. Those children might be making dua we need to see our grandfather in the grave Stavroula
stock Villa depends people are not so tolerant anymore of their grandparents. May Allah make us from among those who appreciate each other? It's a blessing. The hadith says destruction be to the one who
has witnessed his parents both or one of them in old age, and hasn't achieved paradise through their service, we gave you an opportunity to serve your parents. There they are, you didn't. You lost out on Paradise.
Or you might get paradise if you will, not evil to them. But there was one way of getting Paradise because there are a million ways of entering Jannah Allah looks for any one of those.
The skeleton needs to be filled in what happens thereafter, which means the pillars of Islam, you need to fulfill them. Thereafter, everyone will enter Jannah for different reasons. Some people because they fasted a lot because they gave lots of charity others some people because they stayed away from sin, some people because whatever. There's so many different ways of entering Jannah it's not just one.
But like I said, the skeleton
needs to be there.
So we ask Allah to protect us from that which is bad. He will protect us he has already done so many times. He's responded to the two hours we've made we've gotten it we were cured. We were granted that protection. You're worried because you have a case whether it's a court case or an immigration case, whatever else it may be, we made dua to Allah and guess what, he protected us from harm and he gave us the goodness
but like I said, there's a category in the middle. That's probably more important than both of those.
When you neither want something no do you need the protection from something?
Things are going smooth for you. Everything's okay. You're happily married you've got a kid or two Mashallah. And things are you have a decent income mashallah you can afford a break to a holiday destination of your choice now and again, Mashallah. You can fly out to Umbra once a year Alhamdulillah you can do a lot.
That's when the test becomes bigger. Things are smooth.
To Arraf Illa Allah He Phil Raha II,
Arif, Kofi should
get acquainted with Allah
at the time of ease, that's when you have to sit and prove that you're a true believer.
When I had my difficulty I cried to Allah He removed me from difficulty I forgot him. When I wanted goodness, I cried to Allah He gave me the goodness when I got it. I forgot him. Is that fair?
But now that I've gotten what I have, and I'm leading a life, that's okay. Allah says,
Let inicia Khartoum as Eden
if you're going to be grateful, I'll grant you increase in many other things in blessings, and in so much more. And if you're ungrateful, then
my punishment is severe. I may take away what I've given you take a look at this. So Allah gives you something you cried for. You've got it, you started earning
mashallah
you have everything
if you
were sliding into sin as a result of it and you started missing your Salah, you notice your dress code was mashallah and now it's becoming a Stanfill. Allah. You know, you notice for example,
your connection with Allah
is diminishing.
And then you start saying things and doing things that portray arrogance. Guess what?
That's called ingratitude.
Allah gave you and you're drifting away. That ingratitude Allah says the first thing we do, we * away what's known as Baraka blessings. So you might still have the millions, but you can't sleep
And you can't
you have no good relations. You're not happy. You're not content. You had a holiday, you have your own yacht and your own plane and you have your own island. MashAllah somewhere across the oceans of the globe, and it's all yours, but you're just not happy. Why? Go back to supplication? Learn to raise your hands to the King of kings, the owner who owns you, and he is closer to you than your jugular vein.
The one whom you're going to return to all you've got to do put your head on the ground for him and tell him Oh Allah, I thank you. I am still your slave. Even though you've given me what ever I have.
That which I didn't even ask you for. You've given it to me, all of us. All of us without exception Allah has given us things we did not ask for.
But they were blessings. That's why Allah says
Hulu Al Bab, he uses the term Hulu Al Bab. He says, The pondering over the creation of Allah, the favours of Allah, the night and the day and whatever else it may be, is a sign of those who have signed sound intellect, they're intelligent, they think, What is Allah given me?
He's given me things I didn't even ask for.
That is Allah subhanho wa taala.
So will you not call out to Allah?
Oh Allah, I thank you for what I know is a favor. And for things I take for granted, I've always taken for granted. Many of us never, ever realize that Allah automatically governed the sugar in our bodies, the cholesterol levels in our bodies, the uric acid levels in our bodies and everything else until a day when something went wrong with one of those.
And suddenly, 50 years later, gosh, you know, my cholesterol is very high. Have you ever thanked Allah for helping you? Or for having government that for you? Oh, long Subhanallah No, I never thought of it. You better think about it. You look you can see, thank Allah for your eyes. You didn't even ask Allah Oh Allah protect my eyesight Allahu Akbar, almost 90% If not more of us have never meaning 90% of those who can see clearly have never thought of thanking Allah or asking him to protect
our eyesight. Am I right or wrong?
Oh Allah, you've given me the ability to see today.
I thank you for that.
Protect my eyes.
I will try my best not to look at that which displeases you, wherever I faulted. I'm a human, I will falter forgive me. I'm not doing it out of defiance of you owe my maker. I'm doing it out of my own weakness as a human being. Wow, you're talking now to who? To your maker. He understands that language because he made you.
Allah didn't ask you for perfection. He asked you to do the best you can. And with that, keep calling out to him. Oh Allah. I thank you for the brain you've given me I thank you for the hearing the faculties. Now you look at the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. Amazing. What did I say? Inspiration, complete Nabi of Allah, the best of creation, the most noble of all Prophets. He thanked Allah for all of these things one by one, go and read this. Go and check his do as go and just look the supplications of the Prophet, you will find he asked for the eyesight, the hearing the whatever all the faculties that we have of Allah give us the best use of these faculties that you've
given us, help us grant us the ability to use them in the right direction and so on and so forth. And nothing was wrong with him.
Where are we? I'm a follower of the Prophet. That's why we're here to remind you tonight.
We have
the greatest blessing in the fact that Allah is the most merciful and he's our maker. Don't lose hope in the Mercy of Allah. You are loved by Allah you are as you are, you are loved by Allah all he wants from you is keep getting closer to him. Don't walk in the other direction. That's all.
And the day will come when you return to Allah at a time when you are the closest you ever were to him. Wouldn't you like that?
So my brothers and sisters,
when Allah has blessed you, thank him for it.
When Allah has not given you something, look at the other positives that he's blessed you with, and still learn to be grateful.
Like I said, just like Allah has given you things you haven't asked for. He has also not given you things you've asked for.
That's Allah.
La us alone. Yeah, follow. None can question Allah what He does?
Because who's there to question Allah no one. But Allah is fair, he's just, he will recompense you for your patience.
And then when you call out to Allah, what should you do?
First thing you do seek forgiveness. You want to ask Allah something? What should you do? Ask Allah to forgive you first? Because imagine I've done so much bad to you. And then I come and say, Brother, I need to borrow 10,000 pounds urgently, please. It's a matter of life and death.
And you look at me and think to yourself, This guy's been
the worst person that they could ever have been in my life and such a big pain. And today is coming to me. Surely if he started off by saying, Listen, brother, I know I've been a real pain in your life. I know. I've done so much bad against you. I've sent so much of rubbish about you, behind your back. I've done so much. I've caused you a lot of loss. I really, really want you to forgive me today. I'm desperate. I need 10 grand
is an extremely loaded guy and say, Brother, don't worry about all of that.
You know, yesterday,
a youngster comes to me. May Allah grant him goodness and Jana, because he had the guts to do what he did.
It comes to me. And he tells me, she if I need to talk to you just for 30 seconds. That's not easy. But I said no problem. You know, sometimes you got to look at the situation. I was about to leave. And he says, I've said a lot of stuff about I said stop there.
Everything is forgiven, because I know what he wants to say. I've said a lot of stuff about you.
That's not good. And I want you to forgive before you even asked me. I want to tell you two things. And this youngster must be a teenager a little bit beyond.
Listen, my brother, it's all forgiven. And if you ever have to do it again, do it again.
Did you hear what I just said?
What ever he said has not affected me.
Maybe it's what he said that caused me to achieve what I have from Allah. So I don't mind you doing it again, bro. If that was the ingredient that made my cake, I need another cake exactly like that one. So if you dropped in a little bit of the secret ingredient that'd be Subhanallah that it'd be
you know, the cup of tea. My wife makes his beautiful. She always says there's a secret ingredient. I say what's it? She says I have to taste it. Put it back in. You know?
Some people if they have the mouth bothers that saliva? What? No, that's the secret ingredient, man. It's not like she spat in it, she only tasted it Subhanallah
when you kiss them, it's not a problem. But when you SIP THE TEA, it's a big problem, right? May Allah grant us good homes. I mean, so my brothers and sisters,
for me.
I'm thinking of this young boy. And I'm saying to myself, I don't even it's forgiven before you did and and I'm telling you guys now as well, before you do something you want to do. That is negative, it's already forgiven. Because you know what? It doesn't float my boat, my boat is floated by Allah.
Do you get my point? May Allah grant us ease. It's just because I understand a little bit of how it works. And that's why I'm sharing it with you today to see does it's not me, the guy who's harming you may not be the cause of your downfall. In fact, that might be the cause of Allah's upliftment of you, it could be the direct if you're going to stop that you actually might stop this as well. I remember back in the day, I had a major problem that lasted more than a decade, almost two decades, major issue. And I remember crying to Allah to solve the matter. And I got to a point where because we learned a little bit about the deal. I started saying, Oh Allah, if this is the test you've
chosen for me, I love it. And I don't want you to replace it because I'm managing the soul. Well, imagine you're going to take this away from me and you're going to give me something bigger because that's what you promised and I'm gonna keep testing you again. Don't think that Allah solved one problem of yours no other problems are going to happen for the rest of your life. They will come again and again and bigger ones. So say Oh Allah, if this is the test, I love it. I can manage I'm coping I'm okay with this. It's fine my life everything else is smooth sailing Subhan Allah may Allah grant us ease.
I want to make a quick dua that our brother here can give me five more minutes inshallah.
It's okay. You see
As answered mashallah
so my brothers and sisters, look, I can't even believe my time's up. But to be honest, Let's all call out to Allah call out to him at all times. Thank Him for what you have. I hope I've motivated you this evening, to look at life from a different angle. And to be able to be a good person who's connected to his or her maker in a beautiful way. Don't worry about others, they can't do anything to you. Allah says Allah.
Allah, Allah and Yun Tao kabhi che Namibian for Oka Illa be martyred. Kitab Allahu Allah. And the opposite is true in the same Hadith, you need to know that if the entire nation gets together to benefit you, they cannot benefit you unless Allah has written it for you. And if everyone comes together to harm you, they will not be able to harm you at all unless Allah has written it against you. So don't worry about anything.
But that doesn't mean just make dua and that's it. No you use your energy like I said, your God given capacity to try to achieve benefit and to try and protect yourself from harm. May Allah Almighty bless us abundantly May Allah grant us goodness May Allah Almighty open our hearts and may Allah Almighty gather us again in a beautiful place known as Jana to those when inshallah we will get a little bit more time to catch up with one another perhaps Baraka la vie Maputo. kolyada was salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.