Am I a Good Person #02
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Channel: Muhammad West
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AI Generated Summary ©
The challenges of Easter include prioritizing Easter rules and following rules, creating a sense of normality and avoiding negative behavior. The importance of creating a safe environment and avoiding attacks on one's behavior is emphasized. The success of individuals and avoiding moral evil talk is also emphasized. It is also emphasized the importance of prioritizing one's actions and deeds, avoiding danger, and not being caught in a temptation of being a shepherd and not a coward.AI Generated Transcript ©
Who praise and worship is to Allah
We testify that he's none worthy of worship
besides Allah. We thank him and we praise
him and we glorify him and we send
our love, our greetings and salutations, beloved Nabi
Muhammad to
his pious and his pure family, to his
companions, and all those who follow his sunnah
until the end of time. May
Allah grant us steadfastness on the sunnah of
Nabi Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
Ameen. It's been
9 days, 10 days since the end of
Ramadan.
And really, this past week
is a week where we need to reflect,
and I speak to myself first. Ramadan was
a training period. It was a moment where
you go and you
practice. Allah
creates a good environment for you to strengthen
yourself,
and then
you go out into the real world.
And we've now been in the real world
for about a week, and you now get
to see how ready you are, how ready
I am in facing the challenges and the
fitna of the real world. Now we get
to really measure
ourselves as people. How quickly did we go
back into our sinful ways? How quickly did
we leave off the
piety that we did during the month of
Ramadan? And, yes, it's as we mentioned, the
last 10 nights of Ramadan, we will always
push ourselves to a limit that, you can't
emulate throughout the year, but we should not
lose all of it. And in these few
lectures, we're looking at what Allah
wants us to focus on. So now we're
going back to where you were in the
highs of Ramadan.
If we are going to
retract a little bit, what are the things
that we need to really prioritize?
What are the things that we need to
make sure are in order
as we go through now the real world?
We also for all those of us, and
and I'm sure you you will agree, it's
so much more difficult now
maintaining
that piety that we had in Ramadan.
We all know the great rewards of the
6 days of Shawwal, but we are so
struggling just to do those 6 days of
Shawwal, where it was so easy for us
to perform salah
on time or in the Masjid or at
the earliest walk. Now once again, it's a
difficulty to wake up for Fajr. It's difficult
to get to the Masjid. It's difficult difficult
to open the Quran. How many of us
have opened the Quran? Speak to myself first.
How many of us have opened the Quran
after being in the last 10 nights? Perhaps
some people are reciting
multiple ajazah during that last 10 nights. It
was just a week ago, subhanAllah.
And it shows you, number 1, the barakah
of the month of Ramadan.
It shows you also the impact we have
on each other. When everybody
is in a mode of goodness,
it's easy to follow. But to go against
the grain, all it's a bit more difficult.
And so,
we continue where we left of last week,
and I said, the
Quran has a few lists in terms of
who the good people are.
Allah
mentioned in Surat Al Maarij
that Vali Insan
is created impatient.
When good when badness comes to him, he's
very despondent and angry with Allah. He becomes
upset with Allah. But when goodness comes to
him, he is ungrateful and he's
arrogant. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says and there's
a there's a interesting point here.
The ulama mentioned that it doesn't matter how
much you know, how many degrees you have,
how much Quran you've memorized, how much of
an alim you are. When calamity strikes you,
calamity could be a good thing or a
bad thing. Getting a raise and a promotion
could be a calamity. Calamity. Getting that business
deal could be a calamity for you. When
you are tested,
it is not going to be the knowledge
that you have but the strength of your
iman. And that's why you find that, subhanAllah,
when calamity hits,
those of us who are educated and we
know and we have all the degrees, we
fall apart. But our grannies who didn't even
finish school, when calamity struck them, that sabr
is there because it is iman that really
comes through. So Allah
says that there are people,
they are very, you know, that they are
impatient with Allah. When badness comes to them,
they're angry with him. They're despondent. They become
upset with Allah. They're impatient. But when goodness
comes to them, they are also bad in
in their own way being arrogant. The
only people who when they are afflicted with
the ups and downs of life, and everybody's
gonna go up and down. Everybody that is
sitting here, you will have good days and
bad days. Allah says the only one who
can survive
the trials of life is the
The people who are
who commit salah.
They are consistent on their salah. If you're
gonna tick a box,
the most important box after tawhid is salah.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes these lists in
terms of priority.
And if
if we are struggling with our salah, then
begin with salah.
If we are struggling with performing our salah
on time, that's where we begin inshallah. And
there's nothing wrong to say I need to
begin somewhere. There's nothing wrong to say I
was somewhere. I lost my way. Shaitan wants
you to feel despondent. He wants you to
feel you can't get there. But Allah is
saying,
don't look at the,
you know, the Mount Everest. Inshallah, we'll all
get there.
1st, look at your salah, the one who
is consistent on his salah. Make sure it's
on time, in its waqt at the very
least. And if it is on time, in
its waqt, try to do better. I speak
to myself first again. Salah has once again
become a last minute thing. Between all our
meetings, oh, yes. I quickly need to make
the salah before the waqd goes out. This
is the reality.
We need to prioritize salah. Allah Subhanahu Wa'ala
says a good person is the one who
makes salah. That they
are consistent in performing salah.
And they are they know.
They are aware that in their money, I
need to share with those who don't
have. Well, I didn't say you must give
a R1,000,000,
10 rand. He didn't give a number. He
said that he is away,
that he knows that in my money, I
need to share it.
To those who ask, those who beg, those
who ask of you, you will respond to
the asking, and the poor, even the one
that doesn't ask you.
And the one who is conscious about qiyama.
And he is aware and he is fearful
with regards to jahannam because you should never
feel yourself completely secure from the fire of
jannam. And so, we
can become very distracted in our life. One
of the terms for the dunya is.
It is an illusion
that
Allah
says
every life
deceives us. It blinds us. And the only
people that really understands life are the ones
who are
dead.
We get to the Kaaba
Allah
that you are living in this rat race.
You are living in this game. You're playing
a game
until you get to the Kaaba, then you
wake up.
And, subhanallah,
this is like the person who gets my
Allah grant shifa to all those who are
ill. After Ramadan, a lot of people pick
up bugs and stuff like that. Allah keeps
us strong and we push ourselves during that
Ramadan and then that week afterwards you find
a lot of people getting sick. But
you know and I know and I ask
ourselves if, may Allah protect you, get the
diagnosis with your doctor, and he says you
have cancer, terminal cancer.
You only have a year to live or
6 months to live.
Automatically, the nonsense in your life disappears.
The things that worry you and stress you
will disappear.
You will now know what is the priority.
You will now know what is waste and
what is important. And so Allah says, part
of what's going to make you a good
person is to contemplate, is to reflect
on death and on qiyama,
on death and jahannam.
There is a place called jahannam.
There is something like ada punishment,
and I need to constantly remind myself about
it because Netflix and TikTok and work and
promotions and bonuses and holidays are gonna keep
us numb
to that thinking. And so we need to
create a an environment
for yourself, for myself, where I'm reminded to
keep myself in check. And so Allah says
a good person charitable
and
generous
in
his
money.
He
has
a
He's charitable and generous in his money. He
has a healthy sense of not overly fearful.
He is conscious about the jahannam and the
punishment of
Allah. Protect. And he is someone who is
chased.
We live in a hypersexualized world. Very, very
difficult time that we live in. Whoever you
look is fitna. Wherever you that's why, subhanallah,
in the
only way to survive,
if you said I when we're fasting, we
don't wanna look at haram. You realize I
can't log on to my phone.
I can't go on to face because even
though I wanna go there for something maybe
beneficial,
what you see is gonna be haram.
I can't put anything on because everything that
is there is going to be haram. So
I need to almost insulate myself by cutting
off. And so we are living in this
very, very hypersexualized
world. We are living where it is so
easy.
It is so easy with a click of
a button. You can be anywhere, see anything,
do anything,
go anywhere.
Even Firaun,
the urama mentioned, even Firaun could not see
the amount of haram that our kids can
see today. We
you know,
so it becomes very, very difficult
to control and maintain ourselves. And so Allah
says, one of the big tests on the
list of priorities, on the big, big, big
questions
is the one who guards his chastity or
her chastity
except
with his spouse. The only thing which is
permissible, of course, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala allows
you to experience the
intimacy within the confines of within the confines
of
And so Allah says whoever wants more than
that. Whoever goes beyond what is halal with
regards to your wife or your husband, then
you have transgressed against Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Allah protect us and forgive us.
And those who are faithful
to the
and they are faithful and truthful to the
trust and the covenants. This doesn't only mean
you tell the truth. It means that when
we can depend on you, we rely on
you. And usually,
when you talk about faith faithfulness
and honesty, it's got to do with being
entrusted with the wealth or with the responsibility
of someone else.
In your job, all of us, we are
responsible
for the company,
for the staff that work for us. Our
boss entrusts us. He gives us a salary.
He gives us tasks. Do we fulfill our
and our trust?
We have been given our children, our wives
as.
Have we fulfilled our trust? Have we it's
about protecting the rights of others.
Every one of us,
we have been given the rights of someone
in our hands,
and we can harm those people and their
rights. And so a person of iman, Allah
requires
nobody should point the finger.
You robbed me. You stole from me. You
cheated me. You you took my
either my financial
or my personal well-being.
And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reminds you
of the importance of the hukuk of others.
And that they are honest in their testimony.
They're honest in their their talking and their
dealings.
So the Allah subhanahu wa'ala is almost showing
you a good person, he makes salah.
He's generous.
He's chaste.
He's honest.
He's conscious about how he engages with people
around him. And then Allah ends the list,
and the ones who protect this salah.
And
if you do this, Allah says you'll be
in Jannah.
If you do this list, you're guaranteed Jannah.
If you can maintain this list,
or didn't put there,
you must recite the khatam every month,
that you need to fast every Monday Thursday,
that you need to make tahajjud every
night, if you can do this list,
then
you
in Another list, There's another list in Suraham.
The Surah of the be of the of
the believers. Allah says Allah begins the Surah,
Successful is the believer.
We talk about success. What is success? Having
the promotion,
having the bank account,
getting your your those those acronyms before your
name or after your name or living in
a certain,
area in the city. All those things are
nice to have. Nothing wrong with that. And
inshallah, aspire to get those things.
But Allah is saying, this is the measure
of success.
The a person who has iman is successful.
That is what we supposed to do. You
want to die
and bring Allah a heart that has iman
in it. That's really what all this life
is about. So who are the mumminunya Allah?
Who are they? Allah says they
are
They are the ones who are humble in
their salah. Again,
the list begins with salah. The list begins
with salah. If
these lists do not for me
again, I speak to myself because your measure
of your iman is determined at the quality
of your salah.
If we are those people
that
enjoy salah, then we're really on a high
level of iman. If salah is something neglected,
then your iman is deficient. If salah is
absent from your life,
absent from your life, iman is absent from
your life. If salah is a burden, it's
like pulling a tooth. I I make it
on time, but it's a chore, then that's
the quality
of our iman. And maybe more most of
us are on that level. I force myself
to go and make salah last minute. There's
khid, there's iman, but it's
not where we want it to be. That
iman is struggling. So Allah says
successful is the one
who makes salah with
His his salah is not only he made
salah, but he makes salah reflect reflectively contemplating
Allah. He is aware of his salah.
Now Allah added another quality that wasn't perhaps
in Surah Al Maarij that they avoid
idle evil bad talk. They don't gossip against
people. They don't
share messages that would hurt one another. They
don't swear. The way in which they talk
is not evil. They avoid.
They this is not that. They don't talk
it. They avoid it.
So there are some people who don't gossip,
but they sit in the gossip.
They sit in the group or the part
of that WhatsApp group where things are being
shared and it's discussed, which is not appropriate.
They say, I didn't share, but I'm part
of the conversation. Allah says a a a
successful person,
he avoids
idle, vain, evil talk.
And he is the one that is giving
of his Zakah and his charity.
He is action. You know, he's action orientated.
It is something which he doesn't need to
be reminded, and he doesn't have to he
doesn't have to be forced out of him,
out of his own. Charity is part of
his life.
Exactly as Allah mentioned in Surah Al Aarij,
the same set of ayaat and a person
that is successful.
He comes out through life with chastity.
He gets through the fitna of this world
and the temptations of this world
without zina to his name. Allah grant us
all of that.
That we can avoid
the temptation.
We can avoid the haram.
And if you want to enjoy yourself within
the confines of nikah, Allah said you can
do it with nikah. I didn't make it
haram for you, but within nikah. But whoever
wants more than what is permissible, then you
have rebelled against Allah.
And then Allah says,
Once again, Allah mentions here that they are
as in Surat Al Ma'arij, that they are
faithful
to that which they've been entrusted with.
That when the trust as we speak every
when the prophet says every one of you
is a shepherd, you all have certain things
which Allah has entrusted you with.
Whether it is your family, whether it is
your work, and most of us, it is
in our business transactions. We need to ask
ourselves the ethics of how we do our
business,
the ethics of how we are employed,
how we treat people in the corporate world,
what we say about one another, how we
backbite and stab within the corporate world. This,
SubhanAllah, Allah says, this is not the attribute
of a believer.
Those who
they are to their trust,
and the covenants.
Also means here in fact, here it is
about that they are attentive.
They are very cautious about
it. It bothers them. It worries them. The
things that I am entrusted
with. Again, then Allah ends the ayah.
And they're very, very protectful over their salah.
Nothing comes between them and their salah. The
priority is their salah. You know how alhamdulillah?
And we have
oliya. They are people above this level. All
of us can do this, and we do
this now.
We know that Jumuah is sacred.
I don't care what happens,
what deadline there is, who is calling me
to the meeting. If I have the CEO
that wants I'll tell him I have to
go for Jumwa. It's nonnegotiable.
We are all all of us here are
on our salah like a jumwa,
but all the salahs are the same. All
the salawat needs to have this level of
of of seriousness.
A beautiful thing about Ramadan is Ramadan has
shown that on these lists,
when you were in Ramadan, and I without
asking,
did you not all make salah on time?
Did we not all who committed during Ramadan?
Who went out to backbite and to sway
during Ramadan while you're fasting? Who stole and
cheated deliberately during Ramadan?
None of these subhanAllah, all of us had
done this during Ramadan. 1 week ago, every
single one of us could take this list
and we can tick it off, eyes closed.
No problem, You Allah. No problem. Not only
am I conscious of my salah, I'm in
the masjid for taraweeh and tajjud.
So Allah
That they will are the ones who will
inherit Jannah, for them is
You get
What this list what this list show also,
these are the priorities.
They've also shown that they are achievable.
I think every single person
it's good if you feel a bit guilty
looking at yourself now versus in the last
10 nights of Ramadan.
It's good if you feel guilty. It's good
if you say, I wish I was back
at that at that level.
You know? But it's also it should make
you feel good that when you look at
this list, it's achievable.
Jannah is not only
for that person who is 24 hours in
the masjid, 24 hours with a tazbih.
That's actually not the way in which we
live. We live in the world. We deal
with peep people. We deal with fitna. We
have all kinds of temptations,
but we maintain these 4, 5 ethics,
my salah, my honesty, my chastity, my,
May Allah grant us to be of the
May Allah grant us to be of the
successful
So we continue inshallah next week. Just a
few announcements.
We we, just remind ourselves that perhaps
the oldest Mureed of the Masjid,
the Mureed, the support of the Masjid for
almost a 100 years anti Fatima.
She had passed away,
on the weekend.
I mean, over 100 years old.
What a wonderful,
legacy. And, we remember all those Murids who,
they were part of this masjid, what you
are sitting here and experiencing
and participating. They built this masjid brick by
brick and, a long legacy of people, and
that shows you the barakah
remains,
that we will come and go. Even if
Allah gives you a 100 years, you'll come
and go, but the masjid and the good
deeds you do will remain. And so may
Allah grant us deeds that will remain long
after we've passed away. May Allah grant us
a life that is good, that it will
increase us in goodness. And when death comes
of states.
of states.