Nadim Ali – Patiently Persevere
AI: Summary ©
The importance of patient behavior and mindfulness during the pandemic is emphasized, along with the need to be mindful of one's actions and recognize one's natural and cultural levels. The importance of creating a delineation between Islam and what is Islam, endurance, rewarding life, and spreading the message of Islam is emphasized. The need to be patient and rewarded in the next life is emphasized, along with the importance of acknowledging the need for a safe society and creating a society that reflects the presence of Islam.
AI: Summary ©
Indeed, our praise belongs to Allah, the most
high. We thank him, and we seek his
aid, and we seek his forgiveness, and we
seek refuge with him from the evil of
ourselves and from our bad actions.
Whoever Allah guides, then there's no one who
can mislead him. And whoever Allah causes to
go astray, then there's no one to guide
him.
I bear witness that there's no deity except
Allah who is unique and without partners. And
I bear witness that Muhammad is his worshiper
and his messenger. May the peace and blessings
of Allah be upon him and his family
and his companions and those who follow them
with good intentions until the day of judgment.
All you who believe, fear Allah as he
should be feared and don't die
except as Muslims. Again, all you who believe,
fear Allah as he should be feared and
don't die except as Muslims.
All mankind, be careful of your duty to
your who created you from a single soul
and from it created its mate. And from
the 2 of them, he spread forth many
men
and women.
Be careful of your duty to Allah whom
you demand your mutual rights and be careful
of your duty to the wounds that bore
you. Indeed, Allah is our
over you.
For you who believe, fear Allah and always
speak the truth.
He will cause your deeds to be beneficial,
and he will forgive for you your sins.
And whoever obeys Allah and his messenger, then
he has truly achieved a tremendous accomplishment.
Indeed, the best speech is the book of
Allah and the best guidance is the guidance
of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
And the most evil of all affairs are
newly invented matters which has no precedence in
Islam. Indeed,
all innovations are astray and each astray is
in the hellfire.
Oh, Allah. Save us from it. Oh, Allah.
Accept our dua.
Indeed,
I have rewarded them this day for their
patient endurance.
They are the attainers of success.
And the law also says in Surat,
and those who are patient seeking the continents
of their lord and establish prayer and stem
from what we have provided for them secretly
and publicly and prevent
evil with
good, those will have the good consequences of
this home.
And, also,
those who, when Allah's name is mentioned,
their hearts are fearful.
And to the patient, over what has afflicted
them and the establishes of prayer, and those
who spend from what we have provided for
them.
Surely Allah
speaks the truth. And what we have to
look at
is that when we look at these verses
in the Quran,
the significance
of
of being patient. We hear that
all throughout the Quran. Those who patiently persevere.
And we have to be of those who
are of the patient. As Surah Al Asad
talks about, patiently persevere.
And by the token of time, mankind is
lost except for those who have faith and
enjoin in the mutual teachings of truth with
patience and constancy.
And so we want to be
of that
caliber of people, that quality of Muslims,
specifically in the past few years when Allah
has
challenged us with the pandemic, the whole world
with the pandemic,
it showed us
how
just in the twinkling of a eye, how
things can change. Things that we were basically
taking for granted was taken away from us.
You know? And so, you know, the the
the the fellowship, you know, we would stop
June of almost 14 months in this building.
And so we all took it for granted.
And so
the things that we have, we were taking
it for granted and the things that the
people who are not yet Muslim have, they
took all of that for granted.
And so we have to be of those
who recognize
that we have to be deferential to our
lord. We have to be subservient to our
lord in good times as well as bad
times because he'll test us. He'll test us.
You know? And and so
we're nearing the abatement of the pandemic. In
some areas,
the the numbers are going down. The numbers
are going down. The mayor, even earlier this
week, has,
basically put it, I believe, in the the
green zone, I believe, the the the color
they're calling now. But, basically, they relaxed some
of the restrictions
in the in the city of Atlanta.
And and since then, we started back Isha.
We started back, salat to Isha and not
combining Maghrib and Isha, you know, for this
week. And we started it, and we'll we'll
continue with that. And so, really, I want
to encourage
brothers specifically to start to come back to
the masajid.
You know, the mosque in your area, if
you're near here or if you're coming here,
then then start to come to the masjid
again because it's important, you know, to for
the fellowship.
There are people who have
been so isolated that they committed suicide. Muslims
too committed suicide.
And so we have to recognize that the
isolation
is unhealthy for the most part. You know,
they say in regards to and then just
the definition of spirituality
assist to have a healthy relationship with yourself,
others, and Allah. That's the concept of spirituality.
So, you know, again, when they put even
when you're in solitary confinement,
internationally,
that's been seen as a cruel and unusual
punishment.
Because if you're isolated for a certain period
of time, you start to hallucinate.
You start to basically
lose your mind for the most part. So
we have to recognize
that
it is a law who who gives, and
it is a law who takes away.
And these are some of the things that
we have to we have to be of
those who patiently persevere, brothers and sisters.
When Allah gives us a challenge, you know,
we have to be able to to weather
the challenge.
And even in relationships, there's been some marriages.
Some marriages have become stronger.
Some marriages have become no longer. Some relationships
have become stronger. Some relationships have become no
longer. It's been a big test on all
of us. And so we have to see
the the the times in which we have
been experiencing
as a test, as an empty hand. This
is something that Allah gave us just to
test as he says he will test who
we are. He will test, you know, what
we think we are made of. You know,
we say we are believers, but then we
end up looking in the mirror and we
see deceivers.
So it's important that we recognize that, you
know, we have to be of the patient.
We have to be of those who are
are are strong in their faith.
And,
reported that the prophet
said that the real patience
is at the first stroke of a calamity.
The real patience
is at the first stroke of a calamity.
You know, even when the word went out
that, okay. We're gonna stop Juma in person.
And so many people adhere to that. But
some people
say, no. You know, we're not gonna hear
and obey.
You know? Because, again, as Muslims,
you know, Allah don't want us to be
stupid.
He doesn't want us to be stupid. You
when the prophet
said, tie your camel, you know, I interpret
that as do what is humanly possible.
Do what is humanly possible.
And then whatever happens, it's it's in the
realm of Allah. Do what is humanly possible
and and then what happens? And and and
and the scientists, people who study this stuff,
they don't have to be Muslim to know
something. People go to school for 20 years
beyond high school just to learn about germs.
And they gave us information. This is the
best way to handle it. And you have
to remember during the earlier times, it was
the Muslims who were the top scientists on
the planet.
The people in Europe learned from the Muslims.
And so we went into a dark age.
We went into religiosity.
We went into religiosity to the point that
we we won't accept science.
You know? And it's not about worshiping science.
It's about recognizing
that people have certain levels of knowledge that
we don't. Even when the prophet peace be
upon him sought a guide, he had a
non Muslim guide him because the man knew
the the route.
You know, so he sought people who knew.
And and it's not just going to the
people who know Quran and Hadith, go to
the people who know. And so we have
to be of those who recognize that this
time period has been a big test.
And it's allowed all of us to see
what we're made of, who we are,
you know, what is in our hearts. Because
what's in our hearts will come out in
our actions. And so we have to be
of those to recognize
that the real patience
is at the first stroke of a calamity.
When we're faced with an hardship,
you know, do we go
into a a a fight or flight mode?
What do we do? What what do we
do? What do we do?
You know,
again, on an individual level, on a communal
level, and a national level,
we saw many changes,
you know, throughout specifically this community,
in this country.
And you see the people who are who
worship their skin, the white skin, they're basically
acting like it's 1952,
not even 55.
They they're going into a rage because they
they say with about 2,040
that they the white folks will be in
a minority in this country. And so that's
basically,
it's they're in a period of grief. They're
going through anger,
and so they have to get to the
point of acceptance as the law says that
he made us
among his signs is the variations
in our languages and our colors. Just a
sign.
But they have made it as an act
of worship, whether the poet said the white
man has a god complex.
You know? So we have to understand
that
in their,
basically,
misunderstanding
of who they are, they will basically put
the Muslims on the menu. And so we
have to understand, are we in shape? Do
we have so many pandemic pounds that we
can't deal with any type of adversity that
comes our way?
You know? So we we have to be
of those who are able to give dower,
or if someone comes at you another way,
you have to basically be able to defend
yourself because the law says fighting is prescribed
for you even though you may dislike it
because you may like a thing which is
bad for you and dislike a thing which
is good for you. So if you need
to do that, we we it we it's
lawful for us to do that. But have
we given dower?
Have we spread the word about Islam?
You know, are we just maybe walking around
looking like a Muslim?
You know, looking like a Muslim, but are
we basically have we internalized the concept of
Islam to of Islam to the point that
the people will ask you about, okay. What
keeps you
in this mental state? What keeps you in
the state of? What keeps you in the
state of tranquility?
And then there's a dawah moment. It's a
dawah moment.
And so we have to continue to give
the dawah and not just treat the Islam
like a private club.
We have to be of those who are
spreading
the word. You know? Otherwise, why are we
here in this society?
Why are we here in this society?
We should be here to be able to,
you know, give the dawah and also
live Islam. Not just give away the Quran,
but we have to internalize the Quran.
You know, people will give it away, but
if they're doing something else, people will look
at you more so than they read the
Quran.
And so these are some of the steps
that we have to take to to put
together the Dawah program, to start to renovate
the buildings that we have so that, you
know, the Muslims are showing that that that
we are progressive and we are basically willing
to contribute to the overall society and the
overall community.
We have to be of those who who
are who are petitioning Allah consistently,
for we have to understand there's there's a
lot
who is control of all things. And if
we are in his we are in his
service and we are his servants,
then we recognize that we can be a
part of the good that Allah brings not
only to the earth, but we also get
the good in the hereafter.
We have to understand this.
All you who believe
all you who have believed, seek help through
patience and prayer.
Indeed, Allah
is with the patient. Allah is with the
patient. Because a lot of times, we can
basically
be so impatient. As it says, that shaytan
is is is made from haste. Shaytan is
made from haste. These are some of the
things that we have to recognize. Internalize that
patience.
Internalize
the patience.
You know? And patience is not just not
doing anything,
but basically planning
and then implementing
and not just engaging in impulsivity.
And then what happens is, you know, when
they say don't make your lack of planning
my emergency. Then you want the whole world
to just sort of stop so that you
to address what you think you perceive as
your needs.
These are some of the things that we
have to recognize. We have to be of
those, again, who patiently
persevere
just like the camel going through the desert,
making that journey. And so we're going through
time, making our journey through life because we
all have an expiration date. We all have
an expiration date.
And so some of the expiration dates are
closer. Some of the expiration dates may be
further, but we all have an expiration date.
We have to live like we are. We
have that expiration date, and we're working towards,
again, the next phase of life. Because as
Muslims,
we believe that this is not the only
phase of life. We have to believe that
and act like it.
Because, again, you see Muslims engaging in all
sorts of behaviors and then calling it Islam,
Islam.
You know, in one one one area, they
they they're talking about, oh, and
then the next area, they they they're using
profanity and and basically promoting the use of
drugs.
So we have to get away from that.
We have to basically
give the dawah not only to ourselves, we
have to give the dawah to the Muslims
even
and and to the not yet Muslims.
Because
if people see Muslims doing these things, you
know, I can get into that. I can
be a Muslim, and I can still do
all the things I've been doing. I can
still drink. I can still smoke. I can
still do all sorts of things.
No. We have to
create a delineation
between what is Islam and what is Islam.
And so Islam is you're doing whatever you
wanna do, and you get the consequences
of your actions.
Islam is that we're following the book. We're
following the Hadith. We're following the example of
the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. So
these are some of the things that we
have to do to be patient because
when we're impatient, then we start taking shortcuts.
We have to we start taking shortcuts and
we start worshiping this world. We start worshiping
the materialism. We start doing anything to get
money. We start doing anything
to get materialism. We have to stay away
from this. This is a form of idolatry,
and we have to stay away from idolatry.
You know, again, idolatry is not just the
worship of false gods, but also idolatry can
be worshiping material things as well as human
beings. You know, we see the impact,
how it impacted the message of Isa ibn
Mariam or Jesus, the son of Mary. He
brought the message,
and they started worshiping the messenger.
They didn't heed the message.
And so we have to be of those
to so that we don't have,
a distorted view of Islam.
It's about prime 5 times a day at
least. Fasting.
Again, believing first of all that there's no
deity except Allah,
and that Mohammed is the seal of the
prophets. He is the last messenger.
He is the last messenger.
And so if he's the last messenger, what
was his message?
What was his message?
And he said, I only came to perfect
character.
I only came to improve character.
Because again, as I mentioned all the time
that the Arabs were some of the worst
people on the planet
character wise.
And then when the Islam basically permeated, you
know, through their hearts,
they became some of the best people on
the planet.
Many of us are descendants of slaves.
We're descendants of slaves.
Our humanity was taken away from us. Even
when you do your genealogy,
you're gonna have to go,
to the the farmers,
or the plantation owners logs on these animals
to see. They will see 1 cow, you
know, 2 horses,
and and and then a slave named Joe.
Let's stick with the animals. Our humanity was
taken away from us, our our forefathers.
And so when the Islam came, it gave
us our humanity back.
And so we have to recognize that there
are people who don't have that level of
humanity and engage in animalistic behaviors.
And so we have to teach them. We
have to give them this deen, brothers and
sisters. You know, otherwise, again, why are we
here? We have to,
again, refrain from making idols,
you know, out of men and women.
You know? Again, we can't love somebody so
much so that we disregard what Allah clearly
says.
So
so
to.
He is Allah, the one the one sought
by his awe. He begets nor has he
begotten, and there's none comparable to him.
We have to internalize that. And what's the
prophet
say about that? He said that it's 1
third of the Quran. 1 third of the
Quran. That message, the the oneness, the tawheed,
the oneness of Allah. And as Muslims, again,
we have to be patient and persevere.
So, again, we get the reward of this
life and the reward and be magnificently
rewarded in the next life.
Whatever riches and goods I have, I will
not withhold from you, Withhold it from you.
He who refrains from begging Allah safeguards
him against 1. And he who seeks sufficiency,
Allah would keep him in a state of
sufficiency.
And he who shows endurance,
Allah will grant him power to endure. And
none is best with an endowment better
and greater than endurance.
If I've said anything that's inconsistent with
what Allah
has given us and the prophet
has modeled for us, I take responsibility for
that. And if I've said anything in which
you have gained some insight, as always, our
praise belongs to Allah.
Abu Saeed
and Abu Huarda Redellahu Anhu
reported that the prophet
said, never
a believer is stricken with a discomfort
and an illness and anxiety,
a grief, or mental worry, or even the
pricking of a thorn, but the law will
expiate his sins on account of his patience.
Again, never a believer is stricken with a
discomfort, an illness, an anxiety,
a grief, or mental worry, or even the
pricking of a thorn, but a law will
expiate his sins on the count
of his patients.
And so we have to, again, recognize that
whenever
we are challenged with any type of illness
or any type of any type of setback,
that, again, it's it can be an expiation
of the sins.
And the pandemic has
exposed individuals.
It's exposed nations, and it's it's it has
exposed systems.
And as Muslims, we know the only real
system that's acceptable to Allah is Islam.
And so Islam is a comprehensive and a
holistic system. It's not just a religion.
It is a whole way of life. And
so we have to impart this message to
the overall society.
And, you know, again, our generation, we were
used to pamphlets and and things like that.
But in the next generation, you know, you
have this technology. Let's start using it. We
have these smartphones because as again, as the
the phones get smarter, the people get dumber.
You know? And so we have to use
the technology to spread this deen,
you know, not just sit around, you know,
just just on the the different social media
platforms. We need to be spreading the deen
and and also doing a multilevel
aspects of dawah where you're talking to people,
reaching out, and and and using the technology.
You know, we have to up the the
dawah in in in this in this society.
You know? Because as Muslims, again, we know,
again, the only real system is Islam. And
once we articulate this message throughout the society,
then you'll see that there there'll be a
change in the society. We can't be isolationist.
The prophet, peace be upon him, when he
moved to Medina, it was a diverse society.
They were made up of of people who
did not believe in in one god. They
had the Christians and Jews in Medina.
And the Muslims were there. They circulated amongst
them so that they could see them and
then many of the people became Muslim.
And so we have to look at this
society.
We have a diverse society.
So what that's that's the
basically,
it's not a Islam is not a theory.
It is a fact because the theory has
already been already been proved.
The state was established in Medina.
And then
you could see throughout the land, throughout the
centuries, how the Muslims, when they came righteously,
Allah gave them the control of the land.
And so it's not about having a power
trip as Muslims. It's about basically
recognizing that we want the society to be
safe to be for people to be able
to raise their children,
for for us to be able to walk
the the communities in peace,
to be able to create a society
that's reflective of the the Medina society.
How can we do that? But we have
to start with ourselves. Start with ourselves,
then our families, and then those outside of
our families. These are some of the things
that we have to recognize because the people
are hurting, not just the white people, but
the black and brown people. They're hurting.
They're hurting.
They're going through all sorts of changes,
and we who are we? We are the
healers, brothers and sisters. You know, we have
the remedy
to to to to heal the sick society.
And, again, we have to be present in
all aspects of the society.
It was narrated from Ibn Umar
that the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam
said that the believer who mixes with people
and bears their annoyance
with patience will have a greater reward than
the believer who does not mix with people
and does not put up with their annoyances.
That's from Abu Whoever, really loved when I
knew. Have we accepted this fact?
Or are we still in doubt?
In the laws of Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam said, if Allah wants to do good
to somebody,
he afflicts he afflicts him with trials.
Our lord, take us not to task if
we forget or fall into error. Our lord,
laid out on us a burden such as
you did lay on those before us. Our
lord laid on us a burden which we
have no power to bear and overlook our
faults and forgive us and have mercy on
us. You are our protector and grant us
a victory over the unbelieving folks.