Nadim Ali – Spiritual Dialysis
AI: Summary ©
The importance of not dying as a Muslim is emphasized, as it can lead to healing and a better life. The danger of losing everything and confusion is stressed, along with the need to purify one's spiritual body. The speaker emphasizes the importance of avoiding diseases of the heart and establishing spiritual institutions for one's life. It is crucial to be serious and committed in prayer, rather than just seeking fame and money.
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, we bear witness that there
is no deity except Allah who is unique
and without partners.
And I bear witness that Mohammed is his
worshipper 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.
O you who believe, fear Allah as he
should be feared and don't die except as
Muslims. Again, o you who believe, fear Allah
as he should be feared and don't die
except as Muslims. And, oh, mankind, be careful
of your duty to your Rabb who created
you from a single soul and from it
created its mate. And from the 2 of
them, 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
Lord Akib over you.
O 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.
For indeed, the best speech is the book
of Allah and the best guidance is the
guidance of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam in
the most evil of all affairs,
a newly invented matters which has no precedence
in Islam.
And indeed, all innovations are astray and each
astray is in the hellfire. O Allah,
save us from it and O Allah,
accept our
Dua. By the soul
and the proportion and order given to it
and its enlightenment
as to its wrong and its right,
Truly, he succeeds
that purifies it, and he fails that corrupts
it.
Also, Allah says,
but those
will prosper
to purify themselves.
And in the book that Imam Ghazali put
out to the sciences of religion, he says
that
every organ of our body has a function.
Every organ of our body has a function.
When it fails
to do its function,
it does not mean well.
It does not mean it will. And so,
we have to look at if we have
a physical organ, if we have, again, the
brain, the heart, the kidneys,
and other organs,
they all have a physical purpose. They have
a medical,
purpose or something,
function that Allah has given it.
And we have to look at the fact
that medical science has been able to
address
them in a way that's, in in my
in my opinion, nothing short of a miracle.
In my lifetime, we've gone into transplants and,
you know, the the dialysis
that have,
have made advances. And so we have to
look at,
you know, through inspiration from Allah, the scientists,
the the the the physicians have basically made
great strides.
And so, just like
we look at dialysis for the kidney has
come a long way, we have to look
at
what what do we need to do in
regards to how can we,
acquire what I would call spiritual dialysis.
Because what is the purpose of physical dialysis?
People who are, you know, having that, you
know. Again, we have had many members of
the community have had to go on dialysis.
It's to purify,
to to to purify the body.
Using even because the kidneys have had basically
stopped functioning in a way in such that
it doesn't purify.
And so
but what about the the the filth that
we pick up on a day to day
basis? The ignorance that we pick up on
a day to day basis. How do we
purify ourselves from that? What is the means
of spiritual dialysis? And these are some of
the things that the points I wanna make
today.
You know, that we
take great strides to
engage
in,
you know, healing ourselves on a physical level.
How are we healing ourselves on a spiritual
level?
You know, many of us who came to
Islam were invited to Islam, and then many
of us were born in Islam.
But the bottom line is how do you
not only attain your Islam, but how do
you maintain your Islam? It's about submission to
Allah. Because just because we're born Muslim or
we're taking the jahada,
you know, we can still engage in a
lot of ignorance.
We can and that ignorance that we engage
in basically can darken the heart. It can
darken the soul.
Because all of us,
we all have an expiration date brothers and
sisters. We all have an expiration date. And
so the shaytan would try to basically blind
you to the fact that we have that
expiration date
and basically put you in a position where
your
spiritual condition will not be the best on
the day of judgment. So this is the
way that we have to look at, you
know, Allah has given us, you know, he's
Al Shafi'i.
He's the healer.
You know, no doctor is the healer. The
doctors, whether it's a surgeon or whether it's
ever, cardiologist,
urologist,
or whoever,
they can only do what Allah allows them
to do.
And so that's why we have to stay
prayed up, but otherwise, we will get prayed
on.
You know, again,
we have to be
of those who are striving
to be closer to Allah.
Allah says,
and seek help in patience
and salat, the prayer, and truly it is
extremely heavy and hard except for
the elcasion.
The casion are the the true believers. The
people who, humble themselves in prayer.
You know, fear the much from this punishment
and believe in the promise. Believe in the
promise and the warnings.
And again, this is from Bakker Ayat 45.
You know, those who have that level of
humility. And so, you know, because we don't
wanna be checkoff Muslims, brothers and sisters. Just,
oh, I gotta make prayer. It's time for
prayer. I gotta do this. No. We wanna
be of those who recognize that the prayer
is a form of medicine. The prayer is
also a form of the dialysis.
It heals us. It heals the sickness. This
is the thing that that we have to
look at. The ultimate goal, again, is to
purify ourselves in this life and to have
and and if we're pure in this life,
we have a good quality of life. And
if we're pure in the next life, we
have an ultimate
quality of life, the best quality of life.
And that's what our strive is, brothers and
sisters. It's not about, you know, you'll you'll
hear people who don't understand Islam say, though,
it is it is a fatalist religion. It
is, you know, they just all they think
about is death. And then when we look
at the what's going on in Gaza, may
Allah
protect and preserve the people there, and may
Allah allow the people
who have gained,
you know, martyrdom. They allow them to be
be be be greeted as shahid.
And may their their sacrifice be such a
way that the the people of Gaza will
be able to be able to benefit,
you know, in in in this life as
well as in the next life to get
the benefits of the shahid.
And and when people see the people in
Gaza with all of the things that's going
on,
The bombs raining down on them, losing their
children, losing their family members, but they're holding
on to their iman.
What would you do
if you were in in this masjid in
in this Islamic Center and a bomb dropped
down on us.
Or if you and Grady trying to get
treatment and the bomb on north side as
the bomb drops down on you. Because that's
what's happening. They're bombing hospitals. They're bombing masjids.
They're bombing schools.
How is your iman?
You know, and that's, you know, we what
we have to look at is that just
like it's happening over there, it can happen
over here. It can happen over here. And
there was even a book about that. It's
in a person who wrote a book talking
about fascism can happen here.
And so
as Muslims,
we are the wall against the fascism.
And the fascism takes the form of of
because you can have black fascists as well,
brothers and sisters. Don't don't think. Because they
say, you know, all you all you skin
folk ain't your kin folk.
You know? And so, you have to recognize
that fascism is not something that's limited to
to to white people or Hispanic people or
others.
It's a philosophy.
It's a philosophy. Extreme
right wing type philosophy and it's happening all
over the world. But the beautiful thing is
Islam is happening all over the world.
Islam is flourishing
throughout the world and then even with all
the things that's going on in Gaza,
people are looking at that and say, well,
how can these people maintain this level of
faith
with all of this going on? And, alhamdulillah,
people are coming to Islam. People are coming
to Islam based on the dawah that's being
given by the the the the destruction that's
happening over in Gaza. Because, you know, as
as the law says, he does not change
the condition of a people until they change
what is in their hearts. And so we
have to allow our hearts to change.
And we have to allow the leaders of
this society's
heart to change because, again, if they don't
change, then the law will will bring a
trial on us as well. And our job
is to give the Dawah. Our job is
to promote this deen
because
the people are looking at the Muslims.
And so we have to be of those
who are,
consistent
in engaging in that form of spiritual dialysis,
and that's prayer.
And and then as I mentioned all the
time that throughout the years, because of the
pandemic, people got used
to basically virtual Islam.
You know, virtual Jumas,
and staying home from the Masjid. And so
we're you know, the pandemic
basically has been lifted for the most part,
so we have to start coming to the
Masjid. And first, specifically for the brothers, because
we get, what, 25 to 27 times the
blessings,
you know, praying at the Masjid. Whereas the
sisters, they get the blessings when they pray
in private. And so we have to basically
consistently
be more consistent
in coming to the Masjid.
You know, we don't have an excuse. We
don't have an excuse. You have to. And
again, because if you had to take insulin,
or if you had to be on dialysis,
or if you have hypertension and have to
take medicine, you will take that. Otherwise, you're
gonna stroke out.
You you gonna take that, or you're gonna
have a heart attack. You gonna take that
medicine
or otherwise you will get sick. So we
have to look at the prayer, the fasting,
the giving of the charity as medicine.
That's the real dialysis.
The ultimate goal again is to purify ourselves
in this life in order to have
a healthy hereafter.
The law says, verily prayer restrains oneself from
shameful and unjust deeds.
Successful indeed are the believers
who are humble in their prayers. Successful indeed
are the believers who are humble in their
prayers. And so, the message today
is to
basically
have your Islam
somewhat
as a utilitarian
Islam, functional Islam, not dysfunctional Islam,
not just being Muslim in name Moholy.
You know, one of my teachers used to
say that there's 2 types of Muslims. You
know, there's Muslims
in name and there's Muslim by commitment.
And we have to ask ourselves on a
daily basis, which are we? Are we just
Muslims in name? We just, you know, praying
just because it's a fad? It's the new
gang in town?
Are we Muslim by commitment because we're striving
to be servants of Allah? If I've said
anything that's inconsistent with what Allah has given
us and the prophet, peace be upon him,
has role modeled and role modeled for us,
I take full responsibility
with for that. And if I've said anything
in which you have gained some new awareness
or insight, as always, all praise belongs to
Allah,
Subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
O Allah, we send
we send
our du'ath and blessings upon our beloved prophet
and his family and companions. And Allah, increase
his honor and elevate his station. Grant him
the highest place in paradise
and bless him with your divine mercy. Oh
Allah, bless us
with his intercession on the day of judgement
and forgive
our sins.
Amen. And the prophet
also said that verily
in the body, there's a piece of flesh.
When it is sound, the whole body is
sound.
And when it is corrupted, the whole body
is corrupted. Verily, it is the heart. And
we look at, again, this, that particular hadith.
I mean, if all we had, you know,
it was that Imam Shafi said, if all
we had is Surah Ta'asa, that was, that
would be enough.
That would be enough.
If we had Surah Ta'asa in this hadith,
that one should be enough.
But Chetan is real, y'all.
You know, Chetan said, no. Don't worry about
it. You got time. You got time. I
tell people all the time, I'm the
out of my the my mother's and father's
3 sons, I'm the only one to make
it to 30.
And so young men, you don't have time.
You have to as the prophet
said, you have to live each day as
if it's gonna be the last.
Live each day as if it's gonna be
the last. If you knew your clock was
gonna run out today, what would you be
doing?
What would you be doing? And if and
if you think about what you would be
doing,
do it.
Because we're not promised the next minute, brothers
and sisters. I was looking it was in
Prague yesterday.
People were shot in a in
a in a mass killing.
Those people were going to school.
And so we don't
have the time that we think we have.
So it's important for us to just be
serious, be more serious,
and be more committed.
We are questioning the day of judgment.
We won't be asked, you know, how much
fame we had,
how much money we we had,
you know, how good we looked.
On the day of judgment,
the slave will be questioned about his prayers
first.
If his prayers are good, his other deeds
will be good too. If his prayers are
bad,
his other deeds will be bad. That's what
the prophet salawat wasalam has said.
That's how important the prayer is.
The first thing
that will be checked is your salah record,
not your bank account.
You know? So we have to get more
serious because a lot of times, we
basically are just so,
busy just trying to become famous
trying to become famous and as opposed to
just,
you know, seeking the the gratitude seeking the
the benefits from being a good Muslim, a
healthy Muslim.
As I mentioned earlier, we don't wanna just
be checkoff Muslims. We don't wanna be checkoff
Muslims.
We have to have a level of sincerity
in our prayer,
you know, so that it can aid in
the cleansing. Because, you know, we don't want
to be of those who just pray to
be seen of men.
So we want to basically just like we
get physical checkups, we want to have spiritual
checkups. And from
we get the spiritual checkups at the Masjid.
We want to stay healthy.
And they talk about the diseases of the
heart.
And it's interesting
when you look at, you know, how the
soul and the heart can get sick.
These are some of the things that causes
sickness of the spiritual sickness, arrogance
and conceit,
ostentation or just showing off,
jealousy
or envy and hate and deceit,
suspicion,
anger,
stinginess,
and love of money, power, and position, or
fame.
These are all called diseases of the heart.
We have to avoid those things. We have
to avoid those things
if we are wanting to get the best
in this world and the best in the
hereafter. And again, and I'm not
anti,
you know, getting wealth, because again,
with a zakat,
zakat is the means of purifying the wealth.
So you can get a $1,000,000,000 lawfully,
you won't be selling drugs to do it,
you know, you can get a $1,000,000,000 you
can't get engaged
in illegal activities and say, Oh I'm going
to clean up with the guy, I'm just
going to do my thing. So we have
to basically
just look for ways of earning money in
an honorable fashion. Because, again, the Muslims were
some of the richest people right now, even
today, are some of the richest people on
the planet.
But how much zakat is being paid? They
say if the zakat
was paid based on the wealth that's here
now,
there would be no poverty on the planet.
Not just poverty among Muslims. There would be
no poverty on the planet.
That's how much zakat is not being paid.
And so if Allah gives us the wealth,
we have to remain humble. We have to
be able to
establish the institutions, the hospitals,
the orphanages, the, you know, basically training institutions
so that our men
and women are going, not going into prison.
You know, basically when people are coming out
of prison, we'll be able to help them
to get back on their feet. We have
to establish the institution. The Masjid can't do
everything. The imam can't do everything.
And that's for all of the different,
the communities. You know, we had the meeting
last Sunday, and it's online if you wanna
review it. And we're asking the community for
help to establish some of these things. We
wanna, first of all, get a need ground,
you know, or or a building. And so
if if if if people have those types
of skills, you know, we wanna be able
to put those things in motion, you know,
because we just can't do everything.
You know, it's imam, not iman. We we're
not everything man, you know. So we have
to be of those who are striving,
you know, to establish the necessary institution because
the the masjid is the fueling station.
You fill up there and you just go
out, get the dirt, purify the well,
and keep it moving. Because we can basically,
you know, basically establish so many different things.
I was just reading about this man who
he was a runaway slave, and he went
out to California
and established a town. It was all African
American towns right after slavery. And there were
several towns like that. And then due to
racism,
you know, of course, a lot of those
towns basically you hear about Tulsa and
and other places, but these are just towns
I never even heard of in California. I
may visit it one day, but just the
the it was just one man,
and he, along with others, established,
you know, a whole town. He had the
first black, school district in California. And
so that's just one person. And imagine what
we can do collectively,
not only just with the community mass jade,
but the other massages throughout the area. You
know, we can basically establish some great things,
brothers and sisters. And so but it starts
where?
With prayer.
Verily,
in the body, there is a piece of
flesh. When it is sound, the whole body
is sound. And when it is corrupted,
the whole body is corrupted.
Verily, it is the heart.
Our lord, take us not to task if
we forget or fall into error.
Our lord, lay not on us a burden
such as you did lay on those who
have gone before us. Our lord, lay not
on us a burden which we do not
have the power to bear and overlook our
faults and forgive us and have mercy upon
us. You are our protector and grant us
the victory over the disbelieving people.
He come. He come.