Nadim Bashir – Key Gems To Learn From Shaqiq Al-Balkhi

Nadim Bashir
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of learning from scholarships and focusing on one's good deeds to achieve goals. They stress the need to prioritize one's passion and desire over ego's negative impact on behavior. The conversation shifts to a discussion on the "the day of judgment" and the importance of being in control of one's desires to avoid becoming enslaved.
AI: Transcript ©
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Today, Inshallah, I want to share with you

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something that I found very beautiful from one

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of the stories of the people of the

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past.

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And this is a story about a scholar,

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his name was Shaqiq al-Balkhi.

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He was a great scholar of the past

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regarding tazkiyat al-nafs.

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And he was in the Khorasan area, the

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current day, I would say, Iran area.

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A great scholar, a great abid, you know,

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a great muttaqi.

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And people would come to him and learn

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from him.

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So there was a person by the name

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of Hatim al-Assam.

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He came and he studied with him and

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he stayed in his company for 30 years.

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Now, I want you to think about this

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when I say 30 years.

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This is something that was very common at

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that time.

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People would go and stay under the supervision

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of a sheikh, of a scholar.

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And they would learn from them for so

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many years.

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They would not bounce around.

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Today, Subhanallah, you find so many people who

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are trying to look for tazkiyat al-nafs.

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And they are bouncing around from place to

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place, trying to find something that's going to

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appeal to their heart.

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That's not how people were in the past.

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They would go and sit with one sheikh,

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and they would learn from him for a

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great amount of time.

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So 30 years in the supervision of one

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sheikh.

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So at the end of 30 years, the

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sheikh, Sheikh Shaqeek al-Balkhi, he asked Hatim

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al-Assam, that, Hatim, you stayed with me

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for 30 years.

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What have you learned from me in 30

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years?

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And he says that, in all these 30

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years, I've learned 8 things.

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I've learned 8 things from you, my teacher.

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And he says, what are those 8 things?

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And he began to go into details.

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The very first one, Inshallah, we're going to

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go through just some of them today, and

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some of them, Inshallah, next time.

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He said, the very first one I learned

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is, that in this dunya, everyone loves something.

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And there is people or things that love

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them.

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So for example, we love our families, our

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families love us.

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But he says that I realized one thing,

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and that is that no matter how much

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you love anything in this dunya, eventually, inevitably,

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you're going to be divided and separated from

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them.

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There is no question about that.

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He says, when I looked at the family,

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people are going to get separated from their

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family.

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And no matter how much that family loves

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this person, eventually they are the ones who

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will go to the graveyard, they will bury

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him, and they will leave him.

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No matter how much they love him, and

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how much he loves this dunya, it does

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not matter, he's going to be separated.

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As we know from the hadith of the

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Prophet ﷺ, that three things accompany a person

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to the graveyard.

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And even, no matter how much is coming,

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even the car that he paid for, no

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matter how much of an expensive car it

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is, that car will come, will accompany him,

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and that car will go back home.

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And he's going to be left all alone

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at the graveyard.

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So he says, I realize that why not

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focus on that one thing, and why not

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love that one thing that will never, ever

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be separated from a person.

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Rather, we should focus on that.

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And he says, I realize that the only

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thing that will never, ever be separated from

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a person, who will accompany a person in

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this dunya, will accompany a person in the

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grave, and will accompany a person in the

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akhirah, is their good deeds.

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Hence, I realize that good deeds should be

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my best friend.

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And that should be the thing I should

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love the most in this dunya.

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And hence, I should give that much amount

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of time to my good deeds.

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Because at the end of the day, that

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is the only thing that will accompany me,

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and will be in my grave.

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And hence, that is the thing that loves

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me the most.

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So he says, I realize this is why

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I need to focus on going forward in

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my life.

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The second thing he says was, that I

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realize that in this dunya, there are so

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many people who follow their pleasures.

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And they follow their pleasures, first of all,

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for two reasons.

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Either number one is, because they have a

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lack of iman.

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Or number two is, that they have a

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lot of ego.

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For example, even if you look at shaitan.

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What led shaitan to committing the sin that

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he did?

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He was arrogant to Allah subhanahu wa ta

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'ala.

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He did not obey Allah subhanahu wa ta

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'ala.

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But you see in his justification, there was

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a lot of ego involved.

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So a lot of times, people they do

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commit sins.

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Not because they actually like to commit sins,

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but they use ego as a step stool,

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or as a platform to fulfill their desires.

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So he says that, when I reflected on

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the entire world, I realized that everyone is

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following their passion, their desires, their egos.

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And he says that, at that time I

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reflected on the verse of the Qur'an.

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Which verse of the Qur'an is this?

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He says, وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ وَنَهَى

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النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوَىۥ Those who fear the standing

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position of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

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What does that mean?

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مَخَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ Some of the ulema they

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say that this is in reference to the

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akhira.

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When you and I, when we will have

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to stand before Allah on the day of

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judgment.

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And we have to understand that I will

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stand before Allah.

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There is no one who's gonna support me.

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Every person is gonna be by themselves, no

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allies.

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And this is why subhanAllah, when you read

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the Qur'an, and you try to understand

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the Qur'an, and you look at what's

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happening today.

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You see what's happening today with our brothers

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and sisters in Gaza.

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And yet today you find that no matter

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what the government wants to do, you find

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people today who will stand by their side.

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Who will support them.

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Who will support the genocide that is taking

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place.

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And not only non-Muslims, but you will

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find Muslims also standing by their side.

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So that means that whenever they want to

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do something, they know they have allies.

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You know what the Qur'an says very

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beautifully?

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مَا لَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِنْ وَلِيٍّ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ

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You know what that means?

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That on the day of judgment, when they

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stand before Allah, and Allah is gonna question

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them.

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Just like today you will find a world

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court.

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You will find a world court standing and

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saying that if this person were to come

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into our country, he should be arrested for

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war crimes.

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Yet there are people in the world who

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will stand by their side.

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Why?

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Because today this is there.

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These people who are supporting on the back

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end, this is their wali and their naseer.

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On the day of judgment Allah says, مَا

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لَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِنْ وَلِيٍّ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ When

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this person stands in the court of Allah

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SWT, there is no one, there is no

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power, no superpower, no government that can step

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in and say that I support this person.

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Why?

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Because لَا يَتَكَلَّمُونَ إِلَّا مَنْ أَذِنَ لَهُ الرَّحْمَٰنِ

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وَقَالَ الصَّوَابَ No person can talk and utter

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a word without the permission of Allah SWT.

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And you know subhanAllah, even today when people

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say, how can people commit sins?

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Even Muslims or just in general, how can

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people commit sins?

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You know subhanAllah, there is once again, you

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always go back to the Qur'an.

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There is a very beautiful verse of the

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Qur'an.

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It's not an entire verse, it's just the

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last part of a verse in surah Saad.

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Allah SWT says, لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ بِمَا نَسُوا

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يَوْمَ الْحِسَابِ People, Allah says, they will receive

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a very painful punishment as a result of

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what?

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Because of the fact that they forgot.

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They forgot about the Day of Judgment.

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You know when a person commits a sin,

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when a person commits a crime, what they're

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doing is, they have forgotten about the fact

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that we all have to stand before Allah

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SWT.

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بِمَا نَسُوا يَوْمَ الْحِسَابِ They have completely forgotten

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about the fact that they will have to

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question.

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So Allah SWT, so this again, the Shaykh

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says, when I reflected on the world and

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how people are running after their passions, their

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desires, their egos, and I'm talking about haram

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desires, not halal desires, but haram desires and

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so forth, then I reflected on the Quran

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and I realized that if there's anything that's

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going to benefit us in this dunya, it

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is to be cautious of Allah SWT, is

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to have the fear of Allah SWT and

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to make sure that we don't fall into

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following our desires.

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We do not become enslaved to our desires.

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The desire will say, you slept so late,

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خلاص, let Fajr go, let Fajr slip by

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and so forth.

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No, when we live in this dunya, and

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either the desires are going to become enslaved

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to us, or we become enslaved to our

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desires.

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Meaning that if my iman is higher than

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my desires, then my iman will always dictate

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and tell my desires, this is how you

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need to follow the right path.

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But if we, if the iman is lower,

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and we become enslaved to our desires, then

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subhanAllah as we have seen, from all the

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shuyukh and all the ulema of taskiratul nafs,

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when you become enslaved to your desires, then

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there's no end where the desires can take

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you.

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Because today you want this, tomorrow you want

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that.

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So whatever the desire says, we will say,

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آمَنَّا وَصَدَّقَنَا No, the desire needs to say,

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آمَنَّا وَصَدَّقَنَا to us.

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We need to be more in control of

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our desires, than the desires need to be

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in control of us.

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So these are two things today inshaAllah, we'll

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leave at this right now inshaAllah.

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But once again, eight things that he says

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that I have learned from my shaykh, living

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with him for eight years.

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Once again, the first one was what?

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Best friends, your best friend, your best companion

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should be what?

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Good deeds.

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Because they would never ever let go of

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you.

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And number two is, that we live in

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a world of passion and desires and so

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forth.

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Hence, in the world that we live in,

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we need to hold on to taqwa, and

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make sure that we do not become enslaved

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to our evil desires.

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I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that

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He grants all of us the tawfiq to

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apply these two things, and the upcoming things

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inshaAllah in the upcoming weeks.

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May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant all

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of us tawfiq.

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