Nadim Bashir – Like Two Wings Of A Bird
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of balance in life, pursuing spirituality and pursuing hope and fear. They stress the need for a believer to strive for the love of Allah and pursue hope and fear, as well as the importance of shaitan in shaitan's life. They also touch on the importance of building up a sense of peace and comfort, fear, and accountability in life, and stress the importance of not overthinking one's fear and expressing faith in life.
AI: Summary ©
Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest,
Allah is the Greatest.
I bear witness that there is none worthy
of worship except Allah.
I bear witness that there is none worthy
of worship except Allah.
I bear witness that
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
I bear witness that
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest,
Allah is the Greatest.
Come to
success.
Allah is the Greatest, Allah is the Greatest.
There is none
worthy of worship except Allah.
One of the greatest distinctions between Islam and
the other religions of the world is that
Islam emphasizes on balance.
Study all the religions of the world, and
you will see that when it comes to
their aqeedah, or when it comes to their
ibadat, when it comes to how they interact
with others, there is a disparity.
They will be leaning towards one extreme, and
it is a spectrum for them.
Yes, our deen talks about these things also,
but our deen has always emphasized on balance.
When it comes to your religious spirituality, and
it comes to your family obligations, your worldly
obligations, our deen has taught us that you
don't go to one extreme, but be balanced
in these matters.
When it comes to our ibadat versus our
akhlaq, there are some who are excelling in
one area, and they lack the other area
completely.
Our deen has taught us, be balanced.
Make sure your ibadat is good, but make
sure your akhlaq is also very good.
When it comes to spending money, our deen
has taught us, don't be too extravagant, and
don't be greedy, but rather take the middle
path.
وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ قَوَامًا As Allah says in
the Qur'an.
When it comes to a personality, there are
some who are too soft, that people walk
right over them.
There are some who are too harsh in
their approach, and people want to be away
from them.
Islam has taught us, have a firm kind
of personality, and there is no greater personality
than the personality of Rasulallah ﷺ.
So we understand that there is a balance
in every single aspect of our life.
Today the balance that I want to highlight
and address in this brief khutbah, is the
balance that existed in the life of every
single prophet, every single nabi, and it exists
even within our pious predecessors, and that is
the balance between الخوف والرجاء, between hope and
between fear.
Brothers and sisters, the reality is that when
we observe the events of this world, when
we look at everything that is taking place,
many of us are becoming hopeless.
Many of us are becoming...
we're filled with fear.
You see people today doing things, and they
are not even asking themselves, that what are
they gonna say to Allah ﷻ on the
Day of Judgment.
So hence we are living in a world
that is developing hopelessness within us, and we
see the actions of others, and we think
that they have absolutely no fear.
Brothers and sisters, this is why we talk
about these spiritual things, because in a hopeless
world that we live in, we need to
develop hope.
And in a fearless world that we live
in, where no one has the خوف of
Allah, people are doing whatever they wanna do,
in a world like that, we need to
develop the fear and the taqwa of Allah
ﷻ.
Ibn Qayyim rahmatullahi alayh, he gives a very
beautiful analogy.
He says that خوف and رجاء, he gives
the example of a bird.
He said that when we talk about spirituality,
at the forefront of spirituality is the love
of Allah ﷻ.
Because if a person truly loves Allah, they
will do everything they can to please Allah
ﷻ.
Today you and I, we say, we love
Allah ﷻ.
Today you and I, we say, we love
Rasulullah ﷺ.
Today you and I, we say, we love
our deen.
We stand up, we beat our chest that
we are Muslims.
But subhanAllah, our entire life, if not entire
life, a major portion of our life is
against the deen of Allah ﷻ.
Goes directly in contradiction to the Qur'an
and the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ.
Brothers and sisters, when it comes to spirituality,
the key thing is the love of Allah
ﷻ.
So Ibn Qayyim, he gives the example of
a bird.
He says the head of the bird is
that love that you have for Allah ﷻ.
Because without the head, the bird is of
no good.
Likewise, without this goal of earning Allah's love,
this life is worthless.
This life has no good to it if
I'm not trying to seek the love of
Allah ﷻ.
And then he says, that when it comes
to earning the love of Allah, a believer
is always between hope and fear.
And he says, hope and fear is like
the two wings of the bird.
If the two wings are healthy, a bird
will soar.
Likewise, a believer, when they have hope and
fear in their life, and they have the
love of Allah as their primary goal, they
will soar in their iman.
They will soar in times of difficulty.
They will not be on the bottom, but
they will always go higher and higher.
But Ibn Qayyim says, that what if one
of those wings are damaged?
What if both wings are damaged?
He says that then that bird is not
able to soar high.
He's not able to fly into the air.
And as a result, he will be on
the ground, and he becomes a prey for
the other animals, for the other predators.
Likewise, a believer, a believer who does not
earn, he does not live to earn the
love of Allah, and then they don't have
hope in their life.
They have no fear in their life.
Then they will become part of the bottom
feeders.
And then that is when shaitan comes and
attacks a person.
Shaitan, when a person is soaring high, shaitan
can no longer handle that person.
That is why when you think about the
life of Umar ibn Khattab r.a, his
iman was so strong, that shaitan would not
get close to Umar ibn Khattab r.a.
So this is why brothers and sisters, as
Ibn Qayyim is explaining, that a believer should
yearn for the love of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ
تَعَالَى, and they should desire the love of
Allah.
But at the same time, the love of
Allah can only be achieved through establishing hope
and fear.
And this is something that we have seen
from the lives of the prophets, Anbiya a
.s. Brothers and sisters, what is hope to
begin with?
Hope is that source of light, that source
of energy, that energizes people to achieve great
things.
It is considered a necessity for those seeking
Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى, and it continuously motivates
a person.
It is a motivating mechanism, a motivating force
that propels a person to strive to please
Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى.
Brothers and sisters, when we study the Qur
'an, the Qur'an teaches us that all
the prophets, all the Anbiya a.s., especially
those who were sent with missions, and they
went to different people, different qawm, different nations,
different tribes, calling people to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ
تَعَالَى, and especially in those situations where they
were rejected.
Or there were some situations where there was
an immense amount of adversity, and challenges, and
fitnas in their life.
There were times where even our Anbiya a
.s., these prophets that are mentioned in the
Qur'an, there were times where their iman
could have been rattled.
There was a time where even their iman
could have been shaken.
And they probably had some fear in their
hearts.
But Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى always put iman
in their hearts, that no matter what challenge
stood in their way, they were able to
overcome that challenge.
It did not matter.
It was nothing that could stop them.
There was nothing that could stop them from
making dua.
There was nothing that would stop them from
coming close to Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى.
And brothers and sisters, this is exactly what
hope is.
Brothers and sisters, we live in a world
as I said earlier, where we see the
events taking place, we see our personal lives,
we see our society, and we always are
asking, where can I drive this hope?
Where can I build up this hope of
Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى?
My brothers and sisters, the reality is, that
even when we look at the oppressors today,
and subhanAllah, we look at the oppressors sitting
in our nation's capital.
We see the oppressors all over the world
today.
There was a time when people are talking
about Palestine.
It's been one year since the onslaught has
taken place, has started, and the genocide has
started against our brothers and sisters in Gaza.
And there was a time when there were
so many people talking about it.
But today you see, that the entire world
is asleep.
The entire world is asleep.
Our Muslim leaders are asleep.
They are oblivious of what is taking place.
We used to read about genocides in our
history books, thinking that how can a genocide
happen today, when the world is gonna be
completely silent, and the world is gonna be
blind about it.
But yet we see the same thing happening
in front of us.
In times like this, we have to always
remind Allah, and put your hope in Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, that Allah will most
certainly bring these criminals to justice.
And when it comes to when we think
that will my dua be accepted or not,
in that situation, we need to have hope
in Allah that yes, every dua of mine
will be accepted.
When things keep on getting tougher in our
life, when the challenges mount one upon the
other, in that time we need to have
hope that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will
be the one, and He is the only
one that will turn our life around.
It is Allah who brought this challenge upon
us.
It is only Allah who can get us
and deliver us from that challenge.
When it comes to thinking about do I
have any road for redemption, I've committed many
sins in my life, is there any way
that Allah will forgive me?
Allah tells us, لَا تَقْنَتُ مِن رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ
Do not lose hope in Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, Allah will grant you forgiveness.
If you sincerely ask Allah for forgiveness.
When we underestimate one good deed, thinking that
what will one good deed do?
Brothers and sisters, have that hope in Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, that this one good
deed can take me to Jannah.
Just like the prostitute who fed that hungry
dog, one good deed of hers took her
to Jannah.
And likewise when we hear the stories of
the Qur'an, when we hear the stories
of the anbiya a.s, when we hear
about the seerah of Rasulallah ﷺ, when we
hear the verses about Jannah, and the blessings
of Jannah, that is when we need to
have this continuous hope in Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, that Allah will make me from
amongst the people of Jannah.
اللهم اجعلنا من اهل الجنة We ask Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, and we have that
hope in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that
Allah will do this for us.
But brothers and sisters, here is the problem
that we have.
There are many of us who feel like,
I have so much hope in Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, and I can keep on
committing sins.
And there will be no accountability, because Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala is Ar-Rahman Ar
-Rahim.
I have this hope in Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, this is where we are wrong.
Yes, we understand that Allah is Ar-Rahman
Ar-Rahim.
But ask yourself a simple question, imagine if
your son or your daughter came to you,
and they did wrong things.
They did wrong things, and they come to
you and they tell you, that you should
forgive me, because you are a loving father.
You should forgive me, because you are a
loving mother.
We also understand as parents, as human beings,
that this is something, this logic is not
right.
This idea that a loving father, a loving
mother should always forgive their children, in all
circumstances, we understand that this is not correct.
So when it comes to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, likewise we understand, He is Ar
-Rahman Ar-Rahim, He is Al-Ghafoor Ar
-Rahim, He is the one who forgives at
all times.
But that does not mean that we deliberately,
we disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and
we do not have any fear of the
repercussions from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
This is where brothers and sisters, the fear
comes into the picture.
Now, when it comes to fear, we talked
about hope, let's talk about fear.
The fear of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is a different kind of fear.
See, if someone brings a snake in front
of you, you will run away.
You see a spider, you run away.
You see something that makes you scared, you
run away.
You see someone that you're scared of, you
run away.
The fear of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is unique.
The fear of things and people makes us
run away.
The fear of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
makes us come closer to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
We understand the majesty of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
We understand the power of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
We understand the qudrah of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
His ability to do whatever He wants.
His ability to create as He wishes and
so forth.
Brothers and sisters, when we understand this, then
this builds fear of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala within us.
Then we come closer to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
And we understand that what will happen if
I don't obey.
At the same time, I also fear that
I could be deprived from so many blessings
of life if I don't obey Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
If I do whatever I want, I fulfill
all my desires, and I have no fear
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Brothers and sisters, then how does that develop?
How does that show your love, our love
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?
Just like a human being.
A lot of times, we don't wanna displease
our father.
We don't wanna displease our mother.
Why?
Not because of the fear.
Yes, we fear that if I displease them,
their hearts are gonna be broken.
I don't wanna see my mother's heart broken.
I don't wanna see my father's heart broken.
Likewise, brothers and sisters, when it comes to
the fear of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
it brings us closer to Allah jalla wa
ala.
The fear of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
should deter us from committing sins.
The fear of Allah should make us obey
Him.
A person who fears Allah in this dunya,
has no fear in the hereafter.
لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ For a
person, on the other hand, who does not
fear Allah in this dunya, they have a
lot to fear in the hereafter.
One place we will have to fear Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
A logical person says, let me fear Allah
in this dunya.
And it's not like as if Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala has made everything haram in
our life.
There are many things that Allah has made
halal, and there are some things that Allah
has made haram.
Unfortunately, you and I, we don't like to
take that which is halal, but we're always
trying to run towards that which is haram.
That is our problem.
The problem is not that Allah has made
certain things haram.
The problem is that we want to do
only those things which Allah has made haram.
This is where the problem is.
So brothers and sisters, think about this from
the perspective of this taqwa and this fear
of Allah that we need to have.
When we abuse people, when we deliberately abuse
their rights, brothers and sisters, we need to
fear Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
When we abuse people, often because why?
Because I'm in the position of power.
I am the older one in the family.
And subhanAllah, how many times I hear stories,
after stories, after stories.
The eldest brother in the family, he's acting
like a godfather.
I can tell my entire family to do
whatever they want, and I can snap my
fingers.
Because culturally this has been acceptable.
The eldest brother, the eldest sister, that eldest
brother, that eldest sister, who feels like they
have power because they are older, remember, fear
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that there's one
who has more power than you.
You are subservient to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
I hear so many cases that we cannot
do what's right in the family, because the
eldest brother, he has said something.
And everyone has to listen to him.
And everyone has to follow him.
If that eldest brother or that eldest sister
is going to Jahannam, khalas, the entire family
is going to Jahannam.
Because everyone thinks that we have to be
subservient to that person.
Fear Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
When we commit haram and privacy, fear Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
When we cheat people, and we cheat in
business, and we take money from other people,
and we don't give back.
Brothers and sisters, we need to fear Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Brothers and sisters, this is how a believer
lives.
We listen to the words of the Qur
'an, we listen to Jannah, the verses about
Jannah, and we are so happy to hear
those verses, and it creates hope in our
heart.
But when we listen to the stories of
those people who Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
punished, when we read the verses of Jahannam,
when we read the verses of Jahannam, then
this should create fear within our heart.
And let me be very blunt about this.
There are many people who say, when you
tell them about the verses of Jahannam, oh
brother, oh sister, don't talk to me about
negative things.
Don't you know Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
only loves?
Don't talk to me about these negative things.
Islam is always positive.
These kind of people have been trained to
think that Allah loves you so much, that
no matter how much haram you're doing, Allah
still loves you.
Yes, Allah loves us, no doubt.
But that does not mean that we keep
on breaking the laws of Allah, and we
keep on using this card that Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala loves us.
Because as I shared 2-3 weeks ago
in a khutbah, the sign of the munafiqoon
is, وَغَرَّتْكُمُ الْأَمَانِ That these people, they have
so much doubts in their deen, they never
follow their deen, and at the end of
the day, they just kept on saying, Allah
will keep on forgiving me, Allah will keep
on forgiving me.
That's no different than a Christian who says,
I can keep on doing whatever I want
to do, because Jesus Christ died on the
cross for me, and I'm sinless, and He
has taken the burden of everything.
That's not how our religion works.
We have to own up to the wrong
that we have done.
There should be hope, that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala will forgive me.
And there should be fear, that I have
to answer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
As long as a person is between hope
and fear, then this bird, just like Ibn
Qayyim says, this is like a bird, this
bird will keep on flying higher.
But if a person is not balanced between
hope and fear, and they both compliment one
another, they both compliment one another, if we
do not have this balance between hope and
fear, then just like that bird, it will
crash on the ground, and then we will
become a prey to the fitnahs of shaytan.
So I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
that may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala first
of all, give us the tawfiq, that our
primary goal of life is to earn the
love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala always
build within us, this balance between hope and
fear, between khawf and raja'a.
Amin Rabbil Alameen.
بارك الله لنا ولكم في القرآن العظيم ونفعنا
وإياكم بات وذكر الحكيم أستغفر الله لي ولكم
ورسال المسلمين فاستغفروا إنه الغفور الرحيم بسم
الله الرحمن الرحيم إن الحمد لله نحمده ونستعينه
ونستغفره ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات
عمالنا من يهديه الله فلا مضل له ومن
يضل فلا هادي له ونشته أن لا إله
إلا الله وحده لا شريك له ونشته أن
محمد عبده ورسوله أما بعد I want to
quickly just...
and the last thing I do want to
mention which I just quickly touched upon the
balance between hope and fear a person who
only has hope they become complacent there is
no remorse there is no concept of accountability
these are people who only have hope on
the other hand there are people who have
only fear and what fear does is it
creates hopelessness it creates disparity within a person
in a person there is no Quran there
is no hadith that can build up hope
within a person that is why brothers and
sisters there are people who are only hopeful
and there are people who live in fear
at all times the smallest action, the smallest
wrong they think that Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى
is going to punish them you think that
these are just things I'm making up Wallahi
I've seen people like this they think that
the one sin yes our sahabah رضي الله
عنهم they would say that there are times
where they would commit one sin and they
think the wrath of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى
will come upon them and there will come
a time where they will commit sins after
sins and the wrath of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ
تَعَالَى will not come down immediately so when
they hear these kind of things they feel
like the wrath of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى
is going to come upon me immediately and
that is where I have to explain to
them they need to hear the verses of
the Quran when they recite in every single
rak'ah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem Al-Ghafoor
Al-Raheem when they hear these kind of
things then slowly and gradually they become hopeful
but brothers and sisters we have to play
this balance game in our life when I
do something that is good I am hopeful
from Allah that Allah will reward me when
I do something that is wrong and we
all know when we do something that is
wrong we all know when we are doing
something that is wrong that is when we
need to be fearful of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ
تَعَالَى not because Allah is going to send
me to Jahannam not because of that because
I have to stand before Allah on the
Day of Judgment we have to stand before
Allah on the Day of Judgment and we
have to give an account there is no
one today when we do wrong things we
hide behind other people we hide behind other
people and justify our wrong doings in the
akhirah it's you or I and Allah سُبْحَانَهُ
وَ تَعَالَى and there is no one else
مَا لَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِنْ وَلِيٍّ وَلَا نَصِيرٍ
there is no one that we can hide
behind on the Day of Judgment it's Allah
and us and Allah will open up every
single record Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى will have
evidence of every single wrong that we have
done so this is why brothers and sisters
we need to always be fearful of that
day I ask Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى that
just like our Prophets our Anbiya عَلِيم سُبْحَانَهُ
وَ تَعَالَى just like they demonstrated hope and
fear in their life likewise in our life
may Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى grant us the
tawfiq to instill hope and fear in every
single aspect of our life اللهم انصر الاسلام
والمسلمين اللهم انصر الاسلام والمسلمين في كل مكان
اللهم انصرنا على من خالفنا واحفظ بلادنا وأصلح
أولادنا واشف مرضانا وعاف مبتلانا وارحم موتانا واخذ
بأيدينا إلى كل خير وعاصمنا من كل شر
واحفظنا من كل ضير اللهم قسم لنا من
خشتك ما تحول به بيننا بين معصيتك ومن
طاعتك ما تبلغنا به جنتك ومن يقين ما
تهوينه علينا مصائب الدنيا ومتعنا بأسماعنا وأبصارنا وقواتنا
ما أحيتنا واجعله مبارث منا واجعل ثأرنا على
من ظلمنا وانصرنا على من عادانا ولا تجعل
مصيبتنا في ديننا ولا تجعل الدنيا أكبر همنا
ولا مبلغ علمنا ولا إلى النار مصيرنا ولا
تصلت علينا من لا يرحمنا اللهم إنا نسألك
علما نافعا وعملا متقبلا ورزقا واسعا وشفاءا من
كل ذا اللهم إنا نعوذ بك من علم
لا ينفع ومن قلب لا يخشع ومن نفس
لا تشبع ومن دعاء لا يستجاب اللهم انصر
الإسلام والمسلمين في كل مكان اللهم انصر الإسلام
والمسلمين في كل مكان اللهم انصر المظلومين في
كل مكان اللهم اهلك الظالمين اللهم اهلك الظالمين
اللهم اهلك الظالمين كما اهلكت عادا وثمود امي
رب العالمين ان الله يأمر بالعدل والإحسان وإيطاء
ذي القربة وينهى عن فحشاي منك والباغ يعيذكم
لعلك الذكرون فاذكروني اذكركم واشكوري ولا تكفرون اقيم
الصلاة Straight
in lines, fill in the gaps.
There's still a lot of space inside the
main hall, fill out the gaps.
Brothers in the back two rooms, please come
inside the main hall.
Brothers in the multipurpose hall, please come inside.
Sisters, any sisters in the multipurpose hall, please
come inside the main hall.
Sisters, please make sure the rows are straight,
the rows are complete.
Straight in lines, fill in the gaps.
If there's any brothers inside the lobby area,
please make sure the rows are straight.
Look around you, please make sure the rows
are straight.
الله أكبر الله أكبر أشهد أن لا إله
إلا الله أشهد أن محمد رسول الله
حي على الصلاة حي على الصلاة حي على
الفلاح حي على الفلاح قد قامت الصلاة قد
قامت الصلاة الله أكبر الله أكبر لا إله
إلا الله قل
أعوذ برب الفلق من شر ما خلق ومن
شر غاصق إذا وقب ومن شر النفاثات في
العقد ومن شر حاسد إذا حسد الله أكبر
الحمد لله رب العالمين الرحمن الرحيم مالك يوم
الدين إياك نعبد وإياك نستعين إهدنا الصراط المستقيم
صراط الذين أنعمت عليهم غير المغضوب عليهم ولا
الضالين قل أعوذ برب الناس ملك
الناس إله الناس من شر الوسواس الخناس الذي
يوسوس في صدور الناس من الجنة والناس الله
أكبر السلام
عليكم ورحمة الله السلام عليكم ورحمة الله يَعْلَمُ
مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَلَا يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ
مِّنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلَّا بِمَا شَاءُ وَسِعَ كُرْسِيُهُ السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَالْأَرْضِ وَلَا يَعُودُهُ حِفْظُهُمَا وَهُوَ الْعَلِيُّ الْعَظِيمُ