Fiqh of Social Media #06 – Spirituality Community and Optimism

Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim Al hamdu lillahi Namo anesthesia in one iStockphoto when I will be no human surely and fusina woman say Dr. Medina, may Allah who follow medulla who among us will who follow her the Allah was shadow under ilaha illallah who was the hola Sharika was shadow anna muhammadan Abdo who are a solo? So sallallahu alayhi wa early he was so happy he was seldom at the Sleeman kathira. And my dad, my dear brothers and sisters as salaam alaikum, warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.

So what's been happening this week in the world of social media? What's something interesting or fascinating or news breaking that's happened in the world of social media?

Go ahead

and do take got arrested. That was pretty crazy. I have to admit, like, especially if the whole story is true as to how it happened, that he was creating a response video to Greta Thunberg. And the pizza box there is what gave him away. That is the worst possible way to get arrested that day. Yeah, that was pretty crazy. What else has happened in the world of social media? Go ahead.

He did. And do you remember how much it was for?

Yeah, like 200. And like $80 million. I know, they sign in like pounds and stuff. But it was crazy like this, like, I don't know much about soccer, slash football. But a person who is clearly past his prime being signed for that amount is just insane. SubhanAllah. But it's,

you know, it's like the paradox of our times, that when you look at salaries, salaries are no longer in relation to the value that you bring. But it's about, you know, how much you can claim worth for yourself. So if you compare the salary of a teacher, to that of an athlete, the athletes get paid literally 1020, sometimes 100 times more than the teacher makes. And it's not because of value that they bring, but it's because of the words that they claim for themselves. Through entertainment. One more thing What else has happened in the world of social media? Let's go to the sisters. If nothing comes down, come back to you, inshallah. Anything interesting happening in the world of social

media.

Nothing, Ella, go ahead.

Pele passed away at the age of 82 years old. 82 years old, Pelle passes away? Was he the greatest soccer football player to ever live? Who knows. But clearly, he made an impact on the game. Right? Like, if you look at, you know, the generations that are older than myself, they were they really, you know, looked up to Pele, from a soccer perspective. So that's catching up on the world of social media. Now, let's speak about what we're trying to achieve tonight. Tonight, Bayonetta Hey, Tyler, we're trying to cover the last three chapters in sha Allah, who Tada. And those last three chapters that we'll be covering, are going to be spirituality, optimism. And actually the last one is action

plan action plan we're going to be doing next week. So just to tell you about next week, next week, I actually have a very funny presentation for you guys, that is going to summarize the whole book within Lightoller. So in an hour and 15 minutes, we'll be going through the whole book. And then at the end of that, that's where I want to discuss the action plan. So we're going to have a PowerPoint presentation with some memes, inshallah will be fun and educational. So if you missed the series, make sure you tune in next week within the Huhtala, because we will be recapping it then. So let's start off with chapter number 13, which is about spirituality, chapter number 13. With regards to

spirituality, he takes a very interesting approach. So I remember when I read this chapter, you would think that he's going to be speaking about the importance of making a vicar and not wasting your time. And you know, not doing something sinful online. But his approach to spirituality is have we replaced the masjid and community organizations with seeking spirituality online? So for example, if there is a halacha that's happening in your local community, versus you attending a talk online, which one are you going to choose? Why are you going to choose that? And then what are the ramifications and consequences of you making that decision? So what's happening now? And this is not

just as a recent but I would say over a decade now. There's this concept of being unmasked. Does anyone know what that term means? What does it mean to be unmasked?

Anyone know what the term unmasked means?

No, it's a fascinating concept. I think it's a it's a millennial concept, where people felt that they don't feel comfortable coming to a masjid. And this can be because of bad experiences that they've had. This is because there's inadequate space for sisters inadequate access. For sisters. This can be because the issue of relevancy that whatever the machine it does with regards to its topics, its presentations, the hot tub, they're completely irrelevant to the people, and they just don't feel like they belong. So they've become unmasked.

So now that people have become unmasked deities still identify with Islam, where are they going to be seeking their spirituality? Where are you going to be seeking your faith and your religion from. And that is where the online space became so important for them. That is where the online space became so important for them. Because as you're looking for spirituality, it no longer necessitated that you come to the masjid, because you can listen to as many talks as you like, on YouTube or any other social media platform. You want to listen to Quran, you can listen to as much Quran as you want online, you want to even listen to the vicar and Subhanallah, I was shocked that this actually

existed. But there's a shift in the UK that literally, he recorded one hour of just sitting and saying La ilaha, Illa Allah, and he just made a whole YouTube video on it. And you would think like, it might have like a couple of 1000 views. This had like 55 million views. I'm like, what, we can't make vicar for ourselves anymore. We need to listen and hear someone else to make it as well. So that shows us this this concept of unmasked, and this concept of where you're seeking spirituality from. And that's what he does over here. That's what he does over here. So the chapter actually begins by him discussing some of the mistakes that community organizations and massages have made,

I'm not going to be talking about those parts. But what I will do wants to focus on are the positives, in terms of what can organizations do better, to be more relevant, and also to accommodate to the diverse community that we have. So if we were to look at the audience today, we have members literally that are as young as you know, three or four years old, two members that are up into their 70 years old. If you look at ethnic diversity, we probably have about, I would say 30 to 40 different ethnicities amongst us. So with this diversity, how do you accommodate to everyone? So I want to read out this paragraph, and then we're going to have a discussion in sha Allah. So he

says for the masjid This raises new questions. remaining relevant requires a new type of intentionality regarding its purpose. How can the masjid create a community in where in which diverse points of view are expressed without fear of reprisal? What work is the masjid doing to improve society, the community and the individual lives of congregation? How does the masjid foster the building of relationships? How does the masjid balance the needs of the local community while still being connected to the national and global causes? How can individual congregation members be empowered to contribute meaningfully? So I want us to think about our own lives here. What is the

masjid bring to our lives? What does the masjid bring to our lives? So just think about that for a second. Okay? What value does the masjid bring to our lives?

Now I'm going to ask the actual question for discussion. And the question for discussion is what are you missing out on if you only seek your spirituality online? So you're only listening to Quran online you're only attending lectures and viewing lectures online as opposed to being in the masjid What are you missing out on? Go ahead

Excellent, so the social environment the interaction with the teacher and instructor as well as interaction with the other people around from the sister site

isolation so you're doing it by yourself. So this is like the other end of the site where you're completely by herself. And you'll feel you may feel a sense of loneliness and being isolated. Go ahead.

Excellent, you have questions but you there are avenues aren't provided for you to ask those questions. Good. Yep.

Machine is where a man is built. I need you to build on that. That sounds nice. What does that mean?

And you're watching that video online at home.

There's watching the video online at all speaking about machines where the man is built, who can help the brother out? How do we explain that? Go ahead

so I'm going to help you out what was the first thing that the Prophet SAW was done and built when he got to Medina, a masjid why?

To establish the community because the community needs to revolve around the Masjid. So now what we need to look at is what function did the masjid play as opposed to what function is the

machine playing now. And what's changed? Has it? Is it the machinery that has changed? Or is it the individuals that have changed? So now what else are we missing out on when you listen to a lecture online as opposed to being in person? Go ahead.

Excellent, the reward that you specifically get for attending a gathering itself, that the angels surround you, and they continue to seek forgiveness for you. What else I saw another hand up, that was up. Go ahead, yeah.

You're gonna have to explain that what does that mean? When you online?

benefits when you're learning?

Right? So you might, especially to write a lot of information in detail. But it's just like, you hear it and you feel the mask. And then you go on why we're here

to help you. So sustainability, in essence, so you watch a YouTube short you feel the demand rush. Once the video is up, your demand rushes up as well. It's nothing sustainable, whereas you keep coming to the masjid. And your mind is going to be sustained. Go ahead.

The more you work, the more you work on your commitment. Excellent.

Accountability. Can you explain the accountability part?

Accountability.

Excellent. No, excellent. Father, go ahead.

Unity, is there a sense of unity amongst the people? Excellent. How about the heat and masjid, you're not gonna create the hatred machine in your room, you're not going to read to hate the machine in your house. That's something that's exclusive to the masjid. The reward of praying Salah right? 25 times 27 times is increased by being in the masjid. So oftentimes when people argue like, Hey, I don't need to go to the masjid, I can listen to this at home, I can just watch the streaming online. But we have to realize that there's so much more that you're missing out on and some of the stuff like we can't even see and we can't even truly feel when of itself. So the concept of the

presence of the angels and emceeing forgiveness for us, we can see that we don't really feel that in its essence. But in terms of on the Day of Judgment, when we show up, all those rewards are going to be there. The last one I'll mention is the tradition of seeking L. Like the tradition of seeking L is that you sit at the you know, this doesn't apply to me over here, I'm using this for as an example. But the tradition of L is that you sit at the feet of scholars, you sit at the feet of scholars, you learn from their mannerisms, they give no claim, right? No lie. You mentioned the statement from the students of Imam Muhammad Rahim Allah that 5000 People used to attend. And the

vast majority of them are just learning from his other than from his from his o'clock, and only a few of them are writing down the knowledge, right. So that is the human interaction that is required. So oftentimes, when shaytaan comes in tells you that hey, you don't need to go to the masjid, you can just watch the lecture online, watch the live stream, or you can even watch it later. That is like shaytans biggest plot right there. I will watch it later. How many of us have video saved in YouTube saved for lunch later. And it's like built up to the hundreds, like lectures from like a decade ago, we still haven't gotten around to watching it. And that is the delusion of

one day, I will have time. And I will go through these saved lectures that I want to watch. But that time doesn't come because there's already something new, something more attractive, that you're going to end up doing. Another fallacy that you know we can get to is this whole concept of instantaneous gratification versus delayed gratification. While I appreciate you to have giving us the ability to watch a lecture at 1.25 and 1.5 times that what does that do to us? That knowledge is meant to be gradual and in progress and you take your time with it. But if you're listening to it at 1.5, just extract the important tidbits that you want. There's something that you're doing to your

soul in terms of not training, it's to be patient, not training it to be patient. So now that's from a knowledge perspective. Now let's move on to the second discussion and then I'll continue

what is the actual function of the masjid in this day and age? What is the actual function of the masjid in this day and age? Let's take out the obvious, praying five times a day and to Juma and attending Halaqaat and doulos. What are the other functions that a masjid should be serving? So if you think of the example of the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam, what was the function that the machine used to play at that time? That perhaps we're not fulfilling at this time? Go ahead.

So starting to start over, because you mentioned quite a bit. So you mentioned politics. Yeah.

Okay, so political engagement, yeah.

seeking counseling, excellent. And I will take stick with those two. So he says political engagement and counseling. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to receive delegations, and you say invite them to Islam. So one of the rules of the massage is that we're meant to be engaging with the greater society, and with the greater community and teaching them about Islam. That happens from time to time. But that definitely needs to be increased. Number two counseling services. And I want to speak about this very, very quickly. And will, that's how we'll do this with regards to counseling, or the Imams responsible for counseling. And the way I want to frame this is that if you

have anything that you need in life, you know who the specialist is, you want your car fix, you're going to your mechanic, you need your something done with your teeth, you're going to the dentist, but the Imam over a period of years, became the jack of all trades. You need marriage counseling. Let's go to the Imam, you need advice about your children. Let's go to the Imam you need a fatwa. Let's go to the Imam, you need investment advice that I'm today Joma let's go to the email. Right, the Imam becomes a jack of all trades. The danger of that is it's great to honor our Imams and to seek their shooter. But what if they end up giving you advice that you take? That is not actually

their specialization, their qualification. And this goes back to the pastor said that when he gave advice to the farmers as to how to farm and planted their date palm trees, they came back the following season. They said Dr. Sue Allah, you know, our trees didn't grow with that great of a harvest. What did the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam say, darabi dunya come that you meaning you people, you know your world better seek the experts in your field. So I think the counseling aspect, the Imam should provide spiritual counseling. That is what he is qualified for. And that is what he should be doing. If the Imam has other qualifications, like perhaps you know, marital

conflict resolution, or perhaps you know, pastoral care or things of that nature, then the Imam can be pursued for those things as well. But if you're pursuing the Imam that is not qualified for those things, you're setting your own self up for failure.

What else should the masjid be providing?

Right, good.

Neighbors coming together.

Excellent. So a sense of community. So during the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam if someone wasn't showing up before system would ask, you know where is so and so we haven't seen in so and so. And then they will give an update. Perhaps he's sick, perhaps he's traveling, perhaps such and such as happening. But this shows us the importance of building our communities around the massages. So the proximity that you have to the masjid needs to be relatively close, so that when Salah time comes you're praying together, so if you don't show up one day, you know that, hey, something's abnormal, something's not right. And I think for all the young people here as you plan

your future with the lights and as you grow older as you get married as you start working, and you start looking for your own accommodations and residences, always try to prioritize the Masjid. Always try to find a place that is close to the masjid as much as possible, so that you can frequent to the masjid and be a part of that community. And that will be great for your own Iman. And this holistic approach that we're trying to build of what a community and society based upon the prophetic model is meant to look like from the sisters. What is the role of the Masjid?

Go ahead. Yep.

Bringing the youth together. Excellent. So it's just a place for congregation okay, because used to take place with emails used to take place. That is the role of the masjid. And I think about this one example of Aisha Radi Allahu Taala Anna, where we had the habit sheet dancers, they were doing their sword dance inside of the Masjid. They were doing their dance inside of the machine. It's not to say that there was music or anything like that. But it was a cultural dance that they were doing. How do you take something like that? And implement it in this day and age? How do you create a social environment that doesn't compromise on the Haram, but still allows people to socialize? So if

you take for example, the World Cup that recently took place, quite a few of the masajid hosted the World Cup in different spaces. So perhaps in your gymnasiums, perhaps in the basements. But if we held the the World Cup in the masjid, is that something appropriate or inappropriate? Is there any haram involved in that? That's something to look at, right. But one thing we can't say for sure, there will be a level of discomfort perhaps in some of our elders and in our seniors, that these type of things wouldn't happen in the masjid. But if you lived at the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and he has the habit

See dancers and Aisha Radi Allahu anha. A young woman is watching the happy dancers dance, and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam letter, would you still have that level of discomfort, which may make us want to think that our understanding of what piety is, is it different to what the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam understood ERP it to be? Right. So that's something important to look at. Is there anything that we've missed that a machine should be providing that isn't being provided currently, or that provides during the time the processor them, but isn't being done now?

Go ahead.

Was the cat distributed in the masjid? I think in some cases, yeah. So the people used to come to the masjid and give their, their wealth to the sofa. So having a sofa used to live in the front of the masjid. And people that had the cat together, they would give it to the sofa. So you could distribute your cat inside the masjid as well. And I think that's a great point, you just reminded me?

Are we providing space for the destitute? So I know this is not applicable everywhere. But I'll give you a good example of Machida Rashid. in Edmonton, they built a partnership with the city that on the days, if I'm not mistaken, where the word temperature goes below minus 20 or minus 25. They actually open up their basement for shelter. So just like the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam allowed and the sufferer to live inside of the Masjid. Can the massages start taking care of the destitute as well? That's something to think about as well. So all of these questions as we grow older, and as we get involved in massage and in organizations, we want to look back to this

prophetic model of what services did the did the masjid provide, because that was the hub that everything was built around. And massages are not just about Salah. So even when we think about our visions, we should not be content with the fact that Hamdulillah we offer five daily prayers, that is the absolute minimum we should be doing. Right, that is the absolute minimum, that shouldn't be the standard that we provide, that shouldn't be the standard that we provide.

Let's conclude with the action points that he mentions. Number one, start attending a local machine ID weekly class, or monthly program, if you're not already doing that. And I think that's something that's so important for all of you here, that if you're not attending something on a weekly basis, or even a monthly basis, for a variety of reasons, you may think you don't have time, you may think that there's nothing that isn't relevant, whatever it may be. Are you doing anything about that? Are you doing anything about that? Have you reached out to your local Imam, your local chef, your local youth director, and said, Hey, this is the topic I would like to see addressed. And I will help you

organize it. So let's do a monthly series on you know, addiction. Let's do a monthly series on mental health. Let's do a monthly series on whatever it is. Whatever you feel relevant about that will make you attend if you're not finding it, take some ownership and responsibility and create that. Because I'm sure there are other people that feel the exact same way. But they're just not doing it as well. So you get the idea of everyone that's going to attend with Allahu Tada. Number two, find ways to organize regular meetups with people in your area. This can be anything from a family picnic, a potluck group, or a book club. And this goes back to the same concept of when we

think of Deen. We always revolve it around religion, which is important, but our religion is not something that is just, hey, come listen to a halacha and then you go home and you're separate from the this modern day type of secularism. But our understanding of deen is that even if we do a book club, even if we do a potluck, it's all incorporated in it. So you do social gatherings for the sake of bringing community together. And with a night owl, I would love to see someone organize that right. It doesn't have to be the Imam or the organization themselves. You want to organize a potluck, reach out, let's organize a potluck you want to organise a board game night, reach out,

let's organize a board game night. On that note, I want to give a plug in for tomorrow night. All the youth men 16 and above. We're having a youth night here at this location inshallah. So show up when the light on bring all your friends. And for all the youth, make sure you're doing that within the heeta 16. And above at this location. Belinda heeta Anna.

Number three, if you're benefiting from an online Islamic program, look for ways to include others, watch those programs together with friends or family and discuss your reflections. And I think this is so important as well, that just how easily and comfortably. We share funny memes. We share funny clips. Why is it that when it comes to serious lectures, all of a sudden we're reluctant to do so. And then also on the receiving end, also on the receiving end? Why is it that when someone shares a meme, or a for short, funny clip, we'll all react to it. But as soon as someone shares a lecture, all of a sudden it's like, you know that everyone's site, but no one's liked it. No one

You know, taking the time to watch it or even discuss it. So I think in our own WhatsApp groups, Telegram groups, Discord, whatever you're on, when that happens, take some accountability and responsibility. If you can't watch the whole thing, at least watch a little bit, or even take the easy route out, say, Hey, I didn't have time to watch this. But can you summarize what this is about for me, and create a discussion that way, and that creates accountability on the person sharing it, because oftentimes, we'll share things that we haven't fully watched. And we don't have a full idea of what's being said over here, hoping that someone else will watch it and share the you know, the

gems from it, but take some accountability and ownership and put it on that person and say, Hey, can you summarize what we've discussed?

Chapter number 14, a sense of optimism. So he starts off with sharing the story of Hotjar Alayhis Salam, that when Ibraheem Alehissalaam left hydrogen maca there was nothing around her. It was literally barren desert. Nothing there. no people, no harvest, no crops, no access to water, and is a Brahim Ali Salaam is walking away, she keeps shouting out for Ibrahim Ibrahim alayhi salam, he doesn't want you to turn back because he knows that perhaps if he turns back, there's going to be a sense of reluctancy to leave his family behind. So she finally asks him, Did Allah subhanaw taala command you to do this? And he finally says, yes.

Then what is hedger respond. She says, for laying you the urine Allah that Allah subhanaw taala will not allow us to perish that we want to be left in vain. Now, after that's done, there's hard you just sit there and think you know what, I put my Tawakkol in Allah subhanho wa taala. And that's all I need to do and I will be taken care of No, she climbed between suffer and mandala going back and forth that perhaps she may see someone or something that has some food that has something to drink, because it's my Lisa Alehissalaam is crying. And as you know that when a baby's crying, the maternal instinct of wanting to provide and take care of that baby becomes very, very urgent and strong. So

that that time Gibreel comes in the well of zamzam is opened up and that's how the well of zamzam comes about, but her understanding of taka was not just okay, mine is in my heart, and I trust in Allah subhanaw taala. But it was also more taking, you know, the means as well the ASVAB that she could take at that time. Now, why do I highlight that, because I want you to imagine laka dot Allah, you know, we're, we go on an excursion and all of a sudden, we're left behind, and we look all around us, and there's nothing there. No trees, no people, no food.

shaytaan will come and plant the seed, you might as well prepare for your death, and you just completely give up. And it almost seems as if the default for the human being is to be pessimistic is to be pessimistic, that you always prepare for the worst, let's always, you know, be prepared for the worst. And then the other extreme, is naive optimism that you're in that situation. So rather than thinking that you're destroyed, you're thinking, You know what, at any given moment, a special helicopter is going to come from the sky, that's going to prepare this buffet for me and provide me with all the food and drink and all my friends and family are going to be there. That's not the way

the world works. So having a pragmatic optimism is what needs to be done. But what does pragmatic optimism look like? So that hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, when he says, tie your camel, and then put your trust in Allah is very, very important. So as you view the world as you interact with everything that's happening, as you see the calamities and catastrophes that take place, what is your way of tying your camel and putting your trust in Allah? subhanaw taala? What does that look like on an individual level? And that's going to be different things for different people. For some people, it will be making dua for some people will be okay, let's create a

campaign. Let's create a discussion. Let's talk about it as a community, for some people will be watch out for the divide

hamdulillah

for some people, it will be you know what, let's go online. Right? Let's create awareness on social media, whatever that may be. That is what individuals need to figure out for themselves. That what is your time of the camera look like? And that will be based upon your ability to, you know, mentally psychologically prepare, but also also physically gather people together. So also gather people together. So that is the Prophetic mindset that we want to look at. I want to share this paragraph with you. He says when we look back at the most difficult moments in our lives, we actually cherish them

Are those hardships, failures and scars? What made us into who we are today? They made us stronger, and provided lessons so invaluable. We'd never trade them for anything. We never trade them for anything. This is easy in hindsight, but harder to do in the moment, as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, patience is at the first strike of calamity or Cebu and the submittal Allah. So now, I want us to think about all the hardships and calamities that we've gone through on an individual level first. So perhaps you wanted to get into a particular program, you didn't get in, you want a particular job, you didn't get that job, you want to get married to a particular person,

you didn't get made to that person, you aren't married, but eventually you got divorced. And everyone has an individual catastrophe that they've gone through. Now, our approach to that is what have we learned from those instances? It can be perhaps we got too attached to those things, that we were distracted from our deen and we didn't prioritize our deen. And that is a valuable lesson. Perhaps we were taken advantage of in those circumstances and in those scenarios, and we build a thicker skin. Or perhaps you know what, Allah subhanho wa Taala didn't give us the thing that we wanted. But he gave us something greater a job that was better a spouse, that was better, a program

that was better for us that we didn't realize at the time. But after we get the audit, we now realize that you know what Allah subhanaw taala surely had a better plan for me. And this goes back to rather than being retrospective of hindsight being 2020 How about being optimistic pragmatically, that we have so many reasons to be optimistic, the way that we were born? Is such a traumatic experience. Subhanallah the fact that we were born and are still healthy and still alive 2030 years later? Is that not evidence enough that Allah subhanaw taala is taking care of us? The fact that we have come from war torn countries, and we're still surviving and those countries are still

surviving. Is that not evidence enough that Allah subhanaw taala is taking care of us from all of the other incidents that have happened? Is that not evidence enough that Allah subhanho wa Taala is in control and in charge. So yes, Despair is easy. But there is so much evidence to the contrary, there's so much evidence to the contrary, I always like to share this

example that even Taymiyah Rahim, Allah gifts, he says that in any given moment, or in any given event, there are five logical outcomes, there are five logical outcomes, either what is happening is absolute good. Or what is happening is absolute evil. Or the good and the evil are equal, or the good is greater than the evil are the evil is greater than the good, is the only one person that can repeat all five for me, and one person can smell like Go ahead.

Jessica, perfect, thank you so much. So the he says that these are the five logical outcomes in any given event. But he says from a theological perspective, only two of them are possible meaning from a perspective of our Aqeedah, only two of them are possible. Either it is absolute good, or the good is greater than the evil or the good is greater than the evil. And then he responds to criticism that people may have. How about the existence of Satan? How about the existence of the job, and then he goes on to respond to this. So if just a quick summary, and this doesn't do justice, to what he or him Allah mentions, but if you even if you look at the existence of shaytaan, anytime shaytaan

planted desire, you fight that desire, you're rewarded for it, anytime before you said Quran, you say, oh, bIllahi min ash shaytani, R rajim, you're rewarded for it anytime shaytaan plants a doubt in your mind, and you fight that doubt, you are rewarded for it. Anytime you have this doubt, and you go and seek knowledge to counter that doubt you are rewarded for it. So all of these things that happen through the existence of shaitan, you start to see that even Satan's overall existence is not evil, even though he himself may be evil, even though he himself may be evil. So he says, from a theological perspective, only these two are possible, absolute good, or the good is greater than the

evil. Now you implant this in your mind that as the world unfolds as your own personal life unfolds, that if this is going to be absolute good for me, or the good is going to be greater than the evil. Now what's important for this to truly take effect in the way that you view the world is that you have to include the Acura because if you do not include the Acura into this equation, you may think that Hey, what happened to all these babies that were unjustly killed?

Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, wherever it was, you know, where's the the good in that

the equation being up or the ACA being included in a part of this equation, those babies are waiting at the gates of gender to be entered with their parents saying that I will not enter into Jannah until I enter with my parents, right it has to be a part of that discussion. So the answer always needs to be included. So you develop your sense of pragmatic optimism. Firstly, with your belief system, that everything that happens is either absolutely good or the good is greater than the evil while making sure that the accurate is included in it, then a part of your Tawakkol is you taking the ASVAB that we already mentioned. And then the last point that we the last two points that I want

to cover over here Bismillahi Tada

is looking for things to make you optimistic looking for things to make you optimistic. And Ahmad, the the author of the book, mashallah he mentioned the example of Suhaila blue hammer. So even though Amber was the individual that came to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to negotiate the Treaty of Abia and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he took his name, so he'll coming from such a small amount of ease, and he became optimistic that inshallah this will become easy for us, this will become easy for us, because his name is Sahil. So this shows us that if you can find something in your life, that will make you more optimistic and will make you more positive, then you

should actually seek those things out, you should actually seek those things out. So look for things that will make you more positive and optimistic. So one of the things that definitely helps, is looking back at your own life, that all the difficult circumstances that you've gone through, and Allah subhanaw taala making a way out for you, that is an example of inshallah things are going to work out. Looking at the example of the Syrah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, all the difficult hardships that he went through. And then how did things turn out for him? The good examples of the prophets and their hardships in the Quran, and everything that they went through,

and how the things work out for them. So these are things that will help you become more positive and optimistic question for you. What are things in your life that you can think of? That will make you more positive or optimistic?

Well, they drink some water Bismillah

Salah turistica explain Bismillah

R

Rahman

This is

Richard Morin

and also for more

work

Excellent, okay. So the sister mentioned is the praying slaughter listed Cara. So you have a difficult decision to make. Praying salatu listed Cara brings her a sense of optimism because in this dua, you're basically asking Allah that, Oh Allah, if this is good for me, I'm bringing it closer to me and make it easier for me. And if this is not good for me, then take me away from it and take it away from me. And that will build a sense of optimism. What else? What else brings a sense of optimism in your life?

Actually looking back on certain things you will ask you

will be more calm than you realize how things actually work. So what

happened is before

excellent does that look so reflecting back on your own life, and the things that didn't work out, but the greater good that came out of those things not working out? Go ahead.

Counting the blessings you do have. So what will be like examples of that.

And you know, your you get frustrated, you get upset. And then you just look back and think of how much now we have

a small problem, but look how much I really keeps you looking at the positives. Excellent. So counting the blessings that you have. And I want to just establish like focus on this point a little bit. Things could always be worse. And that's important. Always important to remember that someone gets into a car accident, you know, and Hamdulillah you still have your life, right? You may have lost your car, but Hamdulillah you still have your life. Someone is sick, you know, things will be much, much worse than that. So things could also be worse. Another perspective of this day when it comes to matter to matters of the day.

Nia shaytaan wants us to look at those that have more. But our deen teaches us that when it comes to matters of the dunya look at those that have less than you. And this will build a sense of positivity inside of you. Go ahead. Yeah.

How does that apply to explain? Bismillah

you I want to code the I don't want to explain it. So don't despair from the mercy of Allah subhanaw taala right. And you can think of the various Hadith that you have a woman that gave water to a dog Allah subhanaw taala forgive her for her sins, you have, you know, multiple other examples of people, you know, going through difficult situations. Yet, the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam reminds them of the Mercy of Allah subhanaw taala. So just always constantly remember the Mercy of Allah subhanaw taala Go ahead.

Allahu Akbar, knowing that your DUA is always accepted, so making dua to Allah subhanaw taala in all moments and instances, and the person that does that will never lose. The person that makes dua to Allah subhanho wa Taala in prosperity and adversity will never loose right right

whatever

excellent, that reminding yourself law you can live Allah Who enough son in law was that her that Allah subhanho wa Taala does not burden the soul more than it can bear from the sisters. What do we have?

How do the sisters say up to stay optimistic?

Tough crowd in a man's panela real tough crowd. You know in downtown we have tea. And I think that makes people more engaged. Go ahead. Yep.

Some Aloha loosen.

Excellent. So the frame of mind that you develop is of the utmost importance. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he tells us a fate amazing is the affair of the believer that if God comes to him, he is grateful to Allah subhanaw taala. And that is good for him. And if bad befalls him, he is patient. And that is also good for him. And this is for no one, except for the believer this for no one, except for the believer. So these are all different things that you came up with as a group that you know for yourself now how you can stay optimistic. The important thing now is when you're going through calamity, when you're going through catastrophe, bringing these things to the

forefront of your mind. So what I would suggest is not possible for everyone to remember each and every single one of them, but choose just one or two of them ingrain them in your mind right now that the next time calamity strikes. You know what, this is what I'm going to focus on, I'm going to focus on making dua and inshallah that is what I will start with, and then focus on, you know, this positive and optimistic mindset that I've gone through so much in my life, and Allah is taking care of me. And Allah doesn't burden the soul more than it can bear. So I will be taken care of this time as well. The last thing that he mentioned before the action items, is how we interact with other

people. We probably all have this one friend, maybe a neighbor or maybe a family member, that is just constantly negative and constantly pessimistic. And this is contrary to what the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasallam teaches us the translation it says give glad tidings and do not scare people away, make things easy and do not make things difficult. Bashir wala tonight, Pharaoh while yes, 0120 So giving Glad Tidings to people, and do not making people you know, run away from you, and making things easy for them and not making things difficult. So I want you to imagine

something goes wrong in the masjid that you attended Juma hotbar. And for some reason, the sound system goes off. And the sound system doesn't work. How many people are going to line up to complain that, hey, we just want to let you know that the sound system wasn't going to work. It wasn't working today. And that's like the polite people. Being polite people will be like, this machine is terrible. It's a disaster. The most important day of the week, how could you not take care of the sound system? You guys are useless. You had those sort of people as well. But now let's look at the exact opposite. For 50 weeks out of the year, the sound system works well. Did you go up to the

brother or sister that takes care of the sound and say does aka lokalen for doing your job perfectly. Do you do that? We don't when it comes to something negative. We want to make sure that

People know about it. But when it comes to complimenting them and thanking them, we don't end up doing it is that because that is what society has made us into, is that because we didn't get the target that we needed is that because there's not enough reminders about this, whatever it is, that's not what this hadith is saying this hadith is saying the exact opposite, that if you can find a way to compliment people, complimented them on whatever you can, it's not fake stuff, you know, like this fake facade that people put on? Oh, you look so good today, whether they're good or not, you know, people just see that all the time, but actually find something good to mention to them to

uplift their spirits. So that is what the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is saying, of lift people's spirits, and don't put them down. And if you have a way to make things easy for people make things easy. So for example, give the example of Jamar again, there is a gap that's there, that if you move forward, another person can come and sit in that place. But you wait till someone has to come and tap you on the shoulders. Or you wait till the team says brothers, can you please move forward so that we can accommodate to people, you're not making things easy, you're making things more difficult. So if everyone just took it upon themselves, that you know what, I have a

responsibility. And a part of my responsibility is making things easy for people. So do things for people before they even have to ask simple things with your family and friends that you know they're going through a tough time. Don't wait till they ask for a loan. Don't wait till they ask you for specific advice. Be forthcoming in providing the help that you can provide. And this is in accordance to this hadith of the Prophet salallahu Alaihe Salam give glad tidings and do not scare people away, make things easy, and do not make things difficult. Action Items. Number one, monitor the comments that you leave on the posts of friends, or even when messaging a corporation online.

How often do you post comments with negative emotions compared to positive ones, this goes back to the example I was talking about the negative we want to point it out the positive we don't appreciate. Let's learn to appreciate more than we criticize, make that a mindset. Appreciate more than we criticize, number to send a message of encouragement or appreciation to a friend. We are quick to correct or point out mistakes, but much slower at identifying and calling out positive behaviors. So simple things with your friends. You know, just color code. I appreciate how you're always there. For me, I appreciate the good advice that you give me. I appreciate the two hours that

you're constantly sharing in our group. I appreciate the you know the nice messages, the videos, whatever it may be, show a form of appreciation to your family and friends. And then number three, look for opportunities to share positive or uplifting stories to your friends circle, or social media channels, especially during times where people feel an overwhelm of negativity, where people feel overwhelmed of negativity. And this just goes about to like the content that we constantly share on our feeds Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, whatever it may be.

If you make the intention that you know I'm sharing this content, to uplift people's spirits, that's actually an act of Ibadah bring a smile to the face of your brother or sister is an act of EBA. They've done all the right reasons, particularly when things are difficult. Now there is this fine line of sensitivity of you know, someone's family member passed away. You're not going to share something funny with him at that moment. But after three days have gone by, and they're mentioned to overcome their grieving at that time. That is the time of you know what, let me do something to uplift their spirits, then we take them out for dinner. Let me go you know, watch something funny

with them. Let me show them something funny Doublelift their spirits. And this is actually an act of ibadah. There's an actual activity by that. So be sensitive to what people are going through, giving them their space and time. But when that time is done, then do your utmost best to help lift people's spirits, particularly during times of negativity. So I remember during the pandemic, everyone was down, everyone was like, we're locked up in our houses, we can't go to the masjid. We can't do events. We can't go to school, we can't do anything. And people really struggled psychologically and emotionally. The worst people at that time. Were the ones that were sharing the

doomsday messages that hey, this is the end of the world prepare for your death, prepare for the meeting of your Lord. Those are great reminders, when things are in a comfortable scenario, and perhaps people forget that. But when people need positivity, come and share that positivity. You know, actually I think that's a good note. That one of the things I didn't mention the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, where he says that whoever tells the people that they are destroyed, he is the worst of them. He is the worst of them. So if you're constantly putting people doubt, that makes you the worst of people that makes you the worst of people. Well, Allahu Taala on

them. So we'll conclude with that inshallah. We'll open up the floor for question answers discussions that you may want to have

And then we can call it a NATO. Just a reminder, next week we'll be having a special presentation, which will be a summary of the of the entire book within ITA. So please do try to attend bring your family and friends out. And this pack this place out in Sharla does not come often, it will be here at this location, it will be here at this location within the Atana. Go ahead

in person

watching

Excellent. So the brothers question is with regards to balance, how frequently should we be attending Hello cars in person, and you know, gatherings of knowledge in person versus watching stuff online. I think a lot of this will depend on your own time commitments. So people that are able to come to the masjid weekly to attend the Halacha they should do so. And I think that brings a drastic amount of improvement to your own lives. But if you're unable to attend to the masjid on a weekly basis, then at least try to make it a monthly basis, whatever you're able to do. Now, with regards to how frequently should be watching something online, again, going back to your time

commitments, but this is about being honest with yourself, that if you can find, you know, an hour to watch Netflix, you can find an hour to scroll through Instagram and tick tock you can find half an hour to watch a football you can find half an hour to listen to our minder, what I really love about a lot of these clips that are coming out like the Yaqeen clips in particular, there seven, eight minutes long, literally seven to eight minutes long. And that's only the amount of time you'll have to dedicate to it. So try to balance that out that hey, if I'm going to watch Netflix for an hour, can I watch, you know, a lecture for half an hour? Right? Try to balance things out. So that

answer will be very personal. But I would say try to attend once a week, if you're not able to attend once a week, whatever you can. But then even in your own personal life, if you're having time to do other things that make sure, you know, creating time to watch something beneficial as well. If you can make that something structured, even better, so that you get a sense of accomplishment. The problem with watching like the shorts and Rios is that there's no sense of long term accomplishment. Whereas if you watch the series on, let's just say prophetic duels, you go through the whole entire series, you've learned a lot of the eyes, you will accumulate a lot more and you're monitoring your

progress. Okay, watch lecture number one, then you watch number two, let me watch number three, all the way till you get to the end of the series, there is a sense of accomplishment. But if you're randomly just going through the algorithm that YouTube is providing you, yeah, you may feel good in the moment and the instant, but there's no gradual progression that you're building upon. So does that look a good question? Go ahead.

This one

time management's using your time wisely such as if you're driving here it's 15 minutes 10 minute video, video.

Brothers is cooking for two hours. You know, put a 45 minute video or you know learn something while doing something like online that's caters to being able to multitask.

hours of lectures mashallah Tabata cola. So multitasking when you're able to so if it's not something that requires your full undivided attention, by all means, listen to lectures and increase your knowledge at that time. But if it is something that requires your undivided attention, please focus do not get distracted. I like that comment. Anything from sisters? Go ahead. Yep.

Yeah.

How do you maintain your Eman when it goes? Hi.

Okay, excellent. So with regards to the sisters question is we recognize that Emmanuel fluctuate. But how do you keep your Eman high. And this is the reality of it that Eman is not meant to stay high all the time. Eman is not meant to stay high all the time. It is meant to decrease and then go up. But what we want to look at is what is the overall trajectory. So one of the things when you look at investments, you have a daily chart, you have a five day chart, you have a one month chart, you have a six month chart, a yearly chart, a five year chart, and then the maximum chart. So now if your Eman was the exact same thing, you start off over here, and after one day you're high, but on

the fifth, by the fifth day, you've gone low. But now if you go to the month, all of a sudden you're over here, and you go up to five years, maybe you're like somewhere down here, but you go to the maximum and all of a sudden you're up here. So as long as the overall trajectory is upwards. We're not concerned with the dips, as long as the overall trajectory is upwards. We're not concerned with the dips. How does that work? And how does that function with two important points? Number one, having things that you will never ever compromise on? So things like no matter what's happening in my life, I will never compromise

On my salah. Right? The battle is happening the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam teaches how to pray, it's a little half in the middle of the battle, we're taught to pray. And that is like the most severe of circumstances. So if you can pray during the battle, you can pray through everything else. And you have to find those things that you're not willing to compromise on. And make sure that you're strict on those things. And you don't give up. Number two, just like we have goals for our investments for our careers, for our relationships. And where are the goals for our iman, like, have, we actually thought thought sat down and structured, you know what, right now I'm praying my

five daily prayers, and my students were Fajr and my Western. But by next week, I want to start praying to students for the hurt, by the week, by the month after I'll be praying for sadness for the hurt by the month after I'm going to start incorporating my sadness for Maghrib. And you can do this with all acts of ibadah. You have your first of yours a cat, then you have the sadaqa that you give. And then you even have the loans that you give people, you gradually build upon that build upon your pMLN and your tahajjud build upon your thicker and your DUA build upon, you know, anything else that you you can there's always those layers of Ibadah from obligatory to supererogatory. To,

you know, permissible to keep building on those things. And as long as you're building and building and building, the overall trajectory of your Eman will continuously go up. That's been my experience. And Allah subhanaw taala knows best but very good question because I can look at other questions

as

well

you get into the

process

of returning says, how good is

the righteous?

Excellent. You know, when I when I do my financial planning seminars, I always start off with this question. Is wealth a good thing or a bad thing? So let's do that right now. How many people feel that wealth is a good thing? If your wealth is a good thing? Raise your hands. Okay. Excellent. Put your hands down. How many people feel wealth is a bad thing? Raise your hands.

Okay, I have people that raise their hand both times. That's interesting. And this is this perspective, like Allah subhanaw taala. He tells us in Soto calf and Malou unbeknown Xena to higher dunya that your wealth and your children are an adornment of the leftist world. And then we're also told in the mountain why LUCAM hola confit Sana, that indeed your wealth and your children are a trial for you. So tread very carefully with regards to them. So the answer to this question stems from understanding what is the ideal case scenario? The ideal case scenario is the individual whose Iman is higher than their finances, and it stays like that, right? The Hobbit and adorable Oh God,

the rich companions amongst us have run away with all the rewards. So summon Abu Bakr Siddiq of the Romanian elf. All these companions are the Allahu anima Jemaine whom Allah subhanaw taala had blessed with money, but their Iman was always higher than their finances. So with regards to wealth, we view it more as a magnifying glass, it will always magnify the state of one's heart. If the heart is pure, it'll magnify the purity, if the hardest corrupt May Allah subhanaw taala protect us from that mean, it will magnify the corruption. So always look at the state of your heart and that will dictate the type of wealth that you accumulate the type of wealth that you accumulate. And this is

why supine Allah

Allah subhanaw taala he tells us your malaria and pharma pneumonia, but known LM Atala because been sitting there on next day, one's wealth and one's children will be of no benefit. Except for the one that came with a pure heart, except for the one that came with a pure heart. I hope that answers the question. Allah knows best. Any other questions or comments?

smella. Go ahead.

Brother was asking about

what is the point the point where it's like, let's say I'm playing a game every single lecture. Is that okay? Or is that just kind of like,

almost putting on electronics, like the games are powerful. A pension is kind of just

like a ritual at that point. And I watch the lectures.

Excellent. So first question is with regards to what what if I'm playing a game and listening to a lecture at the same time? Is that okay?

I would say a lot of it will depend on what are the objectives that you're trying to achieve. So if you're trying to, to learn, that's not something good because you're not going to be able to learn in detail. You're not going to be able to be able to pay attention to what's actually being said, but you will pick up bits and bobs over there. So if I was to frame it

Hey, if you're going to make a choice between, do I listen to music? Or do I listen to a lecture, hands down, listen to the lecture, even if you're not paying attention to it, and whatever you can draw from the lecture Alhamdulillah, that's great. A second thing that I would mention to this is that often we do things for the sake of ourselves feeling better, even though it may not make us benefit in reality. So when, like, we, when we're talking about the social activism, we said that a calamity crash happens, everyone's liking and sharing on their social media. And we do that because we want to make ourselves feel as if we're doing something to help the cause. But has that really

made a difference in the cause? Not really. So similarly, over here, you want to make sure what is the intentionality behind it? If you're looking to benefit, then that's not happening. You're just doing something to make yourself feel better. Number three, is are we trying to absolve ourselves from guilt? Like, am I feeling guilty about playing video games, that that's why I feel I need to listen to a lecture. That shouldn't be the case. In fact, the poster says I'm told 100 Allah, Allahu anhu, Sara wasa that there's an hour for this and an hour for that. As long as you're doing something halal, don't feel guilty about it. What you should feel guilty about is that if you're

doing like an over arching amount of it, like 10 hours of video games, yeah, that's something that bad to feel to feel bad about, when you're just doing like an hour a day. And that's like your way of decompressing and distressing. That's perfectly fine, that there's nothing wrong with that. The only exception that I will make over here is listening to Quran while doing other things. And that's something that's actually discussed

amongst the scholars that can you multitask with the Quran? So for example, if a woman is cooking, can she have the Quran playing in the background? And they broke this down into two scenarios. So scenario number one, one of the beautiful things about Saudi Arabia is either to the Quran, the Quran station, the radio is on and the Quran is playing and they alternate between vicar and Hadith, and Quran recitation. So you're not really controlling what's happening in the background. That's just the station that's playing. And they said that and that sort of situation is not a problem at all, because that's beyond your control. But they said what if you're intentionally putting Quran on

like you have an mp3 player where you're controlling the recitations? Can that woman or the man that's the mechanic or any other scenario, intentionally choose to play Quran, knowing that he's going against the command of the Quran that says that when the Quran is being recited, then pay close attention to it? The vast majority of scholars who said no, this is not allowed, because you're going against the command of the Quran. You have other scholars and this is where I'll share the opinion of Shiva Dudu Hafiz Allah. He says that in such scenarios, where the only opportunity a person gets to listen to the Quran is while doing something else, then they will be excused for not

fulfilling that command of the Quran. They will be excused for not fulfilling the command of the Quran. But that is only in exceptional cases. There's only in exceptional cases. So I hope that answers your question in Sharla.

Let's conclude with that inshallah. So just a reminder again next week, we'll having the summary Bismillahi Tala so show up for that. And

the week after we have the market of course which you hear hear Brahim, talking about the profits smile, and then after that she comes is going to be starting a new series. At this location. Bismillahi Tala Docomo, Korean for attending some high level homeopathic shadowline halal and iStockphoto kava tubo lake was Salam alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh