Moving Forward As A Community Part I

Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim in Alhamdulillah Hina

istockphoto Villa Himanshu Dorian fusina woman sejati Amina Maria de la dama de la, la de la la la la la la la la sharika Juan de Mohammed Abu Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa seldom at the Sleeman kathira Amma dad, my dear brothers and sisters salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.

So, I had the opportunity to go to Bermuda this past week, and I just got back on Tuesday. And I want to share an experience with you that I experienced while I was there, and that was swimming in the Atlantic Ocean. You know, when you go swimming, over here, you're generally in a pool, there's no waves, there's no currents, you don't have to worry about any animals, you know, everything's good to go. So when I first got to the Atlantic Ocean, I'm thinking about how am I going to approach this, the first thing that caught me off guard was how freezing cold the water,

there was no, you know, climate control, nothing like that at all. So I'm slowly taking steps inside, then the second thing I start to notice is that there's actual holes inside the ground. So the water is like crystal clear blue, but there's like holes inside the sand. And slowly, you realize that there are animals right underneath you. So you will see like a snake swimming around. And there was this animal called the Portuguese man of war, that's the actual name of the animal. And it's like a jellyfish that, you know, it stings you, it just holds onto your, your, your limb, and it doesn't let go until it dies. That's the only way to let go. So all these things are going

through my mind. But at that time, I'm focused that, you know, this is something that's on my to do list, and I need to get it done no matter what I have to get it done. So finally, you know, I come back the second day, now, I'm more prepared, I'm prepared for the for the weather prepared for the cold temperature prepared for the animals. And I'm like Bismillah, let's go in. And as soon as I go inside, I'm talking maybe about maybe 15 feet away from the shore, 20 feet away from the shore, you see, like 10 foot waves, and I just try standing there, my feet are planted inside the sand. And no matter what I did, I couldn't fight off the wave. And as as big of a guy as I am, I just couldn't do

it, every time a wave would come, I would get pushed back, I would get moved back. And then I would have to fight my way back, you know, to get back to that position and where it was. And it was at that time that I had, you know, some of the deepest reflections at that time. You know, from the reflections I had at that time, was the way we tried to play with the color of Allah subhanaw taala. And what I mean by that is that when it comes to the color of Allah subhanho wa Taala, we take this very lackadaisical approach, that color will come in and will change our lives for the better. But something that I learned at that time, was that the color of Allah subhanho wa Taala is something

that you have to maneuver around and something that you have to control, you cannot let it control you through the actions that you take, that will become your father, that will become your destiny. And that's what I learned that as soon as the wave was coming, rather than standing there trying to plant my feet and get beaten up by that wave. If you just duck your hand and you swim underneath the wave, you can just go completely past it, and you'll go completely unaffected. And that's what led me to my second reflection was changing your belief systems, meaning that each and every one of us has a belief system, which is our core, you know, through which we stand firm and our tidal waves.

So when the color of a lot comes, when some calamity happens, when something bad happens, what is it that will ground you What keeps you from what keeps you solid, then that's something that made you know, I reflected upon that that time, that the color of Allah subhanho wa Taala is something that you need a strategy for that if you're not prepared for it, it can be completely overwhelming, and actually brought me back to what our halaqa will be about tonight. And that was, you know, going forward as a community, where are we trying to go? What are we trying to do? And there's that famous saying that a chain is as strong as its weakest link a chain is as strong as its weakest link. And

that is what I want to assess here tonight within the Atallah you know, how strong of an individual are you? You know, when it comes to the community? Are you holding the community back? Or actually or will you actually be able to be productive and help the community move forward with the lights Allah. Now that having been said, I want to give an introduction in terms of how this is going to work, it's not going to be a typical halaqa they're not going to be too many is not going to be too many ahadith there's going to be a lot of experiences that I experienced. So let's start off with the very first one that handle it.

I graduated from the Islamic University of Medina in July 2008. And then I finally came back in December 2008. And for that six months while I was stuck in Medina, what was actually happening was, that's when like the first phase of gas war started to happen. So each day the fluctuation of gas price is making it more difficult for me to leave how so I have 4000 kilograms of books that I need to ship back, and they're not going to ship my books back until I pay them. So each week I'm working, saving up money to ship my books back, but the gas prices going keep going higher and higher. And I keep getting stuck in Medina. Now you can imagine, you know what's wrong with getting

stuck in Medina, but more behind the story. My daughter has been born now for about six months. And I haven't seen her yet. So she was born in April. And here we are in December, I still haven't seen my daughter, you know, physically. And Savannah, that was a very troubling time for me. So when should I come back to North America.

It's December 3, it's December 3 2008. And I think you know what, I'm going to come and change Canada, this is going to become become my, you know, hello for Empire, I'm going to be a new Khalifa of Canada, lo and behold, nothing like that ever happened. So I come into Canada. And you know, I started going to the different massage and start speaking to the different imams. And some of them were very threatened that, you know, I was a native born, graduated from Medina. And they started banning me from giving quotables and halaqaat inside the massage it. So that was like the first deterrent I faced. Then the second one was that, you know, since I graduated from Medina, it wasn't

an issue for the people for the seven years I was there. But as soon as I come back, I get labeled as Wahhabi, this hardcore Salafi guy that's gonna, you know, destroy the community. So then you have the other half of the massage that are preventing me from doing any activities. So I can't work in any of the massage it can give any halaqaat can give any quotables. And that's seven years that I spent studying, it seems that it's going nowhere. Then I look at my relationship with my parents, my parents see me to sitting at home all day, you know, reading or you know, spending time with the with my wife and kids and not doing anything and they're like, what are you doing with your life. So

they're getting upset at me. They're like, you need to get more productive and productive. And I'm trying to tell them that look, I'm trying my best, but I just can't do anything. And then eventually this starts affecting my relationship with my wife and my daughter that you know, I have to provide for them. I need to have some sort of income. But no matter where I went, you know, I couldn't find any form of job. I couldn't work in any Masjid. And then I'm stuck there. And slowly but surely, all of these things, they started to have a negative impact on my Deen. And I remember, it was maybe around three or four weeks after coming back that I missed my first fudger salah and Subhanallah

that was such a painful moment. Because in Medina, you're used to hearing the event from my house, I could hear the rashidun debris from my house. I heard the agenda machinery every single day. And then here you are, you're waking up to some you know crummy alarm clock that's going to be beep, beep, beep, or some sort of siren that's driving you crazy. That's how you're waking up. And then one night I don't know what happened. I might have turned it off. I didn't turn it on. I don't remember. But I just remember waking up. And I feel disgusting. Honestly, despicable. I'm like what has happened to my life, that here I am even missing my Salah. And that was like a turning point in

my life. That that was like rock bottom, that you know, I missed this salon now. And I'm like, I need to do something about this. Now time eventually goes on, I'm trying different things. I'm thinking about going back to school, you know, trying a master's program that is like a complete story on its own. And one thing after another, nothing is really going my way until in March 2009. This is about four months later, I come across this course, which is you know, neuro linguistic programming, understanding the language of the mind. And this for me was like the biggest change of events. This was the biggest change of events for me. And this is what I want to share with you.

Because I'm sure each of you have your own predicaments you have your own problems. So I want to share with you what was the turning point in my life. So what I need right now is I need to make sure everyone has those three sheets of paper. So the brothers that just came in if we can get them the three sheets of paper within the hits Allah

so let's get them those three sheets of paper.

And while we're waiting for that to be done,

do we have anyone that truly believes they're a good driver over here that they believe Honestly speaking, I am a very good driver. anyone believe that?

This is humbling, usually guys much. They're very outspoken about the driving skills. No good drivers here. Interesting fella. We'll see how this goes with lights Allah. We will see how this goes.

That you feel you're a good driver that you just feel like you're a good driver. I'm really amazed that no one thinks that they're a good driver here.

You had an accident,

you're still safe, you're still safe Alhamdulillah

hamdulillah

Did you have your license yet,

or they can send out the law. So now you have these three sheets of paper with you. And this is how we're going to divide up the three sheets of paper with the Knights Allah. This is how we're going to divide up the three sheets of paper. On the first sheet of paper, I want you to make

I guess, seven rows make seven rows. Okay, make seven rows going down. So yeah, even the so divide your page into seven rows,

seven rows, so it's going down. Now with your with your pen, you don't need to actually fold it just make lines with your pen divided into seven.

Okay.

So now, in each row, you're going to be placing a title in each row, you're going to be placing a title. So the title for row number one is Dean. The title for rule number one is Dean. So just put that title inside of that role.

The title for Rule number two is family. title for Rule number two is family.

title for row number three is finances.

title for row number three is finances.

title for row number four, telephone number four is career title for rule number four is career.

title for rule number five is health.

title for rule number five is health.

title for role number six is social life. title for rule number six is social life.

And title for rule number seven

is what we will call emotions. Telephone Number seven is what we will call emotions.

Okay, so now, what I want you to do with each column with the lights Allah and this is a very private and intimate exercise. So if you're someone that's really shy and you know, you don't want other people knowing your business, I would suggest you spread out in the masjid. Like Mashallah, we have a lot of space. If because this is you know, this exercise will only work best if you're truly honest with yourself, if you're truly honest with yourself. So if you want to hide stuff from people, now's the time to move away, so no one can see your paper.

Okay, so now what I would like you to do within lights, Allah, what I would like you to do with Nikita, is I want you to imagine that for each role, I am asking you a question. And that question is, how are you in this category? How are you in this category? And then your response is, I am 10 out of 10. I am 10 out of 10. So what I want you to write is just one sentence in each row about what your 10 out of 10 looks like in each category. So for example, the first one is Dean, for your dean to be 10 out of 10. What would it take? Would you have to be waking up for pmln? Would you have to be giving you know, $100 of charity each month? Would you have to be you know sponsoring an

orphan memorizing the Quran, what does it take? Then you go on to your finances? What does it mean for your finances to be 10 out of 10? for one person, it means that you know, I have $100,000 saved up in my bank account for another person, it means that I can just pay off my expenses. Right? So that's what I was what I want to do as an exercise right now. So for each role, I want you to write down what is your 10 out of 10 look like in one sentence? What is your 10 out of 10 look like in one sentence? Does everyone understand? Anyone not clear? And you will not understand? Go ahead? What's your question?

Here we go. Okay, so you have seven categories in front of you, right? And we want to assess what your perfection in this category looks like. So for you to be 10 out of 10 in your deen, what would that look like? What would you have to be doing for your deen to be 10 out of 10 your finances What would you have to be doing for your finances to be 10 out of 10 your family? What would you have to be doing to be a 10 out of 10 to be you know, in that field. So you want to express yourself what it looks like to be a 10 out of 10 in each of these fields, and you shouldn't take more than five minutes.

Okay, so all the guys in the front does everyone in the front didn't know anyone not finished yet.

not finished, except our brothers in the back. Our brothers that came in late, how many of you are still working? Raise your hands.

You're still working. Okay, so you have like another two minutes. And after move on to the next section in Sharla I'll tell you a story about Bermuda.

You know, one of the really humbling things about Bermuda is that there's only three massages and the whole, you know, 40 kilometer radius that they have. And these three massages, they're created for 700 people like that is the Muslim population. And the Imams of these massages. SubhanAllah Allah, they seem as if they're from the time of the Sahaba. And I'll explain this, why See, this? One of the Imams has been Imam of the masjid for 25 years. And he doesn't know more than about 15 sutras from the Quran from Jerusalem. And he's been worse serving the community as the man without taking any money. He lives inside the machine beads inside the machine cooks inside of this message,

his family lives inside of the machines. And it was just a surreal experience. And SubhanAllah. You know, I looked at all three communities and this email in particular, he had the love and devotion of his community that, you know, he told his community Tonight, we're going to like, you know, all going to jump into the ocean, his whole community would have followed him. And this is like a very valuable lesson for me that a lot of the times as leaders, not only Imams, we expect our communities to, you know, sacrifice themselves for us that just because we're in the leadership authority, but if you're looking at the example of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he was just as willing

to sacrifice himself for his community. And as a result, his community was willing to sacrifice themselves for him. And this is like a big lesson for me that in order for any of us, no matter whatever role you have in life, that whatever you expect from the people is what you have to give back to the people as well in terms of commitment. And if you're not willing to give them 100% of your commitment, you can't expect 100% of commitment from them, because that's just not the way life works. A second thing that I realized in Bermuda is Subhanallah how spoiled we are living in Canada.

I had a really freaky incident coming back, that I was really thankful to Allah subhanaw taala you know, usually when they come back into Canada, they have, you know, like a buffet with my, with my luggage, that they will scrutinize each and everything, open up all my clothes, go through my travel kit go through all of my papers, and they scrutinize it beginning to end. And it was the will of Allah subhanaw taala. This was one of the few times that they're like, you know what, let this guy go through. And I was so grateful to Allah subhanaw taala because when I came home, I opened up my suitcase, I nearly gave my wife a heart attack. We had cockroaches this big come out of my bag. And

it was like survival, like you don't notice it while you're there. But there were cockroaches everywhere. And I thought I killed all of them that I was staying with. But I found literally without exaggeration of cockroach this big. I tried to kill it with a with a tissue paper. And then when I smashed it, it was so like it had such a strong shell that it cut through the tissue paper. Like that's how bad it was. That was like another lesson is fine, how spoiled we are living in the West.

And then I think all the guys in the back are done now. Is everyone in the back done. Okay, excellent. So we move on to part two of this exercise. part two of this exercise, let's stick with page number one still stick with page number one, what I would like you to do is I want you to be completely honest with yourself and write what are you out of 10 right now, in that category, be completely honest with yourself just for the number that I am, you know, six out of 10 I am three out of 10 in this category, compared to the goal that you would like to have. So for each category, I would like you to write down what you are currently in that category, what you are currently in

that category.

Time and finish, we're going to move on to page number three. Now, I want you to get to page number three of your blank piece of paper, get out page number three.

And on page number three, what I would like you to do is to create a pie chart divided into seven sections divided into seven sections.

Okay, create a pie chart and divided into seven sections

in Wyoming to the best of your ability, just create seven sections, it doesn't have to be equal, but just create seven sections. And then just put the first letter of each section towards the ending. So like the first one is going to be Dean. So towards the edge, just put the letter D and that's going to represent your dean. And then you have F for like finances and other F for family and put it towards the outside edges.

And then what I would like you to do for one of the sections is to do this that fill a fill it out in terms of making points from one to 10 from bottom to top. So you start off from the middle point that is going to be your zero and then you move up all the way up until 10 and 10

Is the outer line support mark one and then two and then three and then four. Because you're going to be making a chart out of this, you're going to be making a chart out of this. So just do that for one of them. So that when you fill it out, you have an idea of what a three out of 10 looks like in that field or a five out of 10. It looks like in that field, okay?

You fill out numbers onto your pie chart, and this is what ends up looking like this is what it ends up looking like. Now to put this into perspective, what does this mean? At no time, Rahim Allah, He describes the guys over here. Yeah, I just need you to quiet down for one minute. Everyone claimed him a lot. He describes the life of this world as a journey to Allah subhana wa Tada. That's what the life of this world is. It is a journey to Allah subhanho wa Taala. And what this pie chart represents is the vehicle that you're taking on that journey the vehicle that you're taking on that journey. So this circle is your wheel right there. You can imagine if it's not perfectly round, how

bumpy your journey to Allah subhanho wa Taala actually is going to be how bumpy your journey to actually told us I know Asana actually is going to be so what I want you to do right now is to fill out your chart and see what your life or your journey towards no data looks like. So just fill out that chart right now in Sharla

Are you done?

Can I see what your wheel looks like?

This look at the wheel let's see how it looks.

You already you had an accident already here car trust

this was asking who thinks they're a good driver? This tells you how good of a driver you are.

You finish the car wheel

muscle at least you have a semi we'll come to that as good

as yours I don't know even what that is.

That's like a hexagon

that's good. Mashallah, who else is done? If you're done, just hold up your wheel.

A part of your wheel is missing. A lot of your wheel is missing your wheel. I don't know how you're going to travel with that.

I think you only have like one part of your wheel.

Mashallah.

Mashallah, that's a pretty balanced way on home. That's not bad type. So you guys should be finishing this up, you understand where this is going. So now remember, the basis of our talk or discussion for the next couple of weeks is moving forward as a community. And I started off this discussion today by saying that a community is only as strong as its weakest link. So each and every member of this community right now, they need to make sure that their personal lives are in order, before they can make any form of positive change inside the greater community. And this is what I want to focus on the first 200 cars tonight sanaka and next week's Hanukkah is the seven categories

that in your life, you want to make sure that you're balanced, you're in order so that you can give back to the community and that you can serve Allah subhanho wa Taala the way you're meant to serve Allah subhana wa Tada. Now, what I want you to do with the last sheet of paper, and this is something you can do when you get home beaten lightoller that is if you can just take the one third, the third sheet of paper out, is that that's supposed to have seven rows in it already with the Title Headings on it. What I would like you to do when you go home, is just write down two things that you can do in terms of action points that will help you achieve your goal. So for example,

someone's religious goal was, I want to memorize the Quran. Okay, did anyone have that as a goal for their religious 14? How many people had caught memorization of Quran? Excellent. So for you guys, here's like one of your action points, your action points is, you know, make sure I sign up for next semester, halfway done. So you come and speak to Brother Friday, and you get signed up for the Koran program. Step number two is that you find a memorization buddy that I need to find someone to memorize the Quran with. So I'm going to you know, send out an email to the community saying, Look, I'm looking for someone to memorize the Quran with who wants to be my Koran partner. So those are

tangible action points that you can take that will help you achieve your goal. And for each of the seven categories, you want to find tangible action points that you can take, because as you'll notice that Allah subhanaw taala he always pairs a man and animal together that demand in theory is of no relevance whatsoever up and until it is acted upon. Similarly, over here, you have your terror of 10, what it would look like and what you can have the potential to achieve. Now the question is, what are you going to do to achieve it? What are you going to do to make sure you have a perfect and complete circle in your journey to Allah subhanho wa Taala. So you want to write down two action

points that you can take and then write those out and be the lights out and you start taking action. So that's something for you to work on when you go home. Now for our discussion, I want to start off with understanding our relationship with Allah subhanho wa Taala. What I want to do is start off by addressing our relationship with Allah subhanho wa Taala and this will be the crux of our Deen and then with the lights Allah will discuss the other six components of our lives.

Next week salako next Friday Night Lights on. With that having been said, understanding our relationship with Allah subhana wa tada the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was once in the marketplace. And there was a woman that had lost her child. And this woman, she ran from side to side from corner to corner, and each time she would pass by a child, she would pick up and would embrace that child. And then she would let it go. And you can imagine that this woman she has tears pouring out of her eyes, flooding out of her eyes, because she has lost her child. And then eventually, after having gone through the whole marketplace, lo and behold, she finds her child. She

picks up her child, and she embraces it. The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and his companions, they witnessed this great extravaganza, if you want to call it that. And he asked them a very important question. He asked them, Do you think this woman would ever throw her child into the fire? And you can imagine that this woman who had tears of anguish, tears of pain, tears of sorrow coming down her eyes, has now converted those tears of sorrow, anguish and pain, and to tears of happiness, you know, and joy? That is what they had just witnessed. And the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam asked them, Do you think that this woman would ever throw their child

her child into the fire? The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is toward unanimously, Kenya jasola she would never do that. It's not possible that every woman never mother loves her child to such a great degree. And then the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam went on to define what our relationship with Allah subhanho wa Taala is, he wanted to say, Allahu Allah hameau ba ba de men have the Hebrew word that they have, that Allah subhanaw taala is more merciful, more compassionate, more loving, more caring towards his slaves, than this woman is towards her child. And then this develops our perspective in life now, that everything that happens in our life coming

from Allah subhanho wa Taala. It is based upon the mercy, compassion and love of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And this is what you need to figure out in your life, that time certain events may have happened in your life that you blame yourself for, perhaps it was a sin that you committed, perhaps it was a grave error that you made. And in your mind, you keep feeling this regret that why did I do this? Why did I make this mistake? And this is what actually prevents you from moving forward as an individual. But little Do you realize this regret that you feel it's based upon the fallacy. And that fallacy is that had I taken the other path, I would have been happier, had I done the other

decision or made the other decision, I would have been happier. But you do not know that for sure. You perhaps could have ended up dying, something tragic could have happened, you could be in the worst of state had you made that decision. You do not know that. Now, one of the psychological tactics that you learn in terms of being optimistic in life, is that you have to come to believe with certainty that the decision that you made was in your best interest, the decision that you made was in your best interests. Now how do you develop such a philosophy number one, through your Eman And Allah subhanho wa Taala learning the names and attributes of Allah, they teach you this, that

our Lord that is our rough man in our Rahim Allah, Al Karim, Allah, Nan and over foreigner, he would never abandon his slave, he will never allow something purely negative to happen to his slave. Then the second thing is your personal perspective, that you need to develop a philosophy in life. And that philosophy in life is that I will only become a failure in life. If I choose not to learn from my mistakes, I will only become a failure in life if I choose not to learn from my mistakes. And when you develop this philosophy, everything that ends up happening to you is some sort of victory either a great one or a small one. Because at the very least, you ended up benefiting from the event

that happened in your life and you can warn others and you can take heed yourself that you do not fall into the same mistake. Now that having been said, How do we further analyze the trials and tribulations that Allah subhanho wa Taala sends us the first thing you have to understand is that you have to learn to expect trials in life, that Allah subhanho wa Taala he tells us in the Koran time and time again, that you will be tested and you will be tried a Hasib unnatural Nutella konnyaku, Amanda wahome life to know that does mankind thing they will be left to say we believe and not be tried, meaning that each stage of your life, each moment of your life is a trial. And this is

where another paradigm shift needs to take place. And that is a trial does not always mean that you're feeling some sort of pain, but rather the greatest trials in life are the ones that you don't feel any pain at all. And those are the trials of prosperity. So each moment of your life is either a moment of patience, where it goes against your desire or it is a moment

of gratitude, where you are given what you have desired. So it is either a moment of patience, or a moment of gratitude, a moment of adversity or a moment of prosperity. And this is the second paradigm shift that needs to take place. So in your life when it comes to love, just because there's nothing greatly going wrong, it doesn't mean you're not being tried. It just means you're being tried in a different fashion. So while someone else is in like, you know, another part of the world, they're facing like a communal struggle in a place like you know, for the scene where brothers and sisters are struggling, that is a moment of pain, that is their pain. That is, you know, Allah,

calling them back, turn back to Allah, and Allah will take care of your fears. But in a place that Calgary, our struggle is completely different. Allah has given us big houses, he's given us good jobs, he's given us lots of money, a government that cares for its people, and all those things are there. So there's no pain to remind you have Allah subhanho wa Taala. But rather, your remembrance of Allah subhanho wa Taala is something that has to be self initiated, something that you have to do yourself, because there's nothing there to remind you of it. So that's the first thing you need to learn to expect these trials. Number two, is that in moments that deal with pain, in moments that

deal with pain, or the punishment from Allah subhanho wa Taala, or are they hidden price and reward from Allah subhanho wa Taala. And this is something that needs to be thought about. Because if it's purely a punishment from Allah subhanho wa Taala, then that means that Allah is out to destroy you. And that means that you would have died and your life would no longer continue, and you wouldn't have an opportunity to repent, because that is what the love and punishment of Allah subhanho wa Taala is that it destroys nations and destroys people. Whereas on the other hand, it is a reminder from Allah subhanho wa Taala, for you to turn back to Allah subhanaw taala. So I want you to take an

example. So imagine your time in elementary school, think about your time in elementary school, that when you were in elementary school, what was the favorite part of the day of every child, it was going out for recess going out for lunch break, so that you will go out in recess, you go out and lunch break, and all of a sudden, we start chasing this small ball, you're playing soccer, you're playing basketball, you're playing in the dirt in the sand. And eventually the time goes by very, very quickly. And then eventually a bell goes off and reminds you that you have to go back into class. Now I want you to think about what does the child feel at that time, when that is happening?

What type of emotion is that child feeling? Most children they feel upset, they feel angry? They're like, Why do I have to go back into class, you know, I'm having fun right now. But then when that bell rings, it's a sound to go back to class. And they get reminded, hey, you're here in school for a greater purpose. It's okay to have fun. It's okay to play sports, but it's for a limited amount of time. Similarly, the trials that unless I know what Donna sends us serve the exact same purpose, that when a person strays from the remembrance of Allah, the trial is Allah ziebell reminding you that it's time to turn back to Allah subhana wa Tada, it's time to remember Allah, that you're on

this dunya for a greater purpose and a greater motive. And that is to worship Allah and to be a servant of Allah subhanho wa Taala. The third perspective that you need to change when it comes to trials that have paid with it is understanding and realizing that even while the trial is going on, you are benefiting from it without even realizing it. How so? Just to give you one Hadith, Savannah, this is such a powerful Hadith, that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he mentioned the case of an individual that perhaps could be any one of us over here, that we have our struggles with life, we commit the sins that we commit, and that we know in reality, how many sins

we actually have, while no one else knows the reality of it. So we show up on the Day of Judgment, and Allah has presented our good deeds in front of us. And now you're waiting for your bad deeds to come forward. You're waiting for the things that you're committed that Allah will present them to you. But then you're waiting and you're waiting and you're waiting, and eventually nothing is brought forth. And you're confused. You're dumbfounded flabbergasted. Where did my sins go? So you ask Allah subhanho wa Taala Oh Allah, I committed this sin and I committed that sin on this day I did this and on that day I did that, but none of it is being presented to me. Why is this the case?

And then Allah subhana wa Taala tells you that for each trial and each tribulation that you went through in life, Allah subhana wa tada forgive you for your sins. So here you are on the Day of Judgment, without any sins altogether, because Allah subhanho wa Taala forgive you for your sins, through the trials and tribulations that you went through. And this is why the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam tells us that the son of Adam is not even pricked by a thorn, except that Allah subhanho wa Taala is purifying some of his sins. The fourth perspective when it comes to trials and tribulations, is that these painful trials and tribulations are a reminder

the true nature of this world. Then when you think about this life, this dunya presents itself in a very devious and cunning way, that it makes it seem as if everything is so luxurious, and that if you just get this new car, you will be happy. If you get this new iPod and iPad and iPhone, you will be happy. If you get this new house, you will be happy, and you keep chasing it time and time again. But lo and behold, you are still not happy. That is the deception of this dunya that this dunya makes you think you can attain happiness in it. But when these trials and tribulations strike, they're a reminder for you of the true nature of this world, that the true nature of this world is

that you will never attain happiness in it. And in fact, it is only there for struggle and toil, as Allah subhanaw taala tells us what are the Holocaust and insanity COVID that he was created, mankind was created to be in a state of toil, just work and work and work and not attain that happiness, and do those trials and tribulations Allah finally hits it home, that you were created for a greater home, you are created for gender, you are created for paradise, and that is your final abode. And that is what you are being prepared for with these trials and tribulations, if you would only take the time to reflect the fifth and last perspective and understanding our relationship with Allah

subhanho wa Taala is understanding the fact that the help of Allah subhanho wa Taala is always just around the corner. You know, if you look into the Koran, we have the story of unison Lisa, our beloved Prophet, and we tell this story to our young children, as if it is a fairy tale as if it is a fable. But in reality, this is a real story that took place. And there is a very valuable lesson in this story that you understand a salon he is swallowed whole by a whale. What are the chances of that happening? That even if you did get swallowed by a whale, what are the chances of you would be swallowed completely whole? It's very unlikely that that would happen? And what are the chances you

would stay alive? Now I want you to imagine what happens at this time he swallowed by a whale, the whale doesn't stay on the surface of the water. He goes down into the depths of the ocean, and absolute darkness. There's nothing else there. No one can hear him. No one can help him. except Allah subhanho wa Taala I knew this Islam, he understands this fact. And this is a reminder for all of us. That each and every one of us at one time or another we will be in a dark spot. We will be in a dark place where no one knows our struggle. No one knows our pain. No one knows our darkness except for Allah subhanho wa Taala and the new the Salvation Army teaches us a very valuable lesson.

That valuable lesson is communicating and conversing with with Allah subhanho wa Taala Allah tells us for nada Lolo Mati and La ilaha illa Allah subhana wa volumen that, Oh Allah, there's no one worthy of worship except for you. I have been of those who wronged and oppressed themselves. So we recognize the greatness of Allah and he recognizes his own weakness. And this was his communication with Allah. And similarly when you are in your dark place, that is the time you submit to Allah subhana wa tada submit in your weakness to the one that has no weakness, Allah subhana wa Tada. And you call out to Allah just like you the Salah he Salam did, and then look at the response that Allah

Subhana Allah gives you this. Allah subhanho wa Taala goes on to say what can daddy can Ajay now hoomin and calm and this we saved Eunice la Salaam, that which was causing him sorrow that which was causing him distressed, and then we saved him. But you'll notice that when it comes to Allah subhanho wa Taala Allah subhanho wa Taala always gives you more than you ask for, particularly with the prophets that Allah subhanaw taala he continues on this verse to say we're cadaveric and Ajay now hominin ROM what can daddy can? Meaning that just like we saved Eunice Ellison from history and from his grief, we shall save all of the believers as well, if they were to have the exact same

reaction if they were to have the exact same reaction. So this In summary, my dear brothers and sisters, is how to understand our relationship with Allah subhana wa Tada. Then in fact, everything that comes from Allah subhanho wa Taala Our way is in our best interests. If you look at if you look at it through this lens, a lens of positivity, a lens of understanding Allah's mercy and compassion and love. And with the lights Allah next week, next Friday, we'll be discussing from the very beginning, how to improve our Deen our finances, our social lives, and all the other components that we spoke about. And that will be next week's halaqa. Now moving forward after that, after you have

an individual you have a family unit after that, so you have brothers that are and sisters that are looking to get married. So the third halaqa will be about you know what to look for the spouse, what does marriage mean in Islam? What are ways to facilitate marriage

You know, you may be hitting 2728 29 years old brother or sister, you can't seem to get married, what solutions do you have to facilitate that marriage? Then we move on to the fourth halaqa. The fourth Hannukah is going to be about now that you're married, your honeymoon phase is over and you realize you've married a monster. How do you cope with that monster, though? You know, how do you prevent from always being at each other's throats? That's what the fourth halaqa is. The fifth halaqa is going to be about raising your children between the eighth and the sixth and last Telekom. This series will be if you need to part if you need to split up that unit that we have just created.

How do you do it in the best of ways? And what are the Sharia regulations for divorce and you know, nullifying a marriage contract that will be the last halaqa. So that in some way is going to be our Friday night halaqa for next six weeks with a knight Allah. And then Sheikh Hasina will be taking over from the beginning of January. And I believe he'll be doing something related to Islamic finance at that time. So I just want to give you guys a glimpse, in terms of what we will be discussing, so you have an idea what each and Friday night will be like. Now, what I need from all of you is that as you guys realize, our time is very limited. We start at seven o'clock. Anisha is

eight o'clock. So with your questions, we need to be done by eight o'clock, because at 830 we have the Youth Center, where we start playing basketball and other recreational activities. So we have to have everything done by eight o'clock. So what I need from all of you is that I need you guys to show up at 655. Don't even aim for seven o'clock because usually end up coming in at 705 but aim for 655 so at least you're here by seven o'clock and we can start on time. Just like you saw the activity today. I'm not going to repeat the activity next week. So bring your activities with you the papers that you filled out next week. This week, bring your activities with you and within

lights Allah will continue to focus on it for another week. And Allah subhanho wa Taala knows best what's of Aloha, most of them roboticle in the Vienna Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam Santa Coloma de casa de la let us know felucca to the lake.