This Will Pass

It's a pleasure to be here for the first time in the state of Utah. And at this Masjid that I'm coming here with lots of doors for your community. I know for a fact that this city has received many refugees from different parts of the Muslim world, people that have been uprooted from their homeland and are just starting a new. So I want to start by making xOP for them, especially that Allah make their transition easy and protect them in every way. Protect them in this in the sense of dunya in terms of their risk, and also protect them and their children that they preserve their Iman, and are able to live functional lives and good lives as Muslims. What I wanted to share with

you today in this Honda is reflections from an IRA that belongs to sort of alcohol. This is the 45th IRA. And if time permits, maybe we'll talk a little bit about the 46. I also, Allah azza wa jal in this ayah gives us a one of the many examples He's given us to understand life itself. The journey that everybody here is going through that I am going through that you are going through is very different. Your experiences, the difficulties you have in your life, the troubles that you have the things that are giving you anxiety, the things that give you depression, the things that worry you all the time, the burdens that you have in this life are unique to you. And they're different for

you than they are even for your children. And those of you that are married, the burdens of the husband are different from the burdens of the wife, every one has been given a different set of burdens and different set of overbearing thoughts. If you ask yourself, as you're going through your day, obviously we do things that are functional, like go to work or, you know, get stuck in traffic, or do the groceries and all of those things, and we're functioning in this world. But there's another world that exists inside of our minds. And that world, we're constantly filled with worries about the future, or it's worried it's filled with thoughts about the past or regrets about the

past. Or it's worried about, you know, all kinds of uncertainties and they're always circling in our minds, and it doesn't show on the outside, but there's a lot of turbulence going on on the inside, right? So what Allah does often in the Quran, is that he will describe this entire journey that every one of us is going through, and he will give us an example to think about he'll give us a picture he will paint a picture with a few words and ask each of us to contemplate that picture. And the more we contemplate it will get something of benefit for each of our lives individually. So what's remarkable about the examples the parables in the Quran,

Allah one place in the Quran says we can radically improve Hola, hola, untalented nurse, right? So this is how Allah gives examples for the benefit of people. Meaning only Allah can give examples in the way that he gives them. You will think this example is going to relate to me but it's not going to relate to you because your situation is different than my situation. But the power in the miracle of the word of Allah is that when when competent contemplates everyone finds something they can reflect on specific to their situation, and only in ways that they can understand. So that's the that's what I'm hoping you do today. And I do for myself also today as we contemplate these

beautiful words of Allah. That is another incredible way of looking at this life itself. These brief moments that we have that are going to be gone all too soon. Allah says what Riblah homicidal hatred dunya give them the example of worldly life. And this translation of a heretic. Dunya is worldly, worldly life is very common. But the word of dunya is actually the feminine form of affinity of lean in the form of Edna and then other nine Arabic means the lowest. And so actually literally what's being said as the lowest life and that's Allah's way of saying that life has higher and higher stages, and we're actually at the lowest stage, there's better and better coming in our future. So

there's an optimism that suggested as tough as life may be, it's not going to get worse than this. It's only going to get better. It's actually for especially for a believer, that's what it's meant. Somebody might say but what about hellfire? What about the punishment of Allah? Actually, Allah doesn't even consider Hellfire life. He says about Hellfire lay a mood to see how well

he doesn't live in it. He doesn't die in it. He doesn't live it it actually not. It's not even considered life and the next life the life after Yeoman Fiamma and the life in Jannah Allah calls it the hail hail and no can we get on the moon? That's the real life if they only knew. So this life is actually the precursor, just a preview of what's coming in Jana. Just a brief comment about that before we go back into this ayah. Allah in the Quran describes Janna like no other religion describes heaven.

And since I was here, I took the liberty of going to the Mormon library and spoke to a couple of the elders and had some interesting conversations with them about their beliefs and their concepts and and this is something I try and do to understand other perspectives and how they see faith. But one thing you'll find unique about the Quran the description the specific description with which Allah describes Heaven is not found anywhere else. You will get general words like

garden. Let's look at the Garden of Eden. That's all you get. What Allah will tell you is fruits and Lakhmi played in Minmei esta Hoon, the flesh of birds, you're going to have some kind of chicken barbecue or something that's going to be there. There's going to be all kinds of drinks that are being served. There are servers that are that are charming, that are serving drinks, they are friends sitting together, talking about how life used to be tough and what they went through, and how things used to be tough. They're having a reunion believers are having a reunion, you know, all kinds of descriptions, very vivid. Picturesque descriptions are being given of gender, but many of

them you will find are things that are easy to imagine friends hanging out together, people enjoying drinks, servers, bringing drinks, beautiful trees, waterfalls, cushions, carpets, these are all things we find in this life. And there's a reason for that. Even though our prophets of Allah Azza wa sallam told us, mother Amen, right? Well that was on semiotica Katara Allah can be Bashar no i has ever seen no ear has ever heard. So if and no imagination has ever imagined what heaven has to offer with Jana has to offer however if you if you read the Quran description of Jana, it looks like very easy to imagine palm trees and beautiful mansions and spouses and all that stuff. Right? So why

is that it is actually because this world is made a preview of what is coming. This is supposed to give us a glimpse. You know, Muslims see this life very differently than other faiths and many other faiths this life is actually a curse. We were sent here as a punishment in the Quran. We were not sent on the earth as a punishment. Allah Calico mafia or the Gemini Jana lagoon fee Hama Ayesha kalila Mitesh Quran, he put in this world, he put things for you that you can live well with and enjoy how little you show gratitude. You don't put someone in prison and say be grateful. You put someone somewhere somewhere nice, and you show them the beauty of this world and that's what makes

you want to be grateful. This is what Allah doesn't throw to Rukmani he talks about, you know, will help boodle us ask for your right hand for via Jana europei Kumar to cassava and like look at all these beautiful things I've made for you look at the scent in the air from the crop that comes to you look at the grain that grows the crop that grows what more are you going to be in denial of you should be grateful so Allah did in fact make this world beautiful and you guys are happened to be very fortunate you live in the state of Utah where you're surrounded by beautiful mountains. You get to appreciate Allah's beauty even when you're stuck in traffic, at least you have something to look

at. I come from Dallas, there's nothing to look at. You know.

So you know, there's this this constant beauty that surrounds us Anyway, coming back to this if he says just give them the example of this lowest life and everything you experienced in this life, every joy you experience and is the minimal joy, the joy of a new babies, the minimal joy, the joy of marriage, the joy of seeing a beautiful waterfall, the joy of a beautiful sky, the beauty, the joy of a delicious meal. All of these are the lowest like there's way more upgrades available. And can you imagine we were like oh my god, that's my favorite restaurant. I can't, I haven't had it in so long. I need that chiller more or whatever right. And that's that's your thought of joy or this

vacation this place you want to go to or this car you want to drive or this neighborhood you want to get a home in or whatever we associate joy with these things and all of that is just the bare minimum. That's the Rama of Allah will reveal the whole method and hieratic dunya karma in anzaldo hoomin Asana

if you get some if you want to get a picture of what this life is like, it's something like water that we sent down from the sky. I'll translate quickly then we'll contemplate these words. First a lot will be hidden about will earth, then that water because of it, the grains in the world and all the material in the soil anything that can grow is called an about grass can be called about trees can be called an about fruits can be called flowers can be called an about Nevada is the word for all vegetation, all greenery all plant life you can call them a bath. So the water mixes with all of these nutrients in the on the earth, for Stella to be hidden about on Earth. And of course when rain

comes from the sky that Allah is talking about, and the earth becomes green flowers grow grass grows, trees, grow, farm grows, all of it grows. Then you would think Allah will next talk about how beautiful it gets, how colorful it gets. And he talks about that in other places. But here he says something else. He says for us Baja Shimon de Ruvo Ria, then that same crop that grows he didn't even mention the crop. He says it mixes with the soil and eventually it becomes this word Hashem. And Hashem in Arabic is a Muslim. It's something dried up that has no moisture in it and can easily break and has stepped on. Basically what he's describing is dried up leaves, dried up leaves and

twigs that fall off of a tree or grass.

that dies, that you step on and mix crunchy sounds and it's worthless. And the wind just blows it off and actually creates dust and pollen problems or allergies for you all of that stuff is coming from the dirt, and the broken up leaves and all of that stubble that's that's around in the world. So he's describing now this life starts off with water from the sky. And then eventually it just turns into just broken up leaves that people step on didn't even realize, if you were stepping on something valuable. If you were stepping on your new phone, you would be like, you wouldn't put your full weight on it the moment you felt a little bit of the crunch, but you don't think twice when you

step on a leaf. You don't think twice when you step on a pebble is just it's worthless, right? And it's blowing around if cash was blowing around, you would have a heart attack. What if leaves are blowing at you don't think twice about it. This is worthless stuff. And that's why in the Quran, things that blow with the wind are considered worthless like hubba and other images in the Quran. When things blow in the wind, they're actually considered weightless and worthless. And one of the scariest description descriptions of judgment day is some people their deeds will be scattered like like dust or ashes for Jana who hubba among flora. Allah describes so we seek Allah's refuge from

our deeds being turned into scattered dust on Judgment Day, and not having any way. But anyway, coming back to this remarkable parable, how is it that I can benefit from this example? Other than just saying, well, Allah gives life and then we die, the plant grows and then the plant dies Great. Now while but actually, if you dig a little deeper, and you contemplate the especially the end of this ayah What can Allah who either quilici in Madeira, Allah has been in complete control over all things. And the word for Allah's control, you find three different words in the Quran, you find cardio, you find cardio, and here you find actually see a lot of mobile data in a sense from data.

It's looked at it, looked at it and actually the way they translate that is actively in control. Allah is actively in control. And, and, you know, overwhelmingly in control over all things. That's what Allah says at the end. Now, let's go back in this life, the first thing Allah wanted me to think about is the fact that he sends water from the sky that mixes with the soil. So there's something happening with the sky and there's something happening with the Earth, every fruit that you eat, every every piece of meat that you and I eat, every bit of vegetation that you and I see is a result of water that came from the sky.

You know what else comes from the sky? What comes from the sky is always the risk from Allah, the command from Allah, the guidance from Allah, everything that Allah gives us that is purposeful comes from the sky, the angels come from the sky with a mission. The angels that are here go up and report to the sky and they come back from the sky later some other The angels are descending xs alumina, Ikawa raffia, right. So when something Allah says something from the sky, it has a purpose. It comes for a mission. And so what does it do for a believer it what it does for a believer is every leaf inside it is the command of Allah.

Every fruit every every orange, has inside it, the water that came from the sky that came from the Command of Allah. And every time something comes from the sky, it has to have a purpose. So everything becomes purposeful and in everything, I see that it's related to a command from Allah descending from the heavens, everything, it changes my view of all life, I don't see any bird the same way. I don't see any food the same way I don't see the green a tree the same way. All of them are directly a result and they have inside mixed within them is the water that came from the sky and the water that comes from the sky is actually the Command of Allah. And it's interesting that water

coming from the sky as compared to no Quran, with revelation coming from the sky.

You know, that incidental Hadith for example, Allah talks about people who lost touch with Revelation and their hearts became hard. And in the very next idea, he says, Allahu Allahu Allah, BARDA motiva, you should know Allah gives life to the earth after it was dead, like your heart can come back to life with the word of Allah, like the rain brings the grass back to life. That's, that's what it says, Now, what does that have to do with you and me? Let's come back to that all of you have different crises. Every one of you has a different drama going on in your life. And when I say drama, some of you looked at the person next to you like this is the drama I just drove with

them to drama, but on a more serious note,

whatever struggles we're going through whatever we're experiencing in this life, we have to first understand that none of it would have been happening if Allah's command wasn't there.

And there was no there was no there was some purpose there was a reason for which it was happening.

Everything we're going through, I'm going to be commenting and desire something said something so beautiful. Why did Allah make me focus so much on water, because water doesn't stay in the same place. What water mixes with other things, water is constantly moving and changing. And if you try to keep water in the same place, it goes bad. So actually, Allah designed this life to constantly go through changes. So those of you that got uprooted from your home, and you're in a different place, and you say, I miss my village, I miss my home, why can't I just go back? Why can I do this? Why can I have that old job back? Why you don't have to do that? You know, why did we have to move to this

neighborhood? Why did I have to there's why why why I hate change. I hate change. Allah says you've made life full of change. You can't keep anything the same. Anything that Allah is command came into, like the the water that came into a fruit, if you look at that fruit, what's happening slowly, it's losing its water, and it's getting dry, and it's eventually going to die. Right? It's going to go. So the experiences we have in this life, the good that we have in this life is temporary. And the bad that we have in this life is also temporary. The tough stuff is also temporary. And all of that is a command of Allah. So then if that's all temporary, then what's permanent? If everything's

just gonna go, the good is gonna go, the bad is gonna go, what do you think is a huge problem today? Tomorrow, you'll look back like, Oh, my God, I used to think that was a huge problem. This is a huge problem. I prefer that problem. Because you know, because that's gone now. And you have something new to deal with. You know, but human beings forget that the beginning of all it is is water. And what did Allah mentioned in the first part, he mentioned water. And what did he mentioned at the end completely dried up, right? The lack of water. So you know what, there's something in between, in between is the greenery is the good things in life. It's the ups and downs of life, it's the changes

in life. But you know what, it becomes easier to deal with that stuff. When you go back and you realize, well, you and I were just drops of water to. That's all we were. And eventually we're going to be reduced to nothing inside of the dirt. That's, that's the beginning and the end. And everything else we're experiencing is just the stuff in between. This is just an episode in between, or multiple episodes in between, and they will come to pass they will go, these experiences will come and go and nothing is permanent. What happens to some of us have, you know, somebody sitting here had something bad happen to them. And they think about that every day. And you review it in

their head every day. And they get sad about it every day. And they talk about it every day. And they remind others about it every day. They're stuck in it over and over and over again. You're stagnating. This is not how Allah meant life to be. You had a tough experience. Yes, nobody's denying it. But it's time for you to take today and not live in yesterday. You have to keep moving, or you're rotting yourself. Because if you try to keep it the same and preserve, nothing stays preserved. No matter how bad you want the flower to live forever, the flower will wither. But you know what's incredible about those flowers that die on a tree, every time one dries, another one

grows in the next season. And this is the this is the nature with which Allah made things were one problem happens or something is taken away from you. Allah replaces it with something else. When one good thing starts getting weaker. Another good thing comes in from it in a different place in a different form. And that's the nature with which Allah created life. First Allah Toby Hina battle Earth for us Maha Shiva and through Huria This is the Lord's no battle or there's another dimension to it to it, the visual image is that of leaves intertwined. You know, grass blades intertwined, like our lives get intertwined, right. And you get caught up in like everyday things, little little

things. And the you're thinking about them so much that they become such a huge deal to you. Like, oh my god, I was supposed to buy those new shoes for that wedding. Because if I don't wear those new shoes, people are going to think I belong to, you know, third grade society. And I don't I don't fit in. And now that I don't have any are thinking about these stupid shoes for eight hours. Life is a lot bigger than your shoes.

But you're so intertwined in these, these are just leaves on a tree leaves fall and they go in another tree, Texas, wherever the leaf takes its place. It's okay, life keeps moving forward. So it's these petty things that Allah removed my focus from and he just gives me perspective that life is a lot bigger than that. So I leave you with this and Bakhtiar to slowly had that what is it that's going to actually last?

You know, you would think, yes, you would think a family hurts a backyard but he actually says about the good things that you do everyday, even the smallest things, those are the things that are actually going to last. So whether we have an easy life or a tough life is actually the good if I can find some way of doing something good every day. Something that wasn't about me it was about someone else. It was for Allah something that I have lived

Have a meaningful, purposeful life and that's what water does. Water doesn't serve itself. Water serves everything else. And so if we have the Command of Allah NS the guidance of Allah in us, we're not just there to serve ourselves and our feelings were there to be of service to somebody else. May Allah azza wa jal give us that and give us a constant sense of purpose and of service to others.