Omar Suleiman – Consumerism And The Inflation Of Self Black Friday
AI: Summary ©
The segment discusses the misunderstandings of "riana's" Islam and the importance of belief and protecting the Prophet's title as a source of safety. They also touch on the concept of consumerism and its negative consequences, including negative consequences of being in a situation where one's desire is not met and becoming the biggest pursue. The segment emphasizes avoiding negative consequences of the situation and finding one's own success.
AI: Summary ©
Can you really purchase Jannah if you're trying
to purchase your Jannah in this dunya?
أعوذ بالله من الشيطان والرجيم باسمه الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله رب العالمين والعدوان إلا على الظالمين
والعاقبة للمتقين اللهم صلي وسلم وبرك على عبدك
ورسولك محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم وعلى آله
وصحبه وسلم تسيماً كثيراً We begin by praising
Allah سبحانه وتعالى and bearing witness that none
has the right to be worshipped or unconditionally
obeyed except for him and we bear witness
that Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is his
final messenger We ask Allah to send his
peace and blessings upon him the prophets and
messengers that came before him, his family and
companions that served alongside him and those that
follow in his blessed path until the day
of judgment and we ask Allah to make
us amongst them اللهم أمين Dear brothers and
sisters, as we come across another Black Friday
you know a lot of times when we
talk about the isms that are the most
dangerous and that are most contradictory to Islam
we leave out one of the most dangerous
isms and that is consumerism and subhanAllah as
you think about consumerism you probably think well
all it is is maybe splurging a bit
all it is is maybe going online and
trying to find the best deal on the
next product and then having with the technological
advances in this world the ability to just
click a button and have it right at
your door maybe that's what you think about
but there is a failure to calculate the
dangers of consumerism as it relates to our
spirituality and that's what I wanted to speak
about today Allah سبحانه وتعالى uses the terms
of buying and selling of trade to refer
to our transaction that we have made with
him in entering into Islam throughout the Quran
so Allah سبحانه وتعالى as he speaks about
those who have purchased أولئك الذين اشتروا الضلالة
بالهدى there are those that have purchased misguidance
using the currency of guidance and sometimes you
have to visualize imagine a person walking into
the marketplace of this world and they purchase
ضلالة they purchase misguidance and what do they
purchase it with?
guidance and you might think to yourself well,
who actually does that?
well, when a person goes to a place
or puts themselves in a compromising situation and
in the process they compromise their Islam and
they instead have an intake of something other
than Islam they are purchasing misguidance for guidance
and you see this, Allah سبحانه وتعالى especially
where you'll find people that will sell their
religion for so cheap so cheap they'll sell
their principles and in the process they will
earn the displeasure of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and
they will earn deprivation in this life Allah
عز و جل mentions والعذاب بالمغفرة that those
who take the forgiveness from Allah سبحانه وتعالى
and they purchase the punishment of Allah سبحانه
وتعالى when they choose a sin intentionally and
with a degree of intensity that shows that
there is a disregard for Allah سبحانه وتعالى
or when Allah سبحانه وتعالى mentions الحياة الدنيا
بالآخرة there are those that purchase this world
and what they put in that purchase what
they enter as currency is everything that Allah
سبحانه وتعالى has promised of Jannah now think
on the other hand when the Prophet صلى
الله عليه وسلم entered into Medina and they
entered into a covenant with the Prophet صلى
الله عليه وسلم recognizing that as they enter
into this covenant of belief and as they
enter into this covenant of protecting the Prophet
صلى الله عليه وسلم who is a refugee
who is on the run who is a
targeted and marked man and in the process
they're going to lose all notions of safety
that they have in this life when they
ask the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم what
they get back in return he said الجنة
and they responded and said ربح البيع that
it is a profitable transaction Allah عز و
جل says إِنَّ اللَّهَ اشْتَرَى مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَنفُسَهُمْ
وَأَمْوَالَهُمْ بِأَنَّ لَهُمُ الْجَنَّةِ Allah has purchased the
believers their selves and their wealth and as
a result they have جنة so Allah uses
these terms of trade constantly to say that
we are in a transaction with Allah سُبْحَانَهُ
وَ تَعَالَى and a believer has to see
themselves as trying to purchase more and more
and more of جنة more and more of
Allah's pleasure so think about it on the
other side how do I purchase guidance?
how do I purchase Allah's forgiveness?
how do I purchase the akhirah instead?
what's the currency that is required so that
I could purchase those things constantly and seek
more and more and more because just like
if you had unlimited wealth and you had
no principles governing that you'd never run out
of things to go buy online right?
and to Allah belongs the greatest example there
is no shortage of real estate in جنة
and there is no shortage of currency to
attain that real estate and to attain Allah
سُبْحَانَهُ و تَعَالَى's pleasure and Allah عز و
جل wants you to orient yourself in a
different way towards where you are seeking more
and more and more of what Allah سُبْحَانَهُ
و تَعَالَى has put in front of you
and this life where a person feels like
you know what?
I can purchase my happiness or I am
entitled you'll find that many of those who
speak about the philosophy of consumerism will say
that there is an entitlement to gratification I
deserve by virtue of having this money I
deserve to be treated in a certain way
I deserve to have access to certain things
and therefore I will purchase and buy and
buy and buy and maybe I am not
thinking about what that could actually lead me
to and what harm that could actually cause
to myself and to other than myself and
سُبْحَانَهُ و تَعَالَى you'll find that Allah عز
و جل uses the word اسراف wastefulness wastefulness
in terms of extravagance of purchase and wastefulness
in terms of sins Allah عز و جل
mentions قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ
لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِن رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ Allah عز و
جل mentions that there is a notion of
those who waste away in sin and in
that process they are extravagant with themselves they
are extravagant with the sins that have been
put in front of them there is also
a notion of the ethics of consumerism the
ethics of what you purchase and سُبْحَانَهُ و
تَعَالَى what you'll find is that there are
unethical purchases and there are unethical pursuits of
purchase what does that mean?
you go and you tell someone to boycott
something for the sake of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ و
تَعَالَى right now there is the boycotting of
the products that benefit the Zionist occupation of
Palestine someone's like yeah but at the same
time like I'm gonna have to sacrifice my
comfort I'm going to have to sacrifice this
drink that I really love I'm gonna have
to sacrifice this thing that I really love
watching I'm gonna have to sacrifice this thing
that you know I'm enjoying wearing whatever it
may be and you think about the message
that you are sending right clearly in that
there is a diminishing of your spirituality in
the process and if you want to get
even bigger in terms of ethical consumerism think
about the Uighurs and those that are being
enslaved by the Chinese at this point and
what they're being put through and their slave
factories to make the clothes that we wear
and to put forth the items that we
consume regularly right if a person becomes accustomed
to Israf if a person becomes accustomed to
wastefulness and extravagance then they might find themselves
in a situation where they just don't care
anymore and in the process you are becoming
a monster at the same time so there
is unethical purchase there is unethical pursuit and
what you're going to do to reach those
things and when we talk about the love
of this world a person can find themselves
in a situation where if they fall in
love with the dunya too much then what
they're going to do is they're going to
use everything that they have in front of
them to reach that thing and so first
it's an uncontrollable desire and then you know
what I really want this and so I'll
engage in a riba I'll engage in interest
and usury and what's the big deal if
I engage in interest and usury because I
really want this thing and you know what
it's okay there are other sins in Islam
interest is not the only sin in Islam
but then what that's going to lead to
once you've entered into this transaction of being
willing to sell your principles to attain this
thing what that's going to lead to is
well you know what if I have to
cheat this person in order to get that
what if I have to rob this person
what if I have to be a little
bit dishonest and deceptive with this transaction so
that I can get more and more and
more and more and so the pursuit eventually
becomes predatory as well and by the way
the interest system is predatory as a whole
but let's put that to the side the
pursuit becomes predatory and so initially your desires
are getting the best of you you just
want more and more and more of this
dunya at some point though you're going to
be willing to trample anyone in the pursuit
of what you want of more and more
and more of this dunya now I want
you to think about this narration it's narrated
to the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and some
of the ulama many of them in fact
find a weakness in the chain but every
scholar will say that the meaning of this
narration is indeed authentic حب الدنيا رأس كل
خطيئة that the love of this world is
at the heart of every single sin that
if you love the world too much then
that is going to lead you to a
path of destruction one way or the other
it is at the root cause of every
sinful disease that we have it is at
the root cause of every path away from
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loving this world
too much and consumerism puts you in a
situation to where you think that you can
purchase your happiness and as Muslims we learn
that our happiness comes from enslaving ourselves to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and true liberation
comes from engaging in that servitude of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala and trying to gain
more and more and more of the good
deeds that are ahead of us instead I
want you to think about how far it
can go in terms of changing yourself you
know consumerism doesn't just turn you into an
uncontrollable customer or a customer who won't stop
at anything consumerism also can teach you that
purchasing a version of yourself is possible that
you can remake yourself in a way that
is completely in opposition to what Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala made you and how Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala has determined your role
in this earth and if you go down
that path then you start to turn yourself
into your own God and this is أَرَأَيْتَ
مَنَتَخَذَ إِلَهَهُ هَوَةً do you see the person
who has turned their desires into their God
your idol actually becomes yourself and so do
you means buy you means spend money so
that you can become the version of you
that you want to be forget about everyone
else in the process forget about the effect
that's going to have on society forget about
the effect that's going to have on your
hereafter just keep on buying into this remaking
of yourself and in that process you are
going to continue to forget Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala because you will make yourself the
biggest pursuit of yourself and if you start
to look at every single ism that is
out there that takes us away from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala at the root of
it is the inflation of self it's not
just the inflation of product it's the inflation
of self you try to make yourself bigger
than God you try to make yourself bigger
than God's purpose for you you try to
make yourself bigger than law you try to
make yourself bigger than anything else that Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala has prescribed and in
that pursuit in that process you end up
wrecking yourself and wrecking everyone else coming back
to how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala treats
this Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says redirect
your pursuit Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala teaches
you to redirect your sense of competition Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala directs you to this
idea that by putting yourself in a place
of being content with the blessings that Allah
has given you and pursuing his higher reward
that you will end up having the happiness
that is sought in everything else and more
because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will fill
the void in your heart that other people
try to fill with products and so we
ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make
us a people that are pleased with what
he has given us in this dunya and
that are attached to the akhira and that
are seeking more and more and more of
the hereafter so that we do not become
amongst those that are called or that are
under those that are ruined by their pursuit
of quantity we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala to make us a people that seek
the best of this life and the best
of the next through pleasing him رَبَّنَا آتِنَا
فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ
النَّارِ اللهم آمين جزاكم الله خيرا والسلام عليكم
ورحمة الله وبركاته