Omar Suleiman – Daily Isha Khatirah 08-04-2015

			Well it's actually
		

			an experience and actually why I chose to recite what I recited tonight some of you might have seen
I posted online you know spending the day yesterday with with a brother Mohamed Sultan who was the
longest hunger striker actually in history Subhanallah survived very very difficult situation in
Egypt and little did I know he actually had a connection by the way he brought apparently Amma did I
mean the half of the is telling me to Valley Ranch visited a few years ago Masha Allah
		

			and Han Allah, he's back in America now Mashallah. And he's doing well. And Subhan Allah, he shared
something very beautiful, many things that were very beautiful, but one of the things that he
shared, that I thought was very significant, I think it's something sort of a wake up call for all
of us. You know, a lot of times Subhanallah when when we feel those moments that were abandoned by
Allah subhanaw taala, Allah subhanaw taala reminds us that we're not, and he was sharing, you know,
he showed me something that really deeply moved me and I think gave me a connection to the surah Now
that, that that's even greater than, than what I already felt towards towards Aloha now with Danica
		

			rabuka, Wanaka, Allah, your Lord has not abandoned you, nor forsaken you.
		

			When he was in prison, when he was in solitary confinement, the only thing they give you as almost
half they give you a Quran. And, you know, subhanAllah as he was there, you know, obviously, you can
imagine, it's very easy for us to say that we would do nothing but read Quran as we're in prison,
and we're going through hardship. But um, you know, obviously, at times, you're gonna get
distracted, and especially, you know, the conditions might lead you to a breaking point and a low
point, everyone seems to have that low point. And in his low point, subhanAllah, he was saying that
in his low point, he didn't feel like reading Quran, he found himself in a situation where he was
		

			questioning things, you know, why is this happening and so on, so forth, when things became
extremely difficult upon them, and of course, his father is still in that situation, may Allah
subhanaw taala, you know, free him.
		

			And subhanAllah he was, he said that he asked for something other than the Quran. And they slid him
a word search game. And any of you have seen these word search games, you know, you have these
categories. So he goes through these categories, and somehow he was showing it to me actually took
his pictures and he kept it. The first the first category was religious wisdom.
		

			And so Subhan Allah, he picks up the cart, and it was your Lord has not abandoned you and or
forsaken you.
		

			And it was from sort of Aloha, Subhan Allah, the One actually Islamic reference in the entire game
of religious versus Bible verses and Buddha wisdom and fortune cookies. The one thing they had in
there was these verses from sort of your Lord has not abandoned you, nor forsaken you. And he told
me Subhanallah, that was his moment where he had goosebumps and shivers, knowing that Allah is
Pantai, sending that message that when you feel down, and when you feel, you know, like, like,
what's the wisdom of all of this, Allah subhanaw taala sends you something that really reminds you
and Ally it was, you know, he's holding this card, he actually saved it with me requested to take it
		

			out, take it out with him, this English verse even that your Lord has not abandoned you, nor
forsaken you Subhanallah it was really a very powerful moment for me personally to to hear that from
him and to see that, but it's a reminder for us now, when we see that extreme situation now, I
don't, I would assume that none of us have ever been tested with something of that magnitude being
in solitary confinement in prison, especially in those conditions for a very long time. But
Subhanallah when you hear someone reflect, after they've been through what they've been through, you
can really take lessons for that, in your own capacity in your own life. And as I was sitting there,
		

			listening to him, telling me about, you know, the things that made them happy,
		

			everything that I'd ever complained about just became so miniscule, I start I started to sit there
and reflect upon the things that made them happy, and the things that made them complain, I said,
subhanAllah the things that I would complain about, would be these, these people's luxury. And that
is the case for many, many, many people around the world. And it's often though it's a very simple
reminder, we belong to the the most privileged, 1% probably in the entire world, if you were to
compare our situation collectively, there's no doubt about it. But on an individual level, if you
were to compare us to the rest of the world, we belong to the most privileged 1% Can you imagine
		

			that Subhanallah that you know, that we are probably in better conditions than than over 99% of the
world. And so it's important for us to always reflect back on these things and to always look back
at that it's not just when Allah speaks to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam, to smell a dark
caribou, Kala Kala, you know, Allah could have revealed that to the Prophet slice them in a in a
personal revelation. It didn't have to be a Quran or Nutella Quran that would be recited but Allah
wants to send that by extension that message to us as an ummah that you
		

			The Lord has not abandoned you, neither on an individual basis, nor collectively as a group, Allah
Subhana Allah to Allah does not abandon his righteous servants and his believers. Rather when ALLAH
SubhanA wa Tada, you know, tests his servant, He tests him for a reason. And that reason, rarely
reveals itself in the middle of the test. Usually, it comes after the test in the murderously
useful, and that's why in the second sort of, we recited sort of where a lot sort of the shadows
were lost paradise as that barely with hardship comes ease. In our blood, miss, oh, there'll be a
lot of tiedown, who consider these two sources to be one to actually sort of look so to sharp, it's,
		

			it's almost, it's like Elijah lays it all out. And sort of the little hand and Allah subhanaw taala
tells you in the next Surah, that Verily, with hardship comes ease, and he reminds you of His
favours upon you, there is no way that a person can contribute in society, and can and can feel a
sense of empathy and sympathy for others, when they're too busy feeling sorry for themselves all the
time.
		

			The more time you you spend feeling sorry for yourself, the less time you have, the less capacity
you have internally, to give to others. And so one of the ways to treat and this was, again, my read
football was about this concept of narcissism and how Ramadan combats narcissism, the, you know, a
way for us to really treat our own self loathing is to is to recognize the issues around the world
and to contribute, to be always in a state of contribution and giving and realize that Allah's
Panther has not abandoned us, and the last Panther has not forsaken us. And so how I, you know, I
wish I could, I wish I could tell you all that, that, that I learned, sitting with him, you know, I
		

			spent five hours with him Subhanallah and five hours listening to a person's perspective, and
reflecting upon the hardship that they were in, and the way that they used to remind each other and
truly Subhanallah sometimes the best of us comes in these difficult moments, we ask Allah subhanaw
taala not to burden us beyond our scopes, and not to not to bring us past that breaking point and
not to bring this past that, that boiling point. And he told me, he said, subhanAllah whenever the
news the order came for them, to release him, he said that the last two weeks in prison were the
hardest, the most difficult, they tortured him so badly in those last two weeks to try to get him to
		

			break. And he was remembering that ALLAH SubhanA wa Says law you can live for long enough son in law
was like, he felt like it was just going to all collapse, they were actually trying to get him to
commit suicide. So the prison guards were pushing him to commit suicide, you know, you know, you
know, go ahead and get yourself out of this misery and take us out of our misery. We don't want to
deal with you anymore. And they kept on and you know, when someone's been tortured, mental mentally,
physically, emotionally, and they're hearing from the guards just go ahead, you know, finish
yourself off, you know, give yourself that ease. That that can it can, it only takes a moment,
		

			right? So they're actually trying to give him the tools to just kill himself go ahead and take your
own life finish yourself off finish yourself off than he said just when he felt like he couldn't
take it anymore. It's probably not those those cells opened.
		

			Now you can leave alone us and that was our Allah did not push him beyond his breaking point. Just
as he felt like he reached his breaking point. Allah azza wa jal opened it up for him. And it's
amazing to see someone able to smile and laugh and joke, you know, and just and find, find gratitude
and thankfulness to a lost parent the whole time he was he was saying he would say it like this,
they will lie Allah was so good to us. And I sat there thinking to myself, like, you know, you're
sitting in a prison cell, and you're in solitary confinement for months and months and months, and
you're saying Allahu Allah was so good to us, and mentioning the small little things that we take
		

			for granted in our lives. This isn't to guilt us, although it's natural that we should, at times,
you know, as the Prophet slicin I've said, Don't look to those that are above you, but look to those
below you and it makes your your problems seem minuscule. But this is perspective, its perspective.
Allah azza wa jal does not abandon his right to servants, Allah azza wa jal does not forsake his
right to servants. We ask Allah Subhana Allah to Allah never to make us never to allow our European
our certainty in him or his plan to be compromised. We ask Allah Subhana Allah to Allah that He
grant us the gift of always having personal one Biller, always expecting good of Allah subhanaw
		

			taala and assuming well of Allah subhanho wa Taala We ask Allah subhanaw taala to forgive us when we
think otherwise of him or think otherwise of his degree. And we ask Allah Subhana Allah to forgive
us for the sins that cause our dads to go unanswered or that cause trials and tragedies to befall us
on an individual level or to befall the ummah. Allahumma Amin Zachman la Heiden I don't know, takes
if anyone has any questions related to this than Charlottetown that's fine, but otherwise
		

			lot of coffee
		

			I'll take questions after one chance not getting caught up on slide account.