How to Not be the Villian in Society

It's good to see you all some nom de la Sato Samar Silla Eddie Villanueva once again, so now it can work with Allahu

hamdulillah. It's wonderful to be back here. It's probably actually remember standing here for

where the Wahid brothers at chef de la, man where y'all up and not here. Okay, nevermind, I take back my shout out.

I remember being here for that conference and having that and I want to say two years ago, and

I've been coming to Detroit way more than I usually do. So I think I've been to I'm coming here. Again, I think in a week I've been here. I was here at the University of Michigan September, then I came to teach Malcolm

sometime before that, and then inshallah Tada, I'm going to be teaching the course on Malcolm X, it's going to be the last time I teach it in sha Allah Tada, I think, in Windsor tomorrow, but the nahi Tada. So I've been coming here a lot from the dinner. And I second what chef would eat said, there's something special about your community and him that I mean, you do meet people with smiles and with a very welcoming spirit from the did not, you're not as cold as the weather suggests. You know, actually pretty nice. People have that Inaudible. I mean, the Lions have kept you humble all these years.

We appreciate you guys.

But it's not gonna allow a fight on and May Allah make this a successful event may Allah bless this community to that has such a history in the United States to be a part of making what's left in sha Allah, tada of our story on this earth. May Allah bless you and accept it, and put strength in everything that you all do, and sincerity and everything that you all do Allah I mean, so actually, that's what I'm here to talk about is this one I and that's a very powerful and profound idea, which is the story of morsani salam, but a very particular snapshot of the story of musante, salaam, everything about musante Islam is amazing. And they call it an allusion to different elements of a

story in so many different parts, in ways that are incredibly practical. So the story of Musa is not given to us as something to marvel at. It's not just because of who he is, and what his ranking is in the sight of Allah. But there's something incredible about Mozart Islam story in that there's so much that can be derived from it. That is practical. And this one verse, in fact, it's a part of a verse, where most artists, saddam is praised by the two women in medicine, where one says to her father, in the height, I'm jealous, I will call we mean, that Verily, the most blessing of those whom you employ, is the one who is strong. And the one who is a mean, for now, we'll say

trustworthy, but mentions these two qualities basically telling her father, that this is a good man to employ as a shepherd, and to bring into your business because he is strong, and he's trustworthy. And these two qualities are significant qualities. And here's one of the mistakes that we make when we read the Quran many times is that we only see the story through one vantage point. Whereas what's really powerful about the program is that you can always see it from various vantage points. Sometimes you are society, when you're reading a story in the pulldown, sometimes you are seeing things through the lens of trial and through the lens of the Prophet, sometimes you need to warn

yourself to not be the villain, to not treat people the way that other people treated the people of Allah subhanaw taala the men and women of God and the poor, and sometimes you're the supporter or the detractor that is more subtle in the way that they support or that they take away from someone's potential greatness. In this situation, even Mr. Little the Allah has had on her praises the young woman who spoke to her father, in support of neuroscientists, and because it's significant, he says,

for us in us that Earth that the three people who have the greatest insights in history were three.

And he mentions first and foremost, double buckle. The law of time when he appointed on top of the allowed time is going to be the halifa.

Abu Bakr saw something in Omar that was special that made him qualified to continue upon the guidance of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam

as implemented by Abu Bakr will be allowed to take it to places that it has never been taken before. Rebecca trusted him for those very same two things that musante salaam is praised for his strength and his integrity. He trusted him for that. And so the philosophy I will Beckett when he looked at arm to hip hop, and he saw an old model of the allowed time I'm a capable leader. So he said the first person's Rebecca with his feet Asa into Alma with the way that he saw his insight into the character of the law and his belief

That almost would succeed. So the second person was the wife of a disease when she saw use of it his Salaam, and she knew that this kid was special. And she says ecademy mouthwash. You know, let's let's, let's honor this child, let's take care of this child because something is going to come out of this child. This is not a normal child. And then he mentioned this young woman in Medan when she saw musante, his Salaam, and she saw an MOU signing his son on the special qualities and told her father that this is someone that you should employ and that would that would enable Mossad in his Salaam in a way that he had not been enabled before. That would give Musashi Islam a trajectory. And

it comes from the philosophy comes from the insight of this woman when she saw in Masonic his Salaam something special, and said that this is not a normal men. And a lot of times we want to be the ones that are supported. But we take away value from the one that's doing the supporting. And if you are that person that plants a seed, or plants a good word in someone's ear chef, what he talked beautifully about this idea of using encouraging and empowering words. And that's the beautiful thing about the Prophet sallallahu wasallam is that even when he had to remove you from a task, he said, he still said something that was motivating, he puts you to work some other way. Right. So if

you're not fit for this the profit slice I'm found something else that you're fit for, and the profit slice and I mentioned why he was doing that. And instead of elaborating or expanding upon the qualities that make you unfit for one role, the prophets lie some expanded on the qualities that make you fit for another. And that's the empowering language of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Because if you are the one

that plants that good word in someone's ear, that tells someone something they need to hear so that they feel inspired to go do something great. And then a little higher caffarelli the one who does good is like the one who guides to good is like the one who does it. And one form of data, one form of guidance is to guide the person to where they find their own compass. Right. So one form of adult or adult height is that you lead the way in someone follows you another form is that you plant something in the person who's going to lead. But ultimately it comes back to you and to the words that you said to that person. And sometimes it's in the form of a duet sometimes in the form of a

supplication sometimes in the form of mentioning a good quality so when the Prophet slicin would take I'm loving I'm bustle the allow anyone say a llama for pay who 15 I limb hotel with that, Oh Allah, grant him understanding of the religion and teach him the means of interpretation of love. And Ibis is not going to grow up to be anything but a puppy at this. I mean, he cannot not be a puppy, right? He's got to grow up and be this great scholar and jurist because the Prophet sly son was not just making the draft for him as a means of genuine and sincere supplication for him, but the prophets why Selim was planting the seed, letting him know that you are fit for scholarship, you

are fit to lead. So the prophets I send them was that man that would look at you and would say something encouraging that you would treasure and that you would take and by the way, the more authoritative your voice. The more powerful Your voice is, you say simple things that can make or break somebody, sometimes it's a parent to a child. And a lot of times parents do not recognize the impact of their voice on their children's, how you read modern psychology books, and you always find it on there, even though it's not attributed to the Prophet sly setup. But it's in line with it. I'm not one of those conspiracy theorists, that says everything was stolen from the Prophet slicin and

stolen from you know, they took it from him and they didn't put his name No, but the Prophet slice I'm just had such a high level of emotional intelligence and such a high level of character that he naturally he led, he perfected in Bournemouth to the otomi muckety muck of luck, I was sent only to perfect good character. So the prophets I some lead in these ways that maybe modern psychology would, would catch up to, and would assign concepts to things that were lived in that were lived character of the Prophet sallallahu wasallam. And one of them is that, you know, not allowed to come Don't curse your children. You know, sometimes when we try to encourage our children out of

frustration for them, not at them, it really is frustration for them. And that's where a child has to think, you know, it has to it has to have some personal been some good, you know, assume well that their parents mean Well, sometimes when they use words that are not the best, but don't break the child. Don't tell them that you are this and assign a bad quality to them because then it might actually live.

And the prophets lie. Some told us to name our children it starts even with the naming to name our children, after a person or a quality that you want them to ask

Prior to naming is a right and Islam naming is a right in Islam it's a right that the child has upon you to give them a good name. Please do not go rebel against your parents and change your name today because you don't like your name and say well you should have named me something better unless they named you something horrible. Like has a bad meaning to it but generally speaking naming it is a forgotten sooner though I think it's certainly a forgotten so now, where people think about how to make names cute but not impactful.

That's the Forgotten sooner. Right. You name them after a quality or a person you want them to be. And so instead of saying to them, you are this and giving them a bad name, or a bad quality, say something and encouraging and empowering, that you know, you could be this if only or if you did this, the prophets lie. Some would say no Cana, near middle aged Abdullah, what a great young man Abdullah is no Kenya formula but let him pray some klimaanlage not bits of legend, or what a horrible young man he is. He does not pray for them. But the prophets I said something encouraging. So he gave him something said, Look, you're already good, but you could be better. Not you're bad,

and you're gonna be worse because you're bad. You're good and you couldn't be better. Right? So being the person that actually plants that seed, a friend, someone that's that's looked up to a role model in some capacity. You know, in every one of us has someone you know, you're an older sibling or an older cousin, you're an older friend, whatever it is, you're a parent, you have that power a teacher, a mentor, a youth director, you have that power to say things that could really stick with somebody. And they might remember later on you know, when I talked about Malcolm pauwela One of the things that Malcolm when he went to the mecca machinery and gender, just to affirm his Shahada and

the judge who spoke broken English said to him I hope one day you'll be a great preacher of Islam and it stuck with Malcolm it really stuck with him right so you say something good email mobile hanifa Rahim Allah to Allah all of the good of you mama honey for him Allah goes back to the mama shabby Rahim Allah who saw honey for Rahim Allah and said, you know you should you should really study you should get into fifth because you have the qualities of a jurist May Allah reward you mama shabby for inspiring herbal hanifa because without a shabby planting that in his ear history might have been very different. But he planted that said you're somebody you can live up to it the parent

to the child, right we look at the EMA when you look at EMA motyka, he molars mother dressing him in the clothes of a scholar and saying listen, it have it out I'll be I'll go to labia clipman other behave cobbler me he take from his his other his character before his knowledge learn be molded into it. So planting those seeds is extremely important. And that reward of musas trajectory goes back to that woman that believed in him and then the father that listened to his daughter, and indeed employed most artists that up and then became his father in law and set him on that empowering path. So that's the first thing I want you to think about being that supporting person because you want to

know something beautiful about that.

I will Becquerel the allowance out on him when he saw an old model of the law and what he saw

and pass the falafel on Tom and Rafa Pablo the amount of time on

a lot of times a leader

is insecure and does not want to be succeeded by someone who could do a better job or who might outshine them.

It's part of the ego part right? You want to raise your student to a point that they reach you but some teachers don't want their students to be better than them. A great teacher wants their students to even be better than them raises their students to where their students even outshine them one day write a great mentor takes a mentee and teaches the mentee everything that they have and then hopes that that person grows up to be even better than them and takes the good of what they gave them without the shortcomings and adds more good from other sources Wilbekin will be allowed on home has no fear of his McCombe his status in the sight of alarm the messenger so the lahardee with some but

there is something about the profit slice of them said that he saw this dream where a bucket on the lot where the Prophet size on was drawing water from a well and then he handed a bucket to Rebecca it'll be a lot of time Rebecca was drawing from the well and there was some weakness in his poll so almost all the allotted time and who took the bucket and almost pulled so much water from the well that he was able to sustain give sustenance to not only everyone that was there but even their animals to sustain their animals. And this was leadership. This was leadership that the Prophet slicin I'm set the way I will record all the law and who preserved it because usually you lose it

right when the key finger when there's a central finger. Usually that's where it's lost right after he's gone. Rebecca all the allow and held it together and sorted

have maintained that direction. But he only lived for two years after the profit slice on all muddled the lawn who took it over? And what did he do with the onus upon Allah. So and so the goodness of Alma is to the credit of Rebecca to so Rebecca will be allowed to add on who has the reward with a loss of hundreds out of his own succession to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and what he did to appoint his successor, Pablo de la animate to maintain that direction and to do good. Now let's get back to the story. In the height of Mr. Jonas, Alka we I mean, the best that you could put in this position is someone with strength and someone with integrity. This is extremely

powerful, because the context of this is that she saw musante salaam with his physical strength to you know, she said, she was asked that he picked up a stone that it would have taken 10 men to pick up. So it was the physical strength and then she spoke about his I mean, his being his integrity, the the modesty that Musashi is observed around those two women, the modesty that he observed that this is a man of integrity, and honesty. This is a man of integrity and honesty. Battaglia, Rahim Allah comments on this and he talks about this from the perspective of a loss of Hana horchata does not just initiate something, a loss of hundreds, it sustains it, who will hate you, He is the one

who gives life and then he sustains life. A loss of parenthood to Allah is the ever living, ever sustaining. And so in this situation, I will call we and I mean one beautiful commentary on this is that goal, what is the initial strength that's necessary to usher in something great, but he is a mean trustworthy to maintain it.

You don't fear deception. You don't fear incompetence. That person is trustworthy in maintaining what they initiate of good because many people initiate good and lose their way, usually due to corruption of self, usually due to corruption of self. So as we mean strength and integrity, the mean is meant to maintain the traction, the thrust of the full word, the thrust of the strength. But then when you start to look at these two qualities a little bit further, you find some very interesting and beautiful things about this. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam talked about a lot Min alcovy el momento kawi hieron, habla de la mina mama wife of equal inhale. The strong

believer is better than the weak believer, but there's good in all of them was the Prophet slice I'm just talking about physical strength. No.

We often conflate strength with power.

A person that has a lot of power, but does not know how to use that power to the benefit of people, or check their own power is not a strong person. Some of the weakest cowards in the world maintain some of the largest Arsenal's in the world. They have power, but they don't have strength. It's the same way that we conflate information and knowledge.

Many people have a lot of information, but they don't have it. They don't have knowledge. And the part of strength here that was being praised about Musashi, his Salah was not just the physical strength, because

it wasn't just the power that he showed, but the fact that he used his power for good moosari his Salaam did not walk in there like a bodybuilder. And, you know, put on some some futile display and then not do anything with it. It is strength because Moosa used his strength for those who didn't have it. That's what OVA is. That's what strength is in the Islamic consumption, power that's used for good and you can't use it for good unless you know where it comes from. Because that's what keeps you humble. You know that it's not actually your power in the first place. And so there are different types of strength. There's physical strength, there is the mental strength that's needed

on the part of a leader. There's the emotional strength that's needed on the part of a leader. Part of that requirement of constantly going back to your personal reservoir of spirituality, is that you need to maintain resilience so that you don't break. You can't be steadfast if you're not sincere. You can't be steadfast if you're not sincere. Eventually you crack. So there's mental emotional strength, there's the strength of resilience. There's the strength of wisdom, the prophets of Allah who it was that I'm referred to. Lisa Sinead was sort of that it's not the strong person. That's not the one who overcomes the other person in combat. But it's another young Nico nafsa, who are in

develop, the one who has strength over their own self control over their own anger, proper control of their own emotions. They know when to exerts anger.

And how to control it once it's exerted. They know when to ignore pressure

and do what's best for the people. Even if those people are questioning that person. They know it because they they have checks on their strength. So strength is not just physical strength is the sense of independence that we should seek their strength and financial independence, their strength and emotional independence, their strength and mental independence, their strength, strength, in spiritual independence.

Where you're a man is not tied to a person. It's tied to Allah. It's not tied to a person disappointing you or impressing you. It's tied to the one who set a standard for you and that person spiritual independence, emotional independence, mental independence, the Sahaba talked about this Bayer this pledge they took what the prophet sighs, Amara Alessandra, NASA said that I won't ask anyone for anything. And the prophets and they mentioned, the narrator mentioned that some of the Sahaba if they were sitting on a horse or a camel, and they dropped their salt, they dropped the whip, then they would not even ask someone to pick it up for him, they'd get down and pick it up

themselves. These are Islamic Concepts of Strength, as he had done earlier hydro mineralia discipler the upper hand is better than the lower hand.

Now all of it is blessed, but the upper hand is the giving hand, the lower hands the receiving hand, try to always be in a position of strength as a community and as an individual, not because you're under a false delusion of power, but because you want to give power to noble things in society.

Not for yourself for Allah. And so the cola here the coffee that's being referenced here is not mooses physical strength it's musante Sam's noble physical strength

and the end that that integrity that's mentioned that goes alongside with it you know what's interesting is that without us the prophets lie some of the A lot of times we asked the prophets lie Selim for a position of leadership and the prophets lie some told him not degrading him prophet sighs on told them in NEC of life he said it's not you don't have the strength that's necessary. But then he said what in the heart Amana and it is a trust

he didn't say to him you don't possess strength or Amana you don't possess strength or integrity because the Prophet sighs um, said the earth has not carried a person with more integrity with more sick with more truthfulness than unbelievable the Allahu Tada. And he said, leadership is a position of trust, because of without had a lot of amount of but he didn't have the full word that was necessary the strength that was necessary, and that strength and Allah knows best was the strength of position, tribe. And I'm sorry, the strength, the position and the the strength to overcome his frustration that he had with people the strength of patience, I believe the law on who was a man of

great zealot a great of great asceticism, this, you know, he, it was very hard for him to see the success of certain people and he was very anti materialism. And sometimes he saw permissible acquisitions of wealth as forms of materialism and without the lavon, who had certain barriers that would not have made him fit to be a great leader in the sense of position of authority. But he said, Well, in the amount of the profit side, some said leadership is an amount of leadership is a trust. The message of that is that you have plenty of that you have plenty of anona.

But without power without the strength needed for that particular position. You can't maintain that Amana. Now I want to I want to actually

stay on this point for a moment.

The prophets lie Some said the strong believer is better than the weak believer, but they're all there. There's good and all of them right. But the prophets lie some of them said, la imana. There is no faith. For the one who has no Amana for the one who who's not trustworthy. You cannot be a true believer if you're not a person of integrity. You can't be a true believer. If you don't have a mana if you don't have trust, the greatest betrayal of trust when the prophets lie. So I mentioned that the year it's an amount of that one of the signs of the Day of Judgment is that trust is lost is that the people that are entrusted with the affairs of the believers, the affairs of the people

themselves become corrupt, and they betrayed that trust, but everyone has to have integrity. Everyone has to have the sense of Amana, leader or follower. Because if you are a follower, you have to have that sense of amount of that you're not after a corrupt pursuits that you excel in what you are doing and it might be that you being a great follower is what makes you a great leader on the day of judgment in front of the people. It might be that which Allah subhanho wa Taala puts you ahead because not everyone is meant to be in a position of leadership.

In the sense of position, but you better have integrity. If you don't have integrity doesn't matter how much power you have. It doesn't matter how much knowledge you have. It doesn't matter how eloquent you are, it doesn't matter how rich you are, it doesn't matter what position you have a fame, all of that will actually become a reason for your destruction. If you don't have a mana

trust and integrity is what keeps all of that safe.

It's what makes sure that everything is carried out in the best of ways. In fact, if you're lacking in your Amana, you should probably stop the pursuit of coal because it's not going to be good for you. It's gonna further you and destruction work on the anona you have to work on trust.

Of all the titles the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had, he was a mean Assad Ameen. When he walked into that dispute in Mecca to resolve between the warring tribes, they did not point to a Hashimi called Lena, he's from Bengal, Hashem, we like that tribe. He can mediate between the tribes. They did not point to his appearance, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, they didn't point to all the incredible qualities that he had. They said, I mean all Lena, you know what, he's an honest person. He's a person of integrity. We're pleased whatever he chooses, and Hamdulillah, we're pleased because he's a person of integrity.

seeking out a Nana is crucial, not just strength and power. And then you put these things together. Well, what does this mean, for me in my own personal life? And how do I actually implement these things in a way that is most beneficial.

Here's the most simple solution.

Anything that Allah gives you have position or strength to exert some good, make sure that it is matched

with a level of very bad and Amana to govern that good to ensure that it's going to be in that it's going to be exerted in the best way possible, in a way that is most beneficial for you. And in a way that is most beneficial to the people check it. You know, when you get more money, you pay more as a cat.

Another human loss of the trait. The same is true with knowledge. When you gain more knowledge, there's a cut of that knowledge goes up, there's a count on that there's a price of that knowledge at this point.

So when you gain more wealth, when you gain more knowledge, when you gain anything, of power or influence in any capacity, whether it's through wealth, or whether it's through prominence, or whether it's through knowledge, or whether it whatever it is, make sure that you meet it with an equal level of the things that generate a mana and a bother of the things that generate that closest to Allah subhanaw taala to check that power to check that goodness that was given to you and use it in the things that were good. Use it in the things that are important and beneficial. Use it in ways that do not inflate you, but that glorify Allah subhana wa Tada. Musa alayhis salam and I want to

end with this. I only have one minute left because it's musante, salaam, and Subhanallah I could go on and on and on and on about him. You know what some people tend to portrayed musante is Salaam as having a hot temper.

musante Islam would would lose his temper. And especially by the way, this is the problem when we start to take things that are foreign to our tradition and superimpose them on the stories in our tradition not enrich our own understandings of the NBA, but superimpose other things that are foreign about the NBA onto them about the profits on to them. Allah says lotta Kunal Kadena aza Moosa. Remember, when there are various actors in the put on what a lot of calls you to the story of Messiah Islam is not just be Moses, Allah says, Don't be like the people that hurt Moses. Lots of who knew Kadena either Moosa. Don't be like those people hurt musante his Salah, the Prophet

sallallahu wasallam said, Rahim Allah who Aki Moosa udia be Ackerman haba for Saba, prophets lie Some said may Allah have mercy on my brother musante his Salah, he was tested with far worse than this. And he was patient. And so yes, Musashi his Salaam was tested and the prophets license that Allah Do you hurry to naswa your speed or other home because the the true test of good quality is when you're around people who do not appreciate those good qualities, people that take advantage of those good qualities and people that throw mud on your face when you're trying to do good for them. That's the true test of it when someone gets involved with the community and they start to get a

hard time when dealing with the people. And they say you know what I'm done with this

You need to scrutinize yourself and ask yourself was I doing it for a lot in the first place? If when the people stopped appreciating me or started treating me in a certain way, I stopped doing good. That doesn't mean by the way, it's good to reroute sometimes and to find another path of good but when you quit good, all good pursuit because the people, you're not supposed to be doing it for the people in the first place. But you can't do it without the people. So I love you, Holly to nasware Hospital, Allah, I'm the one who, who mixes with the people and tolerates their harm, tolerate their abuses is better than the one who does not mix with the people and does not tolerate

anything better than the one that stays home and doesn't do anything. And just says I'm going to know the one who does good, who pushes forth for good things and the process faces some hardship from the people is better than the one who does not do any of those things. One of the beautiful things about Masada, his Salah, Musa alayhis salam

constantly maintained his longing for Allah

and never used his mission for the pursuit of anything but Allah

throughout all of that

his people gave him a very very hard time.

His people gave him a very very hard time. And you know at some point most of them could have said I just walked I took you people out of control. You were about to be sliced into pieces. By allows will I split the seeds got you through got you to this place and you're still giving me a hard time it would not have just been breaking the tablets it would have been breaking a few hats. If it was one of us you know what forget this.

I'm done with you people he could have walked away from his people and said no, but most Isom stayed the course with his people and by the way, who was not to Kunal kaladin other most even the Prophet size on he was taken advantage of at times people hurt the profit slice of them from within his own oma people that he did much good for, it's natural, because that's how a lot extracts sincerity from you.

When you want to do good, you've got to have the strength of resilience. And you've got to build an equal proportion to that physical power or capacity or competency that's required for the external elements of that position. You need to make sure that you are generating more emotional, mental spiritual strength, to have resilience to go forward and maintain integrity to not be swayed either by the deception and corruption of yourself, or by the deception of people who want corrupt ends for the community. You maintain that integrity, may Allah Subhana Allah grant us strength in all of its ways, integrity, and all of its ways. May Allah subhanho wa Taala allow us to draw from that same

well that the Prophet sign Salaam and our backyard and Omar on earth man and Ali drew from Allah subhanaw taala allow us to draw from that same well, and to achieve the extension of those same wonderful things that they brought to this world last night. I mean, Zack, and I want to come