Why Character Is More Important Than Reputation & Personality

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ilaha illallah wa

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Last week

we talked about the definition of Islam.

And we said that Islam

is for uninterrupted components, you cannot disconnect them.

And the first component is aqeedah and aqeedah, the Arabic word means a belief system.

And we talked in detail that we believe in God, even though we don't see him, we believe in angels to believe in the reveal books to the prophets. We believe in the 124,000 prophets and messengers, even though only a few of them are mentioned by name in the Quran.

We believe on the Day of Judgment, we believe

on the decree of Allah and the predestination.

So this is component number one,

once you have the proper belief system, based on that, you know that you are here to enslave yourself, to your Creator,

not to anything that the creator created for you.

So we said for example, money is a means to an end.

Your wife, your husband,

is a means your children, your job, your car, your house.

All these are means for us to live in this world in real life. But we have to acknowledge that there is a creator who created us for a purpose, which is to get to know him.

And to get to introduce him to other people. Because one day, we're going to leave this work the life. But that's not the end. It's a transitional stage.

And this is why Allah subhanho wa Taala says, In sorts of takato I'll have

you been busy.

You want more and more and more and more. Allah has given you a lot, but you want more and more. And then he said hi

to mama, Bear, until suddenly, you die. And he lived this word, the life. And Allah subhanho wa Taala did not say had come to fill macabre.

He said until you visit the graves. The verb Allah use is not stay

or, you know live. Now he said visit because it's a very short time.

Because we cannot apply time to God Himself. subhanho wa Taala. He's the one who created time. So he is giving us the analogy that whatever time we might be spending in the grave will be just like a visit. Imagine you go and visit someone. How long does it take

half an hour, one hour, if you're traveling the lungs should be three days.

So God says that time that you will spend in the grave is just like a visit. But then one day you will be resurrected, and you will be brought to account.

So

everything that Allah has created in this life, we should take it as a means. And it's a recipe for disaster when people mix the means and the goals. Our goal is to enslave ourselves to God to please Him. And once he's pleased with you, you will have a very balanced and happy life in this short life and the eternal life after his election.

So first component is aqeedah belief system that leads you to a bad meaning you will only enslave yourself to Allah subhanho wa Taala

And then do we worship Allah, all these rituals? Are they meant just for the sake of doing them?

Or are they meant so that we can develop ourselves and we become better human beings.

And we explained last time we said, every act of worship that we do, whether it is salaat prayers zeca por que Seon, fasting, Hajj pilgrimage, behind every act of worship, there is a fruit is an outcome. If you truly understand that it's a means not a goal in itself, then you will achieve that goal, and you will get that outcome.

So we don't pray for the sake of prayer because God says we're akima Salah in a Salatin and in fact, it was Moncure when the last panatela said stablish regular prayers, he said because it will stop you and shun you from doing or saying anything wrong. Until and unless your Salah does this to you. Congratulation for the physical exercise or going up and down, you get nothing out of your Salah.

If you pray and you get out of the measuring start slandering and backbiting and lying.

You did not achieve the meaning of salon because salon means you connect with God. And then you will always remember, whatever you heard in the recitation of the Koran, or in the sermon, that a Muslim cannot be a liar. Then once you start to lie, you have to stop and say,

am I really a Muslim? Should I be lying?

If you stop and do that, and stop lying, because your salon reminded you then this is a sign that your salon started changing you and making you a better person.

While you fast, I can sneak in the kitchen during the day when nobody can see me and eat and drink. But no, you're fasting to learn taqwa meaning, you should be God conscious. If people don't see you, God can see you wherever you are.

So if you develop that God consciousness as one of your characters, then you get the fruit of fasting otherwise, Robin saw me later, lahoma hohman, CR E, il and Joe malata. It could be somebody fasting the entire day, depriving himself of eating and drinking, and that's what he gets torturing himself, but he doesn't get a benefit from his fasting.

Then, we said, so first component is Akita proper belief system, it leads you to the proper evader, being a slave to God, not to anything else, then that will develop your character. And that's the topic today.

And of course, we said the fourth component is word Can I see a good character, it's manifested in the way you deal with others. And when I say others, I'm not talking about Muslims, I'm saying others, everyone, all humans, not only humans, animals, but only animals, the entire environment around you. The process, Sallam told us, he said, if it's the last hour in this world, and he had a seed in your hand, just planted.

And that's what they tell you go green. That's what the professor is teaching us.

Be a friend to the environment.

A woman who was a prostitute, and she was walking in the desert, and she was dying out of thirst. And all of a sudden, she found a well, she stopped, and she drank, and she quits her thirst. But when she continued to travel across the desert, she saw a dog that was licking the ground. She said that dog must be suffering the same way I was suffering a few minutes ago. So she went back to the world. And she took off one of her shoes, she filled it with water and she gave that dog some water. And the Prophet peace be upon him said, God forgive all of her sins, because of that little act of kindness towards an animal.

That's character. That's what we mean by character.

I'm not just praying and fasting for the sake of praying or fasting.

So today just to explain this, I explained last time I said, there could be a person who has an excellent relationship with God.

They pray not only just the five times a day, but they do extra voluntary Salam. They don't only fast on Ramadan but they do extra they fast Mondays and Thursdays. They don't only gives the car but

They give extra charity. They don't go for pilgrimage one time, if they have money, they go more than one time.

That's great. But how do they treat other people? What about their character? Some people say no, they are very bad.

And the opposite scenario, you might have someone who are excellent. They have good manners. They're very nice to be around. But they don't have a relationship with God. They don't pray. They don't fast. They have lots of money, but they have never considered going for pilgrimage.

Which one is better?

And the answer is none of the above.

Which one would you like to be? Would you like to have excellent character? But no relationship with God? Or do you want to have excellent relationship with God, but no good character, as if you're asking me to choose between my two eyes, I need both of them. I can go with one.

So I need to have a good relationship with God in all of my rituals, but that should be transformed and that you change my character. And that would be manifested in the way I treat people.

So the next question is, if somebody has excellent relationship with God, excellent, very bad.

But they have minimal

good manners

is that person be better somebody who has excellent o'clock, but they perform the minimum requirements are very bad.

And I'll tell you, the second one is better. Because the process alone told us if someone has deficiency

in Ribera, meaning they do just the obligations, but they don't do extra.

There are a lot of good character could make it up for that deficiency in rabada. But the opposite way around doesn't work. Somebody has excellent very bad, but it is the efficiencies of love. Isabella will not make it up. Give me proof. I shared the Hadith with you last time, it was reported to the Prophet sallallahu wasallam that there were two women. One of them had excellent rebellion.

But the way she treated her neighbors was very bad. So the Prophet peace be upon himself. If that woman continues that lifestyle, her final abode would be hellfire.

But the other one who was reported to him, she only performs the font, the obligations.

But she treats her neighbors very well. And the Prophet peace upon him said, if she continues that style of life, her final abode would be paradise. And that's the example.

And let me share with you some a hadith some prophetic traditions that confirm what I'm saying. The Prophet sallallahu Sallam said, in the lab, the lab blew, because Nicolai macerata, saw in Milan de la

amanzi, let me lead the life.

If a person has good, good manners, it will make it up for him. And he will reach the status of someone who's fasting all the time without breaking as fast. And someone who stablishing the night prayers all the time.

And he also said in the other authentic Addis Ababa mini messages on Yeoman piano.

He also said the closest amongst you, to me in position on the Day of Judgment are those who have good character. He didn't say those who have good.

And I'm not belittling, don't misunderstand. I'm saying because this is not my topic today. I'm not belittling people who do.

And who do you No, no, no, please do. But I'm just comparing now between two critical things. Because you're a data should contribute to making you a better person. That's the main goal that I'm talking about. So for me to explain what's good character, I have to talk about three things.

And I want you to differentiate between these three terminologies or these three concepts, reputation,

personality, and character.

Once reputation,

reputation, what people think of me

the image that people have about me, and if you want to understand this, look at the times of elections. When people pour so much money, and they give you promises and they put their pictures and some of them are honest people after the election. You will see that

them, and they will help you but others they disappeared. But all what they want during the time of election is To what? To keep a good image in front of people.

Right? Sometimes you see somebody like carrying an orphan, and if that picture makes it to the headlines or the main story in the TV, they get the job, because he was like, Look,

he's a very merciful person.

So once reputation, reputation is the image people have of me, what people think of me, not who really I am.

So people invest too much on reputation. Why? Because the effort is very little.

And the reward is immediate.

But let me ask you a question is my reputation of my own making? Or is it up to people?

It's up to people, some good people might have very bad reputation. In fact, if you want to be a good person, you might pay for that. Because people will be jealous of you.

The Prophet salallahu alaihe salam, as we all know, he was the best man ever in the history of mankind. What was his reputation amongst the people of Makkah? Who did not accept him? What did they say about him? They said he is a liar. He is a magician. He is opposed. But his took his principle. And those people the end of the day, they followed him, when they found that he has a good character around God praise him in the Koran. He did not praise his worship. He did not praise the way he looked. He did not praise His image. He praised his character. He said, we're in Allah, Allah, Allah Kenobi, you have the best standard of good manners.

So why do people invest in reputation, I said, the effort is little, and the reward is immediate.

Now let's move to the second one.

personality, what is personality, it's the way I present myself, the way I'm dressed, the way I have my haircut, the way I smile, the way I talk. Again, it's not who you are, really are, who you are truly are in this life.

It's again, what you seem to be in front of people. This is why today we have at the university, we have classes, let's enhance your personality for you.

Let's even enhance your smile.

Because you want to sell an image to the people again, it's not who you are truly in this life.

And people invest again, on personality because they want to sell a good image of themselves to people. Why? Because the effort

is not that much. But the reward is immediate.

Now, so you talked about reputation. You talked about personality? What about character? What's character?

Character starts with false.

It starts with thinking.

So they say character is a set of words, actions, habits, and that formulate your character.

Let me give you an example. This is why they say watch your thoughts. Because while you're sitting now, even listening to me, many thoughts come to your mind. Some of you are thinking about my headcovering. Some of you are thinking about the clock. Some of you are looking at the mind. Some of you are here looking at me, but they're thinking about lunch.

So you might be here, but like so many thoughts come to your mind within the same minute. And I'm not talking about this because we entertain lots of thoughts within the same second. But I'm talking about the thoughts that you choose to dwell in. Because you pick one of these thoughts, and you continue to think about it.

So they say watch your thoughts. Because your thoughts become your words, you think about something, then you start talking about it. Some people love their children, for example, they keep thinking about them all the time. So once they think about them all the time, what do you think next? They're going to talk about them all the time. They say watch your thoughts, because your thoughts become your words. And then they say Watch your words because your words become your actions. If you think about your kids, you talk about them. Your main concern in this life was like you want to make them happy. So while you're outside,

you want to think like you know, what is what shall I buy for them? Shall I buy some food for them before they like, shall I buy them

Some gifts, shall I take them out. So you think about something, you talk about it, then you act, they say watch your ads, because your ads become your habits. It becomes part of you, you do this on a daily basis on a weekly basis on a monthly basis. And they say, watch your habits, because your habits, formulate your character, and your character determines your destiny.

So you can develop any character, for example, patience, that's a good character. So you can develop that. When you think about what you're going through, say, This life is meant to be a test. So I lost the job. That's a test from God. Did you talk about this life as a test?

And then you act upon that by saying, you know what, I'm not going to be impatient. I will accept whatever God does in my life. Because he said,

at the very end of aisle 216, in sort of Baccarat, he said, Well, La Jolla and mo and tumbler

and God knows what's best for you, but you don't know what's best for you. And this is why sometimes, if something happens in your life now, and it looks bad, you sit back two years later, six months later, and say, Man, that was the best thing that happened in my life, even though it was a car accident. But I stopped and I said, What am I doing in my life?

When the doctor told me Stop drinking, because this is gonna devastate your liver, I was about to die. So when I went to the hospital because of that sickness, I stopped drinking, and I saved my life.

So sickness, which is a bad thing, could be a mercy disguised in the form of a trial or tribulation. This is why God said, and I 216 why Santa Clara, Cheyenne, Ohio. Latham, you might dislike something, but it's better for you? Well, I sent to him bushi and mahasarakham. You might like something, but it's not good for you. And then he said, Well, bla

bla bla moon, Allah knows what's best for you. God knows what's best for you. You don't know what's good, what's best for yourself?

So

let me conclude with this. What should we focus on? Should we focus on reputation, it's not of my own making. It's in the hands of people.

It could be the best person but making people will make a bad reputation of you.

And that's not who you truly are in this life. That's your image in the minds of people? Should I focus on personality? No, this is what you seem to be in front of people. What should I focus on, I should focus on character. I should always aspired to have a good character. Because people come to this life and they leave and what they leave behind is the legacy, how they treated people, they'll always tell you like this man used to help others. This man used to give even when he doesn't have that much. This man used to come and help me even though he doesn't have time.

This man gave me without expecting back from me.

It's all about giving.

So

we should focus on

having good character. But the problem is sometimes people

mix. Again, the means with the goal. And that's a recipe for disaster. For example, I would just ask you so that you can think, do you think building a Masjid building a mosque like this? Is this a goal or a means? Some people will say it's a goal. You know, Hamdulillah, Praise be to God, we build the mosque. Now, this is the beginning.

It's a means and well, it's a means it's a process.

You build the mosque, then you want people to come to the mosque, then you want to provide knowledge for these people, then you want to provide programs for these people. And you know that there is a there is no ministry upon that will fund that mosque, how can this mosque survive by donating by helping not just by coming and praying and then just leave? Who will take care of this, this place is built for you. And it can be run by you and by your contribution.

So building a mosque is a means it's not a goal, we just build the mosque now.

Going for Hajj

is the goal. Man, I've been saving all my life to go for a pilgrimage. No going for Hajj as a means. So you come back as a newborn.

It's not a goal. It's a process. So is good character. A means or a goal.

Again, some people would say it's a goal. No if it's a goal means I have achieved good conductor. I'm the best man ever. No way.

character is a process. There is always room that you can be a better person until you meet with Allah subhanaw taala there is always room that you can improve your character and get good characters day after day. Apollo holy Hannah was such a lot

Alhamdulillah

wa salatu salam, ala Abadi, Latina Stouffer y Chateau La ilaha illallah wa barakaatuh wash Hello now Mohammed and Navajo Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam

about better Villa OC C'mon FCB taco la has certain.

inshallah, in the next football,

I will talk about the

essential components of a good character.

So that we can move on

understanding the four uninterrupted components of Islam, which is again, I'm going to summarize our key that you have to have a proper belief system. And that will take you into proper abeta, which is you realize that you are a slave of Allah. You're not a slave of money, which is created for you. You are not created for money, we make money, but money doesn't make us

you're a slave, not to Satan, to listen to his whispers. You're not a slave to your desires. I feel like doing this, I'm gonna go and do it. You have to stop yourself. And remember always, that God can see you wherever you are. So you watch what you say, and you watch what you do.

And then you're probably better will take you to the next level which is going to improve your character. So you'll have a good character. And we can see a good character manifested in the way you deal with other people. And that's the essence of Islam. And unfortunately, sometimes today, some people who think that they are practicing Islam, they're always frowning.

And they always tough with people. And when you ask them

why are you frowning brother? gonna say what is three is Omar, how can I smile while what's happening to the Muslims everywhere? And my question is, yes or sad.

But do you think frowning is going to solve the problem? The profits are certain according to cite Muslim, the Hadith narrated by the lamb that had, he said the processor lamb was always seen smiling. unless God is disobeyed, then he'll face his face will turn red and it become angry.

So the Bruxelles told us Do not look down upon something little that you might do in this life, even receiving your brother with a smile on your face. Smiling is an act of charity. Smiling gives hope.

a rabbi by the name of Abdullah Abdullah Salaam, accepted Islam because of the smile of the processor, and he said, film and TV which he had a race abroad chicken that he said when I looked at the face of Mohammed Salah Salaam. I said this could never be the face of a mire.

So it's your character that will attract people to Islam. Many people today come to Islam, because of the way the Muslims treat them. Not the way Muslims worship Allah. So let's not mix worship, and good character. Because some people think that as long as I have a very good relationship with God, that said, it's very important to have a good relationship with God. But again, your job in this life is to be a slave to God. And then you need also to introduce God to others and you can introduce them to others in the way you treat them. Smiling, being generous, being punctual, being honest, being hospitable, being smiling,

being forgiving, being tolerant.

That's what attracted people to Islam. If you ask some people today, the story behind every person accepting Islam they're gonna say, you know, my friend, so and so at work. You know, he was like, smiling all the time. He used to share food with us. He used to invite us to his house and sometimes we say

him doing some physical exercise, and he's kissing the ground. And we asked him What is this, he said, this is prayer. And then we started, you know, chatting about it, and then they started to get introduced to Islam.

So this is your best mission this life.

And this is why today or tonight inshallah,

you know, we're going to stop our Holocaust of sealer, but we're going to replace it by something very, very important. It's going to be a special halaqa about praying the same way the process I'm used to pray.

Because many of us make mistakes in prayer. And we don't realize them, sometimes some people fight with each other. Should I raise my hand this way? Or that way? Or that way? Should I raise it or not? Should I leave a gap between me and the person next to me or not? Should I decide in fact, how behind the Imam or not so we're going to be answering all these questions. I'm going to do a rehearsal of the way the prophets of Salaam used to pray and we'll have this video so that you can benefit from it inshallah for the rest of your life and Salah, so don't be late. bring everyone and come tonight between Madrid and Sharla. Tonight, between Bangladesh and Salma, llamada, Daniela,

Grenada, Manila ferrata, wha even in Santa Monica, Alicia feta, while I'm at La Quinta, will la la vida, one other Manila data, whatever even what 111

Medical from Allah I mean, a lot of makuleke one no sloppy unethically mechanical robot I mean, a lot more from de

la la la, la la, la, la la la la mina Mina dunia La ilaha illallah wa salatu wa.

ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam