Saad Tasleem – Moral Fortitude Resting Temptation
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AI: Transcript ©
Allah
Alhamdulillah. Mean was Salat, was salaam war Allah Salim nabiina was
Sayyidina wa Habibi na Muhammad wa, Allah, alihi wa, Sahbihi AJ
Marine, Allah, almana, ilama, Alam Tana in Naka until Ali mul Hakim,
Allah alim. A delving
into
the story
and the story and the life of our beloved prophet, Yusuf alaihi
salam. And in particular, we're going to focus on an incident that
took place in which Yusuf alaihis Salam was not only tried, but in
which we find lessons for ourselves when we are faced with
trials, how do we react? More importantly, how do we prepare
ourselves for those trials? Because oftentimes, when we think
about the trials of Yusuf, alaihi salam, or the trials of any of the
prophets alayhi wa salatu wa salam, even the Prophet Muhammad,
sallAllahu, alayhi wa sallam, we think that wala Abu LA when they
were tested, they just had some magical ability to make it through
that test. And the reality is that these were number one human
beings. But on top of that, these were the chosen human beings of
Allahu, subhana wa taala, because they had certain traits and
certain characteristics, and they used their lives, and they spent
their lives in the obedience of Allahu, subhana wa taala. So when
they were tried, when they faced difficult moments in their life,
they were prepared to face those trials. And so the issue that I
want to address today in this short time that I have is, how do
we prepare ourselves? How do we make sure that when we are tried,
that we are ready? Because the Prophet sallallahu, alayhi wa
sallam, he gave us an example of this. He said in NAMA, sabrinda,
Salama till Ula. He said, True patience or perseverance is at the
onset of a calamity, meaning later when the calamity is gone, a
person can look back and say, You know what, I should have done this
and I should have done that. Or, you know what, I made this mistake
and I wasn't ready, and now I'm going to be more patient and
whatever it may and sometimes we actually put on glasses, rose
colored glasses, and we look back at times, or we were tested and
try to we're like, Yeah, I think I did pretty well, because we look
back and everything seems much better. But the true test of our
perseverance, of our patience, of our taqwa, of our Imaan, of our
God consciousness, of our submission to Allahu, subhanaw
taala, is how we reacted in that moment. So let's take a look at
that moment in the life of Yusuf alaihi salam, when Yusuf alaihi
salam was brought to the house of the Chief Minister Allah Aziz as a
young boy, and he was given residence there. He was also tried
Allahu Subhana wa Taala tells us walam Abu Asmaa that when he
reached the maturity of age, when he got older, when he was mature,
Allahu Subhana wa Taala granted him two characteristics, haqman wa
Alma, wisdom and knowledge. So now there's a trial that he's about to
go through, and what are the tools that he has at his disposal. He
has wisdom and he has knowledge. Knowledge we know is imperative,
is important, is critical, because knowledge is what gives us the
information of what is pleasing to Allahu, Subhana, wa Taala and what
is displeasing to Allah. Allah, it is through knowledge we learn how
to be obedient to Allah. It is through knowledge that we learn
how to please Allahu Subhana wa taala. And this is why Allahu,
subhana wa Taala says in NAMA, Yasha, Allah, ha Mina, aribadi. It
is only, and only the Ulama, those, I'm not talking about
titles. I'm talking about people who have knowledge, Allah, Allah,
those who have knowledge, knowledge of Allahu, subhana wa
taala, it is only those who have knowledge that have true hashiya
of Allah that can worship Allahu. Subha properly
in NAMA, Yasha, laha, mana ibadi, alamah, the Prophet sallallahu,
alayhi wa sallam said, may you read Allahu? Behra you Fatah, fit
Deen ma fiddin, when Allah wants good for a person, Allah grants
them an understanding of the religion. But my brothers and
sisters, it's not our definition or understanding of knowledge,
because in our current climate and culture, we think knowledge is
just a collect.
Of information. I read a lot of books. Or excuse me, we're in 2024
I read a lot of websites. I spent a lot of time on Wikipedia. I saw
a lot of YouTube videos, and now we're devolving into I watched a
lot of tiktoks on this subject, so I know what I'm talking about,
right? I followed so and so influencer on Tiktok so I know
this subject inside out, but my brothers and sisters, is not just
a collection of information, because information without it
penetrating our heart, without sincerity, without us acting upon
it, without us living information, that information not only becomes
useless, that information can become a witness and a proof
against us. Regarding the Quran, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa
sallam said,
Al Quran, the Quran, is either a witness or a proof for you, or is
it a or it is a witness against you. Meaning, there are people who
are going to come on the Day of Judgment thinking they were Ahlul
Quran. They were people of the Quran because perhaps they had
memorized the Quran, perhaps they had recited the Quran. But if they
did not act upon the Quran, if they did not live their life by
the Quran, if they weren't guided by the Quran, then the Quran now
becomes a witness against them. May Allah protect us. So the
knowledge of the prophets was not just information. This was lived
knowledge. This was knowledge acted upon, and the proof for that
is in the wisdom that was granted to the prophets. Because wisdom,
to put simply, means, where does this knowledge apply? Is this
knowledge fitting this time and this place and this condition,
this circumstance I'm in right now or not, because we have a lot of
people out there who, once again, have knowledge, they have
information, and we know what that leads to, sometimes putting that
information down wherever they see fit, as opposed to having wisdom
where you understand and you know that this knowledge applies in
this situation and this circumstance. So Allahu Subhana wa
Taala granted the Prophet Yusuf alaihi salam knowledge and wisdom.
But why Allah Who Subhanallah to Allah says waka dalika, najiz in
Masini, this is how we reward those who do good. And this
teaches us that good knowledge, beneficial knowledge, knowledge
that we have acted upon, is granted to us by Allahu, subhanaw,
taala, and that only comes when we live our lives with Ihsan. Ihsan
is as defined by the Prophet salallahu, alayhi wa sallam and TA
Abu Allah, that you worship Allah as if you see Allah. Pa inam,
takunta, Rahu FA ina Huya RAQ, that even though you don't see
Allah, you know that Allah sees you, that is Ihsan to live your
life
in consciousness of Allahu. Subhanaw taala, being aware of
what is pleasing to Allah, knowing that Allah is watching me at all
moments, at all times, when you live your life in that way, then
Allahu Subhana wa Taala grants you knowledge and wisdom. Because once
again, knowledge can be sought for many reasons. Knowledge in our
days can be sought to be popular, to have a lot of followers online,
to be Tiktok famous. I had a brother come to me once and he
said, Do you know me? And I said, I'm sorry, I don't know you. He
said, you probably don't know me because I'm Tiktok famous. I'm
like, what harass Tiktok famous, right? That's the thing now. But
knowledge can be sought for many reasons, and actually, this is
something the Prophet even warned us about, that a person who seeks
knowledge for the wrong intention, actually, that leads them to the
Hellfire that there are those who, as the Prophet, sallAllahu, alayhi
wasallam informed us those who seek knowledge. Leah surifa, would
you? Hanas elay To turn the faces of people towards themselves. That
is the type of intention that leads a person to the hellfire.
The Prophet, I'm saying that a person may seek knowledge to argue
with the foolish,
to show I'm better than you. I know what I'm talking about. I can
defeat you in a debate. I can defeat you in an argument. My
reaction to your video right here, and I destroyed you right based,
as they say nowadays,
for that reason, another reason, the Prophet said to boast amongst
the scholars, to have that status a person wants to be known as a
scholar, as an alim, as a person of knowledge. So that is their
intention. And the Prophet salallahu alaihi salam told us
that these intentions.
Leads a person to the hellfire. Knowledge has to be sought for the
sake of Allah, Subhanahu wa knowledge has to be sought because
we want Jannah, and we know that it is through knowledge that we
attain Jannah. Falam Allah says no. Have a surety, learn No. Falam
Anna hula, ilaha illallah, have deep knowledge that there is
nothing worthy of worship except Allahu SubhanAllah. So when we do
that, Ihsan, then we gain the reward of knowledge and wisdom. It
is in this circumstance that Yusuf alaihi salam found himself being
tried Allahu Subhana wa Taala tells us, wa rawatul, AFI beitti
Ha alafsi A wife of the Chief Minister al Aziz.
He lived in her house, and that is where she tried to seduce him,
in the house that he was granted refuge in wakall above what
happened here? What was the situation? Well, she didn't just
try to seduce him in public or in front of someone. She made sure
that all the bases were covered. And what indicates to that is the
way she closed the doors. And when Allahu Subhana wa Taala mentions
the word lakat in abub, this gives a couple different meanings.
Number one, the doors were closed and locked with force, meaning she
made sure the doors were locked. Also, some of our scholars
mentioned that there is no chance that someone could invade their
privacy or come in to this room, because there were multiple rooms
that were locked, a room in another room in another room, so
multiple doors had would have to be unlocked for them to be
disturbed. Watt abub, wakalat, haitalak, after making sure that
no human being
would know, no human being would have access to what she wants to
do, she said, haitalak, she said, come to me and then Allahu Subhana
wa Taala tells us how Yusuf alaihi salam replied, Kalama ALA. He
said, Allah is my refuge. I seek refuge in Allahu Subhanallah once
again. Why did this happen? Better yet? How did this happen? This
happened because Yusuf alaihi salam was prepared for this, maybe
not directly, but by the way he lived his life, Yusuf alayhi salam
was prepared. And we see this in the rest of this verse and verses
Allahu Subhana wa Taala tells us. He says, Maha the law, Allah is my
refuge. I seek refuge. And Allah, Allah, will protect me. Protect
me. And really this is in two ways. Number one, protect me
from the consequences of what the consequences of me refusing this
temptation, because the wife of Allah Aziz, she was in a position
of power, she had control over this situation, and Yusuf alaihi
salam knew that there are going to be some dunya, some worldly
consequences for him refusing this offer. So he sought refuge in
Allah from that. And also, on a second level, he sought refuge in
this temptation. Because, as we will see, this is not a temptation
that Yusuf alaihi salam had no desire for. And some people are
uneasy with this concept that Yusuf alaihi salam, it is not only
that she desired Yusuf alaihi salam, but Yusuf alaihi salam
would be inclined towards her as well. Allahu Subhana wa Taala
tells us, wala Hamat Bihi wa Ha mabiha That she was she was
inclined towards him. She was determined to seduce him, and he
would be inclined towards her, laulah be if he had not seen the
sign of his Lord. And we'll talk about that in a little bit
inshaAllah. But he said, Mahala, I seek refuge in Allah. Allah will
protect me. He knew that if it's a moment where I am being tested and
tried, I turned to Allahu, subhana wa Taala in nahura Asmaa.
He said, It is, it is not right for me to betray my master, who
has given me a good place to stay, who has taken good care of me. And
the first meaning of this is
A's the chief minister, he is saying this would be a betrayal of
that trust. He housed me in his house, and for me to be involved
in an intimate way with his wife would be a betrayal of that trust.
The second and overlying meaning of this is Allahu Subhana wa
taala, that the best, that the best one who takes care of me is
Allahu Subhana wa taala, my Lord, that whatever I could gain in this
moment if he had given in to this offer, perhaps he wouldn't have
been jailed. Perhaps he could have remained living in that house. But
the best refuge, the best house, the best abode, is from Allahu
Subhana, wa taala, because it is always.
Is Allah, who has taken care of him in his whole life. So how can
he abandon Allahu, Subhanahu wa and we ask ourselves every moment
in our life, who has taken care of us? Who is the one who has
provided for us, who is the one who we can turn to
in the darkness of the night and pour our heart out to it is none
other than Allahu subhanaw taala and then the Prophet Yusuf alaihi
salam. He says in Nahu la yufla limun that the wrongdoers, the
oppressors, the transgressors, will never be victorious. And
this, my brothers and sisters, is part of our aqidah. It is part of
our creed. It is part of our belief system. As Muslims, we live
by this statement that the one who commits vuln will never be
successful in the long run, perhaps in the moment this person
may be successful, perhaps in the moment they get away with their
crime and their transgression and their oppression, perhaps,
but in the long run, they will never be successful. This aqidah
is the same aqidah of our brothers and sisters in ghazza Right now,
they know that whatever crimes are committed against them, no matter
what has been no matter what atrocities are committed against
them in nahulayu, Wali moon, that the oppressors, the transgressors,
the wrongdoers, will never truly be successful. Success comes from
Allahu subhanaw taala. Maybe they get away with it in this life,
maybe, but in the long run,
will never be overlooked. Allahu Subhana wa Taala tells us about
those who commit crimes in this life, and when we see them getting
away with these crimes, Allahu subhanah reminds us wala ATA,
Saban, Allah, hafillah, I'm May at man. Do not think Allah is unaware
of the crimes of the oppressors and wrongdoers. Don't think Allah
is unaware. In namayo, akhiru, hum leomin, teshu, fihil, absar, he is
only delaying them until a day when they will stare in horror.
This is our akhida, my brothers and sisters. Vuln will be volumato
will be layers upon layers of darkness on the Day of Judgment.
This is why, when we see lum occurring to others, we recognize
this. We never lose hope, because we know the more lum that is
committed, the more harsh and more severe the punishment will be from
Allah, who Subhanallah, Allah, doesn't punish anyone unjustly. No
one will come on that day of judgment and say, Oh, Allah,
you are being unjust towards me. I don't deserve this punishment. Do
you know why? Because even if no one else testifies to the crimes
that were committed, let's say no one witnessed a crime, someone
commits a crime. They oppress someone, they wrong someone, and
there's no witnesses,
their own bodies will testify. Al Yo, makti mu Allah. Awahim. Allah
says, Today we will seal their mouths. Be quiet. You are speaking
in this life, and you are lying and lying and lying, but today you
remain silent, what to call li Muna ad him, their own hands,
their own hands will speak to their crimes. What the shedu arjum
and their own legs and their feet will testify to the crimes that
they have committed.
This is why a believer my brothers and sisters never, ever lose loses
hope. A believer understands the power and the might and the anger
and the wrath of Allahu subhanaw taala, when we see our children
suffering in ghaza, when we see limbs blown off,
we never lose hope. We understand in namanu, akhiram, Allah is only
delaying them until a day where their punishment will be more
severe. This is a lum that we need to understand on a larger level,
and even on a personal level, because when we commit sins and
when we transgress, this is a form of Lum, my brothers and sisters,
there's many levels and forms of Lum. There's lum that we commit
upon others, which we just spoke about, but there's also little
that we do to ourselves. Allahu, Subhana, wa taala, says, wamaya
tadu, Allah Faka, the one who crosses the boundaries of Allah.
Allah has set limits for us. Allah has set boundaries for us. Allah
has made certain things halal and certain things haram. The one who
crosses those boundaries,
they had only done vuln to themselves, that only wronged
themselves. You know, Iblis, the shaytan, will come on the day of
judgment, and he will actually remind us of this very issue.
When he is standing in front of the people who are being taken to
the hellfire, and Iblis now delivers a sermon to the people of
the Hellfire. They're hoping that he's going to provide some
answers. But you know what Iblis, the sheath on says to the people
of the Hellfire? He says, fara, telumuni, walumu and fusakum,
don't blame me. Blame yourselves. Masri come OMA and to be Muslim,
you cannot help me, and I cannot help you. In naval ini Kafar, to
be mashraq, to Muni min Kabil, I reject all the associations you
made with me in your life. Meaning in this life, there are those who
listen to the shaytan. Obey the shaytan Instead of obeying Allahu,
Subhanahu, WA This is an association. Instead of being
obedient to Allah, a person is obedient to the shaytan. So the
shaytaan says, I have nothing to do with that. I take no
responsibility for that. And then he says, in naval mean, allahum,
adabun, Aleem, the wrongdoers, the transgressors, the oppressors,
they have a painful punishment awaiting them. His message to the
people is that this happened because of your vuln. So my
brothers and sisters here, Yusuf alaihi salam is reminding himself
and reminding us, and this message is in the Quran for us to take
heed. In nahula, you feel I moon that the valley Moon will never,
ever be victorious. And then Allah says, wala kahamat bihi wa Hamma,
Biha Lau an RA Abu Hana, Rabbi, that she was determined to seduce
him, and he would have been inclined towards her had he not
seen the proof of his Lord. What is this proof? This proof is the
Iman in his heart. This proof is his prophethood. This proof is the
fact that Allah had made him a messenger. This proof is his
Islam. And this is the same proof that we carry in our hearts. Every
single believer in their heart, they carry this proof of iman, the
proof of the prophethood of the prophets, the proof of the
prophethood of Muhammad, sallAllahu, alayhi wa sallam. That
is the tool that we have then when we are tempted and we are tried
and we're going through difficult situations, we have that Burhan.
We have that proof in our hearts and that Allah says, qadali,
Kanin, Lina, surifa and husu
Abu This is how Allahu, subhana wa Taala says, This is how we kept
evil and indecency away from him in Nahum, in iba din al makhin, he
was certainly from our chosen servants, my brothers and sisters,
in this moment, the truthfulness of his submission came to light.
Every time we are tested,
it is a moment for us to prove our iman, to prove our submission to
Allahu, Subhana, wa taala. And I know what you all are thinking
right now. That was one moment, that was one seduction, that was
one temptation. We live in a time now where in a single day a person
may be tempted many times.
You turn on the TV, there's trials, there's temptations,
there's fitna. You open your phone, you scroll Doom, scroll
right, scroll till no end, and you come across things, and this is a
trial every day. How are we supposed to succeed? I want to
share with you real quickly an example of another person that
succeeded, and that is the Hadith of the seven people who were
granted shade by Allahu, subhana wa taala, on the day in which
there is only shade provided by Allah, Sabah yo Mala, Illa Lilla,
seven people, the Prophet said, will be shaded on the day in which
there's the only shade is a shade of Allah. Who? SubhanAllah? Who
are these people? Imam Adil, a just leader, shabun, Nasha, abi
abala, a young person who was raised lived their life in the
worship of Allah. Who, Subhan wa Taala rajulun ka Abu hula Kabil
masajid, a person whose heart was attached to the masjid, two people
who love one another for the sake of Allah. Who, Subhan wa Taala ka
alai, they come together for the sake of Allah, and they depart for
the sake of Allah, who Subhan wa taala, wa rajuran, Rafa dainah, a
person who remembers Allah in privacy, and because of that,
their eyes, they swell with tears. WA rajaran Kashima, and a person
who gives charity in privacy, such secrecy, such privacy, that the
left hand doesn't know what the right hand is spent. And then the
last category, or one of the seven categories, is rajulun, the
hassabin, a man who was invited by a woman of status and beauty,
fakala ini, akafallah. And he said, I fear Allah, very similar.
To the statement. A Yusuf, alayhi salam. Now here's the kicker.
All of these categories are a lifetime, a just leader, a just
ruler. That's a lifetime. A young person who was raised in the
worship of Allah, that's a lifetime of worship, a person who
loves their brothers and sisters for the sake of Allah, that's all
of these categories are a lifetime, but there's one category
which is just a moment. The person who was invited by a woman, who
was tempted by a woman is just a moment. How are they equivalent?
They are equivalent because once again, as I said in the beginning
of my talk, the success does not come just from that moment. The
success comes from preparing yourself for that moment when you
live your life in the obedience of Allahu Subhan wa taala. You are
preparing yourself to protect yourself in that moment when you
are tested and tried. We don't wait until the test or the trial
to say, Can I succeed or not, we prepare ourselves so when we are
tempted, whether it be through our phones or TV or what we're
accessing, Allah, whatever it may be, do we say, Malay, Allah? Do we
say, I fear Allah. Allah is my refuge, because that is the only
thing that can protect us. And I know today, I talk to a lot of
parents, and parents say this is the most difficult time in
history. We have never faced a trial like this. Our children are
facing tests and trials that they've never been through before.
And I'm like, Look, I agree with you, but every generation says
that. Every generation says this is the worst generation, right?
This is terrible. It's never been this bad.
But people succeed. They succeed because they have their Iman, they
have their taqwa, they have God consciousness. So we ask Allahu
Subhana wa Taala to give us the ability to recognize goodness as
goodness and the ability to follow it, and we ask Allahu Subhan wa
Taala to give us the ability to recognize evil as evil and the
ability to abstain and stay away from it. Ha da Allahu, taala, Alam
Subhan Allah, WABA Haq was
Salaam Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh Abu.