Saad Tasleem – The Small Stuff

			My brothers and sisters, there is a common expression that we hear. When people tell us don't sweat
the small stuff, meaning Don't worry about the little things in life. And even though this
expression may run true when it comes to certain portions or certain parts of our life, when it
comes to our taqwa when it comes to our consciousness of Allah, his origin, then we as Muslims, we
pay attention to the details. We pay attention to the small things, when it comes to being aware of
our sins, and our good deeds. We are very careful. And we pay attention to the small things. And we
see this manifest in the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu ala he was sending them when he told the
		

			believers, he said, No, he said, protect yourselves from the hellfire. And then the prophets of
Allah, why didn't you send them tells us of one of the ways how we can protect ourselves from the
hellfire. And what is interesting about this hadith is that the Prophet sallallahu it was sending
them doesn't give a big example, or it doesn't give an example of an act of worship or something
that we can do, which is very big, rather the example that he gives us, of how to protect ourselves
from the Hellfire, what good deed we can do to protect ourselves from the Hellfire is a deed that
most people would look at, and they would think it's very small. So the Prophet sallallahu, I send
		

			them said it could not well, I'll be shocked at what I'll be shocked at tomorrow. He said, protect
yourself from the Hellfire, even if it's with a piece of a date, meaning even if it's by giving a
piece of a date in charity. Now the average person may look at a piece of a date, and may not think
much of it. And four out for us for our times a piece of a date or half a date may cost 50 cents, or
25 cents. Now somebody who has 25 cents or 50 cents in their pocket, they may not think they may not
think that that's much of an amount to give in charity. And somehow to law. Sometimes when we find
ourselves at a fundraising event or an event where somebody is asking for charity. And we have a
		

			small amount in our pockets. We feel shy to give that amount. Because we say you know what is my $5
or $10 is going to do right now what are people going to think if I only give $5 it's better for me
to just keep it in my pocket. The Prophet sallallahu Sallam tells us that even if it's a piece of a
date, use it to protect yourself from the Hellfire, meaning a small deed can be very, very heavy on
the day of judgment when it comes to our good deeds or scale of good deeds. And this is why we as
Muslims, we pay attention to the small matters when it comes to our email and in our taqwa. And this
is why Abu Bakar love the love that. He said that one of the worst sins that a person can commit is
		

			to take their sins lightly. Meaning it's for a person to look at their sins and say, You know what?
It's just a small sin. It's not a big deal. Or if a person commits a sin they say, you know, a law
is afoot, Rahim. Allah is merciful. The law is forgiving. What's the big deal is just a small sin.
Even mysterious.
		

			He told us that a person who is a pious believer, when they commit a sin, they view their sin.
		

			Cousin Giovanni Pope Karachi, like it's a mountain on top of their head minikin, meaning it can
crash down upon them at any moment. Meaning when they commit a sin, they're fearful. And they're
vigilant. He said on the other hand, and in pious person, a sinful person, they view their sins,
like it's a fly, hovering around their nose, and they swatted away, meaning it's not a big deal to
them. It's like a fly. It's a small nuisance, you may or may not pay attention to this. And this is
the difference between somebody who is conscious and somebody who is aware of their sins and
somebody who just be little there since this is why I like Abu Bakar the last hour and he said it is
		

			one of the most dangerous things one of the one of the worst sins we can commit is to take our sin
and to belittle it. And if you look at the sin itself, a lot of times it's not just the sin, but the
effects that sin has upon us when we begin to belittle that sin. Firstly, when we begin to be a
little a sin of ours, what we will see happen is that it will become easier and easier for us to
commit that sin. So every time we commit a sin, we say, You know what? It's not a big deal. Why
worry about it? And if we keep doing this, we'll see that Firstly, it will become easier and easier
for us to indulge or be involved in this. Secondly, the other problem of belittling our sins is that
		

			eventually be literally
		

			Our sins leads to a heart that becomes sealed. In heart that becomes hard. As Allah azzawajal told
us, raw kulu became Macondo yuxi boon that the stain has sealed their heart by that which they used
to do. Meaning if we keep belittling our sins, and we never make Toba from our sins, we never seek
repentance, that eventually a time will come when our heart will become sealed. As the prophet SAW
the love it sent him told us that when a person commits a sin a.is placed upon their heart. And if
they don't repent to Allah, then this dot remains. And if they commit another sin another.is placed
upon their heart until a time comes where their whole heart becomes covered, and their heart becomes
		

			sealed. And the danger of a sealed heart
		

			is that a person with a sealed heart will not be affected by reminders. So a person may come listen
to a football, they may listen to a lecture, they may listen to their friends or their family or
someone, remind them of a law remind them that the sins that they're doing are dangerous, but
they'll say you know what's not a big deal. Or they'll sit and listen to reminder after reminder
after a reminder, and it will make no difference to them. May Allah protect us from having a sealed
heart. The other effect of belittling our sins is the disappearance of modesty. So the more we
indulge in sins, and the more we belittle these sins without making Toba, the less modest, the less
		

			shy we're gonna become about committing these sins. And as the Prophet sallallahu Isaiah send them
told us he doesn't stay for Cinerama shit. He said, If you don't have modesty, or if you don't feel
shy, then do as you like. Meaning if you're not ashamed to commit a sin, that no one is going to
stop. You mean you're going to keep indulging in this sin. And this is why this is a very, very
dangerous position to be in, when we are committing sins and we don't care. And we begin to commit
sins openly. And we sin after you commit sin after sin after sin. We don't care what happens. And
this is the disappearance of modesty when we when we stop feeling shy, we stopped feeling bad about
		

			our sins. Lastly, the effect of belittling our sins is that the more we belittle our sins, the more
we forget the greatness of Allah azza wa jal, and this is why the scholars of the past they would
say, Don't look at how small your sin is. Rather, look at how big or how great the one is, who you
are disobeying, meaning Allah azza wa jal, right, if Allah is important to us, right? If Allah is
important now, in our eyes, we will feel bad about sinning. And this is why if you look at the
example of a child, somebody who's maybe three or four years old, and their parent tells them not to
do something. So let's say a father tells her young child that don't write on the wall with your
		

			crayons, or your markers or whatever, this child may not understand why that's such a bad thing to
the child, it's a very nice thing to do, right, creating nice pictures on the wall. That sounds like
a very fun thing to do, what's wrong with that, but their father tells them not to do this. And this
child will refrain from doing that not because they understand what's wrong about this. But because
in their in the child's eyes, their father is very important. And they know that if they were to
write on the wall, that they would, that they would, that they would be disobeying their parents,
that they would let their parent down. Right, that they would disappoint their parent. And this is
		

			why the child will refrain from doing that action. Likewise, when nahi masala Allah that Allah has
the highest example, if for us, we really care about Allah azzawajal we're not going to look at the
sin itself and say, You know what, it's just a small sin, who cares? We're gonna think about the
fact that it is a lot as
		

			our Creator and our Lord and our sustainer The one who has given us every single blessing we have in
this life, it is that creator of ours who has told us to refrain from this from such and such
matter. And so for us at this time, now, this thing becomes very great.
		

			stuff a lot of stuff in the hall of overhead
		

			Alhamdulillah Ragnar amine or salt or ceramah mbi homoserine. Nabina was a dino Habibi, now
Mohammed, Allah, Allah He was Minister nabeshima t ro Monica de la Yama, Dean Hobart. My brothers
and sisters. I wanted to give you just one example of a sin that many of us may think, like it's not
a big deal, right? But the fact that Allah azzawajal has made this action a sin automatically makes
it a big deal. And that is the system
		

			of our tongue. So for example, a person may back bite somebody else, and they may not think much of
it. And they may say, you know, what's the big deal? I'm just telling you what happened. And they
don't realize that the prophets on the Long Island who's sending them has defined backbiting in a
very clear way. He told us backbiting is the crew kahakai makara it is to say something about your
brother that they wouldn't like for you to say about them, meaning that's it. That's the definition.
If you say something about someone that that person wouldn't like for you to say about them, you
have fallen into the sin of backbiting. And we know that the sin of backbiting is a major sin in
		

			Islam. And this is one of the tricks of shaitan to come to us. And tell us Listen, don't worry about
this sin. It's not a big deal. Don't you know that Allah is the fool and Rahim Allah will forgive
you, right? The problem with this is that we will, like I said before, we will keep indulging in
this sin. So you see a person who backbite someone or talks about about someone or gossips about
someone that if they're not told, or if they're not reminded and they don't themselves, realize the
gravity of what they're doing. Then at this point, backbiting just becomes a habit. So becomes part
of their everyday life, meaning they're just going to talk about people or they're going to spread
		

			gossip, or they're going to mention, you know, did you hear what happened with this person? Did you
hear what happened with that person? Right. And now the simple act of a few words from our tongue
has taken us into a major sin of backbiting, like the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam told us he
said in the kingdom, we will kill him I mean certain love, that a person may mention or say a single
word that is displeasing to Allah azza wa jal Yahoo, we be happy, Johanna, that with this single
word, this person enters the depths of the hellfire. Right here the process that is telling us the
the severity of our words and how how severe it can be dimensioned things that are displeasing to
		

			Eliza legit. This is just one example my brothers and sisters of how Stefan fools us into belittling
ourselves into belittling our sins. So we begin to indulge in more and more since we're brothers and
sisters, there's a flip side to that coin.
		

			Just like we're not supposed to be a little our bad deeds. On the other hand, the other trick of
Shang Han, is for him to try to convince us to be little our good deeds. And this is why I started
this hook about with the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu. I do send them where he said protect
yourselves from the Hellfire, even if it's worth giving a piece of a date, meaning giving a piece of
a date and charity, a small act of good deed and the Prophet sallallahu island was send them he told
us law, Tehran nominal Murphy shaker, he said Do not be little anything from good deeds. And once
again, after the first sentence says this, he gives us an example an example which many people think
		

			is a very small act of goodness. And a lot of people don't even actually consider this an act of
goodness. They just think it's you know, it's okay. The process I send them said not to
		

			wallow and tell
		

			him polyp. He said never be little anything from good deeds, even if it's you facing your brother
with a cheerful face or a smile on your face. Now many people may look at the act of smiling at
someone and say, you know, I guess it's a good thing to do. I guess it's okay to do. And they may
not realize that the Prophet sallallaahu Island send them counted the act of smiling at someone from
a metal roof from good deeds. Meaning This is an art that may be that may be something which saves
us on the Day of Judgment. If we smiled at someone with the intention that this can be an activity
but we're doing it for the sake of Allah azza wa jal that we may show up on the Day of Judgment. And
		

			this act of smiling may be the act that tips our scale of good deeds, and we enter Paradise.
Brothers and sisters, there is a story that the Prophet sallallahu Sallam tells us of a woman from
the nations who came before us. And this story is absolutely amazing. He tells us of a woman
		

			who was a prostitute. And this woman got some water from the well from a well for herself. And when
she came up out of this well,
		

			she saw a dog which was panting out of thirst.
		

			Now when she sees this dog, she has mercy on this dog. So she climbs back into the well and she
fills her shoe with water and she bites the shoe with her teeth because she needs her hands to climb
up out of this well, and she comes up out of this well and she gives this dog water
		

			And the Prophet sallallahu. wasallam tells us that because of this act, Eliza Jennifer gave her
sins. Right? And what's amazing about this story is who is mentioned in this story. Firstly, the
Prophet sallallahu Sallam told us that this woman was a prostitute, a profession that everyone would
consider bad whether you're a religious person or not, whether you're considered super pious, or
whether you're a practicing Muslim, or not, every person most people in society will look at a
prostitute and say, yeah, that's a bad person. They're doing something which is very bad. It is this
prostitute, a woman who is involved in that type of sin that Allah azza wa jal forgave because of
		

			her good deed. Secondly, you have to look at who she actually gave water to. Not a person, not a
human being an animal. And not just any animal, a dog, a dog, which we as Muslims, we don't even
keep a dog inside of our house. Right? A lot of scholars consider the saliva of a dog to be nudges
to be impure. When we see a dog as a Muslim, we stay away from dogs, right? It is a dog it is this
animal that she had mercy upon and allies so Jennifer gave her sins. And that is why this story is
absolutely amazing for us to reflect upon this and think that maybe we do a single act with
sincerity. And because of this act, Allah azza wa jal forgives our sins. And this is why shaitan
		

			doesn't want us to think about these matters. He doesn't want us to realize that our good deeds are
very important and we should pay attention to the small details. We should never ever be little a
good deed, no matter how small it is. My brothers and sisters, if you look at the issue of simply
our intentions, you will realize how important these small matters are matters that seem small to
us. But they're very important when Allah has his own agenda. Two people may be praying the exact
same prayer, two people prayed to rock as a physio, they both made the tech bit they both recited to
attend Fatiha and they both did the exact same actions, but their reward is very, very different.
		

			One person has a very high reward simply because of their intentions. Because part of the person who
has a very high reward with Allah azza wa jal, they were praying with their heart and their soul.
And they were conscious of Allah. And they were praying because they realize this is an act of a
bother to Allah azza wa jal, and it brings them closer to Allah, the second person is simply praying
because you know, that's what you're supposed to do as a Muslim, right? You just get up and you pray
to the gods in the morning and you move on. Likewise, this activity bothered that we're involved in
right now, the gym or whatever, there may be people who attend the gym or whatever, for no other
		

			reason, then that's just what they've been doing their whole life, right, or the Friday rolls around
and you go to the most of the closest machines and you sit and you listen to somebody talk and you
go home, and you're done. Compare that to the intention of a person who comes to the masjid as early
as they possibly can. And they come with the intention that they're about to enter into an activity
is an act of worship, and they sit and they listen to the book, with the intention that while they
are listening to the hook, but they're involved in an activity via an act of worship to Allah azza
wa jal, and they realize that this Juma football has been legislated for our benefit. For us to get
		

			closer to Allah, it has been legislated in congregation so we come together as Muslims and we
worship Allah azza wa jal, how different is the reward of these two people are brothers and sisters,
I'll give you an example of a story something that happened to me personally, I went to a particular
community. And I gave the hotel out there the Juma photo, after the football, and after the slog,
and man comes up to me. And as he was coming up to me, I could tell that he was very upset. He was
walking towards me comes up to me, and he he points his finger at me, and he says, What time does
the Fatah start? What time does the prayer start? And I was a bit confused. I didn't know exactly
		

			how to answer him. I thought about it for a second. And I said, well, the Salah starts, the prayer
starts when the hook was over. Okay, so he looks at me dead in the eye. And he says to me, yes, he
says, because of you. I missed my salon today and he storms off.
		

			Now, I, I, I experienced this right now. And I say I'm, I'm dumbfounded. I don't understand what
happened or I don't understand why this brother was so upset at me. And I sat for a minute thinking
about what actually happened. And then I realized what actually occurred in this moment, and this
brother, what he would do is he would time the salon. So he would know the email
		

			finishes the hookah at exactly such and such time. So he would show up just for the saw. And because
I was a visiting email more I was a visiting healthy and my football is generally are shorter today
might be the exception, but in general my flippers are are shorter than then most people 20 to 25
minutes max, because my football was shorter. We ended the football earlier and we started the Salah
earlier and obviously the slot ended earlier and by the time he had come, we had finished all right,
and I thought to myself, Subhana Allah, how much of a difference is there between the reward of
somebody who shows up early, somebody who comes for the football and the sawn off when a person
		

			makes the intention that they're only coming for the saw? What do you think they'll be rewarded for
it? Do you think a lot will give them the reward for something that they didn't even make the
intention for?
		

			Of course not. And this is why my brothers and sisters I say to you today sitting here right now in
this gym affalterbach human have come with a different intention. Right? You may not have had any
had any intention at all. And Allah has the words that has still given you the opportunity sitting
here right now to change your intention and tell yourself make the intention right now that right
now I'm sitting here involved in an activity bada and this act of very well that this act of worship
is done so that I get closer to Allah azza wa jal and I earned the pleasure of Allah azza wa jal and
in turn, it may be this activity that leads me to paradise. Lastly, my brothers and sisters, I will
		

			leave you with a final point and that is a shout out the a lot that are unhappy, where she said that
the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, have been our Murli Illa II and what Moo ha, what
		

			she said that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that the most beloved actions to Allah
azzawajal are those actions, which are done consistently, even if they're small, even if they're
less, meaning that it is more beloved to Allah azzawajal that we are consistent over our acts of
goodness, rather than just doing one act of piety or one act of goodness once in our life and never
returning to it again. So for example, if you look at something as simple as the night prayer, Yama
name, it is more beloved to Allah azza wa jal that we consistently pray a pm will name rather than
getting up one night and praying for two hours, it is more beloved to Allah that we do it every
		

			night, even if it's for five minutes. Right? So the point here is that our rewards can differ
depending on our intentions, and depending on how consistent we are in our acts of worship. So
before I close, I say to you, number one, make you the intention right here right now sitting here
today, that you will pick one, one sin you have in your life, no matter how small you think that sin
is, pick one sin in your life and leave it today consistently. Right, no matter how small you think
the sin is, make the decision right now that from today on fourth, I will not commit this sin again.
Right and be consistent in that. Secondly, pick one act of piety, one act of goodness, no matter how
		

			small you think it is, and add it to your daily daily life. It may be that you don't pray the two
Sundays official maybe, or maybe that you don't pray the two centers of Mahara. It may be that after
your saw you don't make any right. It may be something very small, but pick a small act of goodness,
a small act of piety or a small act of Riba and added to your life, but be consistent in it. And
therefore you will gain the reward of allies and the pleasure of allies origin. Yeah, you're letting
me know in the law, America Salatu was Salam ala alihi wa call in a la Houma la ekata hussin Dona
Ana nebby Yeah, you handed in Amano San new la he was sending with Christina masala Muhammad Allah
		

			Allah Mohammed kamasan later Allah Ibrahim Ali Ibrahim Majeed