Safi Khan – Soul Food For College Students Dear Beloved Son #20
AI: Summary ©
The importance of doing what one does in the present, including forgiveness and patient listening to others, is emphasized in the spirituality of worship. The importance of healthy eating and avoiding harm in extreme events is also emphasized. The need for forgiveness and patient listening to others is also emphasized. The importance of honoring the Prophet sallama is emphasized, as is the need for practice reciting the duels and receiving daily support.
AI: Summary ©
Alrighty Bismillah walhamdulillah As-salatu was-salamu ala
rasulillah wa ala alihi wa ashabihi ajma'in
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu Everybody how
we doing?
Alhamdulillah.
MashaAllah.
You guys have that winter break glow to
you right now You guys here.
MashaAllah.
The glow up is serious from the beginning
of the fall semester.
Okay, alhamdulillah There's also I'm gonna rename soul
food the sisters halaqa Just because mashaAllah there
just is a beautiful amazing 80-20 percentage.
We're working with here.
The ratio is strong so humbly la humbly
la so we are gonna be finishing our
Study of the text the series of letters
of Imam Al-Ghazali Rahim Allah towards his
son towards our towards his student that is
called a you had what a dear beloved
son He used to call his student his
beloved son and Come to the last week.
We began this conversation Because Imam Al-Ghazali
Rahim Allah he actually began this final chapter
in his book in this series of letters
With the chapter of do I write the
importance of do I and we were talking
a little bit last week about the importance
of do I particularly in the circumstance that
we're in right now in terms of the
end of the year, right?
This is a retrospective time of the year
people are thinking, you know Internally about what
have I done in this past 365 days?
What have I done with the past 12
months of my life?
And so do I is something you know,
subhanAllah that you know I defined last week
for everybody which is a humble call to
the Creator, right?
Do I is not a it's not a
request Do I is not an order that
we give it's not a stipulation that we
make Do I is a humble call out
to Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala from a place
of desperate need, right?
and so Imam Al-Ghazali Rahim Allah He
begins this final chapter by Listing a few
of the duas that he wanted his student
to be very very familiar with because these
duas were duas of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam and The best of duas
or the duas that were made by the
NBA alaihimussalam, right that they were so close
to Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala So dua can
be made in your own unique way But
at the same time the duas of the
NBA that came before Were also something that
were looked at as higher level higher quality
Why just because of the closeness that they
had to Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala So to
combine our duas with the duas of the
NBA alaihimussalam You can understand that it actually
adds a level of sweetness to the duas
that we make Okay, so Imam Al-Ghazali
Rahim Allah, we went through last week the
first dua that he mentioned to his students,
right?
Oh Allah, I beg you in regard to
your grace ni'ma tamamaha in its totality in
regard to protection in its permanent state in
regard to mercy in its totality in regard
to well-being and And and the attainment
of it in regard to livelihood for its
most plentiful Nature in regard to life for
its most happy in regard to beneficence for
the most perfect in regard to favor for
the most inclusive of it and in regard
to generosity for the sweetest of it and
in regard to gentleness for the most Intimate
of it.
Okay aqrabahu, Imam Al-Ghazali Rahim Allah He
says in this dua right in regards to
the gentleness of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala in
its closest state Okay, so alhamdulillah, we have
My dear beloved friend and teacher hamdulillah I
know man who's going to be inshallah joining
us for our khatam for our final session
of soul food here tonight And we're going
to be sharing a little bit of time
together Reflecting through the final three duas that
Imam Al-Ghazali Rahim Allah taught his students.
So inshallah Qari sahab he's going to share
the second of the the four and then
inshallah I'll share the third and then he's
going to finish us off with the khatam
inshallah And by the way, he'll go through
the reflections line by line But pay attention
to each letter each word and how it
impacts you as a person, right?
Don't think of dua as this kind of
like template that was set by somebody before
me and has no personality to me No,
no, no when we go through the words.
Oh Allah.
I beg you for your grace and your
nirma Tamamaha think about what it means for
Allah's blessing upon you in his totality When
has a blessing been given to you in
totality think about that time in your life
where that was true for you This is
the best way to connect with duas in
the first place.
So inshallah Sheikh sahab I want to let
you take it away inshallah, and the dua
will be on the screen as you reflect
inshallah Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
Alhamdulillah wa salatu wassalamu ala rasoolillah Wa ala
alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in Amma ba'd It's
always a pleasure to spend some time here
at Roots with our friend and Colleague was
that Safi and all of you masha'Allah
You know as as I thought Safi was
sharing this beautiful reflection on dua and how
Imam Ghazali rahmatullahi alayh is sharing with his
student not to forget him in his prayers
Like you think about a teacher telling his
student, please remember me in your duas even
in that moment of Being in a position
of authority as a teacher as an instructor
as a scholar Reflecting over the fact that
sometimes and a lot of times the student
may excel the teacher in excellence The student
may excel the teacher in spirituality the student
may excel the teacher in knowledge and in
practice and you know when when we ask
people for dua We ask from a place
of humility and sincerity Because the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam teaches us that one way
of having your duas Accepted is by making
dua for each other So when I make
dua for you, it's more likely that my
dua will be accepted as well And when
you make dua for me, it's more likely
that your dua will be Accepted as well
So keeping that in mind Imam Ghazali is
asking his student to whom he just wrote
this entire letter to Please don't forget me
in your duas because I am in need
of your prayers But he also then highlights
These duas that are from the beautiful tradition
of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam However,
I want to point out that these specific
duas that we're covering are not the literal
words of the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
and by this Imam Ghazali rahmatullahi alayh He's
teaching us that learn to make dua in
your own way Taking from the spirit of
the dua of the prophets because everything we're
gonna cover Is actually going to be related
to some type of dua that the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam himself made But he's
using very unique wording for us to realize
that our duas at times have to be
unique We need to speak in a language
that we understand Sometimes we need to ask
in a way that is most effective and
impactful for us so as we complete this
text and Know that the completion of any
text is a Gathering of Baraka and blessedness
Actually many of the scholars of the past
and even today Will will literally do readings
of books like a you had well ed
and give ejazah to students So they're blessed
texts and the fact that we've been able
to go through it together is Absolutely an
amazing honor and I want everybody to recognize
this I don't want this to feel like
it was just another session that we did
another series that we covered we went through
one of the Accepted texts by one of
the greatest scholars of our tradition Imam Ghazali
rahmatullahi alayh So we make this khatam and
we reflect over these duas You know as
I as we were thinking about this session
I was telling us at Safi that At
the end of any deed that we perform
we are taught by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam to conclude with Dua right a
dua omokhal ibadah the Prophet says dua is
the essence of worship so truly the essence
of all of what we're doing is To
connect and engage with Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala
at a deeper level and that happens often
in dua why because in dua you're Humbling
yourself to Allah and really Putting forth your
vulnerabilities and saying oh Allah like I need
you and oh Allah.
I am broken and oh Allah I am
struggling and The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
taught us that at the end of the
prayer, what do we do?
So what is what is the one dua
that we make immediately after the salah?
He would start off by saying astaghfirullah astaghfirullah
astaghfirullah Seeking forgiveness after any deed.
Oh Allah.
I didn't do it the way that I
should have done it.
Oh Allah, I came to these sessions for
you know to hang out I learned something
along the way, but maybe I could have
been more attentive.
Maybe I could have been more consistent Maybe
I could have been here more regularly.
Oh Allah.
I seek forgiveness for that which I left
out for that which in those moments of
negligence while I was sitting in the gathering
of your remembrance and And then the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is teaching us that
at the end of any deed to make
a dua Towards Allah and that's why Imam
Ghazali actually points this out so beautifully.
We're ending the year off.
It's a time of reflection It's a time
of thinking about you know What we've done
and what we haven't done and also thinking
about how do we close this year off
in the most beautiful way?
Because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam teaches
us in them and I'm not a bit
Kawa team that actions are judged by their
ending a lot of times we Build our
year out From January to December.
That's how we look at it for a
lot of us Well, a lot of y
'all probably do it off based off of
the the academic year, right when you start
school when you end school but a lot
of us we we set our goals based
off of the end of The calendar year
and here we are a lot coming close
to the end we ask you to allow
us to end with ease and Allow the
upcoming days to be better than the previous
months.
I was telling the students at the seminary
That as they all go home for their
winter break now to come back with a
a sense of renewed intention and focus and
Even if the first half of the year
was gone in negligence and maybe slacking off
or Maybe even being insincere and while you're
here allow the second quarter to be stronger
Why because deeds are always?
judged by their ending So if I spent
the last 11 months in negligence if I
can just spend the last 10 days in
connection Those last 11 months will be a
wipe for us So Imam Ghazali rahmatullahi alayh
He starts off or as Imam Safi started
the beginning of the du'a the second
part of the du'a He says Allahumma
kun lana wa laa takun alayna Which is
such a powerful du'a to make.
Oh Allah Be on our side We're asking
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to be with us
Well, I don't be against us Because when
you have Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala on your
side when Allah is with you Then you
have everything that you need and in this
Era of life and in this year that
we've been experiencing of so much atrocity and
so many challenges and so many difficulties What
are we reminded?
Allahu maulana Allahu maulana, right?
What was the statement that?
The the people of Gaza made Over and
over again Every time they were faced with
a challenge and difficulty.
It was a statement said by the prophets
of the past It was a statement said
by Ibrahim when he was thrown into the
fire Hasbun allahu wa ni'mal wakeed.
Allah is enough for us.
Why because if Allah is on our side
No matter what happens apparently to us We
always have victory.
We always have blessing.
There's always going to be Success at the
end.
So Allah be with us and not against
us Why because if Allah is on the
other side or if we choose a side
on which Allah is not there present Then
what what have we done?
Essentially, we've now waged a war against Allah
subhanahu wa'ta'ala Allah don't need you.
Oh Allah, I'm not in need of you,
and I don't necessarily need you on my
side.
I can deal with this on my own
What did the son of nooh alayhis salaam
say to his father?
What was that like that conversation that they
had?
Nooh alayhis salaam saying come on to the
ship come on to the boat and You'll
be protected Be on the side of Allah
and you'll be taken care of even though
you don't get it completely Even if you
don't completely understand what I'm preaching and what
I'm saying and essentially what you What I'm
inviting towards just get on the ship just
gone on get on the side of Allah.
We'll figure it out and he says It's
all good.
I Figured it out.
I know what I need to do.
I'll go on this mountain and this mountain
will take care of me I don't need
God to show me and guide me I
don't need the Quran or the Sunnah to
tell me what it means to be moral
or immoral I don't need that because I've
figured it all out myself because You know,
I'm him as a young people say my
kids taught me that by the way I
have kids like, you know, he's him like
what he's saying Anyway, sorry kids So he
says Allah Kun Alayna Wala Kun Lana Wala
Takun Alayna and and and then when you
look at the beautiful like Tradition of the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
You find these very powerful to us Where
he you know, he's literally asking Allah will
could be now.
I'll see that it'll be with Taqwa Allah.
I Need you to grab me by my
forelock and I need you force me into
submission The Prophet would make this but Allah
forced me into submission because if you leave
me Right for even a moment.
Oh Allah, right Even if you left me
for a moment the destruction that I would
cause would be unimaginable So that's how he
starts this this part of the dua and
then he says Allahumma This He said oh
Allah allow us to conclude our lives with
happiness Allow us to be in a state
of peace and contentment when we leave this
world Right.
How do we end?
How do we how do we?
Experience a beautiful ending.
How do we experiencing ending of happiness, you
know?
Just a few a couple last month or
a couple of months ago my grandfather passed
away may Allah have mercy on his soul
he was 87 years old and When he
passed away it was an extremely beautiful sight
and You're wondering how can death be beautiful?
But death is actually beautiful when you live
a beautiful life.
Your death can be extremely inspiring and beautiful
We were all in the hospital all of
his children His 32 grandchildren and his 27
great-grandchildren all at the hospital all together
in one room and all of us were
just reading zikr and Making and reciting the
final Kalima and in those moments of the
entire room just making dua He peacefully passed
away without anyone realizing that he had passed
away So then you think about how is
it possible for me to have a beautiful
death where I can leave with everyone on
my side Sad about my departure while I
am happy to be reunited with Allah subhanahu
wa'ta'ala How does that happen?
Well, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam teaches
us that he says that Kama tahyyuna tamutun
wa kama tamutuna tahsharun The way you live
is the way you die and the way
you die is the way you'll be resurrected
live a beautiful life And Allah will give
you a beautiful death.
And if Allah gives you a beautiful death
Know for sure that you will have a
beautiful resurrection It comes down to living beautifully.
You can expect to have a happy ending
you can expect to have a beautiful demise
and Returning to Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala in
a state of peace and comfort if you're
not living your life in Accordance to that
idea or that thought so Imam Ghazali.
He says Oh Allah conclude Our lives with
happiness and allow it to be, you know,
and and one of the du'as very
I'm sorry, please You know one of the
du'as of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam and the companions would be Allahumma ja
'al khaira umri aakhirahu, wa khaira amali khawatimahu,
wa khaira ayyami yawma alqaqafi which is Such
a beautiful du'a actually it's narrated that
a Bedouin made the du'a a Villager
was making du'a and the Prophet heard
it and said that is a beautiful du
'a Like the Prophet heard it and I
was like that is amazing.
What did you say?
Oh Allah ja'al khaira umri aakhirahu, make
the last portion of my life the best
portion of my life Why because even if
we messed up in the beginning allow the
end to be beautiful Even if we struggled
Oh Allah allow us to end with beauty
Wa khaira amali khawatimahu and allow the last
deed I perform to be the best deed
of my life you know oftentimes we think
about the scary moment of death coming suddenly
and we ask the question of What will
we be engaged in when death approaches us?
I'm driving and death comes to me while
I'm driving.
What am I doing while I'm driving?
Right, what am I listening to while I'm
driving?
What am I watching as I'm hanging out
or or chilling?
What am I doing?
What if death comes to me in those
moments?
What happens?
Oh Allah make the last deed I perform
in the best deed of my life.
Wa khaira ayyami yawma alqaakafi, in the best
day Oh Allah allow it to be the
day that I meet you and I'm reunited
with you So when Imam Ghazali talks about
Oh Allah allow us to have a beautiful
ending with happiness Imam Ghazali is referring to
this beautiful du'a of the Prophet salallahu
alayhi wa sallam, and then he says wa
haqqiq bi ziyadati a'malana, he says and make
our hopes abundantly real Because we have a
lot of hopes and desires in this world
and then we have a lot of hopes
and desires of the akhira Like we hope
that we can be with the Prophet salallahu
alayhi wa sallam in Jannah We hope that
we can be reunited with our loved ones
in paradise.
We hope we can be successful here We
hope we can be successful there.
Oh Allah whatever our hopes and our desires
are Allow them to come into reality in
fruition right Now it's it's important when we
say this du'a is Oh Allah allow
whatever permissible desires we have to be honored
and fulfilled Because a lot of us have
hopes But those hopes are not in line
with the Quran and Sunnah.
And so when we make this du'a
We're almost making du'a.
Oh Allah, although I have certain hopes I
just need you not to fulfill the hopes
of mine that are not in line with
your beautiful tradition Because if those things come
true, then I've put myself in more difficulty
and challenge so Oh Allah allow All of
my hopes and all of these desires that
I have to be a reality for me
And he says Oh Allah Allow our morning
and evenings to be spent in aafiyah Allow
our day when we wake up and we
go to sleep Every day allow it to
be spent in aafiyah.
You guys know what aafiyah is?
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would say
to the companions Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, ask
Allah for aafiyah, ask Allah for ease, ask
Allah Not to make things difficult for you.
You know, there was a there was a
companion of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
Who actually asked for difficulties like Oh Allah
Let me you know Let me go through
difficulties so my sins can be forgiven because
we're taught in our tradition that even a
prick of a thorn Leads to forgiveness and
elevation.
So a companion is saying Oh Allah just
let me feel all the pain in this
world so I could be forgiven in the
hereafter and The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
said no, that's not the spirit of our
religion If you're tested then you're required to
be patient, but you don't ask for the
test You don't ask Allah to put you
through difficulty.
You ask Allah for ease.
You ask Allah for aafiyah So Oh Allah
allow our mornings and our evenings to be
spent with aafiyah We wake up in the
morning and one of the the the things
that we start our day with is a
dua What do we say Oh Allah we
thank you For this blessing Alhamdulillahi allathee ahyana
ba'dama amatana wa ilayhi nushoor We wake up
in the morning Showing gratitude to Allah for
the opportunity for another day for another chance
for aafiyah you know In the midst of
so much tragedy that we see There's actually
a very powerful hadith where the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam says man asbaha minkum aminan
fee sirbihi mu'aafan fee jasidihi wa indahu
qootu yawmihi ka annama heezat lahu al dunya
The Prophet says the one who wakes up
in the morning like well healthy and In
safety and They have enough food for the
day The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says
that's it's as if they have the entire
dunya.
It's as if they have everything that they
need Waking up healthy waking up in safety
and having enough food for the day.
The Prophet says this my friends is everything
that you need So asking Allah for that
aafiyah Asking Allah so Imam Ghazali is wanting
us to think and when we make dua
to think about how to make dua often
You know Sa'd Safi we struggle with this
idea of what do I ask for I
know you're going for umrah What are the
conversations we often have with our with our
group when we go for umrah is please
do not wing your duas Prepare your duas
Like you're going for umrah.
I don't want you to say like I'm
gonna like whatever comes to my mind I'm
gonna make no actually sit down and think
about what it is that you want to
ask Allah Right be very intentional about every
word you choose I can guarantee you when
we have to give a speech in front
of the entire school at Graduation or when
we have to you know speak in front
of dignitaries What are we gonna?
We're gonna be very careful of every word
we choose after we put it through jets
chat GBT a few times, right?
Well, we're gonna be very careful and mindful
of every word we choose why because we
want to sound eloquent We want to sound
respectful.
We want to sound honorable here, we're standing
and sitting and bowing in front of the
The Lord of the heavens and the earth
Come prepared when you make dua to Allah
subhanahu wa'ta'ala I'm gonna wrap so go
this go through this really quickly actually So
then he says What you are you know,
I'm a Tika Masir on a woman and
a woman I don't know so he says
oh Allah and Entrust our destiny and future
state to your mercy.
Oh Allah allow everything that we experience our
future and everything that is written for us.
Allow it to be Filled with your mercy
Allow your mercy to guide it allow your
mercy to be a part of it Oh
Allah allow us not to experience anything in
the future.
That will be harmful to us So part
of it part of dua is asking Allah
not only for the present but asking for
the future Oftentimes, we're so stuck in the
present that we forget to ask Allah about
tomorrow.
Oh, I want this today All I want
this now all I need this now and
we forget that today's in the past and
you're gonna realize how Yesterday was so so
Insignificant and how we wish we actually prepared
for tomorrow Oftentimes we look back and we
say man I wish I prepared a little
better for tomorrow or next year or you
know, the next phase of my life So
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala is teaching us think
about making dua for your future Not just
your present and this we learn from the
beautiful dua of the Prophets like Ibrahim alayhi
salam When he made dua for his dhuriya,
he made dua for all of his progeny
Oh Allah, not just me and my kids,
but oh Allah my entire progeny Allow them
to be people of faith his vision for
his community How many of us make when
making dua we think about our progeny?
Some of us are like, yeah, I'm not
even married yet.
You talk about my kids and my progeny
I'm not even there but Ibrahim alayhi salam
is thinking about this.
He's making dua about this Even though he
doesn't know how long or how far his
progeny is gonna go And then you have
from his progeny Muhammad Rasul Allah sallallahu alayhi
salam What a powerful dua his dua leads
to having the best of humanity being from
his progeny So make dua for the future
and then he says what's book?
See Jada Africa and he says Oh Allah
pour the vessel of your forgiveness of our
sins.
Oh Allah your forgiveness is more amazing than
our sins your forgiveness is more amazing than
our sins and we learned this theme through
the beautiful Sunnah and the lives of the
prophets when they would say Oh Allah and
And when we learn from the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam that when we come to
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala with sins that reach
the heavens and reach the skies Then then
know in that moment know that Allah subhanahu
wa'ta'ala mercy is far greater than that
That Allah can forgive you well out with
baddie and there's absolutely no burden on Allah
It's simple you could do it in a
moment and it's not difficult for him Nor,
is it something he he finds hard to
do?
Why because he loves forgiveness one of the
One of the statements written on the throne
of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala is In the
Rahmati Taghlibu Ghadabi.
It's actually written.
This is the one rule that Allah has
Allah's not bound by any rules But there's
one rule that he holds himself accountable to
and that is that Verily my mercy will
always overpower my anger and my wrath So
Oh Allah, we ask you to allow your
forgiveness Allow your forgiveness to cover our sins.
Oh Allah if you will not forgive us,
then where do we turn?
Oh Allah, we know that you are the
only one that is a food and that
is Rahim and then he goes on and
There's a lot that can be said about
every single one of these statements by the
way But I want you to think about
how you want to seek forgiveness from Allah
and what words you want to choose to
ask Allah For forgiveness because you can use
these words but I promise you the words
that you choose and you prepare to use
and you Think about as you're making dua
to Allah will be more effective for your
dua And then he goes on When we're
not Alina be Islahi or Yobana and Oh
Allah Grant us correction of our faults that
don't only forgive us because forgiveness isn't enough
what happens when we seek forgiveness But then
like we just continue the sin so Oh
Allah not only allow us to be forgiven,
but allow us to then go further and
Get rid of those sins get rid of
those faults get rid of those evils Now
despite this beautiful dua we learn from the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam a reality That all
of us are facing and that is we
seek forgiveness, but we engage in this and
again right guys You guys agree with that
inshallah.
You guys are all good people.
Mashallah.
That's I'm referring to myself You you you
make us so far, but then you engage
in this and again, so there's a beautiful
tradition where?
Allah says to the angels that this person
sought forgiveness from me and Then committed the
sin and then sought forgiveness for me again
Went back to the sin over and over
again, and then Allah will say to the
angels.
I make you a witness I have forgiven
them and after today no matter what they
do.
They will be forgiven So the angels are
like what what's what's going on here?
And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam teaches us
that the reason that Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala
makes this claim in the statement is that
He knows that his servant Understands that no
one can forgive him or her except Allah
and no matter how many times they fall
and how many times they make a Mistake
they're gonna get right back up seek forgiveness
and continue marching forward So Allah subhanahu wa'ta
'ala loves a person who returns to him
over and over and over again So Allah
cover our sins what you had it tuck
was add an hour will not make taqwa
our provision You know in the discussion of
hajj in the Quran Allah says what a
so what do fa inna khairah zada taqwa
Allah says be people that Take on taqwa
as provision why because it is the best
of provision When you have nothing else when
taqwa is with you you have everything that
you need to allow you to succeed in
this life in the hereafter and Then he
says what feed inika it's the hadena and
oh Allah allow us To really work hard
when our with our Dean Allow us to
really give our Dean in our religion time
Allow us to focus on becoming a better
person and in this statement By the way
We should start asking everything that we need
to make me better make me more punctual
in my Salah Make me more connected to
my dua Allow me to be more fluent
in my recitation of the Quran allow me
to wake up for tahajjud Oh Allah just
you want to go ahead and say allow
the effort that I make Be for the
dunya.
There's a beautiful dua of the Prophet that's
connected to this idea, which is Allahumma da
ta ja'al dunya akbara hummina wala mablaga
ilmina Right that oh Allah don't make the
dunya my greatest concern if the dunya becomes
my greatest concern What does that mean?
It means that the Dean Becomes a smaller
concern and here Imam Ghazali is saying make
dua to Allah that the dunya That the
greatest effort that you make is for the
religion and is for the tradition Wa alayka
tawakkulana wa i'timadina And oh Allah our trust
and our confidence is in you We ask
that you allow us to trust you with
every step we take, you know, they say
trust the process Oh Allah allow us to
trust the process We leave our tawakkul in
you and whatever happens Oh Allah, we know
that you're with us and you're guiding us
through it So this is that first passage.
I know I'm in a little over I
actually wanted him to continue but he was
cooking on high heat as they say So
inshallah, I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna continue
on and just kind of quickly go through
the middle passage I'm gonna let inshallah Shukran
finish us off with the ending which is
an incredibly beautiful dua So in the beginning
in throw in the middle Imam Ghazali Rahim
Allah, he actually says Allahumma Thabitna ala nahajil
istiqamati.
He says Oh Allah set us on the
path of istiqamah.
How do you translate istiqamah guys anybody?
What is istiqamah?
Yeah, very good sticking to something right being
consistent with something.
So subhanallah It's not enough.
Sometimes we ask ourselves like I want the
the ability to be steadfast on what I
do But again, I implore I ask do
you really want it badly if you don't
ask Allah for it Right, like everybody wants
to be patient Everybody wants to be pious
everybody wants to be generous Everybody wants to
be kind and courteous, but you have to
ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala for it It's
not just something that you feel that you
can create yourself I can't find my own
generosity within myself and this is why by
the way modern day Sometimes like the language
we find in modern day jargon It's very
very harmful why because people are made to
believe that like you intrinsically just have these
things, right?
No, you're you're kind you're courageous.
You're you're steadfast deep down No, even if
that may be true Even if you may
have that kind of like fitrah reality everybody
by the way Alhamdulillah Allah has created everybody
with goodness within themselves Yes But it is
not enough just to know that it lays
dormant within you You have to really ask
for it.
It's like when a person asks for help,
right?
Would you is there possibly somebody that can
walk by you and see that you're in
a time of need and you need help
and They can kind of just like find
it in themselves to help you sure But
what's the better manner the better manner is
I ask for the help, right?
Anybody ever been lost before and like a
grocery store or like a store or whatever
it may be and you're like Yeah, I
can just walk around Ikea for the next
two and a half hours.
There's no problem, right?
But then the person who's humble They're down
-to-earth They find it within themselves to
find that weird striped yellow and black shirt,
and they're like, hey Where are your spoons?
Can you find it amongst all of your
couches?
Right like so you subhanAllah the person who's
humble they ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala for
it, right?
It's the calamity and then it says the
Imam Ghazali's dua that he gets from the
Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam He says well,
I have enough it dunya min muji batty
nadamati yom al-qiyamati He says and protect
us in the world from causes of regret
in the day of judgments How many people
subhanAllah raise of hands how many people have
regrets in their life raise of hands?
Now, I know who the liars are.
I'm just kidding.
So SubhanAllah, there should not be one person
in this entire hall that has their hand
down.
I Have regrets.
I don't know man has regrets Instead of
the Rahman when he teaches Heartwork on Monday
nights every human being has regrets in their
life, right?
the difference is some regrets are crippling and
we never learn from them and Some regrets
we ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to allow
us to learn from them What is the
famous hadith the prophets when he said that
a believer is not bitten from the same
hole twice?
Why is that hadith so powerful because it
teaches you that although that that first moment
you got bit Yes, it's a regretful moment.
But only is it regretful if the second
time you don't learn from it, right?
So every mistake you made and qari no
man reflected on the idea of mistakes of
the noob of sins But sins are there
and subhanAllah.
We got a powerful question.
I believe it was last time or maybe
the past Saturday Q&A How do I
know that how do I reconcile the idea
of sins when I sometimes learn from them,
right?
Like the mistake that I made maybe I
missed so many Salawat in my life now
in order to appreciate it now For me
personally, I don't think I think two truths
can exist at the same time You can
regret something but still actually learn from that
regret in your life, right?
I can regret the fact that I missed
so many beautiful moments of my life But
I can also take that moment of regret
and learn from it as well.
I can appreciate my Salah that much more,
right?
so that part the the Dua is asking
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala from protecting you from
in the world from causes of regret on
the day of Judgment and the regret on
the day of judgment will only be the
regret that you never actually learned from If
you learn from a regret in your life
And hamdulillah Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala allowed like
qari no man mentioned that your ending was
something that was good You learn from that
even that moment of weakness, okay But the
type of regrets that he's talking about here
is a type of regret that you never
come to terms with You never reflect on
it.
And this is why by the way subhanAllah
I want to share a personal piece of
brotherly advice.
Don't run away from your mistakes Don't run
away from your problems Y'all know the
whole like flight or fight like psychology thing
Where certain people when they see like a
conflict in front of them They just run
they flee as the Muslims who don't flee
like that Even if it's something that's difficult
for us to own up to we actually
address it head-on That maybe there's some
sort of hate from it, right?
And so then Imam Ghazali he continues and
he says Well, cough if I'm not thick
of that.
Oh, sorry He says and lighten the weight
of our sins subhanAllah.
Does he say nullify our sins?
He says well cough this Make it light,
you know subhanAllah sometimes like when you go
to a friend and you're like, yeah, I
messed up real bad and The friends like
what did you do?
And you're like I did this and this
and this and this right?
Some of you guys have friends were like
even if they murdered somebody but yeah, not
a big deal but subhanAllah think about going
to a friend and telling them you did
some crazy stuff and The friend saying oh,
you know what?
It's okay.
We'll figure it out.
We'll figure it out Well, I had a
team guys.
This is the type of response you want
from Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala on the Day
of Judgment Allahumma hasibna Hisabain yaseera.
Oh Allah do not take us to account
Give us an easy accounting Don't nitpick at
every small thing that I've done Khuffif lighten
the the burden from us the sins will
be heavy But subhanAllah look what Allah subhanahu
wa'ta'ala says in the Quran Right that
even the mountains on on that day Kala
'ahni'l-manfush They will be like cotton.
So if Allah has the ability to turn
mountains into cotton What do you think that
your sins will look like in front of
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala if he wants to
forgive them?
So ask Allah for the lightening of your
sins and then he says Wa arzuqna eeshata
al-abrari He says and endow us with
the way of life.
That is Befitting of you ya Allah Make
everything that I do it in my life
pleasing to you Ya Allah do not allow
the way that I spend my days to
be displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala You're
asking Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to be pleased
with your days To be pleased with the
way that you spend your money to be
pleased with the way that you go to
class to be pleased With your social hangouts.
I mean guys subhanAllah think about this Sometimes
we trivialize a lot of the circumstances in
our lives and we say oh, yeah It
was just a hangout with a friend It
was two hours that like, you know, this
the spot share tea or your gong shower,
whatever it is, right not big deal But
what if those two hours were extremely pleasing
to Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala and what about
the opposite?
what if those two hours were two hours
in which you sat and you back bit
and you You talked about people in a
way that was displeasing to Allah so never
make too light Something that could be heavy
Okay, every moment is a chance to gain
the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala and
then he says something very powerful He says
well, okay Now what a sort of an
a shudder al-ashrari He says and restrain
us from and avert from us the evil
of the wicked Again, Allah does not say
that there will not be evil Evil will
be there evil will exist.
How many people in here subhanAllah have ever
had Conversations with people who may not believe
in any sort of religion and they're like
well if there is a god Why is
there evil in the world?
Y'all ever heard that before?
Yeah, if there is a god then why
is there people that rob and murder and
pillage?
Why are there people that do so many
evil things in the dunya as a believer?
You never believe that there is not there's
not evil in the dunya.
The evil is what makes the dunya the
dunya If there was no evil in this
dunya, you'd are be in Jannah You're already
be there you already made it but a
part of the dunya is to accept that
evil exists But what is the dua?
The dua is wa aqfina, sorry The dua
is wa aqfina wa asrif anna sharra al
-ashrari.
The dua is Oh Allah Restrain us and
avert us Never allow me to be a
part of that evil Never allow me to
be the the thing that I hated y
'all ever heard that phrase before never allow
me to be what I hate So when
you look at Gaza you look at Palestine
you look at the oppressors over there Never
up never become the oppressor in your own
life La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah
Think about the same people who make dua
to free the people of Palestine are Sometimes
the same people that are oppressing people in
their own families La hawla wa la quwwata
illa billah Ask Allah to protect you from
ever being something that you actually see that
is wrong around you The final part of
this dua is extremely powerful He says here
He then asks Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala Oh
Allah Free free and release our necks and
the necks of our fathers our mothers our
brothers and sisters from hellfire Can I share
one thing really with you guys before I
turn it over to Ghayn Oman?
This part of the dua is a reminder
to you and me to make dua for
your family Make dua for your family Sometimes
you know subhanAllah we think to ourselves Where
would we be if it wasn't for that
one dua of my mom?
And I'll tell you something you have made
more your mother has made more dua for
you than you can ever make up She
has spent hours making dua for you over
her own self Spent a little bit of
time making dua for your family members and
at the end.
He says the rahmatika Yeah, as he's yeah,
but far Only by your mercy.
Yeah, as he's yeah, but far only by
your mercy Allah You are the greatest and
you are look up for you are the
one who forgives and then he says yeah
Kareem Yes, that's our he says.
Oh the one who is the most noble.
Yes, that's our yes That's our is actually
very beautiful because Imam Ghazali Rahim Allah what
he's talking about here Yes, that's our is
the one who actually hides your sins so
after you kind of Vent to Allah about
how many sins you have and like are
you no man mentioned the idea of correcting
ourselves from those sins?
You're calling Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala.
Yes, that's our the one who hides the
sins It's like confessing to your friend that
you did something and then you tell your
friend.
Hey, please keep this between me and you
You know that level of trust that you
have with that person when you say hey
This is between me and you some of
you guys been burned by the way I
can tell on your faces, but when you
tell somebody hey keep this between me and
you When you tell that to Allah subhanahu
wa'ta'ala, is there any doubt in your
mind that Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala will honor
you?
Subhanallah.
Allah is the one who wants to conceal
your sins We are the ones who actually
expose each other's sins.
Unfortunately, I read a villa.
We talked to other people Hey, did you
hear what they did?
Did you hear what she said?
Did you hear what he did?
Allah is the one that tries to conceal
it from people, right?
So ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala for that.
Yeah, I mean, yeah Jabbar, he says Oh
all-knowing and yeah Jabbar the one who
is capable of all things, right?
And so again, you notice how this dua
finishes with a beautiful kind of call-out
to all of the sifat of Allah subhanahu
wa'ta'ala all of the names of Allah
subhanahu wa'ta'ala You know when you go
to your parents or if you go to
a friend and you're like, hey Like you're
so so beautiful today Just so nice.
MashaAllah, right?
Like every time I talk to you, I
feel nice and warm Like what are you
doing at that moment?
You are talking to that person why because
you are telling them the things that you
love about them So when you speak to
Allah the lesson at the end of this
dua is never speak to Allah subhanahu wa'ta
'ala Purely from what you want.
Tell Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala why you love
him Ya rahmatika, ya rahmarrahimin, ya aziz, ya
ghaffar, ya jabbar, ya sattar, ya alim All
of these are our sifat, the descriptions of
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala that he lives up
to Okay, so involve those in your duas.
InshaAllah Qari Sahib, you want to finish up
with the last one?
InshaAllah, beautiful reflections on Safi You know as
we say the names of Allah subhanahu wa'ta
'ala in our duas We're taught to use
the names that are connected to the specific
need that we have so if we're asking
Allah to cover us and not expose our
sins because of you know, the The darkness
around the evil that we've committed.
Oh Allah, ya sattar, forgive and cover our
sins So use the name that is relevant
to the ask that you have and then
he ends the last Concluding lines of the
text.
He says, ya allahu, ya allahu, ya Allah
It's like at the end of making after
all the dua, you're just like ya Allah
It's just I'm here and I need you
almost with a sense of desperation That if
you don't accept this then there is nowhere
that we can go.
Ya Allah, ya Allah, ya Allah The beautiful
name of Allah the most beautiful name of
Allah is Allah There is nothing that you
can use that's more powerful than that unique
name of Allah So make a habit of
saying that name often He says, ya rahmatika,
ya arham arrahimeen Almost by by your mercy.
Oh Allah We ask you by your mercy.
We seek from you by your mercy.
Ya arham arrahimeen The one the most merciful
of those who show mercy Allah is the
one who shows the most mercy And the
first of all those who came Allah is
the first with no one that came before
him And the last of all.
Allah will be the end No one will
be after him on the last day.
What will Allah command?
For the trumpet to be blown and for
everything to be destroyed on that day when
everything is Everything has perished.
He will say, li manil mulkul yawm Who
does all of what you own in the
world belong to today?
Where is it all?
Allah will ask this question when nobody is
around Lillahi al-wahid al-qahharinan Allah will
respond himself as a reality that all of
this belongs to Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala And
then he says, ya dhal quwwati al-mateen
And oh Allah Referring to Allah subhanahu wa'ta
'ala as The one who has the most
power.
Oh Allah who is the Lord of power
Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala who has might.
That Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala who can forgive
us and who can change the course of
our lives.
Wa ya arham al-masakeen.
And the one who shows the most mercy
to Those who are struggling, to those who
are homeless, to those who are poor This
is who Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala has most
mercy on, the needy Who all shows mercy
upon the needy?
Now you're thinking that way, the needy don't
have anything It doesn't really seem like Allah's
being merciful upon them No, Allah is the
one that shows him the most mercy The
reality is that we've neglected the needy and
we've forgotten the needy and we've turned our
backs on the needy When everyone else has
forgotten the poor and the weak and the
downtrodden, Allah is with those people That is
why the Prophet says to us that you
will find me with those people.
You will find me in their presence And
then he says Wa ya arham al-rahimeen.
And oh the most merciful of those who
show mercy La ilaha illa anta subhanaka inni
kuntu min al-zalimeen He then brings the
du'a of Yunus alayhis-salam, the famous
du'a of Yunus when he was Swallowed
by the whale and Yunus alayhis-salam repeated
over and over and over again this du
'a La ilaha illa anta.
Oh Allah, there is no deity.
There is no God except you Subhanak, glory
be to you.
Inni kuntu min al-zalimeen.
I've wronged myself.
I've oppressed myself This du'a here, this
du'a of Yunus is a du'a
that I encourage everybody to recite regularly Anybody
who comes to me and says I need
a du'a for some challenges that I'm
experiencing.
I say recite the du'a of Yunus
Because it truly is a du'a that
opens doors for a person And then he
concludes wa sallallahu ala sayyidina Muhammad wa alihi
wa sahbihi ajma'een And may Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala Send his salutations and may
Allah bless the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
His family, his companions And then he says
walhamdulillahi rabbil alameen and all praise is due
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala The Lord
of the worlds.
He started the book With alhamdulillah and he
ends and he concludes his book and this
letter with alhamdulillah because for all of us
We start with the praise of Allah and
we end with the praise of Allah.
When we make du'a This is actually
one of the etiquettes that we start with
the praise of Allah We move to sending
salutations upon the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
and when we're wrapping up our du'a
we conclude with salawat upon the Prophet and
then we Thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
for everything that he has and with that
we Conclude this beautiful text.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that
he allows it to be a source of
forgiveness for us Allow it to be a
source of acceptance on behalf of its teacher
and all of the students that have been
benefiting May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Allow
us to implement all the beautiful advice that
has been shared by Imam Ghazali Allow us
to truly connect to Allah at a spiritual
level May Allah guide us and protect us
Allow us to achieve all that which we
hope to accomplish in this life and allow
us to Work towards greater success of the
hereafter.
May Allah protect us from harm and evil
May Allah protect us from loss and may
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala have mercy on
our parents May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
Reunite us with our loved ones.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us
to strengthen the ties of kinship May Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala put Baraka in our
health and our wealth May Allah forgive our
loved ones who have passed on and may
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us for
any shortcomings In the study of this book
and may Allah accept the good of it
and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow
us to continue with our growth and our
learning and allow us to be consistent in
Attending all of these beautiful gatherings of remembrance
Oh Allah We ask you to bless us
with all the beautiful things that the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would ask for and
protect us from all The evil that the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is a protection
from subhana rabbi karbal izzati yama yasifoon wa
salamun ala al mursaleen walhamdulillahi rabbil alameen Barakallahu
feekum wa satsafi.
Jazakallahu khairan for teaching us.
Give a takbir for shaykh Give a round
of applause for him as well This is
I literally just went through Imam Ghazali's text
with you guys, so hum there's not it
was nothing for me We were literally reading
line by line.
Alhamdulillah Qari Noman masha'Allah for joining us
tonight.
Alhamdulillah We are going to be concluding soul
food for the year tonight inshallah because in
two days I'm leaving for the holy city
of Medina inshallah ta'ala.
I'm gonna keep all of you guys in
my doors inshallah wallah I remember you guys
very very vividly in my mind, even if
I don't know your name I know your
face so even when I'm at the Kaaba
I'm going to be making dua that oh
Allah Bless the person that was wearing this
that night and look like this that night
so inshallah It's going to be something that
is going to be very close to me
as I travel to the holy cities inshallah
So we're going to take a break inshallah
Next week we're not gonna have soul food.
We're going to kick back up inshallah the
Thursday after okay So it's going to be
I believe around New Year's like I think
it's like January 1st or so So inshallah,
we're gonna be picking back up on the
second and the next series is actually going
to be Profound duas from the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam and the other prophets leading
up to Ramadan Because Ramadan will be in
two months after we get back So the
next series is going to be the duas
of the prophets inshallah And how they can
lead us into the holy month of Ramadan
So this was just a little bit of
a teaser trailer mashallah the Qari Noman didn't
even know he was a part of so
Now he knows alhamdulillah So inshallah make dua
for Sheikh Noman and his family make dua
for each other and alhamdulillah Jazakumullahu khairan everybody
for being a part of this inshallah.
We'll see you guys in two weeks inshallah
All right assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh salatul isha is
going to be in about two minutes over
on the Qalam masjid side So inshallah, I
encourage everyone to go over and pray salah
in congregation.
Jazakumullahu khairan guys.
Assalamualaikum