Safi Khan – Soul Food for College Students – Dear Beloved Son #5
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Okay, sha Allah
Bismillahi Alhamdulillah as Salatu was salaam ala Rasulillah wa Allah
Ali. He was habihi AJ Marin Assalamu alaikum. Warahmatullahi,
wabarakatuh,
Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen a
So alhamdulillah, you guys had a really great opportunity last week
to learn from Ustad Mahmood, who Masha Allah is our new teacher,
our new staff member. Here in the roots community. We're really
blessed to have him. Masha Allah, he was gracious enough to come and
fill in for me and mashallah do a much better job than I do on a
weekly basis. And you guys also know him from running head first
on the glass doors. Was a joke
here. I'm kidding. He's gonna watch the live stream and kill me
after this is over, actually. But Masha Allah, he's a very good
friend of mine, Alhamdulillah, and I'm sure you guys got to witness
his ability to teach and reflect with everybody. Masha Allah, so
really, really blessed to have you know, had him at the program
Inshallah, and then for sure, for sure, I know that he's going to be
more and more frequent on Thursday nights, and it'll be a great kind
of, you know, just presence to have Alhamdulillah here on a
weekly basis. So
I was out of town last Thursday. I was in San Francisco, and our car
did not get robbed, actually, which is surprising, right?
Everyone was like, you're always please, please just leave the
doors unlocked and make sure you take everything out of the car.
Alhamdulillah. There was no car jackings or robbings. It was okay.
It was also 70 degrees all week. So when I landed in DFW on
Saturday, I really felt like the Gates of a glimpse of Jahannam
were opened when
I, when I, when I got into the jet bridge and I felt the draft of the
oven air, you know, guys, I'm talking about, like, when you open
an oven after cooking like 400 degrees, you just open that oven
just blasts at your face. My wife and I were just kind of shocked,
like, my god, what's happening? And then I realized it's Dallas,
Texas. So it was it was it was it was it was, it was an interesting
Alhamdulillah, but it was a beautiful trip. Got to see some
really fascinating things. How many of you guys been to Northern
California? Everybody? Anybody here been to North Cal? Are you
from there? MashAllah San Fran,
okay. Mashallah, good, good, good, very good. Yeah. We went to some
really, really, I mean, it's a very beautiful place, actually, if
you like, get away from, like, the actual city, and go towards the
more kind of, like nature spots. I mean, it's very hard to beat
actually, we went to this beautiful state park called Moyer
state park, or mower woods. Saw these redwood trees that are
basically, like, you know, 1015, feet wide and, like, 300 feet tall
in the air.
And even regardless seeing that stuff, my daughter still wanted
lollipops and stare to the ground. So it was just like it was, it was
a very it was an existential experience, because I was trying
to enjoy it. And then I realized I had a two year old with me, and
she tried everything to do to make me not enjoy it. Alhamdulillah,
she did have a good time. By the end of the trip, she wanted to go
to the to the beach. Every single day, I saw whales for the first
time in my life, just in the water. They were just swimming and
coming up from on top of the water and just, you know, grabbing at
the birds that were flying above. It was such a crazy sight,
honestly. Um.
Just incredible Alhamdulillah overall. And I encourage anybody
this is why, by the way, you know the ardma, they talk about this
oftentimes in books about the beauty and the blessing of
traveling. You get to try when you travel, you get to experience so
much, right in a day and age where everything can be automized and
easily accessible through internet and whatever, and the comfort of
your home and from your phone, there's just a much different
experience traveling somewhere and experiencing something with your
own eyes and ears and just your your entire self, right? When
people come to roots, or even to Dallas in general, Kalam roots,
even Valley Ranch or, you know, East plain Islamic center, people
say that, like, I've watched these videos from my home for like,
years. They've seen like, the angle from like the teacher's
chair, and like they've seen pictures of the the space. But
when they come in person, it's a whole different experience, right?
Things that we find very normal as people that are blessed to be here
every single week, how many of you guys, like, just take a moment and
realize that Alhamdulillah roots smells really good, you know,
like, that's, by the way, that's a lot of the first people's
experience that they tell me about when they come into roots. Like,
what's that smell? Because usually, and it's kind of sad to
admit that, like, a lot of our Islamic community experiences, is
is associated with really weird scents, right? You walk into,
like, you walk into a mush of their communities, and you're
like, Why does it smell like, like, like, like, sour cream and
onion chips in here? Like, you know, it's just a weird
observation. But then you come to a place that actually cares about
the experience, and you really Subhanallah and but you know, like
that associative, you know, like the good experience through
association, like when you when you smell something nice, like the
experience around you just feels nicer. When you see something
beautiful, the experience around you seems more nice or more
pleasant. So, like, this is a reality, right? And so there's a
huge blessing in traveling, experiencing things for yourself,
in person, seeing things, hearing things, witnessing things,
Alhamdulillah, it's, it's a it's a blessing. So
Mahmoud mashaAllah, last week went through with you guys essentially
the entire chapter about the topic of of Amal of actions, right? He
ended with something really powerful, which was a quote from
Hassan Al Basri. Hassan Al Basri RAM Allah, he mentioned a
statement here that's up on the screen. And he said that Allah
subhanahu wa will say to his ibad, his his his servants on the day of
judgment that allow my servants to enter paradise and divide by My
Mercy, the rahmati by My Mercy, and divide my mercy amongst them
according to their deeds. Now something powerful about this
particular statement of Hassan Al Basri is that he mentions that
Allah subhanahu wa says, UD Hulu jannata, birakmati, enter
Paradise, biramati, by my mercy. And we're going to talk about this
today, actually, furthermore, which is that no one can attain
paradise without the Mercy of Allah subhanahu wa. This is
actually completely and utterly true. There's no one, and we
actually spend and if you guys remember the series, before the
DUA series, we did an entire series called the maheja fesha,
right, which basically is the reality of an understanding and
knowing the journey to Allah, knowing that noone can attain
paradise based upon their deeds alone. Right, that your admittance
into paradise is based off of the Mercy of Allah, Subhanahu wa first
and foremost, before anything else before your nefs convinces you
that you worked hard, that you prayed a lot, that you fasted a
lot, that you donated a lot, that you made a lot of dua. Know that
none of those things would matter in the slightest unless you
actually believe and rely upon Allah subhanahu wa and that, in
and of itself, will be the admittance ticket into Jannah for
you. Okay? But then he says, waqim, waksimu ha bekadari,
amelikum, he says, and divide it amongst them according to their
deeds. Okay? So the Mercy will get you into paradise, but the
divvying up of that mercy will depend upon the good that you did
now that you're in your the Mercy of Allah, subhanho wa Taala will
be divided up and given to you according to your amale, your
deeds that you strived, that you worked so hard to do. Right? So I
wanted to actually share something that's very powerful here, because
this is another evidence from the life of the Prophet salallahu.
He was salam that proves this. Okay. The Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wasallam one time he said, it will be said to the companion
of the Quran. Ahlul, Quran, the people who often recited the Quran
recite and ascend as you recited in the world. Verily, your rank is
determined by the last verse that you recite. What is this? What
does Hadith mean? It means that your maqam, your rank, will be
decided by the recitation and the beautification and the attention
that you paid to the Quran. And again, the Prophet saw some is
using the example of the Quran to illustrate to us the beauty of the
Quran. But what is a more macro level observation of this hadith,
which is that the recitation, the action you engage with the Quran
with, is going to be something that plays a factor into high, how
high of a level you ascend to right the Mercy of Allah gets you
in. And your deeds, your actions, they determine your level, your
maklam, right? Because even in Jannah, y'all, I know how many of
us. I mean, I know. I know this thought has come across your mind,
because it's come across my mind. You're like, if I'm into Jannah,
I'm in. I don't care what level I'm at, pro or I don't care if
it's seven. I heard there's seven of them. I don't care if it's
seven. I don't care if it's three or one. I'm in. I'm in. No, no.
No. Once you get to Jannah, you want the best of it. Rob banner,
Tina, fiddunya, hasana,
wafirati hasana, what does that dua mean? Wafil akhirati hasana, I
want the best of the akhira as well. Like yes, seven levels of
paradise exist. Why would you not want the highest level? Have
you guys ever read narrations of the highest levels of paradise
that you will be able to see Allah, Azza wa jal,
who would not want that, who would not want to be a part of that
company. The highest levels of Paradise will be inhabited by the
enbiya, the prophets of Allah, subhanho wa Taala will be occupied
by the Messenger of Allah, sub Allahu, alaihi wasallam himself,
who would not want to be in that company. Don't settle. Don't
settle. Aim for the highest level. You know, when it comes to
Subhanallah, and it's very weirdly reflective, right? You know, when
we when it comes to the dunya, we have all these aspirations of
being excellent and being the best and being the highest in our class
and the highest in our jobs and whatever. But when it comes to
Deen, we're very okay just making it. We're just kind of like
crawling, getting somewhere, but that's all that we want. No, no,
know that Allah has given you the capacity to achieve the best Allah
has given you the capacity to achieve the best. Don't think that
Allah has only given you the capacity to do the bare minimum.
The highest level of Jannah, Allah would have told us, or the Prophet
SAW, some would have told us, that it is only attainable by the
prophets and those who are close to the prophets. No, no, the
seventh, the highest level of paradise, is attainable by us.
Here
you can attain it. Jannah has no limits,
and it's for you. You just have to ask yourself, Do I want the
highest levels? Do I want the best of the best? Right? So, something
to think about. So then, in the next chapter, Imam Al Ghazali,
Rahim Allah, he begins to talk about the idea of something that,
if anybody's writing down some jotting some notes down. It's a
topic called in Arabic, muhasabah. Muhasabah, the word muhasaba, is
translated easily out to the idea of self evaluation and self
accountability. Okay, how many of us ever raise of hands have had to
hold ourselves accountable for something or the other?
Okay? Good. No one's going to check in on you. No one's going to
you know, be you know, next to you your entire life, and hold your
hand and walk you through every single situation in life. There's
a certain point in every adult's life where they have to take
accountability and evaluate who they are and what they do, right
and a lot of times. And I'm going to say it because I was, I was a
product of this, you know, the education system in America and,
like, grade school really sets you up to fail a lot, like they tell
you to go to, you know, your classes in high school, and
they're like, Okay, so here's woodworking. And you know, like,
here you go, time to go to chemistry and biology and
calculus. And that when you get to college, you're like, how do you
not know how to apply for FAFSA? And you're like, because, what is
that? What is FAFSA, right? What is money? And you have to learn a
lot of things for yourself, and in a weird way, sometimes being
thrown into the lions den is the best way to learn, right? How many
of us, like, as soon as we got into the academic life of a
college student, did you finally realize, like, oh my god, I'm on
my own here, right? I gotta figure this out. My mother by the my
mother and father, no matter how mashallah, you know, they help so
much. My.
My siblings and I have to figure out a lot of college experiences
on our own. Right? There's a lot of things that you have to hold
yourself accountable for, because no one's going to hold your hand
and walk you through that experience your entire time. You
have to figure out how to do things on your own. This is the
idea of accountability, of responsibility, of being able to
evaluate yourself and see if you what you are doing is right or
wrong. How many of us let's, let's, let's, let's think really,
really intrusively. How many of us have had to learn, or are still
learning, or even getting to the cusp of learning, how to hold
myself accountable for my thoughts before I act right? Like I have to
think twice before I do something I can't just do things. You know,
a lot of times we have this tendency to act impulsively. That
impulse syndrome is huge with some of us. We do now and then we for
we think about it later. And how many times has that ended us in
very, very difficult situations? Somebody asks, did you not think
about what you're what you were doing? Did you not like,
calculate, like, what the outcomes and the circumstances of the that
would be after that certain decision that you made, and you
realize you're like, oh my gosh, I didn't think it was that deep.
That's like, the whole statement, right? What happened to I was that
deep? No, no, it was that deep. You just didn't stop and think
about it before you did it. And we'll talk about this inshallah.
In this chapter that Imam Al huzai, he mentions that there's so
many things that have consequences. Small decisions that
you make will have consequences that are much greater than you
think. Me deciding to come home at seven or at 11 have differences in
outcome. Me deciding to smile at somebody and not and and not frown
at them, or vice versa, frown at somebody instead of smiling at
them. Will have consequences. Me holding the door open or not
holding the door open for somebody will have consequences, whether
you like it or not, whether you like it or not. Now we're not
talking about Islam being a religion that promotes anxiety in
your thoughts, right? There's the opposite of this, where people get
so bogged down about what they do that they can't even live a life
of peace and tranquility, because they're always thinking about, Oh
my God, what are they going to think? What's he going to say?
What's she going to say? What's Baba going to think tonight?
Right? Like, I get that's also unhealthy. There is a middle
though. Allah subhanho wa Taala said that we have made you om
Matan wasatallah, we've made you a balanced nation for a reason, so
that you see the middle path between every harsh extreme.
You're able to appreciate the middle there's a middle path here,
and we'll talk about this inshallah today. Okay, so the
first thing that Imam Al hazali, he mentions here, he says, Malam
Tamil Lam. He says Malam talam, lam tajidilah. He says he who does
not work will have no reward. He sets a very baseline statement. He
says, the person that does not work, a person Malam Tam, they do
not work. They're not going to have a reward. What does that
mean? You are going to yield the reward of your hard work only if
you put in that hard work. Islam is a religion of people who work
extremely hard. Y'all, we're not a religion of people who are lazy.
This idea of Kesel, this idea of laziness, is not something that
the Prophet, sallAllahu, alayhi wa sallam, ever, ever, ever
encouraged in his community. Yeah, no, man, it's okay. Just lay in
bed. You'll be fine, right? It's okay. Tomorrow will happen. You
can do Kabbalah. No, the prophet encouraged. He lit a fire under
people. Get up. Man, get up. How many of us, by the way, and I can
tell you, this is true, how many of us have like, taken that weird,
like, day off or two days off, or three days off that turned into a
week off and then two weeks off and we realized, like, Dude, where
did my time go, and you feel like you're wasting away. You feel like
you're just kind of like, slowly but surely, kind of decaying, and
you're like, I haven't done anything all week. Why? Because a
person who hits the bed at night after a hard day's work, how good
does that sleep feel? Y'all,
it feels good,
right? It feels good. Wajarna, Noma, kumsubata, Allah, Subhanahu
wa Tara has made sleep a form of rest. Why? Because that rest is
supposed to slap, supposed to hit hard. Why? Because you've earned
it. You've earned it. Now, contrary to a person who doesn't
do much with their day, they don't do much with their time. They go
and hit the bet at night, and what happens,
bro, that random dude on your Tiktok for you page shows up and
tells you it's time to put the phone away.
When Kevin comes on your phone for you, page, you're like, Man, I got
some issues. Bro. I have problems even the.
App is telling me to slow down a little bit.
There's a huge issue with that, because we are up, our bodies, our
minds, our hearts haven't actually been pushed today.
We rested too hard. There's a way to rest but still be productive.
I'm telling you, there is you can still rest and be productive. But
Imam Al Ghazali, he says, A person who does not work, they will not
have a reward, okay? And then he says, he he shares a narration. He
says, hokkiah, Anna rajulan, fibani Israel, there was an
account of a man from the Bani Israel who worship ABA dala Sabi
Aina, sinatan, Sanatan. He says that there was a man from the Bani
Israel who worshiped Allah subhanho wa Taala for 70 years.
Guys, 70 years, he worshiped Allah subhanahu wa if I told you, think
about this, if I told you somebody worshiped Allah subhanahu wa 70
years, what would you say about like, their spiritual state?
Oh, it's beautiful. It's beautiful. It's amazing. This man
was a person who's close to God, he's close to Allah subhanahu wa,
right? And so then it says that Allah subhanahu wa intended to
test him before the angels. In front of the angels, okay
for Salah, for Allah, He melakan Yok BaRu Hu so he sent an angel to
tell him that Anna humaraty, la YALI, said that you did not meet
the merit of paradise, even with all of your worship, basically all
of your 70 years of worship, you did not you will not receive the
merit of paradise. You will not attain Jannah. Okay, so when the
angel informed him of this, the angel told this man that even
after 70 years of worship, you didn't make paradise.
This man, he replies to this angel, he says,
Well, we were created for worship. That's all we were told to do.
That's Allah subhanahu wa told us to do that again. We have not
created Wallach to Al Jinnah, well, INSA, Illa, Abu Dun, we've
only been commanded to worship Allah subhanahu wa. So then the
angel said, Okay, and so he returned back to Allah subhanahu
wa and Allah subhanahu wa, he asked the angel, what did he say?
And again, by the way, whenever Allah azza wa jal, he asks, like
an angel, a question, Oh, what did this person say? Or what did that
person say? How did they react? The Allah azza wa jal is not
asking because of lack of knowledge. Now, rabbilla, Allah
subhanahu wa is asking out of rhetoric, what did my abd tell
you, Oh Angel, what did he say? And so the angel, he tells Allah,
Subhanahu wa you know best. And this is the etiquette, by the way,
and you'll find this to be an etiquette of every Sahaba, every
Sahabi that was around the Prophet saw them. Whenever the Prophet saw
somebody, used to ask them questions, they would always
respond, Allahu wa, rasuluhu, aalamu, Allah and His Messenger
always know better than me. And so it is the etiquette of the angels
as well. So when Allah would ask the angels a question, the angels
would respond, oh, Allah, You know best. Allahu Alam, Allah knows
best, okay? And so at this point, Allah, Subhanahu wa, he would say
back to this angel. He would say to him that,
since he did not turn away from worshiping Me, then with the same
grace, I will not turn away from Him
because He knew His worship was the beginning of his salvation. I
am not going to turn away from him. Just know that
worship is the foundation of everything in your life.
It is the meaning behind your actions. I'll give you guys an
easy example here. What is the difference between a person who
does not believe in God and they donate $100 and a person who
believes in Allah azza wa jal and they donate $100 what's the
difference? The difference is that the person who believes in Allah
subhanahu wa, they are donating $100 Inshallah, with the thought
that I'm doing this for Allah and Allah alone,
I'm doing this for Allah and Allah alone, I would do this whether
that person needed $100 or not. Yes, is there a human element of
trying to help people? Of course, there is. The human being becomes
happy.
When they see somebody benefiting from their generosity. But is that
the only thing that drives you? And I'll give you an example of
this. I kind of tripped some people out with this today, by the
way, or not today yesterday. Because how many of y'all raise of
hands have ever heard the argument that we fast because we want to
sympathize with those who are less fortunate than us. Raise your
hands. Very good. It's almost every single person in here. So
here's a question,
would the command to fast in the month of Ramadan be lifted if
there were no Miss scheme on this planet,
there was noone who was hungry on this planet, would you have to
fast still? Absolutely you would.
Kutiba, ali kumus,
kama, kutiba, ALA, Amin, Kabul, tatakon,
the goal of fasting is always to La Allah come Tata Kun, so that
you may be more conscious of Allah. Subhanho wa taala, Allah
Allah didn't say fast so that you can feel what the hungry feel
like. No, no, because if there were no hungry people, you would
still fast,
because that's what you were supposed to do as a believer.
Everything you do is to connect to Allah before any other tertiary
reason.
I pray. Why? Because I want to connect to Allah subhanahu wa
before, prayer is a form of discipline for me. So by the way,
I've heard of this stuff. Some people like, I pray because, like,
it really helps me, like, manage my day. Habibi, what if it didn't
help you manage your day?
Would you abandon Salat? No.
What? About zakat? Zakat? Would you stop giving zakat? If, if no
one needed it, no you would still give zakat. Why? Because zakat
purifies your purifies your wealth. This is why we do what we
do.
So this ever imposing question when people ask, Well, why can't I
just do good things? Why can't I go to Paradise, if I'm just a good
person? Because the word good is actually very, very subjective.
How many of you all have thought of something to be good 10 years
ago now no longer, it's good anymore. Or how many of us thought
something was bad 20 years ago and now we're like, it's not that bad.
Good
and bad is very subjective to the human experience, right? But what
doesn't change? Connecting to Allah.
You will connect to Allah whether you're 14, whether you're 40 or
whether you're 80, your connection with Allah, Subhanahu wa always be
a thing. It will never change. Your Salah will still be a thing,
whether you're a 15 or whether you're 50. That will never change,
right? So, but to display Allah's immense mercy, Allah, He says,
because this abd of mine didn't turn away from me, I will not turn
away from Him. And he says, Oh, my angels, ya Mala ikati. O My angels
bear witness that I have forgiven him.
Forgiveness is through ibadah, through worship, attaining the
height and the Maqam and the stations and the ranks of Jannah
depend upon your actions. Okay, so then the Prophet, sallAllahu
alayhi wa sallam says something powerful. Okay, wakala rasulallahu
alayhi wa sallam, by the way, just a correction here. Imam Al qazali,
ramullah is way more qualified than me that I could ever be. But
I will say one thing, there are narrations that mention that this
is actually not a statement of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, that this was actually a statement of Umar ibn hat, Abu
Radi Allahu an, because by the by word in Arabic is actually the
exact same thing. So I have a feeling that is actually more of
the statement of Amarillo Allahu an so he says here, but
nonetheless, wakala Rasulullah, ohmar ibn hat, Abu Allahu, an HA
Sibu, an Fusa Kum Kabbalah and tuha Sabu, he says, evaluate
yourself your work before you are asked to account for them.
Basically what he's saying here is take account for yourself, be
before you are taken into account. It's a very powerful line here. I
want everyone to live by this line. Take account for yourself
before you are taken into account by somebody else. How many of us
in here? Let's, let's, let's, let's. Show of hands. How many of
us in here have ever had that experience of a person telling you
what you did wrong? Raise your hands. Hey. I noticed that you did
this and this this, like, I just want to let you know that that
wasn't right,
and you were completely, like, blindsided. You didn't even know
that that was coming, that this person was going to tell you, Hey,
I think you did that wrong, or, Hey, you definitely shouldn't have
done that. That was really messed up, that you did this and you were
blindsided. Do we ever make.
Mistakes that we completely forget about. Of course we do. Of course
we do such as to be a human being, right? We do so many things in a
day where we have no idea what we did.
Somebody ever get mad at you, and you have no idea why they're mad
at you.
Your mother, you walk into the home, and
your mom's like, she's like,
right? Like, Mama, you good. Mmshallah, we'll see
one time I remember I walked into my my parents house, and my
grandmother was sitting there, may Allah preserver, and
I walked in, and it's my, my tradition, I go into my parents
house, and I always spend at least five minutes, like particularly,
sitting with my grandmother before I get up out of that seat and do
other things. So one time I walked in and I say, salaam, Alaikum to
my grandmother, and she goes, and I could tell she was off, salaam.
I'm like, how are you? I'm okay. It's okay. You don't have to worry
too much about me after I'm gone. You'll, you'll, you want, you
don't check them on me and ever again.
I'm like, sitting here. I'm like, staring at my feet. I'm like,
what happened? What did I do to this woman
and I and she tells me, after giving me, like, that cold
treatment, she goes, you haven't called me for like, a whole week.
You
haven't called me for an entire week, by the way, somebody who's
90 just gets a pass. Like, I understand it's, like, passive
aggressive and like, if, like, if, like, your friend did that to you
and they're 21 I'm like, please just slap that person. Just tell
me what's wrong. Okay, you don't. You don't. You don't have the
right to act like a 90 year old. All right. You have to earn your
stripes. My grandmother, you know, my love preserver, has earned her
stripes, so she gave me the soundtrack, and she goes, Oh, you
don't have to worry about me after I'm gone. I'm like, Oh my God. And
she goes, You didn't call me for an entire week.
At that moment, I realized to myself, I said, subhanAllah,
like, that's on me. That's on me. I've got to check up on her.
I've got to check up on her. I should have been more on top of
it. I should have made sure that I reached out to her this week. I
should have done something better.
So in Imam Al Ghazali, he quotes this beautiful teaching,
evaluate yourself, right? Ha Sibu and fusakom.
Account for yourself. Kabila and to has Abu before you are taken
into account before somebody can tell you that you did something
wrong. Take account for yourself. Doesn't it also feel good when
someone tells you that you did something wrong. You're like,
Yeah, I know I was just even thinking about it all week. That
person's like, Oh, wow. What does that tell you about somebody?
They're extremely, extremely perceptive about their own
actions,
and usually a person who thinks about what they do, they leave
less room for that moment for another person to tell them what
they did wrong, because a person who's self evaluating, a person
who's self accountable, they usually go out and make amends for
whatever wrong they did in their life before somebody else can tell
them that they did something. If I made somebody upset, I can tell I
can read that I did something wrong, and I'm going to go up to
that person and say, I apologize. I'm sorry for whatever I did.
This takes us a level of awareness that a lot of people actually
don't have.
The Messenger, salallahu, alayhi wa sallam. You know, one time it
was a beautiful, beautiful statement. This is kind of a funny
thing that he had with Aisha. You know what he said? He said, Yeah,
Aisha, his wife. He says, I know when you're angry with me.
So by the way, I don't know a lot of people are here, probably
married. Yet you got married. Mashallah, may Allah, bless you
for getting married. Super young. But it's a bold statement. As a
husband, if I, if I went up to my wife like, I know what makes you
mad. And she's like, Okay, you got one shot at this. Use that one
shot wisely. And now Aisha goes, tell me. Tell me he was on the
money, by the way, she was telling me. He said, when you're angry or
when you're good with me, you're happy with me, you call Allah
the Lord of Muhammad.
When you're angry with me, you refer to Allah as rabul Ibrahim,
the Lord of Ibrahim, alaihi salam. You don't want to say my name.
And she began to smile and laugh. How is this guy so good? Like, how
did he know that? Subhanallah, how does he know that he's very
perceptive.
He's very perceptive. I can tell when you're angry. Y'all, I'm sure
100% in here. You guys know the way to get under your friend's
skin. You know the way it's that one topic. You're like, so what
happened last night at basketball, man?
You know, you're raising that dude's blood pressure right now,
right? You go up to a sister and she you're like, oh, you know,
like, what happened? What would you think about when you.
Bought that dress last week. You're like, Oh my God, you're on
a death sentence. Like, no, you know, be aware. Be aware of what
you're saying. Evaluate yourself the mistakes that we make, think
about it. And by the way, a great way to do this is just leave time
in your day to reflect over your own actions.
Physical time, I'm not talking about just like, like, you know,
random things, no, no. Physical time, like, you know, how like you
have, like, maybe like, you're taking 15 hours a week, and you
have, you know, an hour for like this class, an hour for that
class, and you got an hour for lab on Wednesday. You got this slotted
for that day. Take an hour of your day, or even 20 minutes of your
day after your Salah is over, and just sit and think about
everything that you've done that day, everything you've done, every
conversation you've had.
Was I good in this conversation with this one person? Was I good
when it came to like that one thing that I mentioned, think
about what we said, okay, and so after that, he says, way was henu?
Amalekum kablaan to Zanu, weigh your deeds before they are weighed
for you.
Weigh your deeds before they are weighed for you. You're not too
happy about a certain way that you did something in your life, go
back and do it again. How many of us have repeated good deeds before
because we just felt like we didn't give it our all? Think
about it, right? One time I read the Quran, but I kind of rushed
through it. I'm thinking about I can't stop thinking about it. I'm
gonna go back and try again. This is that self weighing. How did I
do in terms of the weight and the quality of my deeds, right? And
then he quotes here a statement of Ali or the Allahu AK. And this is
a very powerful statement, where he says, Allah Ali Radi Allahu
Anhu. He says man Vanna annahu. He says a person who thinks they have
thoughts and assumptions that they can achieve all their goals
without hard work. Ali Radi Allahu, Taala and who he says that
this person is delusional. They're dreaming.
They can achieve their goals without hard work. They can just
sit there and think, yeah, man, I got big plans. Y'all ever heard
that you talk to a friend, you're like, yeah, man, what's going on?
Man, what you man, I got big plans. Habibi, you had big plans
for the past 12 years.
The last time I asked you, five years ago, you were also on big
plans. When's that big plan coming? You know, the dude just
sitting there writing, I make a DUA. Can I tell you guys what my
door is? When I walk into any coffee shop, I make dua that all
those hipster people that are writing on their laptops, that all
those writings come into fruition one day, please do not allow it
just to be written. Just do something inshallah with that
writing. Right? Don't just sit there and just like, gather data.
Gather data. Gather data.
That's not what we do. We don't just think we act. Acting is a big
deal. That's why Iman is is not much without Aman. What does Allah
say in the ladina Amanu what a Milo Salli hat,
yes, you have faith, but that faith does not mean much if you
don't back it up. I can claim to everybody and their family that
I'm a faithful person, but if my faith isn't backed up by the
actions that indicate that I'm a faithful person, then my faith is
actually on the chopping block. This person claims to be like
faithful this person claims to be And again, our job is not to go
around judging people, but it's to think about our own selves. Like,
am I just like, Am I just lip service? I just tell people, I
just talk a big game. No, no. But then check what? Ali he says. He
says, WA men, one who be bad, a little jahili, jahidi, Yasu,
fahua, muta, anin. Now he says the opposite. He says a person who
thinks that they will attain their goals purely off of actions, that
person is over confident and a little bit arrogant. Now,
these are the people who think like, yeah, I don't need God, I'm
just going to do hard work. I'm going to do hard work, man, I
don't need to pray. I don't need to do anything. I'm going to rely
on my studying and my hard work and my applications and my
meetings and my my this and my that, that person is too confident
in themselves. So what's Ali Radi Allahu, an really trying to say,
what he's trying to say is be a combination of trusting in Allah
and working really hard. Because guess what? A person who trusts in
Allah and works hard, what they do is, if they get the rewards of
their hard work, they're thankful to Allah. And if they don't get
the rewards of their hard work, they're still thankful to Allah.
Why? Because they always have Allah as the foundation a.
A person who does hard work and they are absent of Allah subhanahu
wa Tara. What did they say to themselves when that hard work
doesn't pan out?
This doesn't make sense. I studied all night.
I submitted my applications on time, I did everything that I was
supposed to do, but I didn't get the response.
And this person's confused, but you know what? They missed? They
missed that if it wasn't written for them, it doesn't matter.
A person who believes in Allah, and they do the hard work and then
they even possibly don't get the yield that they want, they're able
to say, well, Qadr Allah. Qadr
Allah. It wasn't written for me.
So Ali Radi Allahu, anh, giving everybody a literal winning
recipe. Here,
win get this. W why? Because if you trust Allah and you work hard,
you're happy regardless of the outcome,
even if you don't get a response back from that program or that job
or that school,
you're still going to be okay. You've trusted that Allah will
take care of you, and if Allah closes the door, Allah will open
another one. I'm guaranteeing you that right now.
Allah closes the door, Allah will open another one. I was literally
sitting with Mufti muntaser, one of our teachers here at the
seminary, and he was telling me a really cool story today. He said
that he was denied, denied entry into a certain masters, like, a
certain program. And he was beating himself where he's, like,
and most people, there's a, by the way, is like a human encyclopedia.
This guy's smart. He's like, How can I? Like, how is, why do they
deny my application? And he said, a few months later, he got
accepted into one of his master's programs that he still to this
day, benefits from.
Allah closes the door. Allah opens another one. Don't beat yourself
up. Okay. And at the very end, subhanAllah, he quotes a beautiful
statement of Al Hasan. Al Hasan, he says that Hasan mentions
seeking and demanding paradise without actions is a sin from the
highest of sins, then bun Min abubi,
seeking paradise. Balabul, Jannati, Bilal amelin, seeking
paradise without actions is of the highest sins you think you're
gonna get to, you think you're gonna make and watch yourself into
paradise without thinking that hard work is involved with it? No,
no.
And he says, he also mentions the sign of attaining reality is in
giving up regard for your work, but not giving up the work in and
of itself. What does that mean? That means that true success is a
person who doesn't think that their work is everything. They're
not relying on their hard work, but they understand the work is a
part of the recipe.
No, no, I don't rely on my hard work. I rely on Allah, because
after my hard work is done and I'm maxed out, and I've studied for
hours and days and weeks,
my true tawakkul is Allah. Is
on Allah, because if I rely on myself only I'm going to be so
disappointed y'all with everything in this world, everything in this
world. And then he finishes with a beautiful statement of the Prophet
sallallahu, alayhi wa sallam. He says, The wise man, the smart
person. And I'm going to, I'm going to read this guy to you
guys. It's actually so profound SubhanAllah. He says, Al keisu
Mandana NAFSA, who wa amila, Lima barti, he says, The wise person,
the smart person, is the one who judges himself and works. Lima
Bart for something after they die,
their hard work isn't only for this dunya.
They're busy, but they're also busy for the akhirah. It's like
that person who's like, grinding away at school, taking full time,
taking classes, really doing well in them, but they still have time
to come to, like the masjid at night. Oh, they're working hard,
but their hard work is not only for the dunya.
Their hard work is for something that will benefit them after they
die,
because after death also requires your attention. Sometimes we get
so caught up in the dunya that we max out in the dunya completely,
and we got no time left for the akhirah. So when we finish all our
classes, we come back home and it's time for Isha. We barely pray
isha, because, man, I'm so tired. Man, today was like a tough day.
No, it's okay to have a tough day, but never Max yourself out to the
point where you have no time for Allah. Subhanahu wa, what a
tragedy. What a tragedy that a person they do so much that they
forget about Allah. You.
They forget that the effort that they were given by Allah subhanho
wa Taala was supposed to be used for Allah subhanahu wa Ta not only
for the dunya.
And then he says, this is a little bit of a harsh line, but check
this out. He says, Well, Ahmed,
well, Ahmed man Abu. He says, man. He says, Well, Ahmed KU man at bar
enough so who ha what a man na alalahi, he says, The dumb person.
The word Ahmed literally means stupid.
He says, The dumb person, the one who is lacking intelligence. This
person is a person who pursues anything hawaha,
that they desire. Oh, they just do whatever they want to,
WA Taman na alahi,
but they vainly long for Allah. Now, check this out. There's a
confusing line here. Why would he say that a dumb person is a person
who does whatever they want to with their desires, and then they
think about Allah, and then they desire Allah. No, no. What this
means is that this person, all they do is work for the dunya, for
their desires, and then they're like, Yeah, Allah will Allah will
forgive me.
Oh, yeah, Allah, Allah will forgive me. I don't have to worry
about that. And there's actually an ayah in the Quran that I want
to share with you guys, which is powerful. Allah subhanahu wa, he
says, yuha di Roon, Allah Dina, that
they're actually fooling Allah, but truly they're actually fooling
themselves.
They tell themselves like, yeah, man, like, dunya, I gotta, I gotta
study. I gotta do this. I gotta do that, yeah, Allah,
yeah. I'll take, I'll I'll work hard for Allah subhanahu wa Ta
when I'm older,
the whole the whole issue. Oh, I'll pray. I'll pray when I'm
older. I'll read Quran when I'm older. I'll make dua when I'm
older. No one guaranteed that you're ever going to walk out of
this room alive.
It's a harsh reality.
Take account for yourself before you are taken into account. Okay,
so Inshallah, we're going to pause there for the day. Inshallah next
Thursday, we are going to continue on with the next chapter, and also
we're going to do a little bit of Q and A with nilahita Ara, because
next Thursday inshallah is going to be a little bit of a shorter
chapter on the topic of niya of intentions. InshaAllah, okay, we
ask Allah subhanahu wa taala to forgive us, and we ask Allah
subhanahu wa to give us reward for our efforts, our small efforts.
And we ask Allah subhanahu wa taala to forgive us for our
plentiful sins and shortcomings. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa to
shower His mercy upon us and shower His mercy upon the people
that we love em little bit on a mean Subhanallah behind no tube.
Inshallah, what I want everyone to do really quickly, if you're not
already on the telegram chat, that you can scan the QR code on the
screen and we'll add you inshallah to Allah, to the telegram group
that we have for our Thursday night community, so you can keep
up with all the programs and everything. Inshallah, I always
sent like, a rough summary of the discussion every single Thursday
after the class is over. So everyone kind of has tangibles to
kind of take home with them. Inshallah, for the weekend. Um,
tomorrow, by the way, everybody we do have a bonfire. Inshallah.
Everyone know this tomorrow night. Inshallah, we have a bonfire at
8pm so right after Maghreb, Inshallah, we're going to be
gathering here right outside, and we're going to inshallah enjoy a
nice little time fireside. We're going to enjoy some some food,
some snacks. We're also going to, inshallah be doing a really solid
discussion together Inshallah, that'll be tomorrow here at 8pm
and we're going to end with Isha at 940 Okay, so Inshallah, lock it
in your calendar. We'll see you all inshallah tomorrow night.
Salaam, Alaikum. You