Safi Khan – Soul Food for College Students What does it mean to be sincere in deeds
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of finding one's own interests and prioritizing them in achieving success. They stress the need to be mindful of one's actions and evaluate one's emotions, as well as the importance of learning and finding one's own interests in order to achieve success. They also emphasize the importance of praying for one's health and behavior, balancing life with one's interests, and holding oneself accountable for one's success. The segment ends with a brief advertisement for the upcoming week.
AI: Summary ©
As usual, at the end of our session,
we have our open q and a. It's
an it's an anonymous q and a for
anyone who is not sure whether it's anonymous
or not.
And if you go to if you open
up your phones and you go to menti.com,
like usual every Thursday,
menti.com,
and the or the the code
for tonight's q and a
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actually
let me pull it for you guys. It
is actually 3236
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So 3236-3289.
That'll be the menti dot com code. And
if you obviously didn't hear me, clearly, if
you're on the college Telegram chat, it's also
on there inshallah. Alright, guys? So with that,
we're gonna go ahead and get started. Salaam
Alaik everybody.
You guys hear me okay? Alright, inshallah. Next
week, we'll have our microphones. I won't have
to scream, but this week, we're just gonna
I'm gonna have to project inshallah. So I
apologize if you can't hear me or if
I'm too loud, apologies for that.
Assalamu Alaikum everybody. Welcome to our continuing reading
of this amazing book,
Imam Al Azali's text on his advices to
his student.
For those of you who haven't come before
or you don't you never heard of this
book,
this book is actually
a just like a small almost like a
diary, like a small
booklet in which one of the great scholars
of Islam, Imam Al Ghazali,
got a letter from his student, almost like
an email. And the student basically asked,
you know, oh, imam,
what's
what's your greatest advice that you could give
me? Because the student had studied with him
for, like, multiple years, maybe 2 decades,
and he had covered all of the Islamic
sciences that any one of us could imagine.
But at the end of all of that,
at the end of all of that academic
pursuit,
there was still something that he felt like
he was missing.
Right?
And so he kinda wanted more of, like,
a purpose driven,
lesson, something that was a little bit deeper
than just textbooks.
And so, Imam Al Ghazali,
he writes back
this letter or this long book
of 25 letters.
And each of the letters kinda has its
own theme,
and each grouping of letters kinda has its
own sort of, like, greater theme. Right? So
right now, you know, Al Azadi is discussing
the idea of sincerity,
and this is something that everybody struggles with.
You know? I I can't tell you how
many times,
I only prayed because my mom told me
to. Right? Like, I I prayed because I
knew that if I didn't pray, I was
either gonna get in trouble or I wasn't
gonna get what I wanted to,
or I did something because maybe everybody else
was doing it. You know, I I kinda
just prayed sunnah. How many of y'all have
prayed sunnah because everybody else got up to
pray sunnah? You're just sitting there together and
everyone's like, let's pray sunnah, and you're like,
I'm gonna feel really bad if I don't
get up and do this. Right?
And so those moments are good. Of course,
you know, you still get reward for doing
some good, but
there's that that sweetness
that can only be felt in a moment
that's 100% authentic.
And that's when you know that you've done
something truly for the sake of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. Like, what does that phrase mean
to you to do something for the sake
of Allah? It means that not a single
other person was on your mind.
There's all these, like, Instagram reels or TikToks
now where the guy is, like, praying at
the masjid next to Fatima's Baba.
And, you know, there's, like, the whole p
the whole perspective is, like, oh, I've never
met your daughter before. I don't know who
you are. I'm just praying next to you.
Right? And the idea is, like, it's a
joke and people laugh at it, but the
reality is that there's a lot of kind
of toxicity in that idea. Right?
There there's a story that scholars tell. It's
probably not authentic, but it's funny nonetheless.
About a guy who's praying at the masjid,
and he's trying to do so because he
wants to impress, you know, the the the
father of a girl that he likes. And
so he's praying and he's standing there really
long and his posture is, like, really good,
and he's just saying. And that he hears
the the the the father of the girl
behind him, and he's just praising this guy.
Oh my god. Look how religious he is.
Look at how pious he is. Look at
how long he's praying, and they're all talking
about him. And as he's being talked about,
you can just see him. He's, like, like,
lathering himself in this praise. He loves it.
He's, like, yes. Yes. This guy loves me.
This guy loves me. And then all of
a sudden, the praise kinda starts to die
down. So he begins to get worried.
Because insincere people,
when they stop getting that praise they're looking
for, their hearts start to shake because that's
what they chase.
So as the father of the girl stops
praising him, remember he's supposed to be in
prayer, he turns around and he says, guess
what? I'm fasting too.
Right? So while he's praying, he breaks his
prayer completely and lets the people know behind
him, hey. You ran out of stuff to
talk about. I'm fasting as well. Masha'Allah. Right?
In order to sort of keep getting that
praise, but he didn't realize, of course, how
foolish this would look.
And so this is kind of like the
caricature of what all of us to some
degree experience when we do things. Why do
we talk the way we talk? Why do
we dress the way we dress? Why do
we do the things that we do? Are
they truly for Allah? If you had to
stand on the day of judgment and the
only deeds that were there with you are
the ones that you did only for Allah,
how many deeds would you have?
Right? It's a question that all of us
gotta kinda reconcile with. Right? So, Imam Al
Ghazadi, he he gives us kinda like this
amazing checklist and a great story to kind
of remember as far as,
you know, how to keep ourselves in check.
Do you guys have the reading with you?
We try to print it out for everybody.
So if you have it, the way that
this works is one of y'all is gonna
read nice and loud, and then I'm gonna
stop you. We're gonna make some points, have
some discussion, and then keep going. Because this
is the classical way that we learn with
our
as well. Right? Not that I'm masha'if, but
you learn with your teachers in this way.
So who wants to read for us? Nice
and loud, Insha'Allah.
I heard how loud y'all were talking, like,
5 minutes ago. Everyone now apparently lost their
voice. Who can read nice and loud?
I'm gonna call on Saad because his his
jersey is sick.
Nice and loud, Saad.
Okay.
Now a little bit louder.
No. First one. Keep again, one more time.
This is this is I'm gonna stop you.
I'm sorry. I'm not rude. This is just
how it goes. Right? Plus, Sad and I
are Oracle. So this is amazing. That's like
I mean, I don't wanna sound like a
like a tool, but that's like a perfect
tweet right there. He who does not work,
that person will not find any.
Right?
That they won't find any reward.
The only way that a person finds reward
is if they work. Right? Yes or no?
Can you show up can you not show
up to work and get paid? Can you
not do the assignments and get your grade?
We know this. This is a a principle
of life. The only way that a person
gets that reward, that that that that merit
that they're looking for is by doing work.
Okay?
Next.
Keep going.
Okay.
Pretty scary.
What would you do?
What would you do if you prayed, you
got up and prayed Fajr for the first
time on your own in your life?
And Angel Jibril shows up and is like,
thank you for doing that. That's good that
you did that, but
you're not going to heaven.
How many of you would show up to
class if the teacher told you that you're
not gonna pass
on the 1st day?
Or maybe midway through the semester, you've done
all this work and the and the professor's
like, it's not gonna work. You're not gonna
pass. Would you keep going?
Be honest.
Alright. There's, like, a few honest people. The
rest of us are liars. We're like, yeah.
I'd go. I love knowledge. For the pursuit
of knowledge. Right? It's all about enrichment of
the mind, brother.
No.
Right?
Most
human nature
is driven by gratification,
by satiating some sort of appetite.
Okay? That's why if your teacher tells you
on the 1st day, if your teacher mentions
to you that you what? There's no attendance
being taken in this class, what do you
do?
Does anyone show up to class?
What are the days you circle on the
syllabus?
Exam day. Very good. Right? There's also a
fellow, but the me's guy in here just
like me. Okay? If a teacher tells you
on the 1st day, there's no attendance being
taken,
you go straight to the syllabus and you
circle exam days.
That's it. Right? And you set reminders for
those. Everything else you're like, I'll figure it
out. That's how we work.
How do you drive
at a yellow or red light if you
know that there's no camera there?
How do you how do you drive? A
little bit more cash. Right? What if you
know there's a camera? Now you stop at
a green light.
If there's a camera, you're like, woah. I'm
not gonna get busted here. Right? Or if
you know that there are police, we always
respond
to accountability.
It's the way that we work. That's why
the day of judgment exists
because that's the way human beings operate. Okay?
So check this out. This man,
he says from Bani Israel, from a previous
nation,
that he worshipped Allah
70 years. That's a lifetime.
That's an entire lifetime, SubhanAllah.
And he says,
that Allah Ta'ala wanted to test this person.
And so he sent the angel to this
person and Allah Ta'ala sent the angel to
go and tell them,
right? What?
That you will not,
even though you've worshiped Allah, you will not
attain paradise.
You will not attain paradise.
Now be honest, everybody here. How many of
you at that point you feel a little
bit crushed,
little bit disheartened?
Raise your hand. Me too.
Absolutely.
What does this guy respond?
Go ahead, Saab.
Wow.
Allahu Akbar.
He says
the man responds. He's sitting there after being
told you're not gonna go to paradise and
he says
We were created to worship Allah. That was
my that's my purpose. That's why I'm created
in the first place.
That it is it's upon us that we
have to worship him.
This is the reality of it. Right?
So the angel goes back to Allah Ta'ala
and tells Allah, oh, Allah, and to enter
You know exactly what your servant said. Right?
I don't have to report it back to
you, O Allah. You know everything.
And SubhanAllah, Allah Ta'ala said,
because this person did not turn away
from my worship,
then I
will not turn away from them.
And he said, bear witness that I have
forgiven this person all of their sins and
that they will be given paradise.
How does this make sense logically? What's what
was being tested here? What happened?
It's a happy ending. Right?
This could be turned into like a Disney
film.
What what what happened? What was like the
this is a very deep part of his
letter, by the way. For those of you,
this is your first time here, you're like,
I was not ready for this
on a Thursday. That's fine. This is a
very deep part, but there's a huge lesson
in it. Okay? What do you guys think?
What are some things that stick out about
this story to you? Any part of it?
Yes.
Nope.
Yeah. Have you guys ever started out with
an intention and midway your intention changed?
Yes or no?
Have you guys ever started out with an
intention and in the middle of it you're
tested, but then, like, you kept your intention?
Let's say that you were going to go
do some, like, charity work, and you and
a bunch of friends were gonna go downtown
and hand out food to those who are
hungry, who are in need. And that morning,
you're getting ready. You get a text from
3 or 4 of your friends, and what
do they do?
They bail.
They flake. They need head and shoulders. Right?
They flake. They're out.
What do you do at that moment?
You're like,
I don't wanna go by myself.
It's not safe, COVID.
I don't wanna, you know, I don't wanna
be the only per starts to sort of
manufacture these excuses
as to why you shouldn't go. But in
reality,
those excuses, every single one of them is
actually more of like a what? An indictment
against your intention in the first place. Were
you going to actually help people?
To serve what Allah told us to do?
And you know what's crazy when it comes
to charity
in the Quran, Allah mentions in Surat Al
Insad
that
in the man that the purest intention when
you feed somebody or when you donate
is not to get a tax write off.
It's not to earn hours. It's not to
hang out with your friends. It's not for
FaceTime.
That the person who spends time donating or
doing good deeds, that that person,
they say in response when somebody thanks them,
I didn't do this for you. It sounds
a little bit offensive. Imagine somebody's like, thank
you for the food. You're like, hey, don't
thank me. I didn't do this for you.
They're like, why why are you being so
mean? But that person's response is instead highlighting
what? I did this for Allah.
It's irrelevant how you feel.
Right? Have you guys ever done something really
nice for somebody and they said something really
bad in return?
Or they didn't notice? Or they hurt your
feelings?
Right?
I once had a friend that we were
talking,
and he was like, you know, I invite
people over all the time, and no one
invites me over back.
That was was, like, a big deal for
him. He's like, I invite people over all
the time and not a single person that
I invite over invites me back.
I'm gonna stop inviting people over. That's what
he said.
As a maybe maybe some maybe you do
something when you invite them over, like, maybe
you hurt their feelings or something.
But I actually had this conversation with his
brother from this exact chapter and I said,
if you are inviting them over because hospitality
is part of what you want to show,
then keep inviting them over. But if you're
only inviting them over to get some sort
of invite back,
then stop.
Because that intention is not good.
Abu Bakr Siddiq one time was serving an
elderly woman,
and he used to make it a habit
to go and do this, but nobody else
knew. So Umar one time he followed him
out into the edge of the city, and
he saw Abu Bakr after fajr one morning
going and taking care of this elderly woman.
He saw that Abu Bakr was, like, sweeping
and cleaning and setting everything up.
And Omar said, this is a strange thing
for the Khalifa to do. Why would the
leader of the Umma
go out and take care of 1 elderly
woman's home? Is this, like, his aunt or
something? Is there some sort of relationship? I
don't know about.
So,
Ahmad, even though he's really big and he's
really, you know, like, large and he can't
hide very easily, he hides,
and he tries to, like, you know, make
sure that he's not seen. When Abu Bakr
leaves
the lady's house,
Omar, he goes and knocks on the door,
and he finds out that that lady is
what?
She's blind, she can't see.
So he's like, subhanAllah.
So he thinks internally like, what on earth
this lady can't see? So he talks to
her and he says to her,
in Arabic, he says, my mother.
Right? My mother is a endearing term that
somebody would use. It's like saying auntie. You
know how you guys have, like, a 1000000
aunties, but they're not actually your aunt? So
you go to school and you're like, yeah.
I was at my my aunt's house for
dinner last weekend. They're like, you have 37
aunts.
Like, how many children did your grandparents have?
That's wild.
Right? You're like, relax, Kevin. It's okay. Okay?
So, Ahmad, he says, yeah, which is just
an endearing term. It's not his actual mother.
And he says
to her, do you know what's happening in
your house?
Do you know what's happening? She goes, yes.
There's a person
who knows that I can't take care of
everything, and he comes and every couple of
days, he comes out and he helps me,
takes care of my my chores.
Because I'm an old woman, I can't do
it anymore. I'm elderly. I have no one
else to take care of me. So he
goes, okay. That's fine. You know, it's a
good thing to do. But do you know
who's doing it?
Are you aware, like, who this person is?
And she says, no.
And he says, why? Have you ever asked
his name? She goes, of course, I've asked
his name.
Omar says, what does he say? She says
he refuses to tell me his name.
He refuses to tell me his name. Every
time I say, who are you? He says,
don't worry about it.
And this is Abu Bakr.
So, Omar, when he hears that, he starts
crying,
and he walks away from her house.
Imagine. She's like, what did I do?
She doesn't know. He starts crying, and he
leaves. And you know what he says? He's
he raises his hands, and he goes, my
gosh.
He goes, Abu Bakr, you are making it
impossible for us to catch you, man.
How can we keep up with you?
There's no way. Your sincerity is, like, next
level.
Everybody who does something usually does it for
some reason,
for praise or for something. How? How is
it possible? So, Imam al Azali, he includes
this story because he wants to demonstrate to
us what is the height of a good
deed.
The height of a good deed is that
you don't do it for somebody else.
You don't do it for praise or appreciation
or merit. In fact,
this is gonna get deep. Are you ready?
You don't even do it primarily for Jenna.
Of course.
Hold on. Everyone's like, wait a minute.
I had a deal. We made a deal.
Alright? I pray and I get Jenna. We
made a deal. No. This is the reality.
Okay?
How many mistakes do we make every day?
But you know what the new you know
what the new, nervous tick is? You know
how people used to, like, do this and
stuff? Now it's fixing masks.
You ask the awkward question, everyone's like, oh
god. Right?
That's the new one. Right? Get used to
it. Okay? So everyone used to do other
things, look at their phone, now it's fixing
their mouth.
Okay. How many of us make mistakes every
day?
Anyone here missed a prayer before ever in
their life?
We have one guy in the back, Angel
Gabriel himself. It's an honor. It's a pleasure
to meet you, Angel Gabriel. No. You missed
a prayer. Okay?
Okay? We've made mistakes.
And you know what's crazy? SubhanAllah. When we
make a mistake,
if you don't pray fajr,
if you don't make fajr tomorrow morning,
do you wake up and as soon as
you realize you didn't pray fajr, does Allah
like take away your body for that day?
Does he stop your breathing?
Does he say, nope? Does he even take
away, like, your money or your fun or
whatever? No. He doesn't do any of that.
My mother used to tell me that this
is a sign that we don't deserve anything.
You know, when Musa doesn't clean up his
toys, what do I do as a parent?
My Musa is my 4 year old. What
do I do as a dad? When he
doesn't clean up his Mario Legos, and he
wants to play on his iPad, I say
no no no. No iPad until
you clean up.
Right? So he has to know that in
order to earn privileges,
you gotta take care of your responsibilities.
Allah is so generous that even when we
don't handle our responsibilities,
we still get the privileges.
The only time we run back to Allah
is when the privileges start to get a
little tightened.
You know what I mean?
You get a little delayed.
You're about to miss a flight. Oh, no.
Oh, Allah, please.
I know I haven't spoken to you in
3 years. Oh, Allah, please. I really need
to go you know? An exam comes.
Man. I remember giving halaqaat and UTD
2 years ago. I remember exam week.
I I confused it for Ramadan, dude. Like,
everybody
started, like, wearing hijab, reading Quran,
growing their beards,
praying. I'd be in the middle of a
lecture. They're like, can I call the adhan?
I'm like, relax. Okay? We have 10 more
minutes left. But, like, it's exam week. We
need to call the event.
It's like, you know, whenever Allah
tests us a little bit, all of a
sudden the spirituality jumps out. But my mother
used to tell me that SubhanAllah, how generous
is Allah, that you make a mistake, Allah
doesn't just take it away from you right
then.
Right?
So this is the rub that we're dealing
with, and that's why
when we do something,
we don't do it transactionally.
I'm not only praying because of Jannah. That's
a transaction. Right?
And honestly,
if you want a new transaction,
we're probably not gonna get there.
You know what I mean? If it's not
for the mercy of Allah, we're probably not
gonna make it on our own.
You know what I mean? We need a
little bit of help, a lot of bit
of help.
So when it comes to getting Jannah, when
it comes to what we're doing good deeds
for, you know why we do it? It's
very simple,
for the sake of Allah.
And that maybe
even during the prayer that I just prayed,
during the salah that I just prayed, I
thought about something else. How many of you
guys think
of your menu during prayer?
Maghrib during Ramadan, I don't know if anyone's
really thinking about
Maghrib.
Right? Everyone's
like, fried food,
ice cream,
lassi. Right? Everyone's got their different thoughts,
and Allah still accepts it from us. There's
so many different deficiencies that we have
that
highlight our distance from Allah, but he still
rewards us and gives us Jannah if we
do it. So what is Allah looking for?
Allah is looking for your effort,
Right? He's looking for your your integrity, your
sincerity,
and the way you know that you're sincere.
Are you ready? It's the number one tip,
Is that when times get bad,
you get even more sincere.
When you get bad news,
you don't just say,
that's it. I'm done with this, man. I
did what I could.
Right?
I tried. Like, mid semester your professor tells
you, you've tried so hard this semester, but
I'm telling you, unfortunately, you're gonna fail.
At that point, everyone here agreed. We would
be like, alright.
You're about to get a 0 on rate
my professor,
first of all.
And second of all, right, I'm gonna order
a 1000 Domino's pizzas to your house.
Have fun with that.
3rd of all, I'm not coming to class
anymore.
I just gave you guys some good pranks.
Okay? I'm not gonna give you my address
though, because I know what's gonna happen. I
see you, Assad. Right?
We would all just bail because we are
so focused on the reward. But a sincere
person, as funny as it sounds, would keep
going.
So ask yourself one question, when Allah tests
you, what do you do?
When something in your life goes bad, how
do you respond?
If if if Allah tests me with illness
or loss
or not getting what I've been praying for
and I can't tell you how many times,
guys,
the questions, the DMs come in. I've been
making dua for this for so long. Why
didn't Allah give it to me? How long
have you been praying for it? They're like,
at least 5 minutes now.
So long I've been begging Allah. Why doesn't
he give me what I asked for? You
just tweeted that Miqd Dua Allah will answer
you, and then people get so caught up.
You guys ever felt like, where is it?
Whenever that's being held back, ask yourself, am
I gonna bail or am I gonna dig
deeper?
If I dig deeper, that's an amazing sign.
That's what this guy did. That's what the
man from Beni Israel did. The angel told
him, you're not gonna get Jannah because of
this, and he said, doesn't matter. I'm doing
what I have to
do. I'm doing exactly what I was created
to do. And what happened, subhanAllah,
when his sincerity
stood the test that Allah put him in?
Allah said you passed.
You passed.
Right?
But what do we know about that test?
What do we know about his sincerity? It
was never weak to begin with.
So when you do any deed,
when you do anything,
never forget
that nothing should stop you from that deed,
even the tests
that act as speed bumps in your life
because Allah is always there. Can I tell
you guys a story that reminds me of
this always?
Prophet SAW's last days of his life.
You know, one of my teachers said, I
remember a long time ago, 15 years ago
when I was studying with Sheikh Ihab, one
of my teachers in Chicago, And he described
the death of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
he said, it's the worst day that ever
happened to the Ummah.
And I remember being like, wow, that's a
really, I've never heard that description before.
It's the worst day that ever happened to
the Muslims,
is the death of the Prophet. And then
he explained it. He said the Prophet SAW
wasalam was the solution to every problem. How
many dinner parties have y'all been to where
the uncles just sit and talk about how
the ummah is in ruin?
And how it's, you know, nothing's gonna work
in Pakistani politics and this and What's the
point anymore? Right?
And, subhanAllah,
if if the prophet
when he was alive,
you had, like, a guaranteed answer to every
situation.
You know, if I disagree with somebody on
what to do,
how should Muslims respond to this? Is music
halal or haram?
Can we eat this meat? All these questions.
If the prophet was alive, we would just
be like, yes, no, yes, no, yes, no.
Right? Very simple.
On top of that, all of those questions,
then we also have the crisis of faith.
How many companions went to the prophet saying
my heart feels weak. I can't go on.
I don't know what to do. And the
prophet gave them a solution for their problem.
So the worst day to ever befall the
Ummah was the day that he passed away.
One of the women was caught crying in
the city of Medina, and they asked her,
were you related to him? Was there some
sort of relationship?
You're crying very emotionally, and she said, no.
Wahi has stopped now.
The Quran is no longer gonna come down.
What we have is it.
I was looking forward to the next revelation.
What we have is it now.
Right?
In that moment,
in in in absolute,
you know, the whole city of Medina stopped.
The closest thing I could think to it
was when COVID hit last March. If you
drove out the next day after the stay
at home order, if you went outside,
everyone was just, like, in inside. No one
was out. The roads were empty. No one
was going to work, obviously. The whole city
just stopped. Medina, the day after the prophet
just stopped.
And Abu Bakr,
his best friend,
his closest companion,
the one who walked in and saw his
body first lying there lifeless.
And he took his head
Ayatul Sallalahu Alaihi Wasallam, Abu Bakr Siddiq held
the head of the Prophet
and he looked at him and he said
to him you were beautiful in life and
you're beautiful in death.
And he went to the member of the
messenger, the prophet you know what he said?
To the people that love the messenger in
the messenger's Masjid,
He said,
if you worship Mohammed,
then no Mohammed is gone.
But if you worship Allah, then know that
Allah is ever living and he never dies.
Can you imagine saying that about your best
friend, the messenger of God?
What kind of sincerity and strength?
Omar was in the back of the masjid
saying, if anyone says he died, I'm going
to kill that person.
Little bit of irony there. Right? Anyone says
he died, you're gonna die. That's how emotional
he was. Don't say he died. The Prophet
did not die. Don't say that.
And Abu Bakr tells him, Muhammad sit down.
Sit down, I have an announcement. If you
worship Mohammed he is gone.
And he said when I heard those words
it felt like a boulder on my shoulders.
I've never felt that sadness in my life.
But what was he telling people?
In every scenario, even the hardest day of
your life,
you have to think of why you're doing
what you're doing.
It is for Allah and nothing else.
Because you know why? You're never going to
be given the reward of what you deserve
here.
No one's gonna give you what you deserve
here.
The struggle that you make to serve Allah,
you're never gonna get what you deserve in
this life.
For for for dressing the way that you
dress, for turning down those those invites to
parties, for not going to those those gatherings
where you know you shouldn't be, for not
watching those things you know you shouldn't watch,
for not putting yourself in those situations.
Your reward in this life is a fraction
of what you're gonna get later if you
did it for Allah. And the only way
you're gonna be able to remain persistent is
if you think of Allah.
So this
is how Imam al Ghazadi is reminding his
student, no matter where you are, remember that
you're doing it for Allah alone, because when
the test hits,
your truth is going to show. Who you
are is going to reveal itself. So we
ask Allah to give us the sincerity and
integrity of being able to do
exactly what
we do for the sake of Allah and
for nobody else, we ask Allah Ta'ala to
grant us that InshaAllah. We have now Sada
Fatima who's gonna give us the second part
of this advice
inshallah. The second half of this advice, do
you wanna do it or no? You good?
Okay. So
she just got done teaching another thing, so
we're gonna let her Inshallah, I'll switch spots.
You can come.
Struggles.
With the beginning. You can tell them. Continue
and travel with the beginning section.
Good. So you have here the very first
section
where
he covered it with with where, Imam Al
Gazali, he's telling us and giving us the
understanding of
life. You know I like to summarize
that part is this is why you know
you'll be tested. Things will happen. Things are
gonna come in your way. It's gonna make
you seem like you need to give up
but no you keep pushing through because you're
not working for this this world you're working
for the hereafter
and with having that mindset and having that
perspective
now, Imam Ghazali is giving us the understanding
of what we should be focused on on
our everyday life, and he's saying here that
it is so important
for you to take into account yourself.
Do some reflection on your needs, do some
reflection on what you're doing, and take them
into account before
you're taking into account yourself. And the reason
why he's saying this is that sometimes
what happens is that we are pushing through.
Right? You just push through. You get through
the day. Things are difficult you get through
the day you're pushing
through, but you're not really thinking about your
day.
You're not really thinking about the things that
you've done that day. You're not really thinking
about the way that you interacted with your
family that day the way that you're interacting
with people around you that day
and so here he brings up a narration
and this narration shows us something very important
It shows us that listen things are not
gonna slip through the cracks in the day
of judgment.
You will be taken into account
for everything good and bad. It's not sometimes
when we talk about the great judgment, we
only see it from a very negative standpoint.
You know, you're gonna be held accountable for
all of your bad deeds. No. Allah is
also gonna give you your reward for your
good ones.
He's also gonna give you your reward for
your good ones. But if you're just trying
to get past the day
and you're just trying to get through the
day, you're not holding yourself accountable for your
actions.
You ever have a con a conversation with
a friend or someone you're really close to
and perhaps maybe they stopped speaking to you
for a while or maybe they're being weird
towards you all of a sudden and then
you go to them and you're like, why
what's wrong with you? Like, why are you
being weird? Why are you acting this way?
And they're like, well, last week,
miss
or mister,
you said x, y, and z to me
and I didn't like it. I didn't like
how you treated me. And you were thinking
to yourself, I don't remember seeing you last
week.
I don't remember us even hanging out last
week.
Because what? Maybe you were going through finals,
You know, maybe you have, like, a lot
of drama going on at home. Maybe you
have so many different issues and situations going
on that you didn't even realize your tone
and how you were treating someone else.
And so this narration is telling us that
just because life is going
and you don't, you know, you're trying to
get on the train with it, it doesn't
mean that you neglect being mindful of your
actions.
It doesn't mean that you neglect being mindful
of that which you do.
And so the narration, it literally says,
Take yourself into account.
Take yourself into account.
Not only evaluate. You know evaluate, you can
evaluate from, like, an overview standpoint. This was
a good week.
When you're taking something into account, what are
you doing?
What are you doing, guys?
Yeah. But are you doing it from
a back way, like,
overview or what? Are you zooming in?
Very good job. You're zooming in.
You're zooming in. And it's not telling you
to be, like, harsh on yourself either.
It's saying, listen,
there's gonna become a time when you're gonna
stand before Allah,
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is gonna open
your book of deeds.
And in order for you
to make sure that you're doing the best
in this life, you can't go through it
my being mindless.
And actually, the scholars of Tesco, they say
that the root of all diseases is guffler,
and guffler is like a is like a
virus. K?
Bad timing, I understand,
but
bear with me. It's like a virus.
The longer you leave it to just be
free, the more it mutates.
And so sure, you're just getting through the
day and you're being mindless and you're being
mindless about things that you're doing, but that
thing, that mindlessness
mutates into neglect
and when it mutates into neglect,
then the stuff that you have responsibility
over, you don't take care of it.
All of a sudden, your prayers are not
really that
quality,
and quality is based off of you.
Right? All of a sudden, your relationships, they
don't have that much quality either.
And we don't wanna stand on the day
of judgement before before Allah, and Allah opens
these this book,
and he says, look at all your opportunities
to do good.
And look at the quality of good that
you put into it. It's very little.
Well, you could have had the opportunity to
put so much more if you were just
mindful.
So here you have the narration that says
take yourself into account
before,
before you are asked to be accounted for
them. There's another ayah in the Quran in
Suraj al Hasher where Allah says,
and
the verses the verses of all you who
believe are my favorite currently
because I'm doing a whole series on them
probably that's why But they're
so powerful.
Because imagine,
okay, you're in a gathering, people are like,
oh, they're they're just talking, whatever. You know
that conversation, it you can benefit from it.
But when someone's talking directly to you, what
do you do? You turn around. Yeah. You
focus.
You know? You're like, oh, this is a
conversation for me to pay attention to.
And so Allah says,
O you who believe.
He says,
Iqtabullaha,
be mindful and be aware of Allah.
Be conscious, be mindful, and be aware of
Allah.
And then he says,
and let every soul
consider carefully carefully consider
what
they put forward for tomorrow.
Don't just focus on getting through today.
Don't just focus on doing the bare minimum.
What are you depositing for your hereafter?
What are you depositing
that when you stand before Allah, you can
say, listen, god, I tried.
I really tried.
And we've talked about it that we we're
not perfect beings.
We're not perfect people.
It's not asking you to be perfect.
It's asking you to put in effort.
And part of putting effort is making sure
that you're holding yourself accountable.
And then the ayah continues.
And it says,
be mindful of Allah. 2 times in one
ayah.
Be mindful of Allah.
Know that Allah is all knowing. God is
aware.
He's not telling you to be mindful of
what you're putting forth tomorrow for his sake.
He knows.
He's telling it for your sake.
For what you can do better.
For what you can achieve.
For what you can benefit from.
And then he says, Allah
knows
and is aware of every single thing that
you do.
Saad, can you keep reading for us, please?
Very good job. Says those who think that
they can achieve their aims,
that they can achieve their goals,
that they will reach all of these, you
know, you know, the new year started. You
know what I'm saying? I understand that we're
in March, but to me, it's still the
new year. K? It's still the new year
till May. Right? So the new year started.
You got this whole cute little planner,
vision board, you know, all these nice things.
K. I'm, like, really offending people. It's okay.
We're gonna work on it. We're gonna do
better. Right? And you're like, these are all
the things I wanna work on.
And you don't put in any effort for
it at all. 0.
And then
7 months later,
December comes around and you're upset.
How come I did not save
$15,000? Well, I don't know. You ate bit
boba every day.
You drink coffee every day.
You know?
You you you're hungry all the time.
Of course, you're not gonna save any money,
but you're so upset.
I can't believe my bank account betrayed me.
No. You betrayed you.
You did you dirty.
Because what is he saying?
Those who set goals,
and they don't put in any effort towards
those goals. I'm not trying to comfort you
foodies at all. You know? Just have a
separate break account, you know, a little budget
for your food. That way you can stop
playing yourself every month. Just give a little
a separate little budget. Okay?
But what he's saying is that those of
you who set goals
and you sincerely
say, I wanna achieve these goals, but you
do not put in any effort, you're fooling
yourself.
How are you gonna not, achieve something that
you don't put in any effort for?
And then he continues and he says, but
also look at the other side.
Those who work very hard
and think that the outcome is in their
hands, they're also fooled.
And this is so powerful
because
there are so many instances in our lives,
and you guys can sit here and you
can think about them,
that you've put in effort for something.
And sure, you may have worked very hard
for that thing, but the reward or the
amount and the outcome that came out of
it, you know for sure it wasn't one
for 1.
You know for sure it wasn't the amount
of effort that you put in and what
you got out of it, it was miraculous.
It was miraculous
Because that is
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And it's it's so profound because Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala talks about this. He tells us.
He says, manja abi hasanah,
whoever
comes
with a single
good deed, a single good deeds does one
single thing, puts an effort for one single
thing.
They will always get better than that.
They will always get more than it.
They will always benefit more than the effort
that they put in. And then Allah
says
but whoever comes with a bad deed or
something wrong, they did one single bad thing,
then Allah says
That person will only get equal to what
the effort they put in, equal to what
they did.
So
what is being said here
is that tawakkul,
having trust and reliance in Allah,
is you putting in your effort,
you doing the best that you can with
the capability and the ability that Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala gave you, but recognize the results
is in the hands of Allah.
And that sometimes you may work really hard
for that class and still fail it,
but there was something that else that you
were supposed to get out of that.
There was something else that was supposed to
come out of that moment because you worked
really hard. You did.
You did the best that you could, but
Allah didn't will it for you to pass
that class.
And you will find that you will find
that there are many other opportunities and doors
and things that open later on in your
life, be it tomorrow, be it 5 years
later, that you're like, if that thing did
not happen,
if I didn't fail that cause,
if I didn't stumble at that moment despite
the hard work that I put into it,
I wouldn't have these opportunities that I have
today.
I wouldn't be in the comfortable position that
I'm in today.
And so he says don't be diluted.
Don't be deluded in thinking that, okay, if
I just work hard, then I know exactly
what I'm gonna get out of this. You
will never know exactly what you're gonna get
out of it. You work hard. Yes. Because
that's part of using the blessing that God
has given you, the ability.
But you leave the results in the hands
of Allah. And that's why they say that
action is an act of the limbs, but
tawakkul is the act of the heart.
That actions is the act of your hands
and your capabilities,
but reliance and true trust in Allah, that
is an action of the heart. That you
leave the results in the hands of Allah.
Continue with the, last section.
To what?
Very good job. There are 2 things here.
The first one is a statement by Hassan
al Bosley,
and it says that seeking
and demanding paradise without actions is a sin
from amongst the sins. Why is that?
Seeking and demanding paradise
without actions
is a sin from amongst the sin. That's
a very strong statement. Why is
that?
You're being entitled.
You're being entitled. Just like me walking into
packs and saying, alright.
This is my place now.
I own it. I watched the YouTube video
on how to make coffee. So it's my
place.
Did I put in any effort for it?
Did I put in any money for it?
Did I put in any work for it?
Did I even talk to the owner?
No. I just walked in and said, okay,
give it up.
Alright. You made it all pretty. You made
it all nice. Thank you for getting me
comfortable.
He's saying that this entitlement
that we live in and sometimes, you know,
when we read these statements, we're like, yeah,
none of us.
I'm not the I don't think I just
I'm gonna walk into paradise and just take
it.
But how many little things are you
how many little things do you show entitlement
towards?
Like when you walk in the house
and your parents haven't put food on the
table and you're like, you're seriously gonna cook
today?
Are we having this again? I remember I
did that to my grandmother one time. I
would never forget. I was 7 years old,
and I would ask her every single day,
what did you cook? And she would mention
the same Gambian dish, Monday through Thursday. Friday
was a special day because it's Friday. K?
And one day, she was prepared for me.
I walked in
and I asked her, What did you cook?
And she told me, and I said, That
again?
And And she said, why don't you make
something different?
And I was 7. K? And this is
Gambia. You know? There's not a stove. I
don't have a stool. Like, it's like, go
get the firewood.
Bring it. Go to the marketplace. Every single
day,
they went to the marketplace to get the
the different vegetables and stuff that will be
cooked
every day. And to me, at 7 years
old, that's why I was offended because I'm
like, you went to the marketplace every day.
You got the same thing. So she's like,
why don't you make it?
Why don't you put in effort? Why don't
you make something different so we can all
eat today?
And I learned a very valuable lesson at
7 years old,
that I am not entitled to anything,
That what people do for me, what Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala does for me, I am
to be grateful for it.
Because my grandmother told me after that. She
said, yes, we're supposed to feed you,
but what I feed you
is not written. Like, I don't have to
give you nice stuff. I couldn't feed you
bread and butter.
I can just give you just a little
bit of grain.
That will be sufficient for you.
And so you real what are the things
that you feel entitled to every single day?
Every single day you walk in. Well, why
do I have this type of car?
Why do I have this type of, you
know, clothes? Why don't why can't I have
this? Why can't I have that?
Why do you deserve it?
What have you done to deserve it?
Why do we live in this type of
house?
These are things that you have to think
about because the way that synths work or
the way that grave thinking works is that
it never just starts off with you feeling
entitled to paradise. That's absolutely ridiculous.
But it starts off with you feeling entitled
to very little things,
and you keep picking up on these crumbs
until it becomes a whole loaf of bread.
You keep picking up on these little things
until it becomes a big problem.
And so you have to you have to
curve that way of thinking on a day
daily basis.
And then the next part says that the
sign of attaining reality
is in giving up regard for work, not
in giving up the work.
You don't give up the work.
You don't you don't stop your action.
You don't give up.
But you don't also like you know if
we're expecting our relationship with Allah to be
transactional,
we will always come up. We will always
fall short in what we owe a
Allah. We will always fall short in what
we owe Allah
because if Allah is saying the only way
you will receive full reward
is if every single one of your salah
is perfect. How many of you think you've
received full reward before in your life?
If Allah says the only way which is
fair, right,
because he gives us the right way to
pray. He breaks it down very clearly for
us. Right? If Allah says the only way
that you will receive the reward of Ramadan
is only if you fast perfectly. If you're,
you know, you fast from being negative, you
fast from all these things like you're you
have a perfect Ramadan, then you will get
your full reward.
It's fair. Right?
We have clear instructions on how to do
it.
Are we capable of it? Possibly.
How many of us have accomplished that?
Allah is so much merciful to us than
we will ever be to ourselves.
So you don't give up the work. You
keep putting your best foot forward. And last
but not least, then there's the last this
last part, this last narration.
And it says, the wise man is he
who judges himself
and works for what is after death.
Brings it back full circle.
Don't just focus on today. Recognize that there's
a tomorrow,
and that tomorrow is what's more important
this life.
Yes, it's meant to enjoy. It's meant to
do. It's meant to use You know? Nobody's
telling you like, okay. I'm gonna go sit
in the corner and never speak to another
human being again till I die. Like, no.
You enjoy it.
You live your life.
You do you.
Doing you keeping in mind that you will
answer to Allah tomorrow.
Do you keeping in mind that this body,
this ability, every single thing that I have
is from Allah.
And I should use it in the way
that God wants me to use it.
Does it I promise you, it doesn't make
your life miserable. It makes it a 100
times better.
It makes you, you know, your authentic you
that everybody likes to talk about. I wanna
be authentically myself. Guess what? God shows you
how.
Allah shows you how.
How to be your best self.
Hate talking like the internet,
right?
And then the last part of the narration
says, and the fool, the person who's deluded,
is he who pursues his own desires.
You just live your whole life
just following
whatever you wanna follow with no regard to
the to the road map that God has
given you
with no regard to religion that Allah's has
laid out in front of you.
While vainly
longing and thinking that Allah's longing for Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Vainly, very vaguely.
Meaning like you're like, Hey, I know Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will take care of me.
I know a lost one thought will, you
know, forgive me all of my sins.
That's very possible.
That's very possible.
But not trying your best
to live a life that is good in
the eyes of Allah
is actually being very ungrateful for the life
that God
gave you, is actually being very ungrateful
for the life that God gave you. Why?
Because Allah gave you so many blessings and
so many opportunities to be great.
I always talk about potential because potential is
one of the things
that
once I learned what it really is, I'll
use energy, I was like, that's such a
waste.
That is such a waste.
Every single one of us has been created
with so much potential to be so great,
but potential is just that. It is there
until you decide that I want to use
it.
It is there until you decide that I
want to tap into
this.
Potential,
you can be this this person has such
potential to be the best student ever. They
have so so much potential to be a
president. Are you a president? No.
Are you the best student? No.
Don't just live your life thinking like, okay,
yeah, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, get to it. No.
You can do it today.
You can accomplish it today. You can be
great today.
You have it in you because God created
you great.
He created you with that potential to be
great and gave you the liberty
to use it.
And so here, this last section that Imam
Ghazali talks about in advice number 5 is
that he's letting us know, listen,
hold yourself accountable for all the things that
you have the ability to do.
Hold yourself accountable for how much better you
can be. Don't come down on yourself and
be, like, miserable. No. But recognize that every
single one of you has the ability to
be good, has the ability to be great,
has the ability to, you know, go beyond
what you can even imagine, and you have
to hold yourself to that.
Alrighty. Do you have any questions in the
let me know. Alright. Anyone have any questions
you wanna ask at all
tonight in person? Not submitted? Okay. Cool. Everyone's
hungry?
Yeah? Okay. What do we have tonight? Nacho?
No. Actually, wraps. We have wraps. We have
food for you guys tonight. As
As we said before, every
Thursday, we're gonna be here.
We will eventually get to the point where
we'll be serving coffee and and and drinks
and boba and stuff like that. But tonight
being our first night here, we didn't wanna
just, you know, jump back there and, take
over,
you know, being entitled as I was saying.
So thank you guys so much for coming.
Be safe, Get home safe, See you guys
next Thursday. So then while you come back
to load. Okay?
I
think the food