Saif Morad – Creating an Environment to Succeed
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of modeling success and avoiding anger and regret in relationships with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. They stress the need to be aware of one's behavior and environment, and to prioritize one's psychological and physical environments in order to achieve success. They also emphasize the importance of setting up environments and taking action to achieve success, and provide information on upcoming events and registration requirements for participants. Sh matter is seen as the one who can control one's emotions and turn around quickly.
AI: Summary ©
That you will never
use the article which
means you will never ever go astray
if you hold on to them.
If you make them your way of life,
If you act upon it, you will never,
regardless of the era, regardless of the environment,
wherever you are, you will never go astray
if you hold on to them.
The book of Allah
and the sunnah of his prophet Sallallahu Wa
Ta'ala
described the Quran as Nuram Mubina, a clear
light.
It shows us the way back to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And the sunnah of the prophet
that is narrated to us authentically
is also a form of revelation because Allah
said
that he
does not speak from his desires.
Rather it is a revelation
that has been revealed to him.
It is said that if we want to
be successful,
then we should model success.
And Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, has told us
what the ultimate success is in his book.
The ultimate success is to make it to
Jannah.
Not only that, but to see Allah
in Jannah, that is the greatest of all
successes.
And Allah
described who Jannah is for.
Who are the people of Jannah?
What are their qualities?
How do they behave?
How do they act?
All of it Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has
told us in the Quran.
So when we recite the Quran
we need to ask ourselves and what Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala is describing the believers,
describing the people of Jannah, describing their characteristics,
is he talking about me?
When he describes these individuals, we need to
ask ourselves that is he
talking about me?
And if he is, then we thank Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And we ask him for more
but if we feel that he is not
talking about us,
then we need to change.
We need to repent.
We need to turn back to Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala and ask him to give us
the ability to become from those individuals.
And we want to look at how can
we model this behavior?
How can we create an environment that will
allow us to succeed, to become amongst those
individuals?
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells us in the
Quran.
Allah is commanding us
to rush, to hasten, to run towards Jannah.
He's not telling us to wait, to postpone.
Maybe tomorrow I'll think about it,
but hurry up. And Musa'ah is also to
compete with other people. Do not let the
other person beat you, Jannah.
To compete towards what? To the forgiveness of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Everything that will lead
to his mercy and his forgiveness,
rush towards that. Who? Your Lord. Your creator.
The one who sustains us. The one who
takes care of us. The one who has
given us everything that we have.
Rush towards him.
And a garden whose wits is like the
heavens and the earth.
That is prepared for the muttaqun.
Taqwa is to put a barrier between yourself
and that which you fear.
And what we fear is the punishment of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And that barrier is
the obedience of Allah.
Abu Huraira radiAllahu anhu was asked what is
taqwa? And he said if you saw a
path in front of you, it was laid
with thorns and dangerous things, how would you
tread on that path?
We would be very careful how we went
on that path. He said, that's what taqwa
is.
That you be careful how you move towards
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
You don't go into that which he has
forbidden
and you do that which he has commanded
you to do.
And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala now he
starts describing the muttaqun. And in the Quran
you will find the description of them. And
he describes them in these verses.
Those individuals who spend
when it is easy for them to do
so.
And not only that, even when it's difficult,
they still spend
because they know Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala accepts
it from them.
They do not belittle any good deed. And
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala here, he uses
the present tense
Which means this is something that they do
time after time after time. It's part of
their nature.
Because the prophet
said that protect yourselves
from the hellfire
even with a part of a date.
Do not belittle anything that you spend for
the sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Then
he says
those who repress their anger.
They have a level of emotional control.
They don't let their emotions dominate them. Rather,
they are the ones who are in control
of their emotions.
The prophet sallallahu anayhi wa sallam said,
That the strong individual is not the one
who's good at wrestling,
who's physically dominant, who can overpower the other
person.
Rather
Rather the strong person is that individual
who can control themselves when they are angry.
When they get upset, they are able to
control that anger.
Not only that,
he
said,
Even
there's a higher level.
That they're able to pardon other people.
And pardon in a way that they forget
about it. It does not impact them. It
does not impact their mental health that they
keep bringing it over and over or thinking
over and over. Rather, they forgive and forget.
Even a higher level of emotional mastery because
we can suppress that anger,
but to pardon in a way that does
not even bother you
is a very high level.
And the prophet, SAW Allahu alaihi wa sallam,
said,
that whoever would be pleased
that the castles of Jannah be presented in
front of him, to be raised in front
of him, And to be raised in his
ranks in Jannah,
Then let them forgive those individuals who have
wronged them, to give to those who have
not given to them, and to maintain ties
of kinship with those who have cut them
off.
It's easy
when somebody does a little thing to kind
of overlook
it. When somebody gives you, it's easy to
give them back. When somebody keeps in touch
with you, it's easy to keep in touch
with them.
But it's difficult
that when somebody has really wronged you
to overlook that mistake and pardon in a
way that does not even impact you.
It's gone completely. It's not on your mind.
It's difficult to give to somebody who refused
to give to you.
And it's difficult to maintain ties with people
who don't want anything to do with you.
But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us
about these individuals
that they have these qualities.
And he says,
Allah loves
the ones who play at excellence,
the ones who show ihsan.
And ihsan is,
as the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said,
That you worship Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in
a way that you know he's, that you
see him.
And if you cannot do that, you know
that he's watching
you. And ihsan is not only in our
relationship with Allah because that ihsan has to
translate into our behavior.
And it's also how we deal with one
another.
To strive to do good to everyone that
we deal with. Our parents, our children, our
spouses, our community.
We strive to a level of excellence with
these individuals.
And then Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
That from the qualities
of these individuals is that when they commit
the major sins and minor
sins.
Is those abhorrent sins, major sins.
They remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They know
that they're gonna be standing in front of
him one day.
They know that he's watching them.
They know that they will not get away
with it.
So they hasten and they turn back to
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. They repent to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And who can forgive sins
except Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and they do
not
keep on going in that sin. They do
not persist in it while they know
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is watching them.
That they're gonna stand in front of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Now here comes a very important question.
Where is that reminder coming from?
Zakkara Allah, they just committed major sin.
Where is it coming from?
If you look at the qualities that Allah,
subhanahu wa ta'ala, has described in these verses,
to be able to spend
when it's difficult,
to make that a part of your nature,
to be able to suppress your anger,
to be able to forgive people and overlook
their mistakes and not let it bother you,
to be able to play a ihsan
and even when you make a mistake to
be able to turn around shortly.
Where is that reminder coming from?
These individuals have an environment set up for
them that allows them to succeed
because this is not normal. It is not
human nature to be able to spend like
that. Our nafs al amara, our ego wants
us to hold on to every penny. It
wants us to exact revenge. It does not
want to forgive
and it wants to commit those sins,
but they have a relationship with Allah, they
have a relationship with the Quran, they have
the right people around them,
they have trained themselves to go against their
nafs.
That is what allows them to reach that
level.
It does not happen like that because it's
not part of our nature. But when we
train ourselves
and we go against our nature and we
depend on Allah and ask Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, it becomes easy until it becomes part
of our nature part of who we are
that becomes the new norm
and in our journey to Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala we're gonna have 4 major obstacles
that's always gonna be there until we leave
this world
The first of them is Shaytan.
He's never gonna rest because he said
that by your might I'm gonna mislead everyone
except those of your servants who are sincere
to you. So it is the sincere ones
that work on these things, that work on
themselves, that understand who shaitan is and what
he's trying to do.
Abu Darda radiAllahu anhu, he said that from
the fiqh of an individual, from the understanding
of an individual, is that they always check
their iman and see what is missing there.
From their understanding is that they see is
their iman going up
or is it reducing?
And from their understanding is
they know how shaitan gets the best of
them
and they work to fix that. So we
also have to be like that. We have
to understand
how does shaitan get the better of me
because he's gonna win. At times he's gonna
win
but we cannot let him win the war
because he swore and he told Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala that by your majesty I'm gonna
mislead everyone as long as they have souls
within them. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala replied
and said by my majesty,
by my glory, I will forgive them as
long as they seek my forgiveness.
So when we slip we gotta get back
up. We can't let shaitan win,
but we have to know how he gets
us because
that they see you from where we don't
see them. They know our weaknesses.
He knows how to get us, when to
come, which button to push, but we also
have to become self aware and understand how
these things work. The second obstacle in our
path is gonna be our own nafs, our
ego. The nafsul amara is the ego. That's
gonna be an obstacle because it wants comfort.
It wants short term pleasure. It does not
want to worship Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, but
we have to go against that nature.
We have to develop ourselves in a way
that enough sal mutma'inna becomes a dominant soul
that comes a place.
Ibrahim Ataymi
Rahmatullahi alaihi mentioned
that I imagine myself, he visualize himself,
in Jannah,
Eating from the wonderful fruits,
enjoying the rivers of Jannah,
being with the maidens in Jannah,
and then he said, I imagine myself to
be in the hellfire eating the disgusting food
of zakum.
Drinking
what flows from the people of hellfire mixed
with pus and blood.
He's visualizing this,
dealing with the chains and iron collars that
is gonna be there
And then he told his nafs.
His nafs al Amari tells
it, what do you want
in that situation?
And the nafs replied and said that I
want to go back to this world and
do good.
So he tells it,
that you are fortunate because you have that
chance
but start doing the actions now.
And we have that opportunity as well that
we start taking actions and going against our
nafs.
The third obstacle is people. There's gonna be
people who are gonna stop us from the
path of Allah that what are gonna stop
us from going towards Allah. Why I need
to go to a masjid? Just relax man.
Just have a drink
and forget about the non Muslims. Muslims tell
this to us.
Take it easy. Don't be so serious.
So we need to surround ourselves with the
right people
and then the allure of this dunya.
This world is meant for us to plant
the seeds for the akhah. The smart individual
is who utilizes this world to build his.
That when he does something,
these normal things, they have the intention that
they want to please Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
through it. So they went in dunya and
also in
And when it comes to environment, we always
talk about the physical environment. We need to
change our physical environment,
but there's something even more important. There's 3
things that we need to focus on when
it comes to building our environment. The first
is the internal environment.
Our psychological environment. What's in there?
Do we have good thoughts about Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala? What ideas are we taking in?
Do we have good thoughts about our own
selves? How do we talk to ourselves?
What's in there? We need to change that.
We need to know who Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala is. And also the spiritual environment in
our heart. What kind of things are going
in there? Is it things that are putting
a barrier between our heart and Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala or is it things that will
nurture that soul, that will give that soul
what it wants?
The second thing is the people environment. Do
we have people around us who are gonna
motivate us, empower us, encourage us to be
the best that we can be, to be
the best servants of Allah that we can
be. Not only that, but to also strive
and succeed in this world.
And then last comes the physical environment. How
can I optimize my environment in a way
that will allow me to succeed?
Now Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala describes in Surat
Al Haraf
for those individuals who actually work on these
things, they work on themselves.
What happens eventually?
That those individuals
who have taqwa, who have the mindfulness of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, when shaitan touches them,
when impulse touches them to do wrong,
right away they remember
and all of a sudden they have insight.
So when that impulse touches them because they've
trained themselves, because they have a verse that
they go back to, because maybe they go
for a walk and they remind themselves, they
say, They
have a system set up that does not
let them fall into that sin right away,
they get insight and they change.
Because when shaitan touches us, when that impulse
comes, the thinking brain shuts off.
We know better, but we still do it.
Why is that?
Because when that desire takes over, we're not
thinking rationally anymore.
We're not thinking of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The thinking brain shuts off, but when people
have a way to snap out of it
and they remember Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, they
remember that he's watching them, that they're gonna
stand in front of him, they're able to
shift their focus.
But those individuals who do not train themselves,
who do not set up that environment for
themselves to succeed, what happens to them?
As for their brothers,
from the ins and the jinn,
they keep pulling them.
They throw them farther and farther away from
Allah and
they will never stop
because misleading people is not enough, they need
to push them as far away as they
can.
So when we don't have the environment that
will stop us,
that relationship with the Quran that will remind
us,
the people in there that will stop us,
that will check upon us, hey where's this
guy? Let me go check on it. Where
is he today? I haven't seen him in
the masjid for so long.
If we don't have that set up and
when shaitan gets us, he's gonna keep pushing
us further and further,
but those who set up that environment,
they're the ones who are able to remember
and change their ways And when they do
this, going back to the earlier verses,
That those individuals who embody these qualities,
they get what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told
them to go towards, The forgiveness of Allah
and the gardens of paradise in which they
all reside forever.
And then he says,
that how wonderful
is a reward for those who take action
because it comes down to action. We can
theorize, we can strategize, we can think about
it, but nothing will change until we actually
take action. Because when we take action, we'll
mess up and that's fine.
We'll learn from it and we'll change and
we'll strategize and we'll become better, but we
have to take action.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala make us amongst
those individuals
who listen to his verses and act upon
them.
May he make us amongst those individuals who
set up the environment that will allow them
to succeed.
May he make us amongst those who take
action.
Still, please straighten your lines. Close the gaps.
Assalamu
alaikum.
Welcome to your Masjid on this beautiful day,
the third.
Please join us in welcoming Sheikh Saif Murad,
candidate for the resident scholar position.
Sheikh Saif is a trained scholar with bachelor's
and master's degrees from the Islamic University of
Medina,
and a trained life coach.
Don't miss out on your opportunity to hear
from Sheikh Seif with these upcoming workshops here
at the IAR.
Tonight, from 7:30 to 10,
2 keys to happiness.
Tomorrow, from 2 to 5 PM, 3 pillars
of a happy marriage.
And Sunday from 2 to 3:30,
current youth affairs and challenges.
Masjid King Khalid, located within the grounds of
Shaw University,
has been closed since the start of the
COVID 19 pandemic.
Repeated requests to the university's administration
to reopen the Masjid have been denied,
citing concerns over COVID 19.
Tomorrow at 11:30 AM, King Khaled Masjid will
be holding a protest outside the International Studies
Center at Shaw.
We hope to see everyone there in support
of the efforts to get this house of
Allah reopened.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala reward you for
your support.
Are you ready for the biggest MSA event
in NC ever?
Join RISE and MSA from around North Carolina
for Qiyam night, a night filled with worship,
social cohesion, and fun.
We're honored to have guest speaker, Imam Ahmedib,
for this event,
Friday, February 10th. Registration is required via raliemashad.org/programs.
Our community is invited to participate in the
IAR annual Ramadan Quran competition.
There's no age restriction on competing.
The deadline to register is March 11th. More
information and registration,
you can check the announcement email.
Parenting.
Who said it's easy?
Join us for a session with Habim Qadri
to learn more about how we can navigate
the challenges as parents.
Thursday, February 16th at 6:30 PM.
Registration is required via alimanschool.org.
Youth of all ages are invited to join
a public speaking workshop with brother Glenn Silver
and brother Youssef Badr. It'll be Sundays from
2 to 4 PM, every 2 weeks, starting
next weekend.
You can register via our website under the
programs tab.
The IAR Umrah team is excited for the
very first Umrah and Al Aqsa spring break
youth and family retreat.
This special trip will take place from March
9th through 20th.
See our website for more details.
Jazakam Allahu Khayr.
Have a wonderful week.