Saif Morad – Focus On What Matters Principles For A Good Life #2

If we look at the teachings of Islam,

we will see that it calls to all

that which is good,

beautiful actions, beautiful mannerisms,

and it tells us to stay away from

all that is harmful for us.

And we need to understand this and teach

this to Muslims and non Muslims as well.

One of the beautiful principles that we learn

from the prophet is

to busy ourselves with that which is beneficial,

to leave off that which isn't.

And this comes from the saying of the

prophet

where he said,

from the perfection of one's faith

is to leave off that which doesn't concern

him.

This hadith is from the principles of good

manners.

One of the great Maliki scholars of his

time, Abu Zayd al Maliki, he said that

from 4 hadith

comes all of the good manners,

And these hadith are

whoever believes in Allah in the last day,

then let them speak good or remain silent.

This hadith,

the hadith when a person asked the prophet

to give him advice and he told him,

do not get angry.

And the hadith

that none of you will truly believe unless

he loves for his brother what he loves

for himself.

From the perfection of one's faith is to

leave off that which does not concern them

from speech and from action.

So from the signs that we see of

somebody's faith improving

is that they busy themselves with that which

is beneficial,

and they leave off that which does not

concern them

according to Islam. Not according to their desires,

but according to what Islam encourages.

And we ask ourselves, is my faith improving?

Am I improving as a Muslim?

Am I making sure that I perform all

my obligatory actions?

Am I staying away from the major sins?

Which sins am I falling into?

We ask ourselves, how are my conversations?

What kind of things do I talk about?

Am I talking excessively?

Do I get into other people's businesses?

As Muslims, we all have shortcomings,

but we should never be satisfied where we

are spiritually.

Rather, we should always try to improve.

We should be continuously

trying to improve so that we reach a

level of Ihsan,

which is where we worship Allah Subhanahu Wa

Ta'ala as if we are seeing him.

And if we cannot see him, we know

that he is watching us.

This is what we should aim for, and

this is what we should strive towards.

And this is what we should busy ourselves

with,

not busy ourselves with things that are of

no benefit,

that don't improve us. Because if we busy

ourselves with those things,

then it means

that we're not doing the things that will

benefit us.

We live in a time of information

overload,

And it is so easy to get distracted,

and we're all guilty of this.

But we don't need to know everything.

Rather, we should focus on the things that

will improve our lives,

that will improve our religion,

that will improve our relationship with Allah, that

will improve our Islam,

that will improve our knowledge, that will improve

our relationships,

that will move the needle forward in our

careers,

in our businesses,

in our marriages,

and we should be very careful not to

get into other people's businesses, not to look

for other people's faults.

The search for things that we can use

against them. This is not what we should

be concerned with. This does not concern us.

This is something we need to leave off

completely.

We have enough shortcomings

when it comes to our relationship with Allah

and our religion.

We need to focus on that, on improving

ourselves.

Some of the people of knowledge said,

glad tidings be to the one who was

busy with his own faults rather than the

faults of others.

And woe to the person who forgets their

faults

and instead busies themselves with the faults of

others.

And Al Hasan al Basri, he said

that one of the signs that Allah has

turned away from a servant

is that the servant finds himself continuously

preoccupied and engaged in matters which are none

of his concern.

This is something that is serious,

so we should understand our priorities,

what things are important.

And there is always a time to relax

and take it easy so that we can

come back better and stronger.

And in this journey of becoming better and

improving ourselves, we're gonna mess up. That's just

part of the deal.

But we make sure that we always get

up. We never lose hope. We never give

up.

And we always try to slowly but surely

improve ourselves.

And leaving things that doesn't concern us does

not mean

that we stop giving advice, that we stop

commanding the good, forbidding the wrong

because that is part of Islam,

that we help our brothers and sisters do

better.

If they're not making the right decisions,

we encourage them with wisdom and love.

May Allah cover our faults and make us

amongst those who busy themselves with that which

is beneficial

Do the actions that are beloved to him.

Until next time.