Saif Morad – The Believers Mindset IAR Raleigh Masjid Jumuah
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Hey, young fellow.
Indeed, all praise belongs to Allah
We praise him. We thank him. We seek
his forgiveness. We seek his aid,
and we rely upon him for all
of our affairs.
And we seek refuge in him from the
evil consequences
of our souls and our actions.
Because whomsoever Allah
guides, none can misguide.
And whomsoever Allah
misguides, none can guide.
And I testify with full conviction that there
is no one worthy of worship except Allah
the Almighty.
And I bear witness that the Prophet
is the last and final Messenger.
Oh you who believe,
have the taqwa of Allah
the way that he deserves to be feared,
and do not die except in the state
of submission as Muslims.
O people have that fear, that mindfulness of
Allah
The one who created you from a single
person, and from that individual He created his
spouse, and from them both He created many
men and women. And have that taqah of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the one from whom
you demand your mutual rights and those of
kin. Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is ever
watching over you.
All you who believe,
have that mindfulness, that taqwa of Allah
and say that which is true and just.
Because when you do so, Allah
will rectify your affairs and forgive your sins.
And who, whomsoever obeys Allah and His Messenger,
that is the person that has achieved the
great victory.
The best
of words, the best of speech is the
word of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And the
best guidance is the guidance of the Prophet
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And the worst matters in the religion are
those newly invented matters that have no basis
within the deen. Because every newly invented matter
in the religion is misguidance, and every misguidance
leads eventually to the hellfire.
My dear brothers and sisters, Allah
tells us in the Quran,
That a group of the leaders from Banu
Israel after the time of Musa alaihis salaam,
they go to their Prophet Shamu'il alaihis salaam,
and they ask him, they make a request,
can Allah
appoint a king over us so that we
can go and fight in the cause of
Allah
Because they went to war with Goliath, Jalut,
and his people, the Amalekites.
And they utterly humiliated them, and destroyed them,
and expelled them from their lands.
And they want revenge, they want to bring
back the glory.
So, they went to their prophet and they
asked
that, Ask Allah
to appoint a king over us.
And Shamweel replies to them and says, (QS.
Alhamdulillah
3) He knows these people.
He deals with them on a regular basis.
Perhaps if Allah
makes it mandatory upon you to go fight,
you're not gonna do it.
And they're offended by this.
Why in the world would we not go
out and fight
when we have been removed from our homes
and separated from our families?
Why in the world would we not go
and defend and bring back justice towards us?
Fight for the sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
And then when it was mandated upon them,
Shamoon is saying them, Look, you have this
situation, it's not obligatory on you right now.
If it becomes mandatory and you don't respond
to the command of Allah
it's far worse than you just being where
you are.
So be careful for what you're asking for.
Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mandates it for
them,
and most of them don't respond to the
command of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Except a few of them. And Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala has the knowledge
of the ones who do wrong.
And now Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala expands on
this story.
That their prophet told them that Allah Subhanahu
wa ta'ala, you requested this, He has appointed
you as a king over you, Saul.
You got what you wanted.
Your response should be,
We hear, we obey, we know this is
from Allah because he is the one who
is appointing it. So the response should be,
one of we hear and we obey.
Their response
is one of protest and objection.
How is it that this guy is appointed
a king over us?
Because from the tribes of Banu Israel, the
12 sons of Yaqub
from one of them was prophethood, from another
one was kingship.
Is from neither of those.
So they're objecting, How is it that someone
who's not from that lineage
is being appointed a king over us? And
not only that, he hasn't been given a
lot of wealth.
The criteria is somebody has to be wealthy
in order for them to rule over us.
So they object to the decree of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And their prophet responds to them and tells
them
that, Allah
has chosen him over you guys. He is
the one who has appointed him, not only
that, he has given him an increase in
knowledge
and in strength,
which means Allah made him the most competent
and suitable person for the job.
It's not about the lineage.
It's not about wealth,
but it's rather it's about
who is the most suitable person for that
role?
Who is the one who is going to
bring about the desired result? He had the
knowledge. Not only that, he knew how to
implement it to get the required result.
Which teaches us as well that we have
to become competent as well.
We play multiple roles within our lives.
When in school, how can I become the
most competent?
At my work, how can I be the
best at it? The most competent doctor, physician,
engineer, businessman.
Whatever career that I have, how can I
be the most competent in that?
Because the market rewards
the value that we bring in.
How can we take that theoretical knowledge
and implement it to bring about the desired
results?
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and he's the one who gives his kingdom
to whomsoever he chooses to.
And at the end he's He
is the all encompassing when it comes to
good. Allah
is abundant.
There is no end to his treasures, and
he is alim, he has the ultimate knowledge,
he knows what's best for us.
And the Muslim has to have that mindset
as well. That I am dealing with
the
one whose treasures there's no limit to.
So I don't think from a place of
scarcity, rather I think from a place of
abundance.
That if I strive and I go towards
it, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will make it
happen. At the same time, he will bring
what's best for me because he has ultimate
knowledge.
So, as they are hesitant that how is
this person being appointed over us, Their prophets
tell them
that,
That from the signs is that this taboo,
this chest, this box is going to come
for you. Now this box, the prophets of
Banu Israel, when they used to go to
war, they used to take it with them.
And this was a symbol of goodness for
them. And then as they lost to Jalut
and his army, Goliath and his army, they
stole this tabut from them. Allah
is saying to give you more assurance, he's
going to return this to you.
In it is peace and tranquility for you,
and also within it is some of the
relics that Musa alaihis salaam and Harun alaihis
salaam left behind.
Not only that, this is going to be
brought by angels, and you're going to witness
this in front of you. So, Allah is
going to strengthen your resolve, strengthen your hearts
as you see this happening in front of
you.
Indeed, and that is a sign for you,
if you truly believe Allah
you're objecting, no problem. Allah is giving you
the confidence,
putting you at ease,
so that your resolve will be firm and
strong
as you're about to undertake this mission.
So the response should be that they should
be confident and respond to the command of
Allah
But does does it play out that way?
Now, Talut
has control over them,
and he's going out
to meet Goliath and his army.
As he goes, he says, Allah
is testing you with this river in front
of you. As if crossed the desert for
multiple days, they're thirsty. Allah
is going to test you with this river
in front of you because a leader needs
to know,
who can I rely upon?
When things get really tough, who are the
ones who are all talk but no action,
and those people who are actually going to
show up? Who are my a players here?
Who are the ones when things get difficult
that I know I can turn to them?
Rather than those people who are going to
cause panic, and confusion, and weaken the resolve
of the army that's there. So to do
this, Allah
is testing them with a river.
That whoever drinks from this river is not
from me, except that person who drinks enough
of a handful of water. So, you're allowed
to drink but only a handful. And knowing
that this is coming from Allah
the understanding is, that if I follow the
command of Allah
that is sufficient for me.
So, you have the permission to drink, but
only a handful.
Most of them
did not listen to the command of Allah
Most of them drank way more than they
were supposed to.
How many people responded to the call of
their nabi?
That stayed within the limits that Allah
said.
The prophet
said on the day of Badr,
when he had only 313
people with him, he said, You are like
the people of Talut.
The ones who responded to the call of
Talut
were
313 just like the people of Badr.
They're the ones who listen to the command
of Allah and
most of them stayed back.
So imagine
you have thousands of people. In one narration,
it says 80,000 people were there.
And it says only 4,000, but let's take
it down a notch and say 313
went.
You notice this scene play out in front
of you.
You're a big number.
All of a sudden, you're reduced
to a very tiny percentage,
and you see this happen in front of
you.
How's your heart feel?
How's your confidence?
Are you sure
you're going to be able to live this
sea tomorrow?
And as they go
across the sea,
Now, they're seeing this massive army of Goliath
in front of them.
And the believers who are with
they say,
That today we don't have any strength in
front of jalut and his massive army. This
is a portion from those 313.
Because they're seeing the reality in front of
them.
The response that they get from the true
believers,
Those people who are certain, had that conviction
in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and that one
day they're going to be standing in front
of him.
They respond
and
say,
That how many times has a smaller party
with their conviction and iman, and Allah
overcome the larger party?
How many times has that happened?
And Allah
He is with those individuals who are patient,
who are resilient, who will
endure the difficulty,
and will push forward.
These individuals who are with them, they needed
to hear that.
The party, they're already convinced, they knew it,
but the people who's their strength weakened in
this situation.
Some doubt might have crept in.
They are the ones who needed that
reminder,
that with Allah
nothing is impossible.
And as they go now to me, there's
one thing you hype yourself up. You get
the mindset that, okay, I can do this.
There's another thing when you actually go into
it, and the first obstacle that hits you,
can I still do it?
And when they went and they met the
army of jalud,
they said,
That, You Allah, we're not relying upon our
skills,
on our strategy. We've taken the means that's
in front of us. But, O Allah,
You are the master of the heavens and
the earth.
Our souls lies in Your hands.
Pour into our hearts
that resilience, that steadfastness.
Not only that,
That keep us firm. So that when that
obstacle happens, when
we feel like turning away that we're unable
to do so. That we keep pushing, keep
going.
And help us over the disbelievers.
So it begins with the mindset of Allah
and it continues as well. That, O Allah,
you help us, you keep us steadfast, and
you bring about the desired result.
And what was the result for them?
And this
small
army
overcame the massive army of
And Dawud
he overcame. He is the one who dealt
with Goliath.
And Allah says,
And he gave Dawud
the kingdom
and wisdom as well. This means prophethood. Allah
now for the first time within Banu Israel
has combined
prophethood
and kingship in one person. Before it was
separate, now through Dawud
it became to one person. And not only
that,
and he taught him that which is important
from divine knowledge. Not only that, also the
skill set that he needs to be a
good and competent leader, which teaches us that
the mindset of a believer is
continuous and never ending improvement and learning.
The journey of knowledge, of learning, and improving
ourselves never ends.
It continues until we leave this world.
That had it not been for the fact
that Allah
checks people through others,
the world would have been engrossed in corruption.
But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala legislated that the
people of truth stand up and check the
people of falsehood. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
do Fadlina
possesses tremendous
bounty over everyone.
He has surrounded
and poured on us
from his bounty.
In looking over
the story of Tawud
against Goliath and Dawud alaihis salam,
There's many lessons that we can derive from
this.
From them is
That Allah
is telling us how the believers are supposed
to be, but at the same time he's
also teaching us how we're not supposed to
be.
That we don't be from those individuals
who make a lot of noise,
and they complain, and they criticize, and they
want these things to be implemented.
But when it comes down to the execution
part of it, when it comes down to
the implementation
part,
where are they?
That we shouldn't be like that.
That if we want to see change, we'd
be part of that change. We'd be part
of the process,
Rather than being from those individuals who just
look back,
and are comfortable,
and criticize everyone under the earth, but then
when it comes down to actually taking action,
and implementing, and bringing about the change, they're
nowhere to be found.
Lesson number 2 is Allah
chose Tawut,
and he gave him the skill set that
made him the most suitable person. So, we
take from that, that how can I, from
all the roles that I play in my
life,
how can I become competent in that when
it comes to myself as a father, as
a mother, as a spouse, as a parent,
as a child, as a worker, as a
sibling, as a community member, as a leader?
How can I develop myself
That I set my out myself up for
success?
Because the more competent a person becomes, the
more confident they become. The more confident they
are, the better results they will get.
So how can I develop myself in a
way that will bring me the best results
across the board?
In my
in my family life, in my work life,
in my mental health, so on and so
forth.
And finally,
that the believers mindset is,
that it is not me,
but it is you, oh Allah.
How many obstacles have people overcome? How many
times have people put people down?
You will not be able to establish this
masjid. This project is a waste of time.
You won't be able to get that job.
You're not going to be able to get
into this school. You're not meant to become
such and such.
People will talk,
and they will put that debt within our
minds. But our response is,
That how many times
that the smaller party, when the odds were
against them,
with the help of Allah
we're able to overcome that, we're able to
bring that project to life, we're able to
become that, We're able to launch a successful
business. We're able to become better than what
people's expectations were.
But that comes from having that mindset that
Allah is the one who's going to help
me.
Whether you
want it to happen or not, Allah is
the one who's going to help me.
But then as we go on that journey,
the doubts come in, the obstacles gonna happen
there. I might not get into that school
that I wanted to, I might not get
that first interview, but that's fine. That's where
we ask Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala, pour into me that steadfastness, that
resilience,
that I keep going,
and keep me firm so that I don't
turn away.
And then Allah
will bring the desired result.
The best possible result there is for us,
Allah will give it to us. And not
to be fixated on something very specific,
but rather that Allah
bring about the desire, the best result for
me at that time.
May
Allah instill on us the mindset of the
believer. May he give us that conviction, that
in his promise. May he give us that
steadfastness, that resilience that we keep pushing, even
though the odds might be against us. May
Allah
give us the best in this world, and
the next, Today's the day of Friday, said
Allah Subhanahu
Wa
Ta'ala
Next Friday is the last Friday of Ramadan.
Subhanallah. Ramadan
has come and it's
at its end.
So next Friday,
we're going to have the 3 Friday shifts
is going to be a fundraiser as it
is our culture here at the IAR.
Not only that, next Friday is also 27th
night. So even at Tarawih time, we will
have a fundraiser as well. This is an
opportunity to give back, to support,
to read the ajer with Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. So we invite all of you to
come and to participate
for information in regards to zakat and fidya
and so on and so forth, then please
check the website. And also when it comes
to the new school that's opening, the Creative
Scholars Academy, all the information is there for
you
at the website of the IAR.
Please train the lines. Close any gaps. Please
make sure you fill up the rows in
front before the ones in the back.
Allah.
Welcome to your Masjid on this fantastic day,
29th.
The social and welfare committee is now collecting
zakatul fitr and zakatul mal.
This year the Zakatul Fitar is $15
per person
and Fidya is $8 per day per person.
This is a kind reminder for all of
us who are eligible to pay these along
with Zakatul Mal as soon as possible.
This helps IAR distribute it locally in accordance
with the teachings of our deen.
You can pay these online and in the
lobby via the kiosks or marked envelopes.
Creative Scholars Academy is now accepting applications for
students and teachers.
The school grades include preschool to 2nd grade
and intends to add a new grade each
year.
Space is limited, so apply online today.
Come and shop for all your aid needs
this Sunday, March 31st at the Eid Bazaar
here at the IAR from 12 to 5
PM.
The health and wellness team is proud to
bring you another support group session for sisters
ages 25 to 35.
The next event will be a potluck iftar
Friday, April 5th.
Come prepared to hear and share stories and
find support and strength in each other, all
facilitated
by licensed Muslim therapists.
Babysitting will be provided and everyone is welcome
even if you can't bring up dish.
Please be mindful of your parking for Jumaa
and Taraweeh.
Being respectful to our neighbors and each other
with our parking and driving is absolutely necessary
especially during this blessed month of Ramadan.
May Allah
raise your ranks amongst the ummah. Enjoy your
week. Jazakum Allahu Khayran, was salaamu alaykum.