Salah Mahmoud – The Blessing Of Simply Being Okay
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of acceptance and happiness in life, rather than just being satisfied with what one has. They stress the importance of gratitude and being grateful for blessings that come with happiness, rather than just being okay. They also emphasize the importance of dialysis for people, including their dream life, family members, and health, and encourage dialysis patients to donate generously and sponsor their health.
AI: Summary ©
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullah.
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger
of Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger
of Allah.
Come to
success.
Allah is the Greatest.
Allah is the Greatest.
There is none worthy of worship except Allah.
Allah
is
the Greatest.
Allah is the Greatest.
There is none worthy of worship except Allah.
Allah is the Greatest.
Allah is the Greatest.
My dear
brothers
and sisters, human being will never agree upon
one thing.
Everyone was created differently.
However, if you were to ask people about
what is the one goal that they have
in life, what is the one thing that
everyone is searching for, the answer will be
the same.
Although natures are different, people are different, but
the goal will be the same.
I just want to be happy.
I want to live a happy life.
And then you follow that question by another
question.
So what is happiness for you?
What is happiness?
What makes you happy?
Here you will find again different natures.
The answers will be different.
Majority of people perhaps will say wealth, money,
the almighty dollar.
Some people will say health.
Some people will say children.
Some people will say family, spouse, community.
People will say different things.
But again, they're looking for one thing which
is happiness.
I just want to be happy.
I want to be happy in this dunya.
That's the goal.
Everyone wants to be okay.
Everyone wants to be happy.
But no one knows how to be happy.
Right?
Nobody knows how to be happy.
Alright, what is happiness for you?
Is it money?
Well, it's proven that money does not bring
happiness.
Money and wealth brings convenience, not happiness.
And that's very true.
This is proven.
It's science.
That wealth and materialistic things can only bring
convenience to you.
But no happiness.
Because when you look at happy people and
you ask them the same question, their answer
will be different.
They already have wealth.
If you ask them what makes you happy,
they will say something else.
Perhaps they will say I need family.
Alright?
So this means that happiness varies from one
person to another person.
I have done a lot of research about
the term happiness.
I've read a lot of books about happiness
and what makes people happy.
There is one concept that everyone, every psychologist,
every therapist, every scientist agrees that that is
the one thing that will bring you happiness
in this dunya.
Which is gratitude.
Shukran.
Very simple word.
Yet, it is the ultimate happiness.
It is the ultimate happiness.
Because brothers and sisters, happiness is not about
wanting something.
It's about accepting and being happy with what
you have.
That is shukran.
When you look throughout the Quran, you will
find that Allah spoke about alhamd in the
first surah.
When you look at the dua and adhkar
of the day and the night, the very
first thing that you should say as soon
as you open your eyes, can you guess?
Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah alladhi ahyana ba'dama amatana wa ilayhi nushoor.
That's the very first thing.
You open your eyes.
Without even saying anything, without even saying anything,
you say alhamdulillah.
What a great lesson from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah alladhi radda alayya ruhi wa adhina li
fi dhikri.
Alhamdulillah that Allah has given you your soul
back.
It's a ni'mah.
It's a ni'mah, brothers and sisters, because there
are so many people in the world, they
slept last night that they never made it
again.
It's a ni'mah that Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala has returned your soul back.
You know when we die, Allah temporarily takes
our souls, right?
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keeps our souls.
The ones whom Allah decides that they're going
to die, their souls will never return back.
And for those whom Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala decreed that they're going to remain, they
still have a few days, a few years
in dunya, Allah will give them their soul
back and will give them another opportunity.
So every single morning when you wake up,
I want you to think about this.
Alhamdulillah alladhi radda alayya ruhi.
What if you died upon maasiyah?
What if you died and you did not
fulfill the obligations of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala?
Does this mean that there is no second
chance for you?
But when Allah gives you your soul back,
say alhamdulillah for this.
Alright?
When you sneeze, it feels like your soul
also out of your body.
That's why we say alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah that Allah has returned my soul back.
Surah al-Fatiha, alhamdulillah.
And then in the Day of Judgment, Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about the people
of Jannah.
May Allah make us from the people of
Jannah.
The very last thing that the people of
Jannah will say, alhamdulillah rabbil alameen.
This is happiness, brothers and sisters.
Gratitude.
To appreciate the naam that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala has given you.
That you look at the things that Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala has given you, not
the things that Allah has taken from you.
And that is exactly the reason why people
are not content, people are not happy.
Because whatever is bothering you right now, whatever
you have in your mind right now, it
could be, you know, lack of money, you
lost your job, some healthy problems, this or
that, your spouse is giving you a hard
time, your children are giving you a hard
time.
That could be the reason.
All the reasons that are not making you
happy right now.
But subhanallah al aliyul azeem, if you just
put this on hold a little bit, and
think about so many other blessings, you will
smile naturally.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in surah
Luqman, أَلَمْ تَرَ أَنَّ اللَّهَ سَخَّرَ لَكُمْ مَا
فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَأَسْبَغَ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعَمَهُ
ظَاهِرَةً وَبَاطِنَةً That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
subjugated everything for you in heavens and earth.
وَأَسْبَغَ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعَمَهُ And He showered you with
His blessings, the evident ones and the hidden
ones.
I have been always wondering about this term,
the hidden ones.
What are the hidden naam?
There are naam that are not evident.
There are naam that we do not see,
brothers and sisters.
Yes, absolutely.
There are a lot of naam that Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala has given you an
eye, yet we do not pay attention to
them.
Those are the blessings that we should always
think about.
They're hidden ones.
One of them, one of them, that Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala sometimes deprives you from
something.
Again, I repeat this again.
Allah deprives you from something.
Allah prevents something from happening to you, from
coming to you.
It's a ni'mah from Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
اِقْرَأُوا إِن شِئْتُمْ In surat al-Qasas, Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about baby Musa
alayhis salam.
When he was a baby, his sister is
observing, is watching him.
Right?
He ended up at the house of Firaun.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, وَحَرَّمْنَا
عَلَيْهِ الْمَرَاضِعَ مِنْ قَبْلٍ He is not nursing
from any other woman.
Allah deprived him from the sip of milk.
Why?
Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wanted to
return him back to his mother.
So you ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
for something and He did not give it
to you.
And that's a ni'mah?
Absolutely.
That's a ni'mah.
He deprived you from your destruction.
You ask for something which probably would have
destroyed you and ruined your life.
But He stopped this from you.
Because He did not know what is khair
for you.
This is ni'mah batina.
Even if Allah deprives you from something, even
if your du'a is not answered, it's
a ni'mah.
It's a ni'mah from Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
Absolutely.
You should say alhamdulillah for that.
Right?
What other ni'mah?
The hidden ni'mah.
وَأَسْبَغَ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعَمَهُ ظَاهِرَةً وَبَاطِنًا نِعْمَةَ السِّتْرِ I
spoke about this a couple of khutbahs back.
نِعْمَةَ السِّتْرِ That Allah is covering up for
your shortcomings and your mistakes.
That nobody can see that.
Nobody knows that except Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
It's a ni'mah.
Right?
It's a ni'mah.
Because if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala decides
that you have no more sitr, Allah will
expose you and everyone will know what you
do behind the closed doors.
That's also ni'mah.
And you take this ni'mah for granted.
You think this is haqq for you.
That you know what?
I will do whatever.
Nobody will find out.
Well, guess what?
That's ni'mah from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
It's a blessing from Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
But you don't remember.
You don't think about it.
Alright?
You don't think about it.
The many ni'mah, we say alhamdulillah.
I'm turning right.
I'm turning left.
I'm not a doctor.
But I can tell you the mechanism that
enables me to look right and left.
Imagine if I'm only allowed to look in
one direction.
Just imagine.
I look at the arm moving right and
left.
Look at all of this hidden ni'mah, gems
within your body.
But we take them for granted.
We take them for granted.
You know what?
What happens?
Every single morning this happens to me.
I don't think about this.
I don't appreciate that.
But instead, I take my own happiness away
by thinking of something very negative that is
happening to me in this dunya.
That my son is not listening.
My spouse is giving me a hard time.
That I lost the job temporarily.
Alright?
That is how we lose our happiness, brothers
and sisters.
That's why gratitude, shukr to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, is the gate to happiness.
I have not seen anyone who is grateful
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and not
happy.
Content.
Al shukr wa rida.
To be grateful and content.
To be grateful and content.
Both of them together.
Because it doesn't matter what you have if
you're not content.
If you have a poor heart, it doesn't
matter how much you own in this dunya.
You will always see yourself poor.
How many times you heard me saying that?
There are some people who are so poor
that the only thing they have is money.
Some people are so poor that the only
thing they have is money.
They have millions.
They have everything.
But they're not happy.
They're not content.
Because they're not grateful to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
Brothers and sisters, the first surah we recite,
Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen.
There are so many ni'mah.
I want you to look for them.
The ni'mah of knowing your parents.
The ni'mah of knowing your family.
You know if you go to an orphanage
and ask these kids over there, if you
ask them about their families, can you imagine
that you live in this dunya without knowing
who your father is, or your mother, or
your uncle, your aunt?
Can you picture this in your mind?
The problem is we take all of this
ni'mah for granted.
That's why we are not happy.
We're not content.
Because we do not look at the things
that Allah has given us.
Rather we focus on the things which Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala took away from us
for a purpose and for a reason and
for a wisdom that only Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala knows.
Say Alhamdulillah.
Ibadallah, say Alhamdulillah.
Alhamdulillah from your heart.
Alhamdulillah that you're safe and secure.
Alhamdulillah for your family.
Alhamdulillah for your community.
Alhamdulillah that you can hear me, you can
see me.
These are all blessings, hidden blessings from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Alhamdulillah that Allah subjugated all animals for us.
You see giants, animals, but they're just following
human beings, subhanallah.
They follow their trainers.
They do what the trainer, a weak human
being.
They tell them sit down, they sit down.
If they're just to do the wrong move,
they're going to demolish them.
But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, وَذَلَّلْنَاهَا
لَهُمْ And we subjugated it for you.
We made it under your control and under
your service because Allah honored you as a
human being, son of Adam.
Appreciate the brothers and sisters and whatever moment
of joy that you have in this dunya,
appreciate this moment and take it and accept
it.
Some people, they choose not to be happy
and I find it to be very true.
You know why?
Because if you're happy now, you're always worried
of what is coming next.
You know what?
Everything is going well.
I don't know what's going to happen.
Right?
I don't know what's going to happen.
Something might happen after that.
Well, be it.
That's the nature of dunya.
You will never be content all the time
or happy all the time.
That's the nature of dunya.
But at least, if Allah is giving you
a moment of joy right now, don't take
it.
Accept it.
Don't wait till the night.
Don't wait till tomorrow.
Anything else can happen.
But if Allah is giving you and your
spouse and your family some good quality time,
some happy moments, why don't you take them
right now?
Right?
Because you don't know literally what's going to
happen a few minutes from now.
Any moment of happiness and joy, Alhamdulillah Rabbil
Alameen, and the best happiness and joy that
you can get in this dunya is in
the worship of Allah SWT.
Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen.
I ask Allah SWT to grant us happiness
and contentment and make us amongst the shakirin,
Ya Rabbil Alameen.
Allahumma ameen.
I say this, and I ask Allah's forgiveness
for me and for you.
I just came back from Umrah.
Alhamdulillah.
I made dua for the community and asked
Allah SWT to accept our dua.
And before that, I was on a short
trip to Egypt.
And usually when I go there, I visit,
you know, something I'm personally interested in, taking
care of patients with kidney failures because a
family member of mine, you know, has gone
through that.
And this is how Allah introduced me to
these people.
So every time I go visit one of
the dialysis centers, and Subhanallah, I see a
lot of things that make us, should make
us grateful to Allah SWT.
The ne'am that we take for granted,
these people are lacking it, Subhanallah ala alayhi
al-azim.
And if you were to ask them what
you want, right, like I remember talking to
this young lady.
She was 16 years old, and she was
going through dialysis for two years.
Imagine how young she was when she started
this painful process.
And when I asked her, what is exactly
that one thing that you're looking for, what
you're aiming for, she said, I just want
to be okay.
I just want to be okay.
I just want to live normal life.
You see normal life, just be okay.
To simply be okay, it's a blessing from
Allah SWT.
But when someone asks you, how are you
doing?
It's going.
Okay.
Right?
We don't feel it when we say it.
It's going.
It's okay.
It's okay meaning you're not happy.
You're not satisfied.
But for her, her dream, her dream is
to be okay.
Are we saying alhamdulillah?
Her dream, look at the needles right and
left.
Her life is in pause.
And her dream is just to be okay.
To be able to drink a sip of
water when she needs.
To be able to go to the bathroom
whenever she needs.
That's her dream life.
That's the dream that you and I take
for granted.
And we think that other issues, small issues
that we have in our life are more
difficult than that.
No brothers and sisters.
When you go visit people in the hospitals,
that's why Iyadat al-Marid, visiting people in
the hospitals, it will make you appreciate what
you have.
Visiting sick people will make you appreciate what
you have.
When you go visit someone in the hospital
knowing that no family members goes to visit
them, you will appreciate your family.
That's why it's sadaqah when you go visit
these people.
So when I go there, I learn from
the lessons.
And when they see me, alhamdulillah rabbil alameen,
because every time I take money from here,
every time I go over there, alhamdulillah, when
they see my face, I see the smile
on their face.
And that's not because of me, it's because
of the khair that Allah sends with me.
Right?
So imagine if someone going through this painful
process of dialysis and they cannot work, they
cannot provide for their families.
I have seen an old man, wallahi, that's
a true story.
And because that center serves people in small
towns around us, because the first shift for
dialysis over there for this needy people starts
at 4 a.m., there is no transportation
from his town to that dialysis center.
I have seen the old man sleeping on
the stairs.
And when I asked, what are you doing
there?
He said, because there is no transportation in
the middle of the night.
So I come here, sleep at night under
the stairs, waiting for the dialysis.
Are we saying alhamdulillah for the blessings of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?
Are we really appreciating the naam, the hidden
naam that's happening inside of us?
So brothers and sisters, after salah, inshallah rabbil
alameen, you're way back, what we do is
we try to make it easy for them
and relieve their pain a little bit.
So what we do is we actually give
them dialysis machines.
That's all what they need.
Without it, they're going to die.
We give them supplies.
We provide for them financially.
I personally do this.
I personally take the money and I go
there and I make sure that this money
goes to them.
So on your way back, inshallah, you will
see the table over there.
Please do donate generously, inshallah rabbil alameen.
Contribute.
You will help them with the machines, with
the supplies, with the filters, whatever else they
need.
These people are under zero.
They don't have anything.
And those dialysis, they're given to them for
free.
All of this session is free of charge.
They don't charge them in the centers over
there because they're built as charity and only
for poor people who cannot afford to go
and do this in hospitals.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
give shifa to anyone who is struggling with
their health.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
give shifa to anyone who is struggling with
their health.
Allahumma shifihim shifaan la yughadiru saqama Allahumma shifihim
shifaan la yughadiru saqama Allahumma shifim maradana wa
marada al muslimeen wa arham mawtana wa mawta
al muslimeen taqabbal minna innaka anta assamiyul alaleem
wa tub alayna innaka anta tawwabun raheem Allahumma
istajib dua'ana ya rabbal alameen Allahumma ameen
wa aqim al salam Allah o
Akbar, Allah o Akbar, Ashadu an la ilaha
illa Allah, Ashadu anna Muhammadur Rasulullah, Hayya Allah
Salah, Hayya Allah Falah, Qad qamatis Salah, Qad
qamatis Salah, Allah o Akbar,
Allah o
Akbar, la
ilaha illa Allah.
Surat al-Mustaqim Surat alladhina an'amtu alayhim
ghayri al-maghdubi alayhim wala ad
-dallin Ameen
Surah al-Asr Surah
al-Mustaqim Surat alladhina an'amtu alayhim ghayri
al-maghdubi alayhim wala ad
-dallin Ameen
brother Yahya is in the back inshallah he
has the credit card machines and everything so
inshallah if you can sponsor a patient over
there may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward
you Amen we have dua shifa' for Hafiz
Sayyid Shamshid Rizvi There is me.
We ask Allah to give him shifaa, we
ask Allah to give him shifaa, we ask
Allah to give him shifaa, Ya Rabbil Alameen,
Allahumma shifee shifaa, la yughadiru saqaban, Ya Rabbil
Alameen, Allahumma ameen.
BarakAllahu feekum.