Shakiel Humayun – Mindset of Success 2nd Sermon
AI: Summary ©
The Prophet Sallall's motivation for pursuing excellence and deeds came from a desire to be the best of everything, rather than just one thing, in a series of text and sunGeneration. He emphasized petty matters as a result of negative behavior and distraction, and as a result of participation in grand matters. The network effect of rewards, which is a reward for individuals engaged in grand matters, is also emphasized. The speaker encourages individuals to be part of a positive community and make themselves amongst those who are able to engage in these activities.
AI: Summary ©
The Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam
said, Khayun Nasi Kharni.
He said, The best
of mankind
is my generation,
the generation
of the companions.
So the question is,
what was the mindset
of the companions
that drove them to be
the best generation?
More so
than Gen X,
the Millennials,
Gen Z,
Alpha, and others.
And to understand the mindset
of the companions,
we need to understand
how
they were thinking,
what
they were thinking about.
And one of the ways
to look into what they were thinking about
is to look at the kinds
of questions
they would ask.
And so there appears a frequency
of questions
that the companions
would continuously
ask revolving
around a certain
theme.
And among them
are these,
where one of them asked the Prophet Muhammad
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
Ayul Islam Khayr Where
he asked the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
Whose Islam is the best?
Or which Islam is the best?
And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam responded,
tutreimu ta'am
wa taq ra'us salamalamanaraftawamanlamtarif
When the prophet
said
that you feed people
and you
recite the greetings, you say the salaam, the
greetings of peace to those who you know
and those who you don't know.
Another person came and said,
Which of the Muslims are the best?
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam responded
and said,
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said,
if the Muslims are safe
from his tongue
and his hand,
that is the best Muslims.
And then the companions continued, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud
radiAllahu anhu came to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam and asked,
Ayuulamali
Afdal,
which action
is the best?
And so the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam responded
by saying,
making or performing the salah, the prayer in
its beginning times.
Now the companions, they had Islam
but that was not enough for them.
They wanted to know
which Islam was the best.
They were Muslims
but that was not enough for them.
They wanted to know which Muslim would be
the best.
They had many options for good deeds.
But that was not enough for them. They
wanted to know the deed that was the
best.
So they didn't just stop there.
Which is the best Muslim? What is the
best Islam? They continued further
until
a man came to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam and asked him,
man who is the best
of mankind?
Not just the best of Muslims anymore.
Who is the best
of mankind?
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam responded
and said,
Those
who are the most beneficial
to mankind.
So the companions,
this strive
for excellence,
this drive
not just to be good, but to be
the best.
This culture
of how I can be better.
Where did this drive? Where did this motivation
come from? Where did this mindset
come from?
It came from many texts of the from
the Quran and the sunnah among them.
The statement of the prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam
where he said,
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
Surely Allah, the Most High,
loves
grand matters
and loves
lofty matters.
They understood that Allah subhanahu wa'ala loves big
matters, grand matters.
They understood that Allah subhanahu wa'ala wanted
them
to be movers and shakers,
and not couch potatoes.
They understood that Allah Subhanahu Wa'ala wanted them
to engage in grand matters.
Grand matters like building
the infrastructure
necessary for our communities.
Grand matters like addressing
mental illness within our communities.
Grand matters
like solving the problem
or the challenge
of riba finances.
Grand matters like dealing with youth disenfranchisement.
These grand matters
are matters that Allah subhanahu
loves. But sometimes,
when we want to engage in these grand
matters,
we are pulled,
we are dragged,
we become
unfocused.
And so the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam did not stop the hadith there.
He said,
The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said
that surely Allah, the most high,
loves grand matters
and lofty matters,
but dislikes
petty
matters.
Petty matters
that can pull you
and drag you and throw you off on
a tangent
from the grand matters.
Petty matters
like gossip,
rumors,
engaging
in conspiracy theories.
And it becomes worse when these when this
gossip
ends up becoming quibbles
and dispute,
and then ranker develops amongst people.
Petty matters of what color should the paint
the paint in the wall should be.
Where should the first line start and how
many feet from the wall? Petty matters
that absorb us while the grand matters
are what
the the intelligent people rush after.
And so
if you have a life goal,
a goal
that you're engaging,
wanting to achieve,
Allah
set out a formula
to ensure
that when you're engaged in grand matters,
you don't become distracted.
Allah said,
take to forgiveness.
It's a grand matter
to be able to forgive
everyone,
everyone that has harmed you
or hurt you. It's a grand matter to
forgive everyone.
It joined
virtue.
That's a grand matter.
After mentioning 2 grand matters, Allah
mentioned the formula how you can be focused
on the grand matters and not get distracted.
He said,
and ignore
the ignorant ones.
It's out of ignorance if we focus on
petty matters and in quibbles
and disregard the grand matters.
So if you're pursuing
a life goal and
there are people around you drinking Haterade
or there are people around you
that
that are creating doubt that you're not able.
They're creating doubt within yourselves that you're not
able. They don't have faith or believe you'll
be able to achieve your goals.
Then the formula here based
on this ayah is to ignore the ignorant
who want to be engaged and absorbed by
the petty matters
and for you to move onwards
and continue
pursuing your goal and being engaged in grand
matters.
The companions focused on
grand matters that changed the course of history.
Allah subhanahu said, yuhibbu, that he loves
these grand matters.
Which means
if we engage in grand matters, it's an
act of worship.
We are rewarded.
And the companions, they drove
themselves to engage in grand matters
for a very simple reason.
These grand matters
have a network
effect
of rewards.
They're
massive.
Take for example,
if you build a school
for the community,
it's a grand matter.
And every day,
if 200 students recite the Quran every day,
get 10 hasanah for every single letter.
That's 2,000
hasanah for every letter daily
recited in that school.
Imagine if they did a few pages, how
many thousands
of hasanat
you will get.
Imagine if that goes on for years, how
many millions
of Hassanat you will get.
Imagine when you die and the school continues
for generations, you're in the grave
and you're able to get millions and millions
of Hassanat for decades, probably centuries.
There are massages built around the world that
are 100 and 100 of years old.
Imagine
if we took away
our energy, if they're being sucked into petty
matters and focus them into these grand matters.
The companions
understood the network effect of rewards,
and thus they engaged in these grand matters
and they cashed in
on these amazing
rewards.
Imagine
if you addressed and helped
the problem of mental illness.
Imagine the person's life that changes.
The person increases and has a better relationship
with his family.
And then generations come out of that.
And all those good deeds continue to be
written because this is a grand
a grand matter.
And sometimes,
shaitan discourages us and says, well, I
am not able
to do one of these grand matters. These
are you need a lot of skills.
Everyone is able.
Allah subhanahu
has given everyone
skills that others don't have.
And sometimes we have raw talent
that just needs to be developed,
and we can do wonderful things.
And it doesn't necessarily mean
to be engaged in grand matters,
that you have to build institutions,
that you have to solve the problem of
poverty.
Being engaged in grand matters also means
that when you if you walk into the
Masjid and you smile,
that is a grand matter,
because you're engaged
in an institution in a positive way.
That when you come around people who are
engaged in grand manners and you make them
happy,
that's an act of worship.
So the participation
of every single human being is possible
by being engaged in these grand matters
on all of these levels.
I ask Allah
to make us amongst those
who
are able to be engaged in grand matters
no matter how big or how small our
participation is.
I ask Allah
to make
us amongst those
who have a positive
impact and to be amongst the best of
people, who are the most beneficial
to people.