Sikander Hashmi – Insulate Your Faith KMA Friday Message
AI: Summary ©
The importance of protecting one's spiritual gifts and deeds is emphasized, as it is necessary to enter Jannah. The process of entering Jannah requires a passport and visa, and anyone with a good deeds and a visa is eligible to receive the gift of the spiritual home. It is emphasized that protecting one's spiritual health is crucial to sustaining spiritual health and learning about the holy Bible and finding beneficial knowledge to strengthen one's faith. It is also emphasized that protecting one's values and behavior is crucial to sustaining spiritual health and learning about the holy Bible.
AI: Summary ©
It's stormy outside,
and the winds are howling,
and
it's freezing.
If your home
is well insulated,
you will stay warm.
If your windows
and doors are leaky
and the insulation is poor,
it will likely become cold very quickly.
Your home will not be able to preserve
the heat that you have inside.
And in order to remain warm,
you need heat,
and you have to insulate the walls
and plug the leaks.
My brothers and sisters,
the case of our iman, of our faith
is similar.
The spiritual heart
is home
to the flame of iman,
and it needs fuel to survive.
Like any other flame,
like any other heat, it needs
fuel in order to survive, in order to
continue.
When the spiritual heart
has leaks,
the cold winds
of sin and disbelief
that make up the spiritual storm around us,
they are able to enter it
and weaken it.
And once the heart
is overtaken
by these cold winds,
it freezes
and becomes hard.
Sometimes leading to spiritual frostbite
and hypothermia
and possibly spiritual death.
My friends, this is an easy way to
understand it.
The faith, the iman
that is
inside
your spiritual home right now
is a great gift and blessing from Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Because it is only Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
alone
who decides
who to grant this gift to.
Only Allah decides
who is to have
this flame of iman inside of their hearts.
As Allah tells us in the Quran,
that it is not upon you, oh Muhammad
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
His responsibility
for their guidance.
But Allah
guides whomsoever
he wills.
If Allah decides that a person is worthy
of receiving this gift,
if Allah
decides
that a person
is worthy of receiving this gift of iman,
then he subhanahu wa ta'ala gives it to
that person.
And if a person
is not worthy of iman, of having this
gift,
or becomes unworthy of having this gift. After
having received it, then indeed Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala can take it away.
So to have iman to be blessed with
the gift of iman
is indeed a privilege
and a great favor from Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
Now, this is an extremely valuable gift.
Why is it a valuable gift? Why is
it so precious?
Why is it so valuable?
Because
this
is
our passport
to Jannah. If
you do not have a passport,
can you travel?
No.
You cannot travel
without a passport.
You cannot,
you know, if you want to escape the
cold that's supposed to be coming as we're
told,
and you want to go to somewhere warm,
you can't go if you don't have a
passport. So you need to have a passport
and most countries require a visa as well.
You need a passport
and for most places, you need a visa
too. So this iman is the passport.
What is the passport?
The iman is the passport
that will allow you to Jannah inshallah.
And your deeds are the visa. So what
do you have? Both? The passport
and the visa.
And why is that so?
Right? So sometimes people ask, well, why is
that so? Why is
this iman a passport to get into Jannah?
Why can't you get into Jannah without the
passport
of iman?
Or why has someone who has done
good deeds
without iman, without belief in Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. Why can't they go to Jannah? Right?
So simple answer is that they have the
visa, but they don't have the passport.
So imagine you have an expired passport
that has a valid visa in it.
Are you able to travel on that passport
and enter that country?
No.
So similarly, a person who has good deeds,
they have the visa, you can say, but
they don't have a valid passport to get
into Jannah.
And that is the executive order from
the one who is rule truly in power.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. No court has jurisdiction
over Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala because he truly
is the sole authority. So Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala decides just like countries decide and dictate
who can enter their country, who can get
a visa, who cannot get a visa, who's
gonna get a passport, who's not gonna get
a passport. So the countries decide and dictate
those rules.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is the ultimate king, the ultimate ruler. So
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala decides the rules. And
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has decided that in
order to get into Jannah, you need to
have iman.
First of all, so you need to have
the passport of iman and you need to
have the visa of good deeds.
That's why Allah
tells us about the people
they believed
those who believe and do good deeds.
So, these are the 2
requirements
for entering
into Jannah. According to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Now, Allah
is also most fair and most just.
So, and this is unlike the leaders of
the world, unlike many of the leaders of
the world, Allah
is most fair and most just.
So, if you see something,
if we see something that appears to be
unfair,
you can be sure that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala will give justice
before it's all over.
Either in this world
or in the next
or in both.
Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is
the most just and the most fair. So
there is no injustice,
no wrong
that is going to go unchecked. Allah
will make everything fair and square
before
everything is wrapped up on the day of
judgment.
And at the same time, the decisions of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
are also
most fair and most just. So if Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala decides that someone is deserving
of iman,
that is because
that is so. And if Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala decides that someone
is not to enter into Jannah,
that is also because it is so Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala
will never wrong any of his creation, any
of his servants.
It is not possible. It is not going
to happen that Allah
wrongs or oppresses
any of his creation, any of his servants.
My brothers and sisters, my friends, the Sahaba
radiAllahu
anhu,
they valued iman so much
that they were willing to go to any
length
to guard their iman.
They were willing
to go to any length to guard their
iman.
There's a famous hadith, the famous incident of
who came to the prophet
and he said,
that oh Allah's messenger
has turned to be a
a hypocrite.
So the prophet
asked
him,
what has happened to you?
Why is this so?
So,
he says, you Rasulullah,
that when we are in your company,
we are reminded of the * fire. We
are reminded of Jannah.
As if we are seeing them with our
own eyes.
That was the state of their iman.
When they were in the company of Rasulullah
When he will talk about
the punishment, when he will talk about the
rewards
of Jannah, it would be as if they
are seeing
those things with their own eyes at that
point.
But he says whenever we go away from
you and we attend to our wives and
children and business,
much of these things go out of our
minds.
So he noticed this discrepancy.
He noticed this phenomenon occurring inside of his
heart,
inside of him.
That
he has one feeling,
one level, one state of iman. In the
presence of Rasulullah
and when he gets occupied with his life,
he doesn't have that state anymore.
And this concerned
him. This concerned him. Why? Because it has
to do with iman. And he cared about
his iman.
So he goes to Rasulullah
and he tells him this. So Allah's messenger
says
That by him in whose hand is my
life, meaning by Allah, if your state of
mind remains the same as it is in
my presence.
And you are always busy in the remembrance
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Then the angels
will shake your hands
with you in your beds and in your
paths.
But the prophet
goes on and
says,
but time should be devoted and time should
be devoted. Meaning, time should be devoted to
worldly affairs, the things that you need to
take care of, and time should be devoted
to prayer and meditation
and to building one's iman. And the prophet
said this three times. So my brothers and
sisters,
this is the level of awareness
and mindfulness
that had with regards to his iman. He
was caring about his iman. He valued his
iman and he noticed that there was something
unusual about his iman, something that he found
concerning. So, he rushed to the prophet
and shared his concern with him and of
course, the prophet
his concerns.
Okay. So, this iman has to be protected
and it has to be preserved.
Otherwise,
the storm of sin and disbelief
can take over it and put it out.
If you are not careful.
If you do not work hard to preserve
and protect your iman,
then the storm that is going on around
us, the spiritual storm of sin and disbelief,
it can start entering it, weakening it, dampening
it until it takes takes over and puts
it out. So my my friends, my brothers
and sisters, the question is,
how can we preserve it?
Brothers, we're entering right now. There is space
on the left side of the hall in
front of the office. So please come inside.
Come forward, come inside, and fill in the
gaps, please.
Those who are in the kitchen as well,
please come inside and fill this area
to the left side of the hall, on
the main floor.
So the two main ways
to preserve
our iman is number 1,
is to give it fuel.
Like a flame
that needs oxygen,
right? Needs fuel. Iman also needs fuel. If
you take away the oxygen, if you take
away the fuel, the flame is going to
die. Right? This is simple. We all understand
this. So what is the fuel of iman?
The fuel of iman,
meaningful
salah. Right? Note the words here, meaningful salah.
So salah not which is simply robotic,
right? Although of course, if a person salah
is not meaningful, does not mean you stop
offering salah. You should still offering salah even
if it is robotic.
But you should try to elevate it so
that it becomes meaningful.
Salah which has meaning. Salah which has an
effect on your heart. Which makes you feel
something in the presence of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. That makes you think about Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
So, meaningful salah. And similarly,
meaningful of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It's one
thing to say
which is good. I'm not saying it's wrong
or bad. It's good. But it's another thing
to do it meaningfully.
When you say you think about the glory
of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. When you say
you think about gratefulness to Allah Subhanahu wa
ta'ala in his in his favors.
When you say Allahu Akbar, you think about
the greatness of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. Right? How he is greater
than all of your worries, how he is
greater than all of the power that exist
on the earth.
How he is powerful, most powerful, more powerful
than any of his creation.
Right? So meaningful
that touches the heart and makes us reflect
and makes us think.
Similarly, recitation of Quran.
Brothers who are coming in, please continue to
come in. There is space on the left
side of the hall.
Similarly with Quran recitation. Reciting the Quran properly,
nicely, very important,
but reflecting on the meaning and the signs
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
it makes it meaningful. It gives strength
to the to iman.
Seeking Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Learning about Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Seeking beneficial knowledge that brings us closer to
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Good gatherings of remembrance of dhikr where
Allah is remembered.
Being connected with the Masjid. With the houses
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Right?
All of these things are
the fuel
of iman. And if you don't have fuel,
you cannot have heat.
So you have to be feeding your Iman
with this fuel, this oxygen that it needs
in order to survive, in order to thrive.
The prophet
told us that
that verily the faith of 1 of you
will wear out with him. Just as a
shirt becomes worn out. So ask Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala to renew iman, to renew faith
in your
hearts. Secondly, my brothers and sisters,
second way to preserve our iman is to
plug the holes.
Gotta plug the leaks and you gotta plug
the holes.
Right? So
the sins, first of all, but also the
influence
of sins.
Giving an opportunity to sin of,
to sins and temptations to enter our hearts.
These
avenues have to be plugged. So what you
watch?
And most of that, I say this over
and over again because many times, most people,
we're not paying attention to these things.
What are we watching?
What are you watching on Netflix?
What are you watching on YouTube?
What type of videos are you watching on
TikTok?
What are you watching on your devices,
on TV? What kind of movies are you
watching?
What you watch? What you listen to?
These things open the door to sin that
weaken iman.
What you read?
What who you hang out with? These four
things. So what you watch, what you listen
to, what you read, and who you hang
out with, these four things will determine the
state of your iman.
Because those are the things that you're allowing
into your mind, into your heart. Where your
iman resides.
So are they going to be fuel for
your iman? Or are they going to be
blast of cold air for your iman to
dampen it and to weaken it? Abu Hurayra
radiAllahu anhu reported the messenger of Allah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam said, the adulterer, the Zani, is
not a believer when or while he is
committing adultery.
The drinker of wine
is not a believer while he is drinking
wine. The thief is not a believer while
he is stealing. The plunderer is not a
believer while he is plundering. And the people
are looking to him. And another narration, the
prophet
said, and he is not a believer. Well,
he is
killing. Meaning, my brothers and sisters, there is
a temporary lapse of iman.
There is a temporary absence of iman
like power being knocked out.
When a person who is otherwise a believer,
commits such major sins.
So feeling or feeding the temptations
weakens faith and resolve.
So when you keep feeding temptations to your
heart,
it weakens the resolve and weakens faith inside
your heart until these things they leave
and a person ends up committing sins.
Now,
iman and resolve, they might iman and Yaqeen,
they might come and go afterwards.
But at that point,
a person needs spiritual CPR to revive their
spiritual heart.
Because they're at a state where their iman
is no longer able to stop them from
even committing major sins.
And when they commit sins
and they allow their heart to be influenced
by by by evilness and by sins,
it weakens the ability of the iman to
stop them from such things.
The lyrics, the words that you listen to,
the types of images and videos that you
watch, you know, the books, the post that
you read, the people that you follow, the
people that you hang out with, the things
that we do. They all have a massive
influence on the well-being of our spiritual hearts.
Now the teachings of Islam are designed to
plug the holes,
to plug the leaks. If we respect the
boundaries
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, it will help
to ultimately protect our faith or iman from
being extinguished, from being
put out. Otherwise,
we will leave an opening for sinful ideas
and doubts to come into our hearts and
our minds if we don't block the avenues.
And this is the Islamic way.
The Islamic way is to block the means
and to plug the holes, not let the
cold come in and then try to warm
up.
Like someone who has a leak in their
house, they don't fix the leak, but they
keep just pump mopping up and cleaning up.
But the water keeps falling in.
Is that wise? No.
Right? So the Islamic way is to plug
the holes and plug the leaks, block the
means so that you don't have to deal
with the consequences. So insulate
and preserve your iman, my brothers and sisters.
It was said to
that oh mother of the believers, what was
the supplication that the messenger of Allah
said most frequently when he was with you?
So, she said, the supplication
he said most frequently was
oh changer of the hearts,
make my heart firm upon your religion.
So,
she said, so I said, oh messenger of
Allah
why do you supplicate so frequently?
He said, oh,
verily there is no human being
except that their heart is between the two
fingers of the fingers of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. So whomsoever he wills, he makes steadfast.
Whomsoever he wills, he causes to deviate. So
our iman, my brothers and sisters,
is always at risk, and we always have
to be conscious,
mindful, aware
of the state of our iman so that
we protect it and preserve it. We ask
Allah
for,
strength of iman. We thank Allah
for this great gift that he has given
us. We ask Allah
for
and for strength and steadfastness in our iman
and actions
and good deeds. We ask for Allah
to guide those who are misguided.
I mean,
take a couple of minutes for some of
prayers and we'll continue.