Suhaib Webb – Juma Boost The Path & Priorities
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AI: Transcript ©
When we think of priorities, you know, having
priorities is really one of the major signs
of a person of saluk,
of a person who's on the path to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the sariq.
And that's because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says in the Quran after
Oh, you believe, fear Allah.
And let every soul look to what it's
sending for the next morning.
Here, a hud doesn't actually mean the next
morning. It means It
means the hereafter.
Again, if you think about the structure and
meaning of the verse, it is placing the
hereafter tomorrow.
And we know that the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam as Abdullah ibn Umar radiAllahu anhu has
said that the prophet
Right? If you live to see the evening,
don't expect to see the morning. Like,
the Quran unapologetically
brings in this notion of preparing for the
hereafter as though it's tomorrow. Like, what would
you and I do right now
if we knew that the hereafter was tomorrow?
Like, how would we structure our lives?
This is one of the things I like
to tell some of my students who
are interested in,
are interested in
and I say to them,
doesn't need a lot of like, you don't
have to study it.
There's one thing you can do that will
allow you to immediately live a prophetic life.
And they said, what's that? And I said,
tomorrow is Yomukliemah.
And they're like, wow. Like, that
that brings
clarity. And I'm I challenge myself by no
means am I
in that maqam also. I'm I'm I'm also
reminding myself.
But just imagine right now, if you look
at your life, look at your priorities, and
I look at my life and I look
at my priorities, if tomorrow was Yom Kiyama.
That
moment
will allow us to realize what we need
to repent from,
what we need to gain,
and what we need to cut out.
And that makes us the static.
That makes us the one who's moving.
That makes the one who's
Arabic, you're headed to Allah, but who has
now
created like a premeditated
sense of moving to God. There is
a determined
izzah behind it.
So that verse
Right? So let everyone see what they're doing
for tomorrow.
Tomorrow meaning tomorrow morning,
So immediately that causes a person to have
priorities.
And I want you to do this if
you can after the. Right? Like, if tomorrow
was
how many people would we forgive?
If tomorrow was
how many family members that we may have
had problems with would we call?
If tomorrow was,
how many spouses would forgive each other? How
many children would come back to their parents?
How many debts would be
paid? Right. How much
effort would be made to rectify? And then
how much time would be used for Ibadah.
So the foundation of belief of the hereafter
is one that demands priorities.
And that's why the hereafter is mentioned on
almost every page of the Quran.
To remind us to center ourselves
on moving beyond,
the temporary world
and to living for something greater. There's dignity
in the people of the hereafter. There is
an honor, there is a shutoff
being from the auliya of Allah
In order to maybe
frame priorities,
we can all take a step back and
visit a familiar friend.
This is a friend which is familiar to
every single one of us, and this is
sotofatiha.
Sotofatiha
allows us to live a life of priorities.
And that's why Allah
has commanded us
to read it in all of our prayers.
That's why the prophet
said,
There is no accepted prayer
unless somebody recites
in that prayer.
So to Fatiha allows us to look at
things through a meta and micro way
that will enable us to appreciate what our
priorities should be.
Sidi Ahmad Zarrouk, Sheikh Al Islam. We taught
this book, 2, 3 years ago during a
winter retreat at the IC.
He says
That putting the most important things in front
of secondary important things is the way of
the seekers,
is the way of the people who hunger
for Allah,
the way of the people who tasted Iman.
As the Prophet said,
who tasted the sweetness of Iman.
So
So how does it start?
As Abdullah bin Mas'ud used to say
Start with what Allah started with.
And the word bat is very important as
we'll talk about later on because this word
bat is half of
half of worship.
Bat means to be with, doesn't mean in.
See the translation in the name of Allah.
The meaning
of I came with Amr.
So immediately
Surat
establishes that if you wanna begin
and you wanna begin with priorities,
Begin with Allah
And in that beginning
so the first is that we focus on
Allah.
That's the meaning of the basmalah. I start
with Allah. The verb is not mentioned because
all of us are going through different things
in our lives. So in order for the
basmalah to stay constantly contextually appropriate,
the verb that comes in front of it
is not mentioned so that you and I,
as the reader, will supplement our own action
into the verse of the Quran.
Thereby, we become part and parcel of
We become part and parcel of the Qur'anic
narrative. So I walk Bismillah, I eat Bismillah,
I sit Bismillah.
This is the rahm of Allah. And also
we can appreciate how the Quran invites the
mind to engage the Quran.
So
I drink, I eat, I sit, I walk,
I talk.
I love with Allah.
So the first priority we find
in Surat al Fatiha is Allah
So Allah begins Bismillah
and in that process,
Allah reminds us because
the idea carries with it a almost,
unimaginable sense of transcendence.
It is imaginable. That's why he's Allah.
Some ulama said the word Allah is from
the word which means impossible to imagine. That's
why you say subhanah.
Subhanah is from swimming because the mind is
literally swimming and trying to understand who Allah
is.
But then Allah reminds us,
don't forget my mercy.
Don't forget my
my transcendence is coupled with mercy and benevolence.
So we take from the Basmara
2 major priorities that we want to think
about in our lives. Number 1 is Allah.
Everything I do,
we'll talk about that in a second. And
then the second is I combine that with
hope in Allah. So the basmalah
encapsulates the ideas of fear
and hope.
SubhanAllah.
As some of the Ulama' used to say,
that fear and hope are like 2 wings
of a bird. So the Basmala creates the
balance of Bashir and Nadeer
Right? As receiving good news and also at
the same time feeling a sense of responsibility.
Alhamdulillahirabbilahiramin. Alhamdulillah
actually is a sentence, and maybe we can
do tafsir of fatiyah again in the future,
which is actually a command.
It's not jumlah habariyah as we can talk
about this. Maybe one day people study rhetoric
with us and logic.
But actually means after you begin with Allah
and you recognize the balance between fear and
hope,
the best way
to
to show your recognition of Allah
That's the meaning.
If you want to honor me and recognize
me, say Alhamdulillah.
Allah. And that's why in the Quran, we
find many chapters open in the Quran with
Alhamdulillah
in the context of creating,
Alhamdulillah
in the context of sending the book because
the creation, as we'll talk about in a
second, provides the sustenance for our dunya and
the book that Allah sent, for example, is
Soultakaf
provides the substance in our heart. And that's
why Allah is
So after Alhamdulillah
we recognize that everything that Allah
everything we have is from Allah.
And this creates a balance
that we praise Allah who is Allah.
Alamin is from the word alarm signs
because everything
around us
because everything around us reminds us of the
one that made it.
So that after the 3rd priority is being
someone of praise and dhikr,
Is how do we become a person of
hamd is we look at the
And we see that and it reminds us
of Allah. So the second
part of the Quran is teaching us how
to worship,
and then how
to find
the capacity to worship
is by
deliberately
and deeply thinking about the world around me.
Right? That everything around us is a sign
that reminds us of Allah
So because of time, I'm not gonna be
able to spend too much time here, but
when we say how
do I become a person of hamt?
Is that I look at the world around
me and I contextualize
tawhid
in my personal,
professional, social community,
and communal life, as well as my spiritual
life.
Why? Why is it mentioned again?
Is because
implies that we are given these things. And
are we going to use these things
or not?
And undoubtedly, we're going to make mistakes in
and using the adamin for Allah. So Allah
reminds us
for a number of reasons. Number 1 is
that we will make mistakes.
And this is one of the important principles
of Islam where we diverge from the left
and the right. And I worry now how
Islamic theology
is being boxed in by political language. Theological
language supersedes political language.
And one of the challenges of both is
the lack of redemption. Islam believes in redemption
as a great act of liberation.
So people can repent
and mend their lives
and move on.
So, subhanallah, the first is in using Al-'alameen.
We're going to make mistakes. So Allah is.
Just repeat to me. Number 2 is sometimes
the things that Allah has given us are
hard
because good and evil are from Allah.
Pain and suffering are from Allah. As we
believe in our aqeedah as Muslims,
success is from Allah.
So sometimes
I may feel that my life is so
hard and so difficult, which is very normal.
It's a very normal thing. So Allah reminds
me, don't forget.
I
am.
Just look for it. And maybe sometimes I'm
given such a blessing
that I lose myself and I get lost
in my own hubris
and I forget who I am and I
become.
I no longer see the blessings of Allah.
And Allah reminds me it was his Rahmah
and his mercy. It's by his grace that
I have these things.
Allah said, if it wasn't for the blessings
of your Lord, you would be hard on
them.
Then Allah says
to remind us of responsibility.
So we start with with Allah, fear and
hope being people of dhikr, being people of
ma'rifah from 'alamin, seeing things.
And then we get to Ar Rahman and
Raheem, the 3 things I mentioned, repentance,
staying humble,
finding good in the silver lining, even though
sometimes it's hard, just suffer and I suffer
and I may be broken, but
like the Sheikh I mentioned earlier.
And then my success doesn't blind me. So
actually in Ar Rahman and Rahim are 3
priorities, repentance, humility,
and resilience.
And then
reminds us of responsibility.
I am here for a purpose.
Who who is the who's gonna control that
date?
None of the people that I
may allow my life to be controlled by
in
unruly,
evil ways.
But I submit to Allah
and I know that on that day I'm
going to be held accountable potentially. We ask
Allah to protect us.
So again, balances
me on hope,
seeing the good
with
being responsible.
And
a deen reminds us of the hereafter.
The word deen means a debt.
So I'm gonna have to answer for the
loan of this life.
Allah has purchased the lives and the
souls of the believers for Jannah.
So on that day, I will be held
responsible for the deen, for the dead.
And then Allah
says,
as we finish
and I'll continue in the future, encapsulates all
of Islam.
Imam Al Hassan al Basri, he said that
Allah
sent 300 something books.
He summarized those 300 books into 4.
Then he summarized those 4 books into the
Quran.
Then he summarized the Quran into the Mufasal.
That's
why at my school, our students, we teach
them Hajjalat to Nas.
And then
summarize what's in the 49th chapter.
And summarize
in Can you imagine 300 something books into
1 verse?
Why? Because the first part of Iyakana,
Budhu reminds us to worship Allah alone,
to establish a life of devotion solely for
Allah.
As it's mentioned in Surat Zumr, say I
was commanded to worship Allah sincerely.
They were only commanded to worship Allahu Diklas.
So
is talking about my devotion.
Is talking about
the
and the
that exist in my life.
Allow me to use this
right to worship you. Aid me with what
you have decreed for me.
So that's why
So the first is Sharia and the second
is.
And the person that's smart is going to
bring both together.
That I worship Allah
I'm devoted to him
and then I am resilient or thankful
in what he's given me, realizing that what
he's given me is what is best for
me.
And of course, if it's
this doesn't mean that we don't try and
we don't make effort.
We have to try it. We have to
make effort. That's why it's
we seek your help. It's not
It's not your help. It's like
the same feeling. I seek Allah's forgiveness.
I'm searching and working
for your assistance.
And that's why Imam al Suyuti said that
the disease people have an understanding of Al
Qadah and Qadr is answered in one word
in.
SubhanAllah.
What a deen, man.
But if we don't pay attention to our
deen and if we don't love it in
a way that we are passionately invested in
it, it's like people that have
a buried treasure in front of them and
they never open the chest. Right? It's just
sitting there.
May Allah allow us to be those who
The rest of the chapter, and we'll finish
because I don't want to take too much
time, deals with akhlaq,
the priorities of good character. But just to
review, the first priority is to start with
Allah. The second priority is fear and hope
with Ar Rahman and Raheem.
The third priority is dhikr.
The 4th priority is ma'rifah Al-'aramin.
The 5th priority, I mentioned the 3 things,
humility,
patience.
Right?
And also to
to
to to be able to repent to Allah.
The
5th priority
is,
the 6th priority
is responsible living.
And
then 7th is to establish a lila.
Is to be someone who works hard, someone
who
who tries their best.
Means to seek help. The word
is to seek help. And the word is
different than
means
when the help of Allah comes.
Naserullah means existential help.
Is different that it means internal and external
help.
So I seek
the
help of God. I'm not just sitting like,
oh man, God will help me when he
wants to.
I seek his
help. I seek his aid. If I came
to you, for example, and there was a
bunch of people trying to harm me or
if I had some kind of pain and
I was like,
I'm seeking your help.
That's the feeling.
So again, to repeat to make sure everything's
clear, number 1, the first priority is to
be with Allah. Bismillah. The word be means
with. To be with God in my aspirations
and everything I do as best I can.
Number 2,
fear and hope to have the balance.
Number 3
is is to remember Allah.
Number 4,
the Lord of all things means that I
see now the entire world around me as
a canvas for deeper reflection that
directs me to Allah, what's called Marifa.
Al Rahman of Raheem is mentioned again to
remind me that in using the blessings of
Allah, I'm going to make mistakes. So he's
forgiving and merciful
or that
I I see this silver lining in difficult
times. Or that if I am successful, I
realize it's not because of my own hands,
but it's because of God's mercy. So humility,
resilience,
and then as I mentioned earlier, penance.
And then
Right?
Sorry is the next, which is the 6th,
to live a responsible life, master of the
day of judgment, the only one who's gonna
be calling
the shots.
And then you alone we worship and you
alone we seek for help is about devotion
and making effort to heal a fractured world
and making an effort to draw nearer to
Allah.
And the rest of will finish is the
priority of character.
And that's why we say,
We make dua.
Guide us to the straight path, the way
of those who you favored.
The way of those you favored, those who
know and act on what they know. That's
a priority.
Not the way of those who know and
don't act.
Those who don't know and act.
As we finish, insha'Allah,
and we'll continue perhaps next time to unpack
some things from Surat Fatihah. What a beautiful
chapter.
And we can see now
this why we read it in every prayer.
Like, why it's so central to who we
are. Why it's
why it's the site map of the Quran.