Suhaib Webb – Prayer With Purpose – Part One

Suhaib Webb
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The speakers emphasize the importance of learning to reformat one's prayer and finding appropriate verses in one's work to grow into a better state. They stress the need to pray for oneself to focus on the conversation and not feel overwhelmed by comments on social media, as well as to pray for oneself to grow into a better state and to find appropriate verses in their work. The importance of praying for oneself to grow into a better state and to focus on the conversation is emphasized.

AI: Summary ©

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			I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed
		
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			Satan.
		
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			In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most
		
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			Merciful.
		
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			All praise is due to Allah, Lord of
		
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			the worlds.
		
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			Peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad,
		
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			the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers, and
		
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			upon his family and companions.
		
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			We praise Allah.
		
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			Peace and blessings be upon our beloved Messenger
		
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			Muhammad.
		
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			Upon his family, his companions, and those who
		
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			follow them until the end of time.
		
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			Peace be upon you all.
		
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			Welcome to today's workshop on transformative prayer.
		
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			Before we get started, just to update you
		
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			on a few things that are happening at
		
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			Swiss.
		
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			Number one is a lot of people ask
		
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			sort of how does Swiss work.
		
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			So Swiss is divided into three, actually right
		
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			now, foundational sections, which are part of the
		
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			Swiss certification process for people.
		
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			So for every level that someone finishes, there's
		
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			like a certificate, Alhamdulillah.
		
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			And this follows the normative sort of Sunni
		
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			classical curriculum of Islam that focuses on theology,
		
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			worship, and purification of the heart.
		
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			Alhamdulillah.
		
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			And eventually that will be 10 levels.
		
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			And eventually there'll be certain levels just for
		
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			people interested in religious vocation, whether it's as
		
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			someone who's dealing with like youth work, someone
		
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			who's leading hadapah, someone who is assisting an
		
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			imam.
		
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			And eventually we hope in DC to open
		
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			up an actual physical building where we will
		
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			train people to be imams, ordain them to
		
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			be imams in America, and do other things
		
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			as well.
		
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			So that iteration or that early iteration is
		
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			what you see here.
		
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			And so these are our three levels.
		
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			And of course, you have to go through
		
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			each level to move on to the next
		
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			level.
		
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			Alhamdulillah.
		
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			Added to that are a number of elective
		
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			courses that everything from Arabic language to Dr.
		
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			Jinnah's class on the names of Allah subhanahu
		
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			wa ta'ala to so many other programs,
		
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			qiraat, you name it.
		
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			It's there, Alhamdulillah.
		
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			Also, now we have a live Q&A
		
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			option that if you select, you can send
		
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			questions to us and that will or one
		
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			of our staff will answer the question for
		
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			you, either through written or a video.
		
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			Alhamdulillah, they're all housed here so you can
		
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			actually see them.
		
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			We also a lot of times people are
		
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			asking us questions.
		
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			There is a support option here that's right
		
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			there in front of you.
		
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			So if you click on that support option,
		
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			we have Chris who works with us.
		
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			She's actually in the Philippines.
		
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			But Mashallah, she speaks Arabic, she speaks English.
		
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			She's very gifted.
		
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			And she's able to usually get back to
		
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			people within 24 hours, except on weekends, of
		
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			course.
		
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			Our live classes will start again our fall
		
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			semester in the next few weeks.
		
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			So stay here to get those links.
		
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			We have a youth program that's going to
		
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			start, I believe, on September 12th.
		
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			We also have a program for new Muslims
		
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			that's going to start soon.
		
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			And then I will be teaching a class
		
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			for adults.
		
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			So look for those classes, live classes, to
		
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			start soon.
		
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			We'll send out emails to you as well.
		
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			Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen, but you can find them
		
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			here.
		
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			So I just wanted to give you some
		
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			updates on where we're at, Alhamdulillah.
		
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			Since October 7th of last year, we've all
		
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			been a little bit busy and pulled in
		
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			different ways.
		
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			Alhamdulillah.
		
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			So we're looking forward to getting back to
		
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			also focusing on our sort of wheelhouse, if
		
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			you will, which is Alhamdulillah, which is Islamic
		
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			education at a functional level, not at a
		
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			scholarship level.
		
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			So our focus is to make you functional,
		
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			to help you gain confidence, and then to
		
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			help us in our daily lives with our
		
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			kids, with our spouses, with people around us.
		
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			We have so many things going on.
		
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			Also in October, we'll be starting a class
		
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			for college students.
		
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			That's specifically geared towards addressing the issues related
		
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			to activism and how they intersect with theology
		
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			and how they intersect with Islam, so that
		
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			we can bring in an Islamic voice to
		
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			a lot of the activism and the passion
		
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			that we're seeing, Alhamdulillah, across the globe and
		
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			specifically our campuses in the United States.
		
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			Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen.
		
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			Today, Alhamdulillah, we're going to have maybe an
		
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			hour, hour and a half together on a
		
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			small workshop on transformative prayer.
		
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			I think before we get started, if we
		
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			can go through just some brief introductions if
		
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			people want to unmute themselves and just tell
		
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			us who you are and where you're from.
		
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			I would love to hear from you all
		
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			before we get started.
		
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			Amazing, Mashallah.
		
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			So Alhamdulillah, I guess I'll just introduce myself.
		
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			My name is Suhaib Webb.
		
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			I am originally from Oklahoma.
		
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			I embraced Islam around 1992, Alhamdulillah, and I
		
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			currently reside in the Washington, D.C. area,
		
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			Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen, where I live with my
		
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			wife and my kids.
		
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			I have four children, Alhamdulillah, and also I
		
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			teach and instruct in the area as well,
		
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			Alhamdulillah.
		
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			So thanks everybody for bravely introducing yourselves, Alhamdulillah.
		
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			So we'll begin our class today.
		
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			We're going to talk about the idea of
		
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			Salah and then try to help ourselves reframe
		
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			what Salah means in our life.
		
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			It's very important that we refresh and we
		
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			engage refreshing in acts of worship because that's
		
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			one of the keys to keep them from
		
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			becoming stale.
		
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			And it's very normal to experience that, as
		
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			we'll talk about in a minute.
		
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			We don't want to allow things that are
		
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			very natural and sort of part of our
		
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			daily life, things that after a while we
		
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			may struggle to keep the excitement, we may
		
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			struggle to keep things fresh.
		
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			That's a normal thing.
		
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			But what we want to think about is
		
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			how do we refresh things before it gets
		
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			too late, before it becomes drastic.
		
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			And the Prophet ﷺ, he said in an
		
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			authentic hadith that indeed faith, the example of
		
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			faith in the hearts of each and every
		
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			one of you are like clothes.
		
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			After a while, those clothes begin to fade.
		
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			And, you know, you have to like buy
		
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			new clothes.
		
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			He said, فأسأل الله عز وجل أن يجدد
		
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			لكم إيمانكم So ask Allah ﷻ to renew
		
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			your faith.
		
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			If that's the case with our own Iman,
		
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			then what about acts of worship like Salah?
		
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			So what I hope that you can take
		
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			away from today is number one, some steps
		
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			that you can use practically to keep your
		
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			prayer fresh.
		
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			What are some things that we can do
		
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			practically?
		
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			All of us have the ability to do
		
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			to keep our prayers fresh at a practical
		
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			sort of applicable level actions.
		
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			And also what I hope we can do
		
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			is to talk about some of the ways
		
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			we should look at prayer so that will
		
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			also encourage us, والحمد لله رب العالمين to
		
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			like have this excitement for Salah.
		
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			How do we understand and frame and locate
		
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			the idea of prayer, especially if we've had
		
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			traumatic experiences with prayer in the past?
		
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			How do we sort of reformat the understanding
		
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			of what prayer is in a way that
		
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			encourages us and excites us to pray?
		
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			Then number two, I said the practical things
		
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			that we can do at a daily level.
		
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			We can do them every day to sort
		
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			of reignite the Salah.
		
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			And then the third thing, we'll actually walk
		
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			through the prayer together.
		
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			So I'm hoping we'll be together for like
		
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			an hour, an hour and a half.
		
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			And of course, the more questions you ask
		
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			and the more engaging you are, the more
		
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			interesting I can promise you things will be.
		
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			You know, Sayyidah Aisha radiallahu ta'ala anha
		
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			said, نعم النساء الأنصار that the best women
		
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			were the Ansar because Hayat shyness did not
		
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			keep them from asking questions.
		
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			So I really want to encourage you to
		
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			push in, to ask questions, to probe and
		
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			to think and even share some of your
		
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			best practices that you've done to keep your
		
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			prayer fresh.
		
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			But as the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said,
		
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			إِنَّ مَثَلَ الْإِيمَانِ فِي جَوْفِ أَحَدِيكُمْ You know,
		
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			the example of faith in the hearts and
		
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			each of every one of you is like
		
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			clothes.
		
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			And over time, clothes begin to fade.
		
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			Over time, our Iman begins to fade.
		
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			فَاسْأَرُوا اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَيُجَدِّدْ لَكُمْ إِيمَانَكُمْ So
		
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			ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to revive
		
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			and renew your worship, your Iman.
		
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			One of the best things we can do,
		
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			one of the best ways we can engage
		
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			in preventing our worship from becoming so dormant
		
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			and stale is to think about what it
		
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			means to us and to challenge ourselves when
		
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			it comes to what does worship mean to
		
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			us.
		
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			So for example, I've had people that have
		
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			had really difficult experiences in the past.
		
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			Maybe they had caregivers that were overly harsh.
		
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			Maybe they've had teachers that were very difficult.
		
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			Maybe within their own minds, they don't feel
		
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			worthy of Salah, of praying as we'll talk
		
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			about later.
		
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			Or maybe they have a past history with
		
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			evil so they feel inadequate and insecure.
		
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			What we want to do is sort of
		
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			address those in a way that will allow
		
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			you to find remedies but then also address
		
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			ways we can reframe prayer.
		
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			So I've actually had people subhanAllah who were
		
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			abused by quote-unquote religious people and for
		
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			those people praying was something very difficult.
		
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			Even holding the Quran was something difficult.
		
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			So one of the things that we did
		
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			is outside of religious sort of encouragement and
		
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			discussions was to get them in touch with
		
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			a Muslim clinician who walked them through some
		
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			of that trauma and to let them know
		
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			it's okay, you're working on something.
		
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			You're not someone who's surrendered, you're someone who's
		
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			working to get to a goal.
		
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			The second are people who feel that they
		
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			have a past and because they have a
		
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			past, they are incapable of prayer or unworthy
		
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			of prayer.
		
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			But one of the things that we have
		
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			to remind ourselves is that if you feel
		
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			the urge to do good in your heart,
		
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			this is Allah subhanAllah's way of sending you
		
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			a message to come home.
		
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			And this is a way that Allah subhanAllah
		
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			is inspiring you directly in your heart through
		
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			that healthy sense of guilt to flee to
		
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			Allah.
		
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			As the Prophet ﷺ said that repentance is
		
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			to feel a sense of remorse.
		
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			Repentance is to feel a sense of guilt.
		
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			Guilt is only good as long as it
		
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			inspires to greatness.
		
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			We're not looking for the debilitating guilt and
		
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			the destructive guilt, that's unhealthy.
		
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			But the guilt that leads me to want
		
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			to live better.
		
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			So for someone in that position that's saying
		
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			to themselves like I am unworthy of prayer,
		
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			I shouldn't be praying because I had a
		
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			past or I'm doing evil.
		
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			If you were unworthy of prayer and if
		
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			you were unworthy of worshipping Allah, Allah subhanAllah
		
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			would not have called you to worship Him.
		
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			You wouldn't have the thought.
		
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			So you should feel confident that that signal,
		
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			that that lighthouse in the storms and difficulties
		
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			of dunya that's calling you to worship is
		
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			Allah subhanAllah's wonderful, beautiful way of reminding you
		
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			that you are worthy.
		
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			Allah has not abandoned you nor does Allah
		
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			hate you.
		
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			So take advantage of that opportunity.
		
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			Don't shy away from it.
		
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			فَفِرُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ The Quran says race to
		
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			Allah.
		
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			And the Prophet ﷺ he said what?
		
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			بَادِرُوا بِالْأَعْمَارِ Compete to do good.
		
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			So don't allow a bad past to keep
		
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			you from a good future.
		
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			Don't allow a dark history to keep you
		
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			from an illuminated present.
		
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			Push in and be more confident in Allah
		
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			than you are insecure of yourself.
		
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			And understand that Allah loves you more than
		
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			you love yourself.
		
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			The third component sometimes that people struggle with
		
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			prayer, and I did mention it, I know
		
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			I experienced this as a new Muslim, is
		
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			they don't know how to pray.
		
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			And this falls under two camps.
		
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			Number one are people who become Muslim.
		
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			I know, you know, for the first year
		
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			or so when I was praying, I would
		
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			like look at people next to me.
		
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			That's actually how I learned how to pray.
		
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			Like I would look at people.
		
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			So sometimes I would even confuse like one
		
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			guy had his hands here, one guy had
		
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			his hands here.
		
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			So I would pray like one hand here,
		
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			one hand down, you know.
		
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			Because being a new Muslim at that time
		
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			without the benefit of, you know, YouTube and
		
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			instructive videos and classes like this, you had
		
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			to actually learn in community.
		
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			You had to learn in a physical community,
		
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			in a corporal reality.
		
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			So that's one.
		
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			I oftentimes find new Muslims who feel embarrassed,
		
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			who put a lot of pressure on themselves.
		
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			We have a class that we'll be starting,
		
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			Alhamdulillah Rabbil Alameen, for new Muslims in the
		
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			coming weeks.
		
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			Look forward, Alhamdulillah.
		
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			That will go through faith, acts of worship
		
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			like prayer, and then also purification of the
		
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			heart.
		
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			The other group of people that fall under
		
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			this designation of feeling unworthy of prayer because
		
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			they don't know how to pray are actually
		
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			born Muslims.
		
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			And sometimes for them, the sense of guilt
		
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			and grief is more.
		
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			And it could be to a host of
		
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			circumstances that have caused them to be in
		
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			that position.
		
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			Sometimes their families weren't practicing.
		
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			Sometimes they lived far away from Islamic institutions,
		
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			and they did not have educational resources.
		
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			But the guilt that I've seen from born
		
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			Muslims who don't know how to pray is
		
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			greater than the guilt I've seen amongst those
		
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			who become Muslim.
		
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			There's a very simple way to deal with
		
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			guilt, and that is to address it.
		
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			It's not to turn it into a pity
		
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			party.
		
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			Okay, so I was born Muslim, Alhamdulillah.
		
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			I don't know how to pray.
		
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			Okay, then learn how to pray.
		
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			Like pushing, Alhamdulillah.
		
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			At Swiss, we have three levels of classes
		
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			that cover issues of worship, right, that teach
		
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			you foundational acts of worship.
		
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			Okay, just deal with it.
		
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			Take that missed shot.
		
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			Take that air ball and keep going.
		
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			And don't question your past.
		
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			Try to find the wisdom and the power
		
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			that comes from the past, even if it
		
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			was bad.
		
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			What I've noticed sometimes with people who are
		
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			born Muslim and haven't really been raised in
		
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			Islam, they're great with the Muslims.
		
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			Like they are phenomenal with the Muslims because
		
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			there's a lot of shared sort of circumstances
		
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			between them in very different ways, and they
		
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			sort of kind of help each other.
		
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			So for that next category of people who
		
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			are born Muslim and don't know how to
		
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			pray, learn how to pray.
		
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			And don't allow your embarrassment.
		
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			Most people are not going to make fun
		
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			of you if they do.
		
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			They're evil people.
		
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			But push in and take ownership of your
		
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			salah.
		
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			So those are like three of the categories.
		
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			A fourth would be women who after menstruating
		
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			or after they've experienced sort of like postpartum
		
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			birth, they've told me that they struggle to
		
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			kind of, you know, get things going again.
		
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			Get things going.
		
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			And we'll talk about that.
		
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			Dr. Angie has a great class on this.
		
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			It's actually up on Swiss.
		
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			That's under the FIQH administration.
		
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			But I think one of the things to
		
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			do is to appreciate that Allah has given
		
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			you a break.
		
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			Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has alleviated from
		
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			you this act of worship during this hormonal
		
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			time, right?
		
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			And so now you want to go back
		
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			and thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by
		
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			establishing worship.
		
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			So those are kind of the people that
		
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			I've seen, if you will, when it comes
		
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			to struggling to prayer.
		
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			And those are some of the remedies for
		
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			sort of overcoming some of those challenges that
		
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			are related to prayer.
		
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			What we want to talk about now is
		
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			reformatting sort of how we see salah.
		
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			So before we get started, I just want
		
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			to ask you, you guys can type it
		
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			in or you can unmute yourself.
		
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			Feel free to do either one.
		
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			When you hear the word salah, first of
		
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			all, ask yourself this question and think about
		
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			it.
		
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			I'm going to give you like a minute
		
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			or so.
		
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			When you hear the word salah, what do
		
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			you think of?
		
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			And be honest.
		
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			And then afterwards, we'll ask everyone to share
		
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			inshallah.
		
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			So I'll give you like a minute or
		
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			so to think about what does salah actually
		
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			mean to you?
		
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			Mashallah, I'm seeing like people sharing really wonderful
		
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			ideas.
		
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			So Safras is saying obligation.
		
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			What do you mean by obligation?
		
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			Like what does obligation mean?
		
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			You say obligation.
		
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			What does that mean in your thinking, in
		
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			your feeling, in your emotion?
		
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			What does that mean to you?
		
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			Safiya and Noah, hey, mashallah.
		
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			Wow, those are really also nice.
		
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			He's talking to Allah, thinking Allah subhanahu wa
		
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			ta'ala.
		
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			A break from the world and connecting with
		
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			Allah.
		
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			Zahra is saying that's beautiful.
		
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			Again, worshiping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
		
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			Does anyone else want to share anything?
		
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			You can either unmute yourself or feel free
		
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			to type it in the comments.
		
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			Those are really beautiful and very powerful.
		
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			Like one of the things you get from
		
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			all the responses that we can see that
		
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			subhanAllah, salah is something powerful.
		
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			So by obligation, you mean the definition according
		
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			to fiqh.
		
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			Mashallah, which is a mandatory act.
		
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			Right, a mandatory act of Islam.
		
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			Mashallah, mashallah.
		
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			Excellent, excellent.
		
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			Alhamdulillah.
		
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			So I've always seen it as an obligation,
		
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			especially I guess when I was younger.
		
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			First of all, as-salamu alaykum.
		
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			Wa alaykum as-salam.
		
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			I used to always see it as an
		
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			obligation, something all I have to do.
		
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			But I think as I get older and
		
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			more stress in my life, more things going
		
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			on, I've actually seen it as what I
		
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			said, a break from the world and just
		
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			stopping and de-stressing, grounding, and just kind
		
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			of connecting with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
		
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			So it's been a bit of a transformation.
		
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			So I'm hoping that also this course will
		
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			continue to transform my prayer into something else.
		
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			Ameen.
		
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			Ameen, ameen.
		
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			That's really nice.
		
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			Thank you for sharing.
		
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			Wa alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullah.
		
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			Anyone else want to jump in and chime
		
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			in?
		
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			Alhamdulillah, that was wonderful.
		
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			We have quite a few people here today.
		
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			Alhamdulillah.
		
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			Sorry about last week.
		
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			I was stuck in the airport.
		
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			So we had to move it to today.
		
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			Are there any other suggestions or ideas or
		
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			thoughts about what salah means to you?
		
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			Have a meeting or conversation with Allah.
		
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			That's really powerful.
		
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			Mashallah, mashallah, mashallah.
		
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			Excellent, excellent.
		
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			So let's talk about what is salah.
		
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			First of all, the word salah, does anyone
		
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			know the word it actually comes from?
		
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			Sillah.
		
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			You know, the word salah, if we really
		
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			want to appreciate it, we kind of want
		
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			to go to the root of its meaning
		
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			because the root is where we can root
		
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			ourselves.
		
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			And this is going to allow us now
		
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			to sort of scale through our discussion today,
		
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			our brief discussion, how we see salah and
		
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			what I want to happen by the time
		
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			we finish our discussion today.
		
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			It's not only do you see salah as
		
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			something offering you incredible efficacy, but it's something
		
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			that you love, like something that, and if
		
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			you already love it, like you'll love it
		
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			more.
		
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			But the word salah in Arabic, actually its
		
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			root word is a word which means to
		
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			be connected.
		
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			And many of you said that, mashallah.
		
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			It's something that we feel from our nature.
		
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			It's very interesting that we saw over the
		
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			last 10 years, you know, within sort of
		
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			the hipster non-Muslim community, this discussion about
		
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			mindfulness and centering ourselves and, you know, avoiding
		
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			triggers.
		
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			And what I've always found interesting is in
		
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			order to do that, they think about the
		
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			world.
		
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			Whereas Muslims, and what Zahra said is incredible
		
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			and very powerful, like in order for us
		
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			to center and understand priorities in this world,
		
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			we're mindful, but first and foremost, we're mindful
		
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			of Allah.
		
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			So the five prayers come in almost like
		
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			every day, like a spa, man, like a
		
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			massage for the Iman.
		
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			And that's why the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
		
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			said to the Sahaba, if you took a
		
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			bath five times a day, would you be
		
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			filthy?
		
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			They're like, of course not.
		
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			And he was like, well, that's Salah.
		
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			That's how we should understand it, that it
		
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			not only removes the filth when we make
		
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			wudu or ghusl to pray, but also Salah
		
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			five times a day is a bath for
		
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			our soul, a bath for our mind, a
		
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			bath for our self-worth.
		
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			Like the whole world may turn against me,
		
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			but if Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A
		
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			'la has guided me to pray and stand
		
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			in front of Him, that's enough of an
		
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			honor.
		
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			And that's why some scholars in the context
		
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			of connection, they named Salah Mi'raj Al
		
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			-Muslim.
		
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			The Mi'raj, like the Prophet, when Mi
		
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			'raj was raised, when everybody rejected him, when
		
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			everything turned its back against him in Mecca,
		
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			Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la granted
		
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			a Mi'raj to show that if everything
		
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			in the world has rejected you, the heavens
		
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			have accepted you.
		
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			SubhanAllah.
		
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			So no matter where I am in life,
		
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			if I know it's time to pray and
		
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			I feel that need to make that connection,
		
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			this is my personal Mi'raj, a reminder
		
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			that no matter what's happening on the face
		
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			of the earth, the Creator of all things
		
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			is inviting us to pray.
		
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			SubhanAllah.
		
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			SubhanAllah.
		
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			It's very powerful.
		
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			And that creates that intimacy that we want
		
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			to see.
		
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			So the first is that we see Salah
		
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			as really a means of feeling valued, not
		
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			feeling valued by things in the world, but
		
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			feeling valued that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta
		
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			-A'la Allah calls to Jannah.
		
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			So anything that is calling us to Allah
		
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			is a reminder that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa
		
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			Ta-A'la is calling you and I
		
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			to Jannah.
		
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			And at a deeper level, that should inform
		
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			us about a healthy intrinsic sense of self
		
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			-worth that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A
		
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			'la is calling you.
		
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			SubhanAllah.
		
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			How many people are not called?
		
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			How many people are not in those places?
		
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			The second really beautiful understanding of Salah is
		
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			that Salah gives us wings.
		
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			Like you should, I love what Zahra said,
		
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			right?
		
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			You should see Salah as something that gives
		
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			you like metaphorically like wings.
		
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			You know, when I first became Muslim, I
		
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			really saw Salah as like a tool, as
		
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			I'll talk about in a minute, to sort
		
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			of help me grow into a better state.
		
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			But at the same time, not only does
		
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			it help us kind of grow, it helps
		
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			us soar.
		
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			And that's why SubhanAllah in the Quran, in
		
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			Surah Al-Fatihah, when Allah Subh'anaHu Wa
		
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			Ta-A'la talks about the number of
		
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			the angels' wings, who knows like in that
		
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			verse, how many wings do angels have as
		
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			mentioned in the Quran.
		
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			In that opening of Surah Al-Fatihah, how
		
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			many wings are mentioned?
		
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			It's actually very remarkable.
		
00:24:23 --> 00:24:26
			Who knows who can chime in, do their
		
00:24:26 --> 00:24:28
			best, and there's no wrong answers, Alhamdulillah.
		
00:24:36 --> 00:24:37
			Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says,
		
00:24:37 --> 00:24:42
			masna wa thulasa waruba that the angels have
		
00:24:42 --> 00:24:46
			two wings, three wings and four wings.
		
00:24:47 --> 00:24:52
			Think about the correlation that we have two
		
00:24:52 --> 00:24:55
			raka'a Fajr, the angels have two wings.
		
00:24:56 --> 00:24:59
			We have three raka'a of Maghrib, the
		
00:24:59 --> 00:25:00
			angels have three wings.
		
00:25:01 --> 00:25:03
			We have four raka'a of Dhuhr, Asr
		
00:25:03 --> 00:25:06
			and Isha, the angels have four wings.
		
00:25:07 --> 00:25:10
			So our teacher told us that just as
		
00:25:10 --> 00:25:12
			the angels have two wings and three wings
		
00:25:12 --> 00:25:16
			and four wings to soar and to complete
		
00:25:16 --> 00:25:19
			Allah's commands, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A
		
00:25:19 --> 00:25:21
			'la has given us two raka'a of
		
00:25:21 --> 00:25:23
			Fajr, three raka'a of Maghrib, two cycles
		
00:25:23 --> 00:25:26
			of Fajr prayer, the morning prayer, three cycles
		
00:25:26 --> 00:25:29
			of the evening prayer, four cycles of the
		
00:25:29 --> 00:25:31
			noon, afternoon and night prayer so that we
		
00:25:31 --> 00:25:37
			can soar metaphorically to the obedience of Allah
		
00:25:37 --> 00:25:38
			Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la.
		
00:25:38 --> 00:25:39
			SubhanAllah.
		
00:25:41 --> 00:25:43
			So salah has like this deeper meaning, mi
		
00:25:43 --> 00:25:48
			'raj, number two to soar and that's why
		
00:25:48 --> 00:25:49
			when Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
		
00:25:49 --> 00:25:52
			talks about the faithful in the Quran, Allah
		
00:25:52 --> 00:25:53
			Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, عَلَى
		
00:25:53 --> 00:26:01
			الصَّلَاةِ عَلَى الصَّلَاةِ upon, which means high, like
		
00:26:01 --> 00:26:02
			they are high on their salah.
		
00:26:03 --> 00:26:08
			There's a metaphoric meaning here, استعارة بالأحروف that
		
00:26:08 --> 00:26:11
			the idea that prayer lifts you.
		
00:26:12 --> 00:26:12
			SubhanAllah.
		
00:26:13 --> 00:26:16
			It doesn't lift us physically but that lifts
		
00:26:16 --> 00:26:18
			us in other ways, Alhamdulillah.
		
00:26:21 --> 00:26:23
			So we want to like reformat how we
		
00:26:23 --> 00:26:27
			see salah and we want to interrogate, even
		
00:26:27 --> 00:26:28
			though it may be painful and it may
		
00:26:28 --> 00:26:32
			even be therapeutic, our past if it's linked
		
00:26:32 --> 00:26:35
			to trauma and that's why I try to
		
00:26:35 --> 00:26:41
			encourage parents not to tell your children to
		
00:26:41 --> 00:26:43
			pray but tell them to love Allah.
		
00:26:45 --> 00:26:47
			Not just like namaz, we say in Urdu,
		
00:26:47 --> 00:26:50
			read namaz, صل يا ولد, go and pray.
		
00:26:51 --> 00:26:53
			We say in Arabic, in English, pray.
		
00:26:54 --> 00:26:58
			But we should see prayer as المغامرة النورانية
		
00:26:59 --> 00:27:03
			as a adventure filled with illumination and light
		
00:27:03 --> 00:27:07
			and discovery and blessings.
		
00:27:07 --> 00:27:10
			And we should put that mystery into it
		
00:27:10 --> 00:27:15
			to encourage, especially ourselves and our kids and
		
00:27:15 --> 00:27:18
			people around us to flee to salah.
		
00:27:19 --> 00:27:21
			That's why in the adhan we say حي
		
00:27:21 --> 00:27:25
			على الفرح because prayer is success.
		
00:27:27 --> 00:27:29
			The last sort of way that I think
		
00:27:29 --> 00:27:32
			we can reframe salah and what salah means
		
00:27:32 --> 00:27:37
			is as a tool because the dunya is
		
00:27:37 --> 00:27:37
			hard.
		
00:27:38 --> 00:27:41
			The temporary world is difficult and there are
		
00:27:41 --> 00:27:44
			a lot of challenges, a lot of difficulties,
		
00:27:44 --> 00:27:46
			a lot of things that come at us
		
00:27:46 --> 00:27:46
			in this dunya.
		
00:27:47 --> 00:27:50
			And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we believe
		
00:27:50 --> 00:27:55
			that everything He has made an obligation is
		
00:27:55 --> 00:27:59
			for a benefit, to achieve some type of
		
00:27:59 --> 00:28:04
			benefit or blessing or noble objective, المصلحة.
		
00:28:06 --> 00:28:09
			So for example, fasting, it's not just about
		
00:28:09 --> 00:28:13
			being hungry and tired and feeling that we're,
		
00:28:13 --> 00:28:15
			you know, having to go through our caffeine
		
00:28:15 --> 00:28:16
			withdrawal.
		
00:28:16 --> 00:28:19
			Allah says about fasting so that you will
		
00:28:19 --> 00:28:20
			achieve taqwa.
		
00:28:22 --> 00:28:23
			There's nothing better than taqwa.
		
00:28:24 --> 00:28:29
			Imam al-Ghazali mentions eleven benefits of taqwa.
		
00:28:31 --> 00:28:33
			Number one, Jannah.
		
00:28:34 --> 00:28:36
			Number two, Allah being with you.
		
00:28:37 --> 00:28:40
			Number three is that Allah will help you
		
00:28:40 --> 00:28:41
			out of difficult situations.
		
00:28:42 --> 00:28:45
			Number four, Allah will love you.
		
00:28:45 --> 00:28:47
			Allah loves the people of Jannah.
		
00:28:47 --> 00:28:48
			May Allah make us from those people.
		
00:28:49 --> 00:28:50
			And so on and so forth.
		
00:28:51 --> 00:28:55
			So fasting, there's a value prop there, right?
		
00:28:55 --> 00:28:56
			There's a value prop there.
		
00:28:57 --> 00:28:58
			It's not just I fast.
		
00:28:59 --> 00:29:04
			Nothing that Allah has legislated does not have
		
00:29:04 --> 00:29:07
			meaning, does not have purpose because Allah is
		
00:29:07 --> 00:29:08
			alim, hakeem.
		
00:29:10 --> 00:29:12
			The same thing with zakah.
		
00:29:13 --> 00:29:15
			Zakah has a tangible benefit and that is
		
00:29:15 --> 00:29:19
			that we assist those who are underserved.
		
00:29:19 --> 00:29:22
			But also for the one who gives, it
		
00:29:22 --> 00:29:25
			takes away greed, it takes away unhealthy attachments,
		
00:29:25 --> 00:29:28
			it creates a resume of altruism which is
		
00:29:28 --> 00:29:31
			really crucial in living a life of faith,
		
00:29:31 --> 00:29:33
			being someone who's consistently generous.
		
00:29:34 --> 00:29:38
			And zakah, wallahi, every time I've seen people
		
00:29:38 --> 00:29:40
			give zakah, Allah increases their wealth.
		
00:29:40 --> 00:29:41
			SubhanAllah.
		
00:29:42 --> 00:29:44
			In other ways, not just monetarily, but in
		
00:29:44 --> 00:29:47
			other ways, they become enriched in their lives.
		
00:29:47 --> 00:29:50
			So Allah says, tuzakkihim, right?
		
00:29:50 --> 00:29:52
			Take zakah from them to purify them.
		
00:29:52 --> 00:29:54
			There's a tangible benefit to zakah.
		
00:29:56 --> 00:29:58
			What's the benefit of the iman?
		
00:29:58 --> 00:30:01
			The pleasure of Allah, Jannah, to live a
		
00:30:01 --> 00:30:02
			responsible life.
		
00:30:03 --> 00:30:04
			SubhanAllah, to live a responsible life.
		
00:30:06 --> 00:30:08
			I met a Muslim a few days ago.
		
00:30:09 --> 00:30:10
			Wallahi, that brother, he looked like he was
		
00:30:10 --> 00:30:11
			40.
		
00:30:12 --> 00:30:15
			So I said to him, mashaAllah, you're like
		
00:30:15 --> 00:30:16
			40?
		
00:30:16 --> 00:30:18
			He was like, I'm 70.
		
00:30:20 --> 00:30:24
			So I said, subhanAllah, how did you maintain
		
00:30:24 --> 00:30:25
			such a youthful look?
		
00:30:26 --> 00:30:28
			And he said, I left the haram.
		
00:30:30 --> 00:30:34
			Like I left the haram and living on
		
00:30:34 --> 00:30:36
			tayyibat and halal, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
		
00:30:36 --> 00:30:37
			has blessed me.
		
00:30:37 --> 00:30:40
			So there's tangible benefits to this as well.
		
00:30:41 --> 00:30:43
			We want to ask ourselves, what are the
		
00:30:43 --> 00:30:48
			benefits of salah identified in the Quran as
		
00:30:48 --> 00:30:49
			a tool?
		
00:30:49 --> 00:30:53
			So first we saw salah as a great
		
00:30:53 --> 00:30:54
			blessing, our mi'raj.
		
00:30:56 --> 00:30:58
			Number two, we saw salah as a means
		
00:30:58 --> 00:31:00
			of soaring above sort of the muck and
		
00:31:00 --> 00:31:01
			mire of the world.
		
00:31:02 --> 00:31:04
			Number three, we talked about it being a
		
00:31:04 --> 00:31:06
			cleansing in the very beginning, like five daily
		
00:31:06 --> 00:31:07
			baths, right?
		
00:31:07 --> 00:31:08
			Five daily spas.
		
00:31:09 --> 00:31:11
			As the Prophet ﷺ used to say to
		
00:31:11 --> 00:31:16
			Bilal, it's amazing that the Prophet ﷺ used
		
00:31:16 --> 00:31:18
			to say to Bilal, let us take a
		
00:31:18 --> 00:31:19
			break with salah.
		
00:31:20 --> 00:31:21
			Like how we feel when we take a
		
00:31:21 --> 00:31:22
			break at work.
		
00:31:23 --> 00:31:24
			Like how do we feel?
		
00:31:24 --> 00:31:26
			So the Prophet ﷺ saw dunya as work
		
00:31:26 --> 00:31:29
			and saw salah as break time.
		
00:31:30 --> 00:31:31
			We want to reformat it.
		
00:31:31 --> 00:31:35
			Many people see salah as work and twitch
		
00:31:35 --> 00:31:36
			as break time.
		
00:31:36 --> 00:31:40
			Salah as work, Netflix is break time.
		
00:31:40 --> 00:31:43
			Salah as work, watching movies is break time.
		
00:31:44 --> 00:31:47
			Salah as work, an act of leisure, sports
		
00:31:47 --> 00:31:48
			is break time.
		
00:31:49 --> 00:31:52
			Salah as work, shopping is break time.
		
00:31:52 --> 00:31:53
			The Prophet ﷺ is the opposite.
		
00:31:54 --> 00:31:55
			All of those things are work.
		
00:31:56 --> 00:31:59
			Where is the source of rest and leisure?
		
00:31:59 --> 00:32:00
			Salah.
		
00:32:01 --> 00:32:03
			So he used to say to Sayyidina Bilal,
		
00:32:04 --> 00:32:07
			Ya Bilal, bring us rest with salah.
		
00:32:08 --> 00:32:10
			So we want to reform it.
		
00:32:10 --> 00:32:14
			Salah as being something that purifies us, makes
		
00:32:14 --> 00:32:16
			us aware of ourselves.
		
00:32:17 --> 00:32:21
			And then finally, salah as a ala, ala
		
00:32:21 --> 00:32:25
			tul ibad, a tool that worshipers use.
		
00:32:27 --> 00:32:28
			For what?
		
00:32:29 --> 00:32:38
			The Quran says, That salah
		
00:32:38 --> 00:32:41
			should keep away from fahsha.
		
00:32:41 --> 00:32:43
			Fahsha is like sexual deviancy.
		
00:32:44 --> 00:32:46
			Sexual deviancy.
		
00:32:46 --> 00:32:48
			Wal munkar is sin and evil.
		
00:32:50 --> 00:32:52
			So salah should keep me away.
		
00:32:53 --> 00:32:57
			If I'm observing my salah correctly, it should
		
00:32:57 --> 00:32:58
			keep me away from those things.
		
00:32:58 --> 00:33:00
			It should protect me from those things.
		
00:33:00 --> 00:33:01
			As a tool.
		
00:33:02 --> 00:33:04
			Years ago, we had a classmate who could
		
00:33:04 --> 00:33:06
			not stop doing a certain sin.
		
00:33:07 --> 00:33:09
			And he asked one of the brothers in
		
00:33:09 --> 00:33:12
			our class, you know, who was like a
		
00:33:12 --> 00:33:14
			sheikh, he asked him like, do you have
		
00:33:14 --> 00:33:16
			any advice that I can break this vice?
		
00:33:16 --> 00:33:17
			It was *.
		
00:33:18 --> 00:33:20
			And so the sheikh, the brother told him,
		
00:33:20 --> 00:33:22
			now he's a sheikh, he said, every time
		
00:33:22 --> 00:33:24
			you want to watch *, make wudu and
		
00:33:24 --> 00:33:24
			praise Huraqa.
		
00:33:27 --> 00:33:29
			Like before you do it, make wudu and
		
00:33:29 --> 00:33:29
			praise Huraqa.
		
00:33:30 --> 00:33:32
			I've seen this too sometimes with couples when
		
00:33:32 --> 00:33:33
			they're mad at each other and they're about
		
00:33:33 --> 00:33:34
			to explode.
		
00:33:35 --> 00:33:37
			Take a step back, control yourself, regulate your
		
00:33:37 --> 00:33:37
			emotions.
		
00:33:38 --> 00:33:38
			Go make wudu.
		
00:33:38 --> 00:33:40
			The Prophet said wudu will cure anger.
		
00:33:41 --> 00:33:42
			And praise Huraqa.
		
00:33:43 --> 00:33:46
			And then see how different it feels.
		
00:33:47 --> 00:33:49
			When we feel overcome by fear because of
		
00:33:49 --> 00:33:52
			pressure at school, maybe pressure in our social
		
00:33:52 --> 00:33:54
			life, maybe economic pressure.
		
00:33:55 --> 00:33:58
			Make wudu, praise Huraqa.
		
00:33:58 --> 00:33:59
			Doesn't mean it's going to be suddenly fixed,
		
00:34:00 --> 00:34:03
			but it will help center you and help
		
00:34:03 --> 00:34:04
			center me.
		
00:34:05 --> 00:34:06
			And that's why Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta
		
00:34:06 --> 00:34:10
			-A'la recognizing the transformative power of prayer.
		
00:34:11 --> 00:34:17
			Says, Seek help with prayer.
		
00:34:19 --> 00:34:20
			Seek help with prayer.
		
00:34:21 --> 00:34:23
			So that brother, he came back actually to
		
00:34:23 --> 00:34:26
			our halaqa and he said like, I had
		
00:34:26 --> 00:34:27
			to battle.
		
00:34:27 --> 00:34:28
			This is crazy.
		
00:34:28 --> 00:34:31
			I had to battle to pray Huraqa before.
		
00:34:33 --> 00:34:35
			Because I knew that if I pray Huraqa,
		
00:34:35 --> 00:34:37
			I would not do evil.
		
00:34:38 --> 00:34:40
			I knew that if I pray Huraqa, there's
		
00:34:40 --> 00:34:42
			no way I could say, As-salamu alaykum,
		
00:34:43 --> 00:34:44
			and then go and do evil.
		
00:34:46 --> 00:34:48
			So he said, I found the problem was
		
00:34:48 --> 00:34:48
			within me.
		
00:34:49 --> 00:34:54
			Like salah exposed that I have to take
		
00:34:54 --> 00:34:58
			ownership of this unfortunate evil desire which falls
		
00:34:58 --> 00:35:01
			under fahsha, which Allah protects from.
		
00:35:02 --> 00:35:09
			Wal munkar is sin, wretchedness, harshness, cheating people,
		
00:35:09 --> 00:35:12
			any other sin falls under munkar, wal baghi.
		
00:35:12 --> 00:35:15
			This is very important that salah should protect
		
00:35:15 --> 00:35:16
			us from oppression.
		
00:35:18 --> 00:35:20
			Anyone who prays should not be an oppressor.
		
00:35:22 --> 00:35:25
			Because when we pray, we are reminded how
		
00:35:25 --> 00:35:28
			Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala through salah has
		
00:35:28 --> 00:35:32
			emancipated us from the oppression of our own
		
00:35:32 --> 00:35:32
			sin.
		
00:35:34 --> 00:35:37
			When we establish salah, it is a reminder
		
00:35:37 --> 00:35:39
			that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has lifted
		
00:35:39 --> 00:35:42
			the bar of the dunya from us and
		
00:35:42 --> 00:35:45
			given us the capacity to free ourself from
		
00:35:45 --> 00:35:49
			unhealthy attachments and stand and have a conversation
		
00:35:49 --> 00:35:50
			with Allah.
		
00:35:51 --> 00:35:54
			And that's why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
		
00:35:54 --> 00:36:00
			says inna salata tanhaa anil fahshaa wal munkari
		
00:36:00 --> 00:36:04
			wal baghi that indeed salah protects from sexual
		
00:36:04 --> 00:36:08
			deviance, from sin and evil, and oppression.
		
00:36:09 --> 00:36:13
			The last because of time is that we
		
00:36:13 --> 00:36:18
			should see salah as a flashlight that directs
		
00:36:18 --> 00:36:26
			us through the confusion, ambiguity, and challenges of
		
00:36:26 --> 00:36:26
			the dunya.
		
00:36:28 --> 00:36:30
			And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam has
		
00:36:30 --> 00:36:32
			said wal salatu noor.
		
00:36:35 --> 00:36:37
			He said salah is a noor.
		
00:36:38 --> 00:36:40
			In Arabic, noor is translated as light.
		
00:36:41 --> 00:36:45
			But noor is a light that is not
		
00:36:45 --> 00:36:46
			the outcome of combustion.
		
00:36:47 --> 00:36:48
			That's diyaa.
		
00:36:51 --> 00:36:55
			Noor is a cool light, usually a reflection
		
00:36:55 --> 00:36:56
			of something else.
		
00:36:56 --> 00:36:58
			So we say noor al qamar.
		
00:36:59 --> 00:37:00
			The light of the moon.
		
00:37:01 --> 00:37:02
			Not diyaa al qamar.
		
00:37:03 --> 00:37:05
			Because the light of the moon is reflective.
		
00:37:05 --> 00:37:06
			It's a cool light.
		
00:37:07 --> 00:37:08
			It's not from combustion.
		
00:37:09 --> 00:37:11
			Whereas with the sun, we say diyaa.
		
00:37:11 --> 00:37:12
			Al shams al muddi.
		
00:37:12 --> 00:37:14
			Al shams al muddi.
		
00:37:15 --> 00:37:17
			Because its light is coming from combustion.
		
00:37:17 --> 00:37:19
			Look at the beautiful language of the Prophet
		
00:37:19 --> 00:37:22
			salallahu alayhi wa sallam about salah.
		
00:37:23 --> 00:37:25
			He says wal salatu noor.
		
00:37:26 --> 00:37:30
			Salah is a reflective cool light.
		
00:37:31 --> 00:37:32
			What's it reflective of?
		
00:37:33 --> 00:37:34
			Our iman.
		
00:37:34 --> 00:37:36
			Our iman is combustible.
		
00:37:36 --> 00:37:36
			Subhanallah.
		
00:37:37 --> 00:37:41
			Our iman is bright, strong.
		
00:37:43 --> 00:37:46
			The reflection of that light is in salah.
		
00:37:48 --> 00:37:51
			Number two, salah is a noor that we
		
00:37:51 --> 00:37:53
			use to be able to see through the
		
00:37:53 --> 00:37:54
			dark times.
		
00:37:55 --> 00:37:58
			To be able to cast itself on the
		
00:37:58 --> 00:37:58
			path.
		
00:37:58 --> 00:38:01
			Just as the moon, it casts a light
		
00:38:01 --> 00:38:03
			on the face of the earth that allows
		
00:38:03 --> 00:38:04
			us to see how to traverse it.
		
00:38:06 --> 00:38:09
			Salah is a light that reflects the light
		
00:38:09 --> 00:38:12
			of our iman that allows us to traverse
		
00:38:12 --> 00:38:14
			through the challenges of dunya.
		
00:38:15 --> 00:38:15
			Subhanallah.
		
00:38:17 --> 00:38:19
			So what we just did, and we could
		
00:38:19 --> 00:38:23
			go all day, is to go through some
		
00:38:23 --> 00:38:26
			things we can use to medicate maybe bad
		
00:38:26 --> 00:38:27
			experiences with salah.
		
00:38:28 --> 00:38:30
			I had a teacher years ago from Syria
		
00:38:30 --> 00:38:33
			who he passed away, Allah have mercy on
		
00:38:33 --> 00:38:33
			him.
		
00:38:33 --> 00:38:36
			And he would take his grandchildren to salah
		
00:38:36 --> 00:38:39
			like once or twice, or three times a
		
00:38:39 --> 00:38:39
			week.
		
00:38:40 --> 00:38:42
			And every time he would take them to
		
00:38:42 --> 00:38:45
			salah, he would buy them like ice cream
		
00:38:45 --> 00:38:49
			or some kind of nice thing so that
		
00:38:49 --> 00:38:54
			subliminally their connection to salah is sweet.
		
00:38:54 --> 00:38:57
			How many of us in our formative years,
		
00:38:57 --> 00:39:01
			unfortunately, our connection to salah was one of
		
00:39:01 --> 00:39:07
			intimidation, one of unhealthy guilt, one of sort
		
00:39:07 --> 00:39:10
			of like a sense of arrest.
		
00:39:10 --> 00:39:12
			That can have an impact on us as
		
00:39:12 --> 00:39:13
			adults.
		
00:39:14 --> 00:39:18
			Those experiences as children, especially with worship and
		
00:39:18 --> 00:39:20
			religion, can impact us.
		
00:39:21 --> 00:39:22
			What we have to do is learn to
		
00:39:22 --> 00:39:26
			reformat how we see those things.
		
00:39:26 --> 00:39:27
			So I gave you a few examples.
		
00:39:28 --> 00:39:30
			Number one, salah as a cleansing agent.
		
00:39:32 --> 00:39:35
			Number two, that salah is our mi'raj.
		
00:39:35 --> 00:39:38
			Number three, that salah is something that we
		
00:39:38 --> 00:39:38
			can soar with.
		
00:39:39 --> 00:39:42
			Number four, that salah is a way to
		
00:39:42 --> 00:39:45
			protect from evil and oppression.
		
00:39:45 --> 00:39:47
			And then number five, the fifth I gave
		
00:39:47 --> 00:39:50
			you was that salah is this cooling light.
		
00:39:52 --> 00:39:53
			Are there any other thoughts or questions?
		
00:39:53 --> 00:39:56
			How does this make you feel to sort
		
00:39:56 --> 00:39:59
			of hear some of these things about reformatting
		
00:39:59 --> 00:40:00
			our relationship with salah?
		
00:40:01 --> 00:40:02
			And is there anything you would like to
		
00:40:02 --> 00:40:05
			share or any other ideas around the meaning
		
00:40:05 --> 00:40:08
			of prayer that have helped you or helped
		
00:40:08 --> 00:40:09
			you sort of stay motivated?
		
00:40:09 --> 00:40:10
			I would love to hear from you guys
		
00:40:10 --> 00:40:11
			now.
		
00:40:28 --> 00:40:29
			As-salamu alaykum.
		
00:40:30 --> 00:40:30
			Thanks.
		
00:40:30 --> 00:40:31
			As-salamu alaykum.
		
00:40:31 --> 00:40:32
			As-salamu alaykum.
		
00:40:33 --> 00:40:36
			I'm up in Syracuse, New York, originally from
		
00:40:36 --> 00:40:37
			Brooklyn, New York.
		
00:40:39 --> 00:40:41
			And it really benefits from you immensely.
		
00:40:42 --> 00:40:42
			Alhamdulillah.
		
00:40:42 --> 00:40:45
			And I'm really enjoying and needing this seminar
		
00:40:45 --> 00:40:46
			for the salah.
		
00:40:46 --> 00:40:48
			Not only for myself, but our children.
		
00:40:48 --> 00:40:49
			We have nine children.
		
00:40:50 --> 00:40:50
			MashaAllah.
		
00:40:51 --> 00:40:54
			You gave birth to nine kids?
		
00:40:55 --> 00:40:55
			Yes, Alhamdulillah.
		
00:40:56 --> 00:40:58
			You should get like the Nobel Peace Prize,
		
00:40:58 --> 00:40:58
			man.
		
00:41:00 --> 00:41:00
			Alhamdulillah.
		
00:41:01 --> 00:41:01
			Wow.
		
00:41:02 --> 00:41:03
			After my wife had...
		
00:41:03 --> 00:41:06
			He's four months now.
		
00:41:07 --> 00:41:08
			And how old is your oldest?
		
00:41:09 --> 00:41:10
			She's 21.
		
00:41:10 --> 00:41:12
			Man, my wife after two, she was like,
		
00:41:12 --> 00:41:14
			I'm done, bro.
		
00:41:15 --> 00:41:16
			That's how I feel.
		
00:41:16 --> 00:41:17
			That's how I feel.
		
00:41:17 --> 00:41:20
			She turned in her union card.
		
00:41:23 --> 00:41:25
			May Allah bless all nine of them.
		
00:41:25 --> 00:41:26
			Yes, I mean.
		
00:41:26 --> 00:41:30
			And so you're making me to understand I
		
00:41:30 --> 00:41:32
			need to make sure with those nine children,
		
00:41:33 --> 00:41:35
			some of them adults, young adults, to make
		
00:41:35 --> 00:41:38
			sure I, like you're saying, reframe the idea
		
00:41:38 --> 00:41:39
			of salah.
		
00:41:39 --> 00:41:41
			Not that they dread doing it, but it
		
00:41:41 --> 00:41:42
			can become very robotic.
		
00:41:42 --> 00:41:45
			And so this has given me a lot
		
00:41:45 --> 00:41:48
			more fresh understanding to give to our children
		
00:41:48 --> 00:41:50
			so they can look forward to their salah
		
00:41:50 --> 00:41:51
			much more better.
		
00:41:52 --> 00:41:55
			I had a teacher years ago when his
		
00:41:55 --> 00:41:58
			child would eat, he would say to the
		
00:41:58 --> 00:41:59
			child, did you say bismillah?
		
00:42:00 --> 00:42:02
			And the child was like, no.
		
00:42:02 --> 00:42:03
			It's like, say bismillah, it will taste better.
		
00:42:04 --> 00:42:07
			So now as an adult, that person actually
		
00:42:07 --> 00:42:09
			tells me like, when I say bismillah, it
		
00:42:09 --> 00:42:10
			does taste better.
		
00:42:10 --> 00:42:13
			You know, like linking it to a tangible
		
00:42:13 --> 00:42:16
			sort of gain, especially in a society that's
		
00:42:16 --> 00:42:20
			so gain, gain sort of focused, unfortunately, in
		
00:42:20 --> 00:42:21
			an unhealthy way.
		
00:42:21 --> 00:42:22
			There's some benefit.
		
00:42:22 --> 00:42:23
			May Allah bless you.
		
00:42:23 --> 00:42:25
			I used to live in Brooklyn, alhamdulillah.
		
00:42:26 --> 00:42:29
			Big friend of Imam Siraj, our imam.
		
00:42:30 --> 00:42:32
			Masjid Khalifa, you know, mashallah.
		
00:42:33 --> 00:42:34
			Good old days in Brooklyn.
		
00:42:35 --> 00:42:37
			Yes, alhamdulillah.
		
00:42:37 --> 00:42:39
			I smile and be so happy to come
		
00:42:39 --> 00:42:41
			from that because it makes us who we
		
00:42:41 --> 00:42:42
			are today.
		
00:42:42 --> 00:42:43
			Alhamdulillah.
		
00:42:43 --> 00:42:46
			Imam Siraj is a mentor and father to
		
00:42:46 --> 00:42:47
			me and so many.
		
00:42:48 --> 00:42:51
			And Ali, rahimullah, ta'ala, you know, for
		
00:42:51 --> 00:42:52
			today as well.
		
00:42:53 --> 00:42:55
			So, you know, alhamdulillah, we were there for
		
00:42:55 --> 00:42:56
			the janazah and everything, of course.
		
00:42:57 --> 00:43:00
			And we lost another pillar of the community,
		
00:43:00 --> 00:43:01
			that's for sure.
		
00:43:01 --> 00:43:02
			Absolutely.
		
00:43:02 --> 00:43:04
			May Allah give him jannah and grant him
		
00:43:04 --> 00:43:07
			a missed blessing here.
		
00:43:07 --> 00:43:08
			Anyone else?
		
00:43:08 --> 00:43:08
			Thank you.
		
00:43:08 --> 00:43:10
			Thank you, Umm Jannah, for sharing.
		
00:43:10 --> 00:43:10
			Alhamdulillah.
		
00:43:11 --> 00:43:12
			Anyone else want to jump in on any
		
00:43:12 --> 00:43:14
			thoughts, ideas, or things that you may use?
		
00:43:16 --> 00:43:19
			Saheb, you might have already touched on this.
		
00:43:19 --> 00:43:19
			I'm not too sure.
		
00:43:20 --> 00:43:22
			But one of the things I always thought
		
00:43:22 --> 00:43:25
			is, like, I don't have time, you know,
		
00:43:25 --> 00:43:29
			having a career, having three kids, and, you
		
00:43:29 --> 00:43:31
			know, having a social life, and all those
		
00:43:31 --> 00:43:32
			things of this world.
		
00:43:32 --> 00:43:34
			I always felt like I don't have time
		
00:43:34 --> 00:43:36
			to pray, and it's just going to take
		
00:43:36 --> 00:43:37
			up more time.
		
00:43:37 --> 00:43:40
			And what I have actually found over the
		
00:43:40 --> 00:43:44
			years, the more I pray regularly, that I
		
00:43:44 --> 00:43:45
			have more time.
		
00:43:45 --> 00:43:49
			There's barakah in my time, and that I'm
		
00:43:49 --> 00:43:52
			able to actually achieve more in my day.
		
00:43:52 --> 00:43:56
			So, yeah, I think that's kind of one
		
00:43:56 --> 00:43:57
			of the blessings.
		
00:44:00 --> 00:44:00
			Absolutely.
		
00:44:01 --> 00:44:03
			And hopefully we'll have some time at the
		
00:44:03 --> 00:44:05
			end to talk about some contemporary fit questions
		
00:44:05 --> 00:44:06
			around salah that people ask.
		
00:44:06 --> 00:44:07
			One of them is that.
		
00:44:08 --> 00:44:09
			But it's very interesting in the context of
		
00:44:09 --> 00:44:11
			religion, how the Quran, when it talks about
		
00:44:11 --> 00:44:14
			worship, says, like, push in.
		
00:44:16 --> 00:44:19
			Oftentimes, we don't have the necessary confidence to
		
00:44:19 --> 00:44:20
			push into religion, but a good Muslim is
		
00:44:20 --> 00:44:21
			a confident Muslim.
		
00:44:21 --> 00:44:24
			Not an arrogant Muslim, but a confident Muslim.
		
00:44:24 --> 00:44:25
			And like, so you said, like, actually having
		
00:44:25 --> 00:44:29
			the bravery to step in, and then discovering,
		
00:44:29 --> 00:44:30
			like, you know what?
		
00:44:30 --> 00:44:31
			Once I started to do this as a
		
00:44:31 --> 00:44:34
			habit, actually I had more time than I
		
00:44:34 --> 00:44:34
			thought I had.
		
00:44:35 --> 00:44:36
			Very good point.
		
00:44:37 --> 00:44:38
			Very good point.
		
00:44:38 --> 00:44:40
			And I think that touches on something that
		
00:44:40 --> 00:44:44
			we need to appreciate, that our experiences with
		
00:44:44 --> 00:44:45
			prayer.
		
00:44:45 --> 00:44:47
			Like, we should be asking ourselves, like, what
		
00:44:47 --> 00:44:49
			is my khibrah with salah?
		
00:44:50 --> 00:44:52
			What are things I've noticed in my life
		
00:44:52 --> 00:44:54
			that have been beneficial in relationship to prayer?
		
00:44:54 --> 00:44:57
			And keeping a resume of successes is very
		
00:44:57 --> 00:44:58
			important.
		
00:44:58 --> 00:44:59
			MashaAllah, thank you so much.
		
00:44:59 --> 00:45:02
			Anyone else want to jump in before we
		
00:45:02 --> 00:45:05
			move on to our second part of our
		
00:45:05 --> 00:45:09
			sort of three-part series today, a small
		
00:45:09 --> 00:45:11
			workshop on salah?
		
00:45:11 --> 00:45:12
			Anyone else want to jump in?
		
00:45:25 --> 00:45:25
			Awesome.
		
00:45:25 --> 00:45:27
			So let's talk about now the idea of
		
00:45:27 --> 00:45:28
			khushu'a.
		
00:45:28 --> 00:45:30
			The word khushu'a is taught in the
		
00:45:30 --> 00:45:30
			Quran.
		
00:45:32 --> 00:45:33
			The word khushu'a is from the word
		
00:45:33 --> 00:45:38
			khashat furu'ul shajarah.
		
00:45:39 --> 00:45:41
			We say that the branches of a tree
		
00:45:41 --> 00:45:44
			are like low, khashat.
		
00:45:44 --> 00:45:47
			That's the meaning of khushu'a, is to
		
00:45:47 --> 00:45:47
			be like low.
		
00:45:48 --> 00:45:49
			That's the physical meaning.
		
00:45:51 --> 00:45:55
			Within the context of salah and within the
		
00:45:55 --> 00:45:59
			context of life in tawheed, khushu'a is
		
00:45:59 --> 00:46:00
			synonymous with reverence.
		
00:46:01 --> 00:46:06
			To feel a sense of indebtedness and awe
		
00:46:06 --> 00:46:08
			and sacredness directed to Allah.
		
00:46:09 --> 00:46:13
			In salah, it's synonymous with focus.
		
00:46:14 --> 00:46:15
			Focus.
		
00:46:15 --> 00:46:18
			Focusing on Allah and trying to peel away
		
00:46:18 --> 00:46:22
			those things that are going to keep my
		
00:46:22 --> 00:46:23
			mind off prayer.
		
00:46:24 --> 00:46:25
			And sometimes we read, right?
		
00:46:25 --> 00:46:28
			We read incredible stories of the early Muslims
		
00:46:28 --> 00:46:30
			who like walls would fall and they were
		
00:46:30 --> 00:46:36
			praying or something would happen quite drastically and
		
00:46:36 --> 00:46:37
			they would be in prayer and then they
		
00:46:37 --> 00:46:39
			would say As-salamu alaykum and then people
		
00:46:39 --> 00:46:42
			would say to them like, you weren't aware
		
00:46:42 --> 00:46:43
			the wall fell?
		
00:46:43 --> 00:46:43
			I'm like, no.
		
00:46:44 --> 00:46:45
			Or you weren't aware that this was happening?
		
00:46:46 --> 00:46:48
			Sometimes we read those stories and we're like,
		
00:46:48 --> 00:46:49
			I don't believe it.
		
00:46:49 --> 00:46:51
			But if you're married, especially if you're a
		
00:46:51 --> 00:46:55
			husband, you know how many times your wife
		
00:46:55 --> 00:46:57
			has been talking to you and you didn't
		
00:46:57 --> 00:46:57
			hear one word she said.
		
00:46:59 --> 00:47:01
			Because you might have khushu'a on a
		
00:47:01 --> 00:47:02
			basketball game.
		
00:47:03 --> 00:47:06
			You might have khushu'a with whatever you're
		
00:47:06 --> 00:47:06
			doing.
		
00:47:06 --> 00:47:07
			And wives do.
		
00:47:08 --> 00:47:10
			Your husband could tell you a lot of
		
00:47:10 --> 00:47:10
			stuff.
		
00:47:11 --> 00:47:12
			Happens all the time.
		
00:47:12 --> 00:47:13
			Happens to all of us.
		
00:47:14 --> 00:47:19
			And then husband says to you, Hey, did
		
00:47:19 --> 00:47:19
			you hear what I said?
		
00:47:20 --> 00:47:21
			I'm oblivious to it.
		
00:47:21 --> 00:47:22
			That's khushu'a.
		
00:47:22 --> 00:47:24
			It's possible to have that level of khushu
		
00:47:24 --> 00:47:24
			'a.
		
00:47:25 --> 00:47:28
			But why is it difficult to have khushu
		
00:47:28 --> 00:47:29
			'a in salah?
		
00:47:30 --> 00:47:34
			Our teachers tell us that khushu'a is
		
00:47:34 --> 00:47:36
			the outcome of interest.
		
00:47:38 --> 00:47:39
			So number one, I'm interested in it.
		
00:47:40 --> 00:47:45
			Number two, interest is the outcome of a
		
00:47:45 --> 00:47:45
			connection.
		
00:47:46 --> 00:47:47
			So I've connected to it.
		
00:47:50 --> 00:47:54
			And number three, the connection is the outcome
		
00:47:54 --> 00:47:54
			of love.
		
00:47:57 --> 00:48:00
			Or a sense that I'm gaining value from
		
00:48:00 --> 00:48:01
			this.
		
00:48:01 --> 00:48:03
			And that's why when you read books like
		
00:48:03 --> 00:48:06
			Riyad al-Salihin, the Gardens of the Righteous,
		
00:48:06 --> 00:48:08
			you always find chapters on the virtues.
		
00:48:09 --> 00:48:11
			The virtues of prayer, the virtues of the
		
00:48:11 --> 00:48:14
			Quran, the virtues of charity, the virtues because
		
00:48:14 --> 00:48:18
			the scholars want us to love acts of
		
00:48:18 --> 00:48:21
			worship as the Prophet wanted us to love
		
00:48:21 --> 00:48:24
			acts of worship so that then we would
		
00:48:24 --> 00:48:29
			connect out of interest, out of love, that
		
00:48:29 --> 00:48:32
			leads to focus, that leads to khushu'a,
		
00:48:33 --> 00:48:34
			that leads to reverence.
		
00:48:35 --> 00:48:38
			So our teachers say that the seed of
		
00:48:38 --> 00:48:40
			reverence is love.
		
00:48:43 --> 00:48:46
			So the degree of my love with Allah,
		
00:48:47 --> 00:48:48
			and it's not a shallow love.
		
00:48:49 --> 00:48:51
			It's a fantastic love.
		
00:48:51 --> 00:48:53
			It's a love that tickles us.
		
00:48:53 --> 00:48:55
			It's a love that has a sense of
		
00:48:55 --> 00:48:59
			mystery and exploration in our relationship with Allah.
		
00:49:00 --> 00:49:03
			Subhanahu wa ta'ala will bring about the
		
00:49:03 --> 00:49:07
			passion needed for reverence in salah.
		
00:49:09 --> 00:49:11
			And that's what we find in the Quran.
		
00:49:12 --> 00:49:15
			Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala describes the prayers
		
00:49:15 --> 00:49:19
			of the successful believers in an incredibly powerful
		
00:49:19 --> 00:49:21
			way that's sort of lost in English.
		
00:49:22 --> 00:49:24
			Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says قَدْ أَفْلَحَ
		
00:49:24 --> 00:49:27
			الْمُؤْمِنُونَ The word qad in Arabic, we teach
		
00:49:27 --> 00:49:29
			it at our Foundations of Arabic class at
		
00:49:29 --> 00:49:32
			Swiss, means to emphasize something.
		
00:49:32 --> 00:49:33
			Like something's done.
		
00:49:34 --> 00:49:35
			It's so close to it's done.
		
00:49:36 --> 00:49:38
			So when we say the iqamah, what do
		
00:49:38 --> 00:49:38
			we say?
		
00:49:39 --> 00:49:42
			قَدْ أَقَامَةِ الصَّلَاةِ Like the prayer started.
		
00:49:42 --> 00:49:43
			Indeed it started.
		
00:49:44 --> 00:49:46
			So here qad, indeed, without a doubt.
		
00:49:47 --> 00:49:48
			أَفْلَحَ أَفْلَحَ means to be successful.
		
00:49:49 --> 00:49:51
			But the word falaha actually is from a
		
00:49:51 --> 00:49:52
			word which means to farm.
		
00:49:52 --> 00:49:54
			So we call our farmer falaha.
		
00:49:55 --> 00:49:58
			Because the successful person in this world is
		
00:49:58 --> 00:50:00
			the one who farms for the hereafter.
		
00:50:01 --> 00:50:04
			They farm now with their good deeds and
		
00:50:04 --> 00:50:07
			their iman and being good to people and
		
00:50:07 --> 00:50:10
			being agents of justice and conduits of mercy
		
00:50:10 --> 00:50:10
			and prophetic light.
		
00:50:11 --> 00:50:15
			Through that, they cultivate a harvest that they
		
00:50:15 --> 00:50:16
			will experience in Jannah.
		
00:50:18 --> 00:50:23
			That's why it says مُفْلِحُونَ They're successful meaning
		
00:50:23 --> 00:50:27
			they have properly harvested their time in this
		
00:50:27 --> 00:50:29
			world to bring about the fruit that they
		
00:50:29 --> 00:50:31
			will experience in the hereafter.
		
00:50:31 --> 00:50:36
			So حَانَ الله قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ المؤمنون Those
		
00:50:36 --> 00:50:40
			who affirm in their hearts tawheed.
		
00:50:40 --> 00:50:43
			What's the first quality of those people who
		
00:50:43 --> 00:50:43
			believe?
		
00:50:46 --> 00:50:48
			Well, before we say it, there's a beautiful
		
00:50:48 --> 00:50:51
			hadith of the Prophet ﷺ which is a
		
00:50:51 --> 00:50:51
			good hadith.
		
00:50:53 --> 00:50:59
			It said when Allah ﷻ created Jannah, He
		
00:50:59 --> 00:51:00
			said speak.
		
00:51:01 --> 00:51:04
			The first thing that Jannah said, listen brothers
		
00:51:04 --> 00:51:12
			and sisters, was قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ Successful are
		
00:51:12 --> 00:51:12
			the believers.
		
00:51:13 --> 00:51:15
			That verse is for the مؤمنون.
		
00:51:15 --> 00:51:17
			What's really cool also about the verses in
		
00:51:17 --> 00:51:19
			the past tense, they were successful.
		
00:51:20 --> 00:51:25
			قَدْ أَفْلَحَ Indeed, successful were the believers.
		
00:51:25 --> 00:51:25
			Why?
		
00:51:26 --> 00:51:29
			Because Allah has chosen them to be believers
		
00:51:29 --> 00:51:31
			before the creation of time.
		
00:51:32 --> 00:51:35
			And Allah ﷻ commanded that these people will
		
00:51:35 --> 00:51:37
			be the people of faith before they even
		
00:51:37 --> 00:51:37
			existed.
		
00:51:38 --> 00:51:41
			So their success happened in the past even
		
00:51:41 --> 00:51:42
			before they knew themselves.
		
00:51:43 --> 00:51:46
			قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ Another way to understand it
		
00:51:46 --> 00:51:48
			is if like you ask someone, hey, can
		
00:51:48 --> 00:51:49
			you take me to the airport tomorrow?
		
00:51:49 --> 00:51:51
			And they say, consider it done.
		
00:51:52 --> 00:51:53
			That's the feeling here.
		
00:51:53 --> 00:51:56
			قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ It's done.
		
00:51:57 --> 00:52:00
			Their success is done because of their Iman.
		
00:52:00 --> 00:52:01
			SubhanAllah.
		
00:52:02 --> 00:52:06
			What's the first quality of those who believe?
		
00:52:06 --> 00:52:08
			And that's why our first level class in
		
00:52:08 --> 00:52:12
			Swiss is on belief because the believers are
		
00:52:12 --> 00:52:12
			successful.
		
00:52:13 --> 00:52:16
			What's their first action that they are known
		
00:52:16 --> 00:52:16
			for?
		
00:52:16 --> 00:52:25
			أَلَّذِينَ هُمْ إِي صُلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ Those,
		
00:52:26 --> 00:52:33
			only those who in their prayers have Kushu'
		
00:52:34 --> 00:52:36
			are reverent.
		
00:52:36 --> 00:52:38
			All the things I talked about earlier.
		
00:52:40 --> 00:52:44
			In Arabic, the word Fi means to be
		
00:52:44 --> 00:52:44
			in.
		
00:52:45 --> 00:52:46
			They say like the water.
		
00:52:46 --> 00:52:48
			Fi, glass.
		
00:52:49 --> 00:52:55
			The water is in the glass.
		
00:52:57 --> 00:52:58
			Why?
		
00:52:58 --> 00:53:00
			Say the water is in the glass.
		
00:53:03 --> 00:53:06
			الماء في الكوب Because the word Fi means
		
00:53:06 --> 00:53:07
			to be submerged.
		
00:53:08 --> 00:53:09
			To be inside.
		
00:53:10 --> 00:53:13
			Isn't it interesting that when Allah SWT talks
		
00:53:13 --> 00:53:17
			about Salat, He uses, SubhanAllah, He uses a
		
00:53:17 --> 00:53:20
			word that implies submerged in Salat.
		
00:53:22 --> 00:53:24
			Engulfed in Salat.
		
00:53:25 --> 00:53:27
			Salat has like surrounded them.
		
00:53:28 --> 00:53:30
			They're submerged in it.
		
00:53:30 --> 00:53:38
			أَلَّذِينَ هُمْ إِي صُلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ How do we
		
00:53:38 --> 00:53:39
			attain Kushu'?
		
00:53:40 --> 00:53:43
			The first is to ask Allah SWT to
		
00:53:43 --> 00:53:44
			give it to us.
		
00:53:45 --> 00:53:49
			Oh Allah, bless me with Kushu'.
		
00:53:50 --> 00:53:53
			Just as we say وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ This is
		
00:53:53 --> 00:53:54
			now an extension of that.
		
00:53:55 --> 00:53:57
			Maybe when you read Fatiha, you say إِيَّاكَ
		
00:53:57 --> 00:54:01
			نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ You think about what I'm
		
00:54:01 --> 00:54:03
			asking for is to help me with my
		
00:54:03 --> 00:54:04
			Kushu' in Salat.
		
00:54:06 --> 00:54:09
			Number two is to learn as we did
		
00:54:09 --> 00:54:11
			earlier about the meanings of Salat.
		
00:54:11 --> 00:54:13
			Like what does Salat actually mean vis-à
		
00:54:13 --> 00:54:15
			-vis my own experiences, my own understandings.
		
00:54:15 --> 00:54:16
			How do I prove that?
		
00:54:16 --> 00:54:17
			How do I motivate myself?
		
00:54:18 --> 00:54:21
			How do I relocate Salat in a way
		
00:54:21 --> 00:54:24
			that challenges me, encourages me, and pushes me
		
00:54:24 --> 00:54:24
			forward?
		
00:54:26 --> 00:54:29
			Number three is to learn new chapters of
		
00:54:29 --> 00:54:31
			the Quran and new verses to say in
		
00:54:31 --> 00:54:32
			prayer.
		
00:54:32 --> 00:54:34
			I had a roommate years ago in college
		
00:54:35 --> 00:54:38
			who subhanAllah he told me I'm bored with
		
00:54:38 --> 00:54:38
			Salat.
		
00:54:39 --> 00:54:41
			So I was a new Muslim so I
		
00:54:41 --> 00:54:44
			was learning new chapters of Quran because I
		
00:54:44 --> 00:54:45
			had to pray.
		
00:54:47 --> 00:54:50
			So I said to him what do you
		
00:54:50 --> 00:54:50
			read in prayer?
		
00:54:51 --> 00:54:53
			And at that time we were in our
		
00:54:53 --> 00:54:53
			20s.
		
00:54:54 --> 00:54:56
			He says so like basically I only know
		
00:54:56 --> 00:54:57
			two chapters.
		
00:54:58 --> 00:55:02
			After Fatiha I know Surat Al-Ikhlas and
		
00:55:02 --> 00:55:04
			like Surat Al-Fir like that I feel
		
00:55:04 --> 00:55:05
			comfortable reading.
		
00:55:05 --> 00:55:07
			I might know other chapters but these are
		
00:55:07 --> 00:55:09
			the two I feel comfortable reading.
		
00:55:09 --> 00:55:11
			So I said mashAllah man for 20 something
		
00:55:11 --> 00:55:14
			years you're reading the same chapters bro like
		
00:55:14 --> 00:55:15
			I love biryani.
		
00:55:16 --> 00:55:20
			I love you know brisket but I'm not
		
00:55:20 --> 00:55:21
			going to eat it every day.
		
00:55:22 --> 00:55:24
			It's going to become boring to me.
		
00:55:24 --> 00:55:26
			So what I've noticed sometimes is Muslims will
		
00:55:26 --> 00:55:29
			be saying the same chapters over and over
		
00:55:29 --> 00:55:31
			and over again then they wonder why their
		
00:55:31 --> 00:55:34
			prayer lacks fluidity.
		
00:55:35 --> 00:55:36
			So one of the best things you can
		
00:55:36 --> 00:55:37
			do is just learn a few verses here
		
00:55:37 --> 00:55:38
			and there in fact just go through the
		
00:55:38 --> 00:55:40
			Quran and maybe you find some verses that
		
00:55:40 --> 00:55:42
			are speaking to your life at that time.
		
00:55:43 --> 00:55:45
			So learn those two verses those three verses
		
00:55:45 --> 00:55:48
			and say them in your Salah because now
		
00:55:48 --> 00:55:49
			your Salah becomes a tool.
		
00:55:50 --> 00:55:52
			Now it becomes an interpretive tool for a
		
00:55:52 --> 00:55:55
			grammar to make sense of the chaos and
		
00:55:55 --> 00:55:56
			run-on sentences of the dunya.
		
00:55:57 --> 00:56:00
			So learning new chapters learning new verses and
		
00:56:00 --> 00:56:02
			even finding chapters and verses and parts of
		
00:56:02 --> 00:56:04
			the Quran that are speaking to my life
		
00:56:04 --> 00:56:06
			that are contextually appropriate to our lives.
		
00:56:06 --> 00:56:09
			Like for example our teenagers I always encourage
		
00:56:09 --> 00:56:11
			them to read Surah Yusuf regularly Surah Kaaf
		
00:56:11 --> 00:56:13
			regularly Surah Maryam because they talk about young
		
00:56:13 --> 00:56:15
			people but even to memorize parts of them
		
00:56:15 --> 00:56:18
			so parts of those chapters like when Prophet
		
00:56:18 --> 00:56:22
			Yusuf says رَبِّ سِجْنُوا أَحَبَّ إِلَيَ مِمَّا يَدْعُونَنِي
		
00:56:22 --> 00:56:24
			إِلَيْهِ Oh Allah the prison is more beloved
		
00:56:24 --> 00:56:26
			to me than this evil they call me
		
00:56:26 --> 00:56:26
			to.
		
00:56:26 --> 00:56:28
			Like that's very powerful for a young person
		
00:56:28 --> 00:56:28
			to know that verse.
		
00:56:29 --> 00:56:30
			It's very meaningful.
		
00:56:31 --> 00:56:33
			When women are going through pregnancy I encourage
		
00:56:33 --> 00:56:35
			them to like read Surah Luqman or Surah
		
00:56:35 --> 00:56:40
			Al-Ahqaf حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ وَهْنًا عَلَى وَهْنٍ وَفِصَارُهُ
		
00:56:40 --> 00:56:41
			فِي عَمَيْتٍ Right?
		
00:56:41 --> 00:56:44
			That she carried him carried her child pain
		
00:56:44 --> 00:56:45
			upon pain.
		
00:56:45 --> 00:56:48
			Surah Maryam also is great for women who
		
00:56:48 --> 00:56:50
			are experiencing you know pregnancy.
		
00:56:51 --> 00:56:54
			So now the Quran is like contextual to
		
00:56:54 --> 00:56:55
			where I am in my life.
		
00:56:56 --> 00:56:59
			And now those verses in my Salah take
		
00:56:59 --> 00:57:00
			an added meaning.
		
00:57:00 --> 00:57:03
			The marriage of the Quran with the Akhwan
		
00:57:04 --> 00:57:06
			the marriage of the Quran with creation with
		
00:57:06 --> 00:57:07
			my life.
		
00:57:08 --> 00:57:10
			It's very important that we have that contextual
		
00:57:10 --> 00:57:12
			sort of relationship that intersectionality.
		
00:57:13 --> 00:57:15
			I remember one time we were at a
		
00:57:15 --> 00:57:17
			protest and people asked me to lead prayer
		
00:57:17 --> 00:57:19
			for Palestine and I read Surah Isra.
		
00:57:19 --> 00:57:22
			Of course parts of Surah Isra because it's
		
00:57:22 --> 00:57:25
			talking about our brothers and sisters in that
		
00:57:25 --> 00:57:27
			sacred land and people started to cry.
		
00:57:27 --> 00:57:30
			My voice is like a broken crow because
		
00:57:30 --> 00:57:32
			it's not about the voice it's about the
		
00:57:32 --> 00:57:33
			context.
		
00:57:34 --> 00:57:40
			So you want to think about a part
		
00:57:44 --> 00:57:45
			of the Quran or a chapter of the
		
00:57:45 --> 00:57:48
			Quran a few verses the minimum you can
		
00:57:48 --> 00:57:49
			read is three verses of course it's a
		
00:57:49 --> 00:57:53
			good question not the whole chapters but parts
		
00:57:53 --> 00:57:57
			small verses here and there that speak to
		
00:57:57 --> 00:58:02
			you that are contextually relevant to you.
		
00:58:02 --> 00:58:04
			So like when people come to me and
		
00:58:04 --> 00:58:05
			say I want to get married I want
		
00:58:05 --> 00:58:07
			to get married I have them memorize the
		
00:58:07 --> 00:58:09
			verses about marriage read that in your Salah.
		
00:58:09 --> 00:58:11
			Read the verses about Taqwa.
		
00:58:12 --> 00:58:14
			So that's a beauty of the Quran.
		
00:58:16 --> 00:58:18
			The third is to change up your duas
		
00:58:19 --> 00:58:21
			the things you say in Salah.
		
00:58:21 --> 00:58:25
			We know that the Prophet ﷺ he taught
		
00:58:25 --> 00:58:27
			us different things to say in prayer.
		
00:58:27 --> 00:58:29
			Don't just say the same thing every time.
		
00:58:30 --> 00:58:32
			You should even think about saying things once
		
00:58:32 --> 00:58:37
			again that speak to you and your situation.
		
00:58:37 --> 00:58:42
			Different ad'ia different adhkar different dhikrs different
		
00:58:42 --> 00:58:44
			dua that he would make in Salah.
		
00:58:44 --> 00:58:47
			We go through those in our Foundations of
		
00:58:47 --> 00:58:51
			Worship course and also there's a course on
		
00:58:51 --> 00:58:53
			Swiss somewhere that goes to all of the
		
00:58:53 --> 00:58:56
			duas like huge number of duas of the
		
00:58:56 --> 00:59:01
			Prophet ﷺ that I didn't finish still in
		
00:59:01 --> 00:59:02
			the process of being finished.
		
00:59:03 --> 00:59:05
			The fourth thing that you want to think
		
00:59:05 --> 00:59:08
			about is what are you doing before you
		
00:59:08 --> 00:59:09
			start prayer?
		
00:59:10 --> 00:59:15
			You could think about it this way.
		
00:59:16 --> 00:59:17
			Like if you have an important meeting with
		
00:59:17 --> 00:59:21
			someone you prepare for that meeting and sometimes
		
00:59:21 --> 00:59:23
			it's hard with children with work.
		
00:59:23 --> 00:59:26
			So ideally we're seeing here ideally but usually
		
00:59:26 --> 00:59:29
			the ideal like just now before this class
		
00:59:29 --> 00:59:31
			I had to take my kids to get
		
00:59:31 --> 00:59:32
			food had to take them to a farmer's
		
00:59:32 --> 00:59:32
			market.
		
00:59:33 --> 00:59:36
			Look man all of us here we're coming
		
00:59:36 --> 00:59:39
			from experiences that are informing us at this
		
00:59:39 --> 00:59:40
			moment like none of us are just coming
		
00:59:40 --> 00:59:41
			from a vacuum.
		
00:59:41 --> 00:59:42
			We all if you look at my Instagram
		
00:59:42 --> 00:59:44
			page today you'll see we're at the creek
		
00:59:44 --> 00:59:47
			we're here talking about Harry Potter going to
		
00:59:47 --> 00:59:49
			a farmer's market getting lunch and I have
		
00:59:49 --> 00:59:51
			to be here to make sure this class
		
00:59:51 --> 00:59:52
			happens.
		
00:59:53 --> 00:59:58
			So none of us are are beyond the
		
00:59:58 --> 01:00:01
			challenges and stresses of life but if it's
		
01:00:01 --> 01:00:05
			possible every once in a while we need
		
01:00:05 --> 01:00:08
			to prepare for that prayer and that's why
		
01:00:08 --> 01:00:10
			some of the early Muslims say that wudu
		
01:00:10 --> 01:00:12
			is actually a part of Salah like when
		
01:00:12 --> 01:00:14
			you start making wudu that's like getting your
		
01:00:14 --> 01:00:16
			game face on that's like shooting threes before
		
01:00:16 --> 01:00:18
			the game that's like warming up before you
		
01:00:18 --> 01:00:20
			work out that's like stretching.
		
01:00:23 --> 01:00:25
			So I want to think about the things
		
01:00:25 --> 01:00:27
			I'm doing before prayer if I'm super busy
		
01:00:27 --> 01:00:29
			if I'm super occupied if I had an
		
01:00:29 --> 01:00:31
			argument with my spouse if my kids just
		
01:00:31 --> 01:00:34
			destroyed something maybe that's not the best time
		
01:00:34 --> 01:00:37
			to pray maybe that's not the best time
		
01:00:37 --> 01:00:40
			to pray for sure maybe I should give
		
01:00:40 --> 01:00:43
			myself to balance my and regulate my emotions
		
01:00:43 --> 01:00:45
			to think about where I am maybe I
		
01:00:45 --> 01:00:48
			just got some bad news I should be
		
01:00:48 --> 01:00:51
			careful about what triggers me being online sometimes
		
01:00:51 --> 01:00:53
			I tell people don't look at comments post
		
01:00:53 --> 01:00:56
			and ghost post and ghost because the comments
		
01:00:56 --> 01:00:58
			may stress you out may wreck you emotionally
		
01:00:58 --> 01:01:00
			by people that don't even know you that
		
01:01:00 --> 01:01:02
			have no value in your life but I
		
01:01:02 --> 01:01:06
			want to think about creating a space of
		
01:01:06 --> 01:01:10
			decalibration before Salah I want to sort of
		
01:01:10 --> 01:01:13
			peel away certain things as best I can
		
01:01:13 --> 01:01:16
			so that when I push into Salah I'm
		
01:01:16 --> 01:01:21
			with Salah I'm present I'm present in prayer
		
01:01:21 --> 01:01:24
			it's very important I want to think about
		
01:01:24 --> 01:01:26
			what I'm eating I want to think about
		
01:01:26 --> 01:01:28
			what I'm ingesting I want to think about
		
01:01:28 --> 01:01:31
			what I'm watching what I'm listening to what
		
01:01:31 --> 01:01:33
			are the things around me that I'm exposing
		
01:01:33 --> 01:01:35
			myself to all that is going to impact
		
01:01:35 --> 01:01:41
			our Salah how we push in in that
		
01:01:41 --> 01:01:45
			moment in our khushu' in Salah you know
		
01:01:45 --> 01:01:47
			Sayyidina Imam Hassan before prayer he used to
		
01:01:47 --> 01:01:49
			turn blue and people asked him why he
		
01:01:49 --> 01:01:50
			said do you know who I'm about to
		
01:01:50 --> 01:01:53
			meet do you know who I'm about to
		
01:01:53 --> 01:01:58
			talk to the last sort of step that
		
01:01:58 --> 01:01:59
			will help us have khushu' and some of
		
01:01:59 --> 01:02:04
			you alluded to this earlier is to appreciate
		
01:02:04 --> 01:02:08
			the fact that Salah is indeed a conversation
		
01:02:11 --> 01:02:15
			and it's not just any conversation it's a
		
01:02:15 --> 01:02:19
			conversation with Allah and one of the things
		
01:02:19 --> 01:02:22
			that we can appreciate is all of us
		
01:02:22 --> 01:02:25
			love to receive nice mail you know the
		
01:02:25 --> 01:02:27
			nicer the mail the more significant it seems
		
01:02:28 --> 01:02:30
			wow why am I getting like first-class
		
01:02:30 --> 01:02:31
			why am I getting it like this why
		
01:02:31 --> 01:02:32
			is it hand-delivered why are they asking
		
01:02:32 --> 01:02:34
			me for a signature hopefully I paid my
		
01:02:34 --> 01:02:39
			tickets but how a Salah delivered to us
		
01:02:41 --> 01:02:48
			should really impact you know our ability to
		
01:02:48 --> 01:02:52
			have focus in Salah to see this as
		
01:02:52 --> 01:02:54
			a conversation that starts with this incredible delivery
		
01:02:55 --> 01:02:59
			because unlike every act of worship in the
		
01:02:59 --> 01:03:03
			Quran and in the Sunnah Salah is delivered
		
01:03:03 --> 01:03:07
			directly to the Messenger of Allah on the
		
01:03:07 --> 01:03:10
			night of Isra and Mi'raj by Sayyidina
		
01:03:10 --> 01:03:14
			Jibreel like is there a better courier than
		
01:03:14 --> 01:03:21
			Sayyidina Jibreel who takes the Prophet to Sidratul
		
01:03:21 --> 01:03:26
			-Untaha escorts the Prophet and the Prophet says
		
01:03:26 --> 01:03:29
			you go and Jibreel says no you go
		
01:03:29 --> 01:03:32
			only you can go and it's there in
		
01:03:32 --> 01:03:34
			his conversation with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
		
01:03:34 --> 01:03:40
			that Salah is made for there's no intermediary
		
01:03:40 --> 01:03:45
			it's the only act of Sharia that is
		
01:03:45 --> 01:03:47
			coming directly from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
		
01:03:48 --> 01:03:52
			to Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam without
		
01:03:52 --> 01:03:56
			the agency of Sayyidina Jibreel alayhi salatu salam
		
01:03:57 --> 01:04:02
			subhanAllah subhanAllah and that formulates this idea of
		
01:04:02 --> 01:04:05
			a conversation because the conversation between God and
		
01:04:05 --> 01:04:07
			the Messenger of Allah is where prayer is
		
01:04:07 --> 01:04:10
			obligated and as an extension of that conversation
		
01:04:10 --> 01:04:13
			every time you and I pray Surat al
		
01:04:13 --> 01:04:18
			-Fatiha we are reminded of this conversation that's
		
01:04:18 --> 01:04:20
			why the famous narration of the Prophet peace
		
01:04:20 --> 01:04:22
			be upon him from Allah subhanahu wa ta
		
01:04:22 --> 01:04:29
			'ala I have divided Salah between myself and
		
01:04:29 --> 01:04:34
			my servant in two ways the first is
		
01:04:34 --> 01:04:37
			for me so when the person says Alhamdulillahi
		
01:04:37 --> 01:04:42
			rabbil alameen Allah says Majadali ya abdi you
		
01:04:42 --> 01:04:47
			have glorified me you have honored me so
		
01:04:47 --> 01:04:49
			every time you read in the verse of
		
01:04:49 --> 01:04:53
			Surat al-Fatiha Ar-Rahman ar-Raheem you
		
01:04:53 --> 01:04:57
			have praised me you have acknowledged me Mariki
		
01:04:57 --> 01:05:01
			yawm al-deen also acknowledge me Iyyaka na
		
01:05:01 --> 01:05:05
			'budu wa iyyaka nasta'een this is between
		
01:05:05 --> 01:05:09
			me and you Ibadah is for me help
		
01:05:09 --> 01:05:13
			is for you Ihdina al-sirata al-mustaqeem
		
01:05:13 --> 01:05:18
			sirata al-lazeena an'amta alayhim ghayru maghdoobi
		
01:05:18 --> 01:05:22
			alayhim wa ragdaaleen that is to the straight
		
01:05:22 --> 01:05:25
			path the path of those who earned your
		
01:05:25 --> 01:05:28
			favor not the path of those who have
		
01:05:28 --> 01:05:29
			gone astray or the path of those who
		
01:05:29 --> 01:05:31
			have earned wrath or the path of those
		
01:05:31 --> 01:05:34
			who have gone astray Allah says this is
		
01:05:34 --> 01:05:37
			for my servant and my servant will receive
		
01:05:37 --> 01:05:40
			what they ask it's also a reminder not
		
01:05:40 --> 01:05:42
			to be negligent because what am I thinking
		
01:05:42 --> 01:05:43
			about when I say that what am I
		
01:05:43 --> 01:05:46
			thinking about Ihdina al-sirata al-mustaqeem sirata
		
01:05:46 --> 01:05:47
			al-lazeena an'amta alayhim what am I
		
01:05:47 --> 01:05:51
			thinking about is what I may receive so
		
01:05:51 --> 01:05:53
			it's an encouragement to be focused like what
		
01:05:53 --> 01:05:54
			I ask for is what I receive what
		
01:05:54 --> 01:05:55
			I intend what I think is what I
		
01:05:55 --> 01:05:59
			will get as the hadith says I am
		
01:05:59 --> 01:06:01
			to you as you think I am but
		
01:06:01 --> 01:06:06
			the point is salah is a conversation and
		
01:06:06 --> 01:06:08
			that's why you need to any other act
		
01:06:09 --> 01:06:11
			when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants to
		
01:06:11 --> 01:06:14
			show that an act is virtuous He mentions
		
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			parts of it in the Quran salah is
		
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			the only act where all of its parts
		
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			are mentioned in isolation in the Quran sujood
		
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			ruqoo qiyam qira'a Allah subhanahu wa ta
		
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			'ala says faqra'oo maa tiyassara min al
		
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			-Quran read maa tiyassara min al-Quran what
		
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			is easy for you from the Quran insara'
		
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			inna al-sirata inna al-Quran al-fajri
		
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			kana mashhoora that reciting the Quran at Fajr
		
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			is being witnessed so here Quran number two
		
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			wali-tukabbiru Allah to make takbir is mentioned
		
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			in the Quran allahu akbar wakabbiru takbira number
		
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			three standing waqoomu lillahi qaniti stand to Allah
		
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			in obedience in salah the next ruqoo wa
		
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			raka'oo maa raka'een make a ruqoo
		
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			with those who make a ruqoo sujood wasjoodu
		
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			waqtarib Allah says make sujood and seek to
		
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			draw nearer to Allah so you see here
		
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			Subhanallah every component of salah is mentioned in
		
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			the Quran uniquely compared to other acts of
		
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			worship to show that salah is so virtuous
		
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			that a macro level and a micro level
		
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			as a whole and as its parts it's
		
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			full of barakah because it's this conversation with
		
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			Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala we'll stop it
		
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			for a short break are there any questions
		
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			or comments up until this point and then
		
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			in the next session inshallah we're going to
		
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			actually walk through salah and share some ideas
		
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			on how the meaning of salah should impact
		
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			us to really stretch the capacity of our
		
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			hearts to be those who love salah any
		
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			questions or comments before we continue we'll take
		
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			a break and then we'll continue