Suhaib Webb – The Power of Charisma!
AI: Summary ©
The concept of " charisma" in religion is used to describe situations where people are not aligned with religious guidance. It is important to understand the context of " charisma" in relation to religious teachings and how it can be difficult to judge religious teachings based on just " charisma." Christian teaching is a fundamental part of our culture and is used to deescalate people. talent and knowledge can direct one's actions and ensure he is not amplifying others.
AI: Summary ©
Welcome to our regular Friday reminder. And today,
I wanna talk about something that oftentimes is
confused, and that is charisma
and the place of charisma in religion.
I get it, man. Charisma in religion is
a slippery slope. It's rocky.
It can get it can get it can
get pretty spooky, especially the prophet
Right? There's certain types of communication.
They have like a magic. They take you.
That's why we have scholarship. That's what scholars
are supposed to do to balance people. As
the prophet said that every generation has the.
The those people in the middle who balance
people who center
and guide and nuance
responsibly the Ummah of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam. One of those scholars was Imam al
Maqdisi,
who commenting
on the explanation of Imam al Josi's
text on the Ihia.
He said that things like anger, happiness,
sadness,
success, the acquirement of wealth, even religious practices
fall under 2 designations.
Mahmud
and madhum.
What's praiseworthy
and what's problematic. And one of the things
that he mentions
is charisma. And also there's no doubt that
Allah's equipped
the prophets
with
incredible charisma,
righteous charisma.
Allah
says,
We didn't send a messenger except he spoke
the language of his people.
On the opposite end, we have the charisma
of shaitan.
Allah
says that Shaitan ornamented
beautified
their evil for them. So we see here
in the Quran,
that balance 2 types of charisma,
the charisma, which is used for Allah
and the charisma which is used for something
else in an evil way.
And this topic becomes
much more important in the age of influencers,
right? We we have to acknowledge this monoculture,
especially with the impact of COVID 19 on
people,
that pushes people towards an age age of
exhibition,
where everything is about
projecting. And this is where
religion as a study
fills a void that nothing else can really
address,
and that is the spiritual component of these
things, the wise.
Ibn
Said there was no one from the righteous
early
scholars,
except whenever they would do something, they would
ask themselves 2 questions,
why and how.
The why is, was it for Allah?
The how is, was it according to, and
did it align with religious guidance?
And it's important that we frame this as
a religious value because when we frame something
like charisma
under the broader context of religious values,
that means that there's going to be times
where charisma could be obligatory,
where it could be highly recommended,
where it could be disliked,
and what it could be haram,
and largely when it's permissible. I mean, the
general frame of charisma is that it falls
under what we know to be permissibility.
There's a very important legal axiom that addresses
this issue that says,
are
those things which bring beauty and enhance our
lives.
And the permissible things.
Are both based
and rooted on
a niet,
the intention of the person
talking about the dangerous charisma, the evil charisma,
we go to verse 204 in Surah Al
Baqarah. Go check it out.
The second chapter of the Quran verse 204,
Allah says after
there are some people
What they say when they talk about this
worldly life amazes you. You're
And they
they say, like, Allah knows.
They call Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala name
as a witness to the good in their
heart. There's another Kira'a. It's not from
the but in
also in others, the 7,
that they they they they say Allah knows
what's good in our heart, but there's not
a. Allah knows what's in their heart.
Said the worst
person. Charisma,
swagger,
swagger.
You know,
many of the scholars say that this verse
was sent because a man came to Medina,
and he amazed the Sahaba, even with his
religious talk.
And they were shocked.
And after some time they found all their
crops burned, and they found out it was
that man
that that man was a hypocrite. So he
used his charisma
to deceive them.
There's another example of charisma in the Quran
also that we need to pay attention to.
We all know the story of Sayidina Musa,
alayhis salatu salam,
and we know that Sayidina Musa was not
the most eloquent of people.
He had a speech impediment,
and he asked Allah
Remove this impediment from me so that I
can become someone who preaches your name
and communicates effectively.
Fyron, when he attacked Musa, he said,
he said that,
like, he's not even clear what he says.
There's an important lesson that we'll talk about
later on, and that is that you can't
judge
religious teachings just by charisma and shine and
swagger.
There's something deeper than that.
But we know because of this that Sayedna
Musa
he preached and taught his people
and
after Allah emancipated them and saved them
and brought them out from Firaun
that they were deceived.
When Musa Alai Salam left his people to
meet his lord,
they were deceived by Samiri.
Why Samiri has
swagger
Samiri has charisma,
but he used his charisma
to take them from worshiping Allah
to worshiping a golden calf, an idol.
And we also find in the 63rd chapter
of the Quran verse number 4,
when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
when you see the hypocrites,
they look clean.
They have a certain swagger to them about
their presence.
And when they talk,
the way they talk can mesmerize you.
Right? But then he says,
but they are like empty wood. Like, it
looks really nice on the outside,
but there's nothing on the inside.
So the Quran, starting with shaitan,
right? And we could talk about the traps
of shaitan and using charisma,
peer pressure, swearing by God,
having a lot of swagger.
We see the hypocrites in Medina
utilizing
charisma
in a negative way to deceive people
and take them from Allah.
What about good charisma?
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
he warned us that whoever does not beautify
the Quran when they recite it,
is not from us.
And the sunun of imam Abu Dawood,
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, he told the
sahaba, dress nicely, clean your saddles, and look
good for your brothers and sisters.
We know that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
was
the most eloquent in speech.
And there are actually volumes, especially
in on the prophet's art of communication, his
style and his approach.
And we mentioned earlier,
Sayidimusa
alaihi salatu salam, asking Allah to remove his
inability
to communicate effectively.
And the prophet salaihi salam warned us because
charisma is a blessing.
That whoever Allah gives someone a blessing to
and they failed to use it, it will
be taken away from them.
The Quran itself,
there is nothing more majestically
charismatic than the book of Allah.
Like, but Allah says very clearly that cannot
come from its front or from its back.
It has been revealed by Allah
It is It
is a clear book.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam when the sahaba
would come to them, and they had talents.
And some of them were very charismatic like
Hassaned Muthavet.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam would not
dissuade them from utilizing those talents,
but he would re re redirect.
And that's something very important.
You shouldn't feel bad if you have a
charismatic personality.
You shouldn't feel bad if you have certain
qualities.
But how do you and I direct those
qualities,
and what do we direct them to?
To have something like that and fail to
use it for Allah makes it a curse.
But to have something like that and use
it for Allah makes it a blessing. So
that brings to mind then how can we
use
any talent, but
charisma
and make sure that it's for Allah.
We find that there are really 8 things
mentioned in the Quran that we should think
about.
The first being sincerity.
Anytime you throw something on on the Gram,
man, anything anytime I throw something up on
the Gram, TikTok, wherever,
make sure that you ask yourself
make sure I ask myself,
is this for Allah?
Am I more concerned about the likes of
the creation
or that Allah loves me
and that Allah is pleased with me.
Quran says that Allah's happiness is the greatest
thing.
And we know that there were prophets who
had no followers.
So the first thing is to think about
doing it for Allah.
And doing it for Allah means that my
heart is in the right place
and that I'm not doing anything that would
disobey his
deen.
The second thing is knowledge. Sincerity.
A lot of times we notice that people
are answering questions
and giving religious guidance
and actually giving the wrong answers
and not what
you
know.
And if you don't know or if you're
unsure, reach out what you know. And if
you don't know or if you're unsure,
reach out to the teachers and scholars that
are close to you.
Any
serious serious person engaged in this work
is going to have in their toolbox
those merjeet,
those reference points, those scholars that they could
reach out to and talk to
The third thing was
The third thing
is your ability to work with others
If you're all alone and you're strictly solo
and you're not promoting other people
and you're not amplifying other voices of people
that you know are even doing better than
you are.
You're not using your platform
to direct
others to Muslims that are making a difference
in different places.
Like my man, Tony Trump.
I saw him today,
feeding people in Philly, man. I shared it,
even though
he's
much bigger than me.
But I was compelled
by the good work that he's doing
in this really difficult time. So I was
like,
yo, let's put that out there.
We are not numbers.
Group of young Palestinians
who remind people that Palestinian bodies aren't numbers.
They are people.
Amplify those voices that are out there.