Sulayman Van Ael – Divine Names 4b Al Awwal
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AI: Transcript ©
And then the person that was sitting with
al-Hassan al-Basri, he said, don't you
get tired of people asking you over and
over again?
And he said, why should I be angry
with someone taking my provision to the Hirata?
Is that clear?
Why should I be angry with people asking
my help, for my help?
While by helping them, they are actually helping
me.
And this is why Imam al-Sha'rawi,
Rahim Allah Azawajal said, a person is not
pious until he loves giving more than receiving,
and loves hasanat more than money, and weeps
over losing out on hasanat more than he
weeps on losing out on money, and that
he dislikes sayyidat more than losing money.
Who can repeat this?
You should be able to repeat it.
These are logical possibilities.
Someone will not be pious until he prefers
giving over receiving.
You prefer to give rather than to receive.
Until he is more happy with hasanat than
he is happy with money.
Like performing two rakat would be preferred to
you than receiving 500,000 halal pounds.
You will be more happy with the two
rakat.
And that you weep over your sayyidat, your
bad points and deeds, more than you weep
over losing money.
So this is what he said.
So when you believe in the One, then
you never expect something from people.
That's what I said at the very beginning.
Now, people say, but what if I see
that they are using me?
Well, the thing is, you can talk to
them from an educational point of view.
Like your children, you need to tell them
to be appreciative.
You need to tell them to thank you
and so much more.
But in your heart, you yourself, you don't
expect anything from people.
Okay, let's carry on.
We said that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is al-awwal and al-akhir.
He's the first one and the last one.
So when you know, Allah knew it before
you and will know it after you forget
it.
Now, so Allah knew it before you, and
then He allowed you to know it, and
then He will remember it, know it.
We don't say remember.
Allah doesn't remember things.
Allah knows things.
And then He will still know it after
you have forgotten it.
Is that clear?
So He's al-awwal and al-akhir, and
this applies to all His names.
He was everything, every name.
He was the first in it and He
will be the last in it.
Is everything in it?
I feel there's a lot of movement and
nonsense in me.
Okay.
So we said Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is al-wahid, al-ahad.
al-awwal, an-al-akhir.
Okay.
Can someone tell me, please, what I've said,
in brief, mention what I have said at
the very beginning.
From the class, just in one minute.
Yes.
Beginning?
Yeah, just some points, points of everything we
have said today.
One by one.
What do you take away from what has
been said until now?
Allah doesn't have any physical characteristics about us.
Yes.
He doesn't have physical parts of His constructed
body.
Yes.
So there's no metaphors, literal meaning of al
-ahad, al-ahad.
Yes.
Very good.
Point number two.
Yes.
If we depend on Allah, if we depend
on others, there are many to depend on.
Yes.
If we depend on others, there are many
to depend on.
If we depend on Allah, it's just one.
Same with pleasing.
There are so many people to please, but
one day they won't be happy with you.
They step in the back.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, if you please
Him, He will always take care of you.
Two.
Yalla bismillah.
Yes.
Yes.
Helping others is not helping others.
Stop seeing it like that.
That's why it becomes difficult.
Because you say, I'm helping others.
No, just building.
You're building.
Like when you go to your work, your
job.
You know you go to your job because
you want to get money at the end
of the month.
Right?
So now, when you help people, that's your
job.
So that you get eternal money at the
end of the road.
So there is no such a thing as
helping others.
There is a thing, you help others, but
in reality you're helping yourself.
It's like a bank, right?
That you put your money in and then
you will get something for it in return.
Okay.
Another thing.
Yes.
Yes, very good.
Someone else.
We said much more than this.
Yes, go again please.
Allah is first without a beginning and last
without an ending.
Yes.
Someone else.
In fact, whenever we draw close to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, he will always say,
He will give us tests.
And we should look at those tests not
as sometimes we go for tests, our worship
might decrease.
Yes.
And we shouldn't look at it as I'm
a bad Muslim, but actually Allah is testing
me now.
I should actually be, you know, patient.
You show patience and gratitude as well after
the test.
Yes.
If during tests your worship increases, that's just
because of your comprehension of what worship is.
Because behaving correctly during your tests is your
worship.
Yes.
Someone else.
Yes, please.
Okay.
We said that Allah is interested in you
the first time when you ask him a
million times.
Yes.
Yes.
Like, okay, very good.
Like when you ask Allah for the first
time, he will listen as much to you
as when you ask him after 15 million
times.
Yes.
Allah, Allah, Allah.
Yes.
Next one.
Yes.
The characters.
The human characters.
Yes.
Very good.
Yes.
Okay.
Next one.
Did you hear?
Yeah.
Okay.
Next one.
Yes.
Serving your family is also a form of
worship.
Serving your family is also a form of
worship.
What else?
Yes.
Yes.
Allah is not bound by time and space.
Allah is not bound by time and space.
Very well.
Yes.
We need to turn everything in our life
into worship like we do.
Yes.
We can turn everything we do in our
life, as long as it is halal, we
can turn everything, without any exception, into worship.
Yes.
There are laws in nature as well if
you just depend on him.
Yes.
So you can expect the same from like
an animal as you can expect from a
human being.
Yes.
Yes.
Like if we put our trust in Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
What did you say?
The same thing you said.
How did you say it?
Having the same trust in Allah's creation and
knowing that he's the, how Allah has power
over the dog.
Okay.
Like when you put in your trust in
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then the same
way Allah gives you power over a dog,
he can give you power over anything.
And this is why the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam said, when you are in need
of rain, go to al-Abbas.
I was one of the mukhadrameen.
Do you know what mukhadram is?
Who knows the meaning of mukhadram?
It's a term in the ilm of hadith
of people who were Muslim at the time
of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, but
never saw the Prophet.
That's mukhadram.
Okay.
So he said, when you are in need
of rain, go to al-Abbas.
And then when you are in need of
rain, go to al-Abbas.
And in the time of Umar, there was
a dog, and Umar went to al-Abbas
and he asked him, ask Allah for rain.
And then he just went like this, Ya
Rabbi, please make it rain.
And then it started raining.
Now, the thing is, when someone does this,
we don't need to look up to that
person.
We need to look up to the reason
why this person was granted this.
And that's the Qur'an and the following
of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
So, when someone has a miracle, God-given
miracle, then it should actually make us respect
the Sunnah even more.
You understand what I mean?
Because he was only given it because he
was following the Sunnah.
Otherwise, he would not have been granted this.
And this is why we always need to
look up the most to the Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam.
And sometimes people look up to their teachers
or whatever, like a lot.
You look up to the Messenger of Allah,
peace be upon him.
He's the only perfect example.
No one, apart from the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam, was perfect as an example.
This is why we look up to him.
So, also when someone gets a miracle, it's
only because he's respected the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam.
Can bad people have miracles?
Yes, but then they are not called miracles.
They are called in Arabic, istidraaj.
Istidraaj, meaning Allah is planning against them.
They are bad people, but they are being
given miracles.
This is only because Allah sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam wants them to go even more astray.
So, that's not called miracle, that's called istidraaj.
Okay.
Yes, next one.
He said more than this.
Yes.
If he's one, then you only go to
him, meaning you can't complain, right?
Yes.
Very good.
If you know that he's the one, the
protector, the listener and everything, then don't complain
to people.
Don't complain to creation.
Only complain to Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Very good.
You at the back, you wanted to say
something as well?
When you worship in purity with your intentions,
eventually you will shine, and then Allah sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam commends you on the filth
of dunya and so on.
Allah akbar.
That through using human tests.
None.
Which is when people may feel perhaps they
are sinful.
Certainly.
So that were the two stages, remember?
At the beginning a lot of worship, worship,
then you start shining.
Then Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam loves you
so much that He wants you to be
His wali.
So then He disturbs things in your life
that are an obstacle between you and Him.
He takes them away and you think He
doesn't love me.
Well, He just wants to draw you closer
to Him.
Very good.
Yes.
There are people walking on the water and
one of them dropped their cup and he
was really sad about it because he was
the only one who loves anything.
And then he thought that Allah doesn't like
him.
He said to Allah, if you like me,
you give me back my cup.
And on the tide, the cup came.
Yes.
What is your name, please?
Yusuf.
Yusuf.
Yusuf al-Hafiz.
Yusuf the memorizer.
Is he a memorizer?
You know the problem is sometimes I ask
and the people differ.
So then I say, if you differ, how
are you expecting me to know it?
So is it memorizer?
Is it memorizator?
What is it?
Memorizer.
Memorizer?
We all agree?
So I can go to the dictionary?
It's sure, right?
Bismillah.
Something else.
Yes, please.
So Allah being al-Ahad means he always
is, always was, and always will be.
Yes.
He can be applied to everything.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Very good.
Like Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is, was,
and will always be, and that can be
applied to all of these names.
Yes.
And when you go to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, just because you go up there
and you go up there, it's not?
Yes.
When people are close to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, things happen, miracles happen, and it's
not because we didn't experience them or see
them that they don't happen.
Yes.
If we have as much aqeen in Allah,
in asking for something, like we ask our
mother for something, and then Allah, you know,
it will happen.
And you mentioned that Sayyidina Abdul Hasan al
-Shadili said that, why should I account on
those who can't even help themselves?
Which is, I like that.
Okay, very good.
Like if you ask Allah with the same
trust as you ask your mother, things will
happen, believe me.
Subhanallah, as he visited.
Like the one who can grant us everything
and has showed us from the very beginning
that he's taking care of us, is the
one sometimes we doubt the most to be
listening to us and to be replying to
us, Allah.
And maybe this is one of the biggest
things which cause ourselves to be low to
Allah.
Yes.
Yes.
The best rush it should be to answer
the patient's question.
Very good, Allah is very kind.
Good.
So what would be nice actually is all
the points that we take away from the
classes, imagine that we were to gather them.
I don't know how to do this, that's
for me, I don't see the practical side
of it.
But every point that we take away, if
you write it down, at the end we
would have our own course book of points
we take away from the classes.
And as you see, each single point of
this is actually a life story.
It's actually something incredibly important.
So, very good.
I want two more and then we carry
on.
Yes, please.
Yes, very good.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala always had these
names and He didn't receive these names or
He hasn't been given these names thanks to
creation.
Yes.
SubhanAllah.
The problem is not Allah not responding, the
problem is in our hearts, the weakness of
thinking that He won't respond.
Okay.
Is he okay?
He's chatting away.
Okay.
What does that mean?
He's talking to the kids.
Okay.
I want the last one.
You are the last one.
When you did this work, I know that
it won't be in the afterlife.
You didn't actually look up to other creations
and you didn't go through any economic reform
or any ritual.
None.
Very good.
Okay.
So, this brings us to the last part.
So, when we say Allah is the first
and the last one, subhanAllah, when you really
think about it, Allah is the first one
you should trust and the last one you
shouldn't trust.
Is that correct sentence?
Yes.
He's the first one you should trust and
he's the last one not to trust.
Does that make sense in English or not?
No.
Right.
So, in everything you do, turn first to
Allah.
Your need of strength, turn first to Allah.
And the reason why things don't help, are
not solved is because Allah is usually the
last one we turn to.
SubhanAllah, I have a problem, I talk to
everybody.
When that doesn't work, well, let me try
Allah.
And if your first thing would be Allah,
then you would have honoured him.
And he's always honoured.
He's not in need for you to honour
him, to be honoured.
But you would honour him, subhanAllah wa ta
'ala.
And you would show him that he's the
most important one for you.
You put your trust in him.
But now you go everywhere and then at
the end, well, it didn't work, let me
try Allah.
It's the same thing when we have a
headache.
Do we ever, when you have a headache,
it's the first thing you do, to be
quite frank, you wake up, you have a
headache.
No.
The first thing you do, is it like,
Ya Rabbi, Ya Shafi, is it this?
Or is it, do you know where the
paracetamol is, please?
It's normal, Allah subhanAllah put the cure in
it, alhamdulillah.
But you know, it's the first thing.
And then you go up, I take it,
it's always an example I give.
Then the moment you unwrap it, you already
feel your headache disappearing.
Oh, placebo effect, isn't it?
And then there you go, you drink it,
and after a minute, you're just waiting for
it to go, because you know it will
go.
Because you're sure, paracetamol never lets me down.
There you go, waiting.
Oh, I feel it, oh, it's gone.
SubhanAllah, if we would have the trust in
Allah, with the same strength as we have
trust in paracetamol, then our dua would be
accepted as well.
So it's not even about mothers alone, even
the paracetamol as well.
Bellyache, do you have this, do you have
urofen?
There you go.
So, it is not wrong to use medication,
but it is wrong that we got so
used to not asking Allah, that we need
to try to ask Him again, you know.
And this is what we should try to
do.
Even when you go to the shop, you
say, okay, I'm gonna get some chicken.
You don't even know if the chicken is
going to be there.
You say, ya Allah, please, allow me.
But we don't do this, because we think
it's stupid.
But sometimes, you come in the shop, and
Allah shows you that He decides, that He's
the one.
You say, ah, is there bread left during
Ramadan?
I'm sorry, somebody like, 10 seconds ago, the
last moment, you know, it's gone.
Then you know, maybe I would have asked
Allah.
You know, I would have left the house
10 seconds earlier, wouldn't have been standing in
front of a red light, and I would
be the one having that bread.
But now, instead of being disappointed, one, you
should be happy because Allah is showing you
that He's the one, and He decides.
So, that's Him showing you something.
And two, you should be generous.
And understand that this person, Allah wanted this
bread to be eaten by that person, not
by you.
The same with the parking spot.
You go and right, you see it, somebody
comes before you.
Oh, why?
No, it's rizq.
And then you can ask Allah to give
barakah to that person.
You understand this?
So, anyway, Allah is the first one we
ask, and He's also the last one.
The first one you ask, and even when
everything goes wrong, and you've been asking, and
asking, and asking, and asking, you don't say,
okay, I've tried Allah, it didn't work, let
me try something else.
Meaning, awwal al-akhir, you hold on to
Him from the beginning to the end.
That's one of His meanings of al-awwal
and al-akhir.
The awwal is also the one who is
the first one to create something without having
a previous example.
Okay?
Al-awwal, he's a mubdi.
Mubdi means you create something without having an
example.
What do I mean by this?
Well, everybody now who creates a car is
actually recreating something which already exists.
Do we agree?
They're just reproducing it, but in another way.
Same with phones today.
For one day, there was somebody who made
the first phone.
So now Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is
the first one, because when we say, Allah
created you and created what you do.
What does He mean by this?
Well, the first one to design or create
a telephone, what was his name?
Bell.
Bell, right?
What was his first name?
Alexander.
You think so?
Do we agree?
Alexander?
Yes.
Okay.
Sorry, Bell.
But we say Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
al-awwal means that Alexander, if that is
really his name, so Mr. Bell, the only
reason why he created it is because Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala wanted to bring it
into existence through this person.
Do you understand?
So even when someone comes with a new
invention, he's only been the means through which
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants to create
something.
So when you have a new thought, Allah
is al-awwal.
Allah knew it before you knew it.
You think you invented something and knew something
which Allah didn't know?
No, He just passed it on to you.
So when you come up with something, someone
said, I told you, I knew it.
Be humble.
The only reason why you were right is
because He guided you.
He gave you light.
So when you know that Allah is al
-awwal, so even when you come up with
the best idea, you're on a journey, you
say, we don't go to the left.
I have feeling this and that.
Let's go to the right.
And then you appear to be right, Allah
knew it before you.
He just shared it with you.
So when you know that Allah is al
-awwal, you will be humble in everything you
do and you won't remind people that you
knew it and they didn't.
Didn't I tell you?
I told you.
And it's the same story for a year.
You're reminding people, remember when I told you?
So al-awwal meaning that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, even if you are the first
one in something, that Allah was knowing it
or doing it knowingly for you.
Is that clear?
But now there seems to be a problem
when we say that Allah is the last
one.
Because last one means that when you come,
there is nobody else.
That's last.
But what do we say when the people
in paradise will actually always exist?
So will they exist together with Allah?
Are they everlasting like Allah, the last everlasting?
So doesn't this seem to be problematic?
Because we say Allah will always exist.
What do we do in Jannah?
Tell me.
Nobody tells me.
Tell me.
He will always exist.
How should we understand this now?
He will always exist and I will always
exist.
He's everlasting, so am I.
We can't exist without him, he can exist
without us.
Yes, that's number one.
That's what they say.
First, we can't exist without him, but he
can exist without us.
Meaning that our living forever is dependent on
something.
So it's always exposed to being stopped, but
it won't because Allah promised.
So our existing is always dependent.
That's number one.
Two, Allah is the first and the last.
So his being or existence was never interrupted,
never preceded by nothingness.
And not dependent, not being dependent in his
what?
Everlastingness.
Is that clear?
So we, one, our existence was preceded by
nothingness.
I mean, today we find ourselves, and I
don't mean to be very important.
I'm the fastest man on the face of
the earth.
I'm the strongest one.
I'm this, I'm that, I'm such and such.
But when we go, I'm sorry to say
this, back 70 years, our own parents even
didn't, you know, think about us.
They might not even wish us, they wouldn't
imagine anything.
Maybe not even 70 years old.
But what I'm trying to say is there
was a moment where we were not wanted,
where we were not praised, where we were
not loved, where we were nothing.
And then we're on the face of the
earth, in the universe, and then we disappeared,
again to be forgotten.
It's only the minority of the people who
will be remembered, isn't it?
So now, if you know, Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, His existence was not preceded by
nothingness.
His existence will not be interrupted, and His
everlastiness will not be depending on anything, which
is not the same with us.
Preceded by nothing, our existence is interrupted, meaning
that we will disappear entirely.
So there will be a moment, not only
that we die and we are in our
graves, there will be a moment that there
will be nothing.
That Allah takes away the earth, the heavens,
the graves, everything.
And this is what He will say to
whom belongs dominion today, and He will say,
And then He will recreate us once again.
So the everlasting is the one who has
no beginning, and who has no end, and
whose everlastiness is not dependent on something.
Is that clear?
Okay, do you want to ask something about
what I've said?
Yes.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was not
preceded, His existence was not preceded by nothingness.
His existence will not be interrupted, and His
everlastiness will not be dependent on anything.
And all of these things are different for
us.
We are preceded by nothing, our existence will
be interrupted, and our everlasting life will be
dependent on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Even though Allah said that we exist in
the hereafter, but we can choose not for
us to exist.
Yes, exactly.
He could, but He won't.
And that's what we mean by being dependent
on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's will of
keeping us alive.
So we are not everlasting, because every moment
we are alive is actually over-submitted to
His will.
And so it is second after second that
we live.
His everlastiness is not submitted to time or
even the possibility to disappear.
Because He is Al Hayyul Dayy.
Another question?
The weakness that we might have in not
challenging Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, how can
we begin to address that?
How can we change this?
I think a lot of the things that
we need to change, I think it is
through being reminded, and by trying to put
classes into practice.
So I believe that these classes inshallah jalla
wa ala might change things.
Even though it is not like a magic
wand, you go out and all of a
sudden you are different.
But I believe that if we keep on
doing this bi'ithnillah or other classes that
we go to, then they will be transformative.
And everybody will take away something and you
will remember.
Like one day something will happen and you
will say, oh subhanallah, it's this.
So that's number one, attending classes.
And two, like Imam Malik rahimallah azawajal, they
said whenever he would sit in a class,
he wouldn't leave the mosque or let's say
the classroom before first memorizing everything he would
have learned.
And then when he would leave the mosque
or the classroom, he would not enter into
his house before having put into practice everything
he had memorized.
So this is what, right away.
So this is what I said at the
very beginning.
Don't look at these classes as being a
movie, where you go like it's a Sunday
morning, let us pass some time.
Then okay, mashallah, that was nice.
Oh, today it wasn't as informative.
There are things, even if you practice one
thing, you take away one thing with you
today, that can change your life.
The things that I hear that you are
taking away from these classes for me, shows
that you are very good people and people
who are looking for the truth.
So this is why one, attending classes.
Two, putting them into practice.
Three, reminding others of what you have learned.
This is what I want you to do.
I don't want you to sit here and
then go away until next week.
Share it with people.
Share it on Instagram, share it on Snapchat,
on Facebook, with your people, parents, family, wife,
husband, children.
Share it with people.
Because that is the reason why I started
talking about religion.
It's because in these times, either you are
receiving or either you are giving, transmitting.
And in these days, receiving usually is not
something good.
But when you keep on transmitting, you are
at the same time receiving.
So the more you talk about religion with
the intention to change other people and change
yourself, the more your heart will, you know,
want to or will desire to put this
into practice.
So these are three things which I believe
to be very important.
Yes?
The example you gave of the paracetamol.
So with that, first when you have the
headache, you need to turn to Allah first,
take the paracetamol, and realize that it's Allah.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Now what you need to know is the
paracetamol, bi-idhnillahi a'zawajal, will work.
Even if you don't ask Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, it might work.
But the one curing you through the paracetamol
or removing the pain is still Allah, without
you asking it or not.
But now what happens, when you ask it
and then you see that it happens, you
will be thankful and grateful to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
You see the difference?
Like you say, oh Allah, ya Rabbi, put
shifa in the paracetamol.
He has already put it in it.
But you remember yourself and then when the
headache goes away, you say shukran ya Rabbi.
Now when it goes away, oh good, it's
gone.
The same with the parking space.
Maybe if you wouldn't have asked for a
parking space somewhere, the parking space would have
been there.
But by you asking it, because the parking
space, if Allah wants it for you, it
will be there without you asking it.
But when you ask it, then you remember,
you remind yourself that Allah is doing things
for you.
Is that clear?
So without or with you asking it, it
will be there.
But when you ask it, you remind yourself
that Allah is doing things for you.
And when then you see it, then you
will be grateful to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
Is that clear?
So this is why, I mean, we ask
Allah everything.
The Prophet ﷺ said, ask Allah for everything,
even the laces for your shoes.
Even the laces for your shoes.
Like we say, okay, let's go to Tutting
today.
We're going to buy some new hijabs, for
example.
Okay, let's go to Tutting.
There you go, hijab, hijab, hijab, okay, gone.
Or let's go to Tutting, buy some misbahs
and some caps and whatever.
So we go and we come back without
even connecting it to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala.
But if I now, before going, I would
sit on my knees and I would just
say, ya Rabbi, please let me find the
ones that I like.
Ya Rabbi, please make it easy for me.
Ya Rabbi, give us a parking space.
Ya Rabbi, protect us against evil when we
go out.
And you really, truly ask Allah.
If you wouldn't have asked, it might be
exactly the same group that you might have
had.
But you will come back without actually attributing
it to Allah.
But when you do it before you leave,
and you come back and you had what
you were asking for, then you will have
gratitude.
And gratitude is the highest form of worship.
Gratitude is the highest form of worship.
So this is why it is important to
ask Allah for everything.
Oh, I want to get some new Jordans.
A Nike Jordan.
So I said, yeah, okay, I want the
black ones with white because it's a limited
edition.
You go and you say, ya Rabbi, please
can you give it to me.
You go, you come back, you have it.
You feel happy, you start loving Allah.
But when you don't ask Him, then you
don't remind yourself that He's doing things for
you.
So your love won't increase.
You understand me?
So this is why it's important to ask
Allah for everything.
Even when you cook a meal.
Ya Rabbi, allow me to cook it in
the best of ways.
Why not?
Subhanallah.
And at the end it's like, mashallah.
Everything Allah is doing for me.
Yes, please.
I was just going to say, even if
the head is removed, you still believe in
Allah.
Yes, very good.
What we have to know as well is
Allah is not obliged to respond to us.
This is another thing.
I asked Him, He didn't reply.
Does He have to do something?
He doesn't.
So when you ask Him and He does
it, or you hope for something and it
happens, that's actually the exception of the rule.
We are always living in exception, you know
that?
The basic way of life is that we
have one garment, one meal a day to
keep our back straight, like the Prophet ﷺ
said, and a roof over our heads and
one garment, done.
Everything else is an exception.
You see this?
Being sick is the basis.
Being healthy is the what?
Is the exception.
Being poor is the basic rule.
Being rich and wealthier is the exception.
So Allah makes us live all the time
in exception.
And this is sometimes what happens when we
get like spoiled people.
We get used to living the exception.
And this is what we call in Arabic,
A given right, not an earned right.
Someone who allows you.
Like for example, you have a parking space.
Your neighbor has a parking space, right?
And you don't.
He says, I don't have a car.
You can put your car in front of
my garage.
This is not your right, is it?
It's not your right.
He's being grateful.
Well, after a year, you get used to
it.
And at the beginning, you say, thank you
so much.
Thank you so much.
Oh, really?
Then after a week, oh, hey, hi, thanks
again.
And then it becomes normal.
The exception becomes rule.
When you see the exception as the rule,
you become ungrateful.
You see this?
When you see the exception as rule, you
become ungrateful.
And then when you go to that which
is normal, you become angry.
If this neighbor now, after four years of
you parking your own car in front of
his garage, says, I'm sorry.
From tomorrow, you can't park your car in
front of my garage anymore.
Now, you think to yourself, oh, maybe he
bought a car.
Next day, you come.
The space is empty.
You say, maybe he's moving.
Nothing happens.
Maybe he needs his garage.
Nothing happens.
After a week, you see nothing is happening
in that space.
Believe me that the majority of people will
have something in their hearts.
Why to start with if it wasn't your
right?
Now, you say, why did he tell me?
Doesn't he like me anymore?
No, for no reason.
That's the thing you were having is the
exception.
And this is why we are always spoiled
by Allah.
And then when we don't get what we
want, we say, why?
Well, no, you should say, why is he
treating me so well for all of these
years?
This is why when Ayub alaihissalam became sick,
he told his wife, why shouldn't I now
be patient while he was taking care of
me for all these years?
I mean, Allah, 10 years, 20 years, 30
years of prosperity and a little bit of
affliction and we become angry.
So remember always that when everything goes well,
that's the exception.
So don't become blind for the exception.
Because then you will become grateful.
And when he takes it away from you,
don't become angry.
Because you've just been in a situation you
were created for.
To be tested on the face of the
earth.
Last one, yes?
So you mentioned the human character.
Yes.
And you were talking about how that arrow
is magical.
So did these translations of the Islamic studies
only come through young Arabs?
It came through young Arabs and also from
some people of Bani Israel embracing Islam and
taking this aqeedah to the Muslim community.
At the very beginning, the sahaba of Allah,
they wouldn't discuss these things because they understood
it.
So if they would read the hand of
Allah, they wouldn't say they have a hand.
They just understood a hand in the Arabic
language comes from power.
It means power.
I created him with my power, not with
my hand, for example.
But then when the non-Arabs embraced Islam
and then people from other religions embraced Islam,
then people started, you know, understanding it literally.
And this is why these rules in aqeedah
actually came into existence.
The majority of the scholars, whatever name you're
going to mention, they all believe in the
interpretation of it and not in the literal
meaning.
Even though that today, the salafis who might
believe that there are people who love Allah
and His Messenger, but just the way that
they pronounce it is not always very kind,
is they will try to convince you that
this aqeedah, which they call the ash'ari
aqeedah, which is just referring to Abu Hassan
al-Ash'ari, who defined that aqeedah, exactly
like Abu Hanifa, Imam Ali, and so forth.
They say that they are followers of shaitan,
that this and that.
But the majority of our scholars all were
of this school of thought.
Whomever you may mention, I will tell you
that they were believing this.
So it's just in the last 200-250
years that aqeedah has risen again, and insha
'Allah it will have a downfall as well.
Do you have anything to add?
No?
What I would like you to do, I
would like you to write on a piece
of paper, without your name on it, what
you have taken away from the classes so
far.
So for you personally, did you change something
in the way you think, in the way
you look at life, in the way you
live life, whatever it may be, and write
it on a small post-it, not now,
not now, for next week, and then you
put it in front here, without your name,
I don't want any names, and then you
can read a bit of it, to see
what it is doing to people.
And if it's nothing, then it's nothing.
You might say, it actually made my life
worse.
So, yes, it can be true.
Like, you, I became depressed after listening to
you, can you?
So, did it, and then insha'Allah we
will read it and see what it will
do.
I also want you to research the following
names, for next week insha'Allah, I tell
you why.
I want you to have a look at
the names, Al-Aleem, Al-Khabeer, Al-Sameeh,
Al-Baseer, Al-Raqeeb.
Al-Aleem, Al-Khabeer, Al-Sameeh, Al-Baseer,
and Al-Raqeeb.
So you are going to have a look.
A very nice place to look is the
Encyclopedia of Muhammad Ratib al-Nabulsi.
That's on the internet.
Muhammad Ratib al-Nabulsi.
Nabulsi, you write it N-A-B-U
-L-S-I.
Ratib, R-A-T-E-B.
So have a look at it.
I believe a lot of these names have
been translated into English, and it's very nice.
It's very user-friendly in the way he
puts it.
It's very inspirational.
So have a look at these names online
insha'Allah.