Sulayman Van Ael – The Divine Names 22
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بسم الله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن
الرحيم وصلى الله وسلم وبرك على سيدنا محمد
وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين أما بعد فنسأل الله
عز وجل بأسمائه الحسنى وصفاته العلا أن يجعلنا
وإياكم من المستمعين للقول والمتبعين أحسنه إنه ولي
ذلك والقادر عليه ثم ما بعد يعني we
are all on our way to Allah سبحانه
وتعالى some of us are more aware of
this than others and it is usually in
time of affliction where we are aware that
life is not 100% like we would
like life to be and then all of
a sudden we start yearning for paradise asking
Allah, begging Allah to take our problems away
from us but some people travel and they
are aware of their travel they are aware
of a path in this life heading straight
towards Allah سبحانه وتعالى and Allah جل وعلا
says in the Qur'an that my Lord
is on the straight path the straight path
is Siratullah it is the path of Allah
سبحانه وتعالى but now when we look around
us we see that we do not really
have a methodology to get to Allah we
are like people in a laboratory trying to
mix different liquids and every time we try
this it explodes right in our face we
try but we are not experts so what
are we making we don't know so sometimes
when we feel weak we say you know
I'm going to try a bit of dhikr
then I'm going to try a bit of
fasting then I'm going to try a bit
of lowering the gaze stop to gossip, pray
in the mosque but it just doesn't seem
to work the person we are today is
very often the person we were a month
ago and the problem is we yearn for
more but even the yearning when the change
and transformation doesn't happen seems to evaporate and
seems to melt away and you just say
I am who I am and this is
life we don't want to end up like
that we want to be people with a
clear path with a methodology so that we
can build step by step we don't want
to fall back every time we want to
continue, we want to keep on going and
this is exactly what this book is about
it speaks about how do you need to
get to Allah and Imam Ghazali takes you
on this path and it's very interesting because
the end of this book is when he
speaks about the desert of love where you
overcame all the obstacles on your way to
Allah and that the only thing stopping you
from getting to Allah is death so there
is nothing more beloved to you than death
because death is the only thing keeping you
away from coming nearer to the one you
love so this book is actually describing the
path because now if you ask people what
is the path to Allah they don't know
exactly like we very often don't know all
the names of Allah exactly like we don't
know how to worship Allah very often and
we don't know the fiqh we don't know
how to worship him, how to do everything
so also there is a methodology and a
path and this path is based upon Kitab
and Sunnah if our way to Allah is
not based on Kitab and Sunnah then it's
not a way towards Allah so our scholars
of the soul they always, if they are
traditional scholars then they always base their advice
on Kitab Allah and Sunnah of Rasul Allah
now Imam Ghazali in this book starts by
describing the path towards Allah and that's very
important so let us listen to what Imam
Ghazali has to say he starts with اعلموا
اخواني know my brethren يعني know my brothers
and sisters it's very nice to see that
he starts with know because knowledge is the
beginning of everything even Imam Rumi in his
Mathnawi he starts with listen and others start
with know Allah SWT says in the Qur
'an فَعَلَمْ أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَهِ لَا اللَّهِ know
that Allah is one so he said اعلموا
اخواني أسعدكم الله بمرضاته يعني know my brothers
and sisters may Allah make you all rejoice
with Allah's contentment أَنَّ الْعِبَادَةَ ثَمَرَةُ الْعِلْمِ وَفَائِدَةُ
الْعُمْرِ he says know that worship is the
fruit of knowledge and it is that what
life is all about يعني your life, your
knowledge needs to bear fruits and fruit of
knowledge is what?
Beads and you only want the tree for
the fruits not just for the branches and
this is what Imam Ghazali is reminding us
of that if we have knowledge without actions
then actually we don't have knowledge you see
and then he says and this is what
life is all about because Allah SWT said
in the Qur'an وَمَا خَلَقَتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ
إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونَ I have only created jinn and
mankind to worship me علي ابن أبي طالب
رضي الله عنه said إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونَ إِلَّا لِيَعْرِفُونِ
I have created them to know me because
knowledge of Allah SWT will eventually lead to
worship and the reason why a lot of
Muslims lack worship is because they don't know
Allah SWT sufficiently because the stronger your knowledge
of Allah SWT becomes the more you are
in awe of his power of his beauty
the more you are astonished of his knowledge
and of his clemency and mercy so if
you see that you don't find the power
to climb the ladder to draw closer to
Allah SWT then very often it's due to
a lack of knowledge of Allah SWT is
that clear?
so they say that when your knowledge of
someone is very deep you can't forget this
person when your knowledge of someone like if
you were truly to know Allah SWT you
wouldn't be able to forget him like Antara
someone knows Antara?
he was a great pre-Islamic poet and
he was known for his courage and he
was known for his love for Abla Abla
was a woman whom we're not going to
say hey they were not married that was
pre-Islamic but he was known for writing
poems for her and our scholars sometimes use
his poems to show how strong love for
creation can be let alone how strong love
for the creator can be and one of
the things that Antara said is وَالسِّهَامُ نَوَاهِلٌ
نَحْوِي وَبِيضُ الْهِنْدِ تَقْتُرُ بِدَنِي فَوَدِدْتُ تَقْبِيلَ السُّيُوفِ
لِأَنَّهَا لَمَعَتْ كَبَارِقِ ثَغْرِكِ الْمُتَبَسِّمِ meaning I was
thinking about you while the spears were cutting
through my flesh so he tells Abla like
I was on the battlefield and I was
in physical pain but that physical pain I
didn't feel it because I was thinking of
you ذَكَرْتُكِ وَالسِّهَامُ نَوَاهِلٌ مِنِّي وَبِيضُ الْهِنْدِ and
the swords of India were drowning in my
blood and then he said فَوَدِدْتُ تَقْبِيلَ السُّيُوفِ
and all of a sudden I wanted to
kiss the blades of the swords he said
because the reflection in the sun reminded me
of your radiant smile you see this he
said when I saw the reflection of the
sun on the swords he said I was
confused because I thought that the only thing
which could shine as intense as anyway you
understood what I meant I just ruined it
so he said the reason why he wanted
to kiss the blades was because they were
so radiant like her smile reflecting the sun
so if this is creation then what about
someone who loves the creator Allah SWT says
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِلَّهِ and those who
believe their love for Allah is stronger than
the love of others for others than Allah
so whatever you hear of love songs hello
it's me okay it's good to see you
so what it's not Allah I don't care
you know is it me you are looking
for no I'm not looking for you I'm
looking for Allah SWT I would walk on
water just to be with you I don't
care Allah SWT is exalted above water and
above everything so no matter what you hear
of love songs being it in Urdu or
in English or my language the love that
they express compared to the love that the
true lovers of Allah experience is nothing and
how do we know whether our love for
Allah SWT is strong they say that true
love is obedience true love is expressed through
obedience without experiencing it as a burden when
you love someone you don't do things because
you have to do them you do things
because you want to do them that's what
love is all about so if we know
love Allah SWT waking up for Fajr is
not something heavy you know fasting is not
heavy because the stronger your love is for
someone the easier it is for you to
sacrifice yourself for your beloved one and this
is why the poet said تَعْصِلِ اللَّهَ وَتُذْهِرُ
حُبَّهُ إِنَّ هَذَا لَا أَمْرِ بَادِعُ لَوْ كَانَ
حُبُّكَ صَادِقًا لَأَطَعْتَهُ إِنَّ الْمُحِبَّ لِمَنْ يُحِبُّ مُطِيعُ
meaning you are disobedient to Allah yet you
claim to love him this is bizarre this
is absurd if your love were to be
true you would have obeyed him because loving
is obeying okay so now Imam Al-Ghazali
SWT said وَفَائِدَةُ الْعُمْرِ meaning worship is life
is all about worship and then he continues
وَحَاسِلُ الْأَبِيدِ الْأَقْوِيَاءِ وَبِضَاعَةُ الْأَوْلِيَاءِ meaning it's the
provision of the Awliya meaning as much as
people today on the face of the earth
are looking for money they are looking for
eternal money that's what they are looking for
because when we go back to the Hereafter
you all know we won't have money and
this is why the poet said like Imam
Ibn Kathir SWT mentioned in his Tafsir he
said أَنْتَ لِلْمَالِ إِنْ أَمْسَكْتَهُ وَإِذَا أَنْفَقْتَهُ فَالْمَالُ
لَكُ meaning you are the slave of money
if you keep money for yourself but if
you spend it the money is truly yours
why?
you eternalized your money so when people are
afraid to spend they are actually saying I'm
afraid to build my Hereafter or I'm afraid
to give to my Hereafter and I prefer
to spend it in my Dunya you see
this?
this is when you are afraid to give
giving is only giving to yourself because Allah
SWT accepts it before the person who you
are giving it to is accepting it the
moment you go Bismillah so on the Day
of Judgement when you come you will find
the Jabal of Hasanat you will say Ya
Rabbi I didn't do all of this Allah
will say do you remember that Dinar or
that pound, one pound, two pounds that you
gave to that poor person I received it
I was its recipient before that person and
then I planted it in the Earth of
Al-Akhirah and it turned into what you
see so when we are too stingy to
spend on others we are actually too stingy
to spend on ourselves من عامل صالحا فلنفسه
he who does good only does good for
his own self ok so it says وَبِضَاعَةُ
الْأَوْلِيَاءُ وَطَرِيقُ الْأَتْقِيَاءُ يعني عبادة is the way
the methodology of people who have Taqwa what
is the meaning of Taqwa Taqwa is a
very special word we very often say Taqwa
means fear for God but Imam Qurtubi he
mentions in his Tafsir that Taqwa أن تجعل
بينك وبين الله عز وجل وقايا من العمل
الصالح والدعاء he says Taqwa actually means that
you place between you and Allah's anger a
shield that protects you and this shield is
good actions and supplications so Taqwa is not
just fearing God fearing God would be an
emotion Taqwa is more an action than it
is an emotion would be like if now
a fire breaks out somewhere you know you're
not gonna stick to your emotions are you
oh yeah okay I'm protected now no you're
gonna run away you're gonna do something so
Taqwa Allah means that you are going to
perform actions which protect you against fire and
protect you against Allah's anger and this is
why Ibn Rajab mentioned in his book جامل
علوم الحكم he says سمى الله المتقين بمتقين
لأنهم يتقون ما لا يتقى مخافة أن يقعوا
في الحرام Allah named the متقين متقين because
they fear what they don't have to fear
because they are afraid that it will lead
them to haram so you don't only stay
away from haram the متقي doesn't only stay
away from haram he stays away from halal
which he knows that will drag him to
haram so if you know that there is
a certain halal pushing you towards haram you're
going to leave this halal not because it's
halal no because it leads you to haram
is that clear so for example you know
that every time you I don't know you
watch this television program you start gossiping about
people oh look at her look at her
hair oh she I don't know she gained
weight you know you start gossiping gossiping is
haram so now you may be watching this
program might not be haram but the result
of it in your particular life can be
haram you see like if you watch the
champions league for me no problem but if
this leads to delaying your prayers or not
praying on time or to hating your brothers
no it's liverpool no it's not in ham
no it's nothing ham so what did you
call them nothing and you know so people
muslim brothers very often they seem to be
fighting over so many things so now you
need to control yourself you need to look
at yourself if you see that certain things
which are halal at the base lead for
you as an individual to haram they are
haram for you is that clear not because
of what they are but because of what
they lead to and this is taqwa so
taqwa is observing the effect of things on
your heart and your behavior is that clear
so what can be haram for you might
not be haram for somebody else why because
it leads to some some people maybe they
know if I am alone with a laptop
in a room I might be looking at
haram so what am I going to do
I am going never again going to use
my laptop when I am alone in a
room I am going to only use it
when I am in the living room you
see so you are going to observe what
happens to you when you do what this
is taqwa ok وَتَرِيقُ الْأَتْقِيَا وَقِسْمَةُ الْأَعِزَّةِ وَمَقْصِدُ
ذَوِ الْهِمَّةِ وَشِّعَارُ الْكِرَامِ and he mentions others
one of the people he mentions he said
and it is the goal of everybody with
high aspirations he says that the way of
ibadah is only for people with high aspirations
but what is ibadah we spoke about that
very often so I am not going to
repeat everything but ibadah like Ibn Taymiyyah said
اِسْمٌ جَامِعٌ لِكُلِّ مَا يُحِبُّهُ اللَّهُ وَيَرْضَاهُ مِنَ
الْأَقْوَالِ وَالْأَعْمَالِ الظَّاهِرَةِ وَالْبَاطِنَةِ he said taqwa is
every deed which is loved by Allah being
it in words or in emotions or in
actions that's ibadah so ibadah can be everything
washing your car can be ibadah because you
say I want to cherish Allah's blessings going
to the park with your children and your
wife or husband is ibadah because you are
giving them a good feeling and you are
making them happy so a Muslim hasn't got
any problem the reason why we always think
that we fall short in our worship of
Allah is because we have confined or restricted
our ibadah to these typical ibadah things like
reading the Quran, praying in the mosque fasting
and so forth but everything you do can
be turned into ibadah if your presence of
heart is there and a correct intention so
وَمَقْصِدْ ضَوِي الْهِمَّةِ وَشِعَارُ الْكِرَامِ he said وَحِرْفَةُ
الرِّجَالِ it is the profession of true men
it's the profession of true men do you
know that the Hanafis are very strong when
it comes down to losing time in the
Hanafi fiqh if you were to go like
this that would be considered to be مَكْرُوحْ
تَحْرِيمًا they say because true men don't play
and according to their fiqh like playing with
a Playstation 4 would not be allowed because
it's losing time and true men don't lose
time so he says that the way of
ibadah is what?
is the profession of true men رِجَالٌ says
Allah SWT in the Quran لَا تُلْمِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ
وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَنْ ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَةِ i
.e. true men who are not stopped of
worshipping Allah SWT and doing dhikr of him
by trading, selling and buying let alone by
losing time like Imam Al-Shafi'i said
when he was asked when will you rest?
he said when both of my feet are
in Jannah not one both when both of
my feet are in Jannah and this is
the only thing that people in Jannah will
regret and that's just the first moment they
come in Jannah then it's gone because people
in Jannah won't be saddened but when they
enter into Paradise and they see the levels
of people who are really investing their time
they will say oh I would have spent
a bit more time in ibadah you see
so we don't have time to rest here
what are we going to do?
60 years on a small football in the
middle of a galaxy that's who we are
so we don't have time وَحِرْفَةُ الرِّجَالِ وَاخْتِيَارُ
أُولِي الْأَبْصَارِ and the way of ibadah is
the free choice of people with insight and
people of intellect who see the things the
way that they are supposed to be seen
وَهِيَ سَبِيلُ السَّعَادَةِ and it's the way to
rejoicement and happiness like now if we are
honest very often even Muslims they don't know
how to really be happy what do I
mean with true happiness?
I don't mean like oh yeah mashallah within
a month we're going on a holiday we're
going to buy a car, we're going to
buy a football you know our happiness is
always connected to external elements and if these
external elements are not there we're no longer
happy and when something happens to these things
that we cherish we're no longer happy true
happiness is happiness which is connected to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala and that doesn't decrease
so that core of happiness is supposed to
be always there but because we are beggars
actually begging from creation to be our source
of happiness and this is the very reason
why we are unhappy because everything you have
or you see either you will leave it
or either it will leave you or either
it will be transformed by time that's it
apart from Allah الحي الباقي the everlasting, who
is, who isn't always was and will never
change he was so perfect that he didn't
go through an evolution that his strength never
increased, never decreased he was perfect in strength
and knowledge and power and insight so don't
some people you know some people they cry
when their football soccer team loses can you
imagine oh no 2-0 what is this
for a ball that wasn't kicked into a
net you know subhanAllah anyway so he says
it is the free choice of people of
true intellect and insight he says وَمِنْ هَاجُ
الْجَنَّةِ it's the way to paradise worship is
the way to paradise Allah you know the
hadith I always find very special is that
the Prophet s.a.w. says on the
day of judgment a very poor man a
man whom people used to look down upon
you see him on the street you say
that's a no one if he would knock
on your door you would send him away
if he would ask for the hand of
your daughter you would say not mine that
kind of guy and the Prophet s.a
.w. says you know the most poor, unwealthy
maybe even unhealthy person ever will be taken
on the day of judgment and for the
blink of an eye he will be put
into Jannah and he will be taken out
again and Allah will say have you ever
seen anything evil and bad and he says
وَاللَّهِ يَرَبِّي مَا رَأِيتُ شَرًّا قَطًّا I've never
seen anything bad in my life that is
the result if this Jannah is the result
of everything I've lived well then the way
towards Jannah was good even though that in
the eyes of people it was bad and
then the most wealthy person on earth ever
they say that it's an Amazon guy what's
his name again Jeff Bezos right you don't
know Jeff Bezos nobody knows him I'm sure
you don't know anything of dunya so actually
this is the wrong book I'm explaining ok
anyway he hasn't got that much of money
he's got about 150 billion and so more
than Bill Gates, you know Bill Gates MashaAllah
ok so more than Bill Gates and you
know he's got 150 billion InshaAllah may Allah
make him Muslim Ameen so he spends his
money on people in need without their faith
so anyway someone like him but not him
richest man ever they say that he's richer
than anyone who ever existed so anyway that
person 150 with how many zeros 150 and
9 zeros 150 and 9 zeros that's a
lot of money isn't it it's strange that
zero adds to value yes so now he
says the richest ever you want to be
that person even when people say Ronaldo has
got 520,000 pounds a week they say
I want to be him you know I
would do good things with him so the
richest person on earth he will be broad
but he didn't have faith so for the
blink of an eye in Jahannam there you
go هل رأيت خيرا قط هل مر بك
خير قط have you ever seen anything good
has any good ever passed you in your
life he said و الله يا ربي ما
رأيت خيرا قط يا ربي I've never seen
anything good and nothing good ever touched me
why because the good he had in dunya
was his way to hellfire so it can't
be considered to be good which doesn't mean
that being rich is bad but what you
do with it makes it bad or good
so he says it is the way to
paradise it's Ibadah والله the Prophet passed by
a grave two graves he said do you
know what these people wish for they've been
there for years and they said لا يا
رسول الله he said each one amongst them
would like to come back to dunya to
pray two rakaat because of the value the
worth the hasanat they saw and the reward
they saw for their two rakaat and this
is why the Prophet said about the two
rakaat that you pray before Fajr he said
they are better than the entire world all
the diamonds and gold and silver and whatever
you find now in the world gather it
two rakaat so Fajr is better the problem
is how strong do we believe it if
you feel it not you know it you
feel it in the morning you feel rich
you know you have more than anybody in
the world can buy but it is about
how strong you believe it and this is
why we are sometimes unhappy if you wake
up in the morning and you say I've
got the key to paradise in my heart
la ilaha illallah to castles of diamonds and
rivers of honey and milk you know that
how can you be sad whatever happens in
your life you know what is waiting for
you you are on your way home and
when you travel it is always tiring even
when you travel by plane maybe you know
there is a delay or you need to
wake up at three in the morning it
is tiring well so is our journey to
the hereafter but it is happening we are
almost there Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said
they think that it is still a long
way to go but we know that it
is very near the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam said if anyone amongst you dies then
his Qiyamah his resurrection has started this is
how close Qiyamah is you don't know whether
you are going to live until tomorrow I
even don't know whether I am going to
finish this class and if you truly believe
that you are going to get out of
the mosque today then you have a problem
with weakness of faith we have no guarantee
so subhanallah if you go to the hereafter
I mean if you die then your Qiyamah
your resurrection has started and this is why
Uthman radhiAllahu anhu used to cry whenever he
was close to a grave but he wouldn't
cry when they spoke about Jannah and Nahr
they said ya Uthman why he said he
said because the grave is the first the
first what the first stage of the hereafter
if it is good that which follows will
be better and if it is bad that
which follows will be worse the one
that is that escapes from * fire and
is allowed to enter paradise will be successful
and know that the life of this dunya
is nothing but a loss of time meaning
that if you use dunya for the sake
of dunya it's nothing you will just regret
it and if you want to be rich
no problem be rich for your wife and
your children be rich for your neighbours your
mother and your father not for yourself then
there is no problem the Prophet s.a
.w. said and that you leave your children
behind you rich better for you than to
leave them than to leave them behind you
poor people begging others for money so be
as rich as you want to be but
not for your own sake not for yourself
and if you really want to have a
good trade tell your wife when you go
home everything which is here even my clothes
everything is yours and then you say do
I have the permission to use it when
they say yes you go back to Allah
you don't have any possessions try that now
man say everything I have is yours everything
do you accept?
but actually not so good because then you
give your wife more to answer to Allah
s.w.t. on the day of judgement
but anyway you can do that but then
if she sells it you can't be angry
because then it's hers like she sells your
perfume she gives it away to her brother
your best shoes to her father or your
father and you come back and you have
one thing left you can't become angry it's
hers anyway let's not do that Allah ثُمَّ
إِنَّ نَظَرْنَا فِيهَا وَتَأَمَّلْنَا طَرِيقَهَا مِن مَرْبَادِهَا إِلَى
مَا قَوْصِدِهَا أَلَّتِينْ هِيَ أَمَانِي سَالِكِهَا and then
he said I observed the way and I
studied the path to Allah s.w.t.
and the path of worship and now he
describes it he says فَإِذَا هِيَ طَرِيقٌ وَعْرٌ
وَسَبِيلٌ صَعْبٌ he said its path is very
difficult and exhausting like in the Musnad of
Imam Ahmad the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.
has said that paradise is difficult to reach
like a beautiful garden on the peak of
a mountain he said in * is easy
to reach like a rotten garden in a
deep valley you know you just need to
go downwards, what is easier upwards or downwards,
downwards so the Prophet s.a.w. made
this clear so he said طريقٌ صعب كثير
العقبات كثيرة العقبات there are a lot of
obstacles on its way شديدة المشقات and its
very burdening بعيدة المسافات and its very long
عظيمة الأفات and it has a lot of
shortcomings كثيرة العوائق والموانع everybody and everything tries
to stop you خفيفة المهالك and its destroyers
and its destructors are unseen to the eye
you see when you are driving you see
the obstacles on the road but when you
go to the world of the unseen you
don't see anything so that which destroys you
is not seen by the eye and this
is what makes it difficult how many obstacles
you know we already stopped us on our
way to Allah s.w.t but we
didn't know because we didn't see them so
this is why they say Allah s.w
.t said in the Qur'an الشيطان لكم
عدو فاتخدوه عدو Shaytan is your enemy so
consider him to be your enemy what do
you do when you know that someone is
your enemy and tries to destroy you and
tries to get you down well you need
to know his weaknesses you need to know
his strategy you need to know how to
protect yourself against him you need to know
what makes you vulnerable against that enemy this
is when the enemy is seen what about
an enemy you can't see خذوا حذركم be
aware be vigilant at all times so this
is what he said he said خفيف المهالك
والمقاتل خفيف المهالك والمقاتل غزيرة الأعداء غزيرة الأعداء
the path of worship is filled with enemies
و القطاع and robbers عزيزة الأشياء والأتباع it
is very very difficult to find co-travellers
it is very difficult On your way to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to find people
who want to travel with you Now and
the example I always give is when you
climb the Mount Everest Have you climbed the
Mount Everest?
Why not?
Why?
You don't like snow?
Climb then.
Would you like to climb the Everest?
You give it a go.
Would you train or would you just go
like that and say tawakkalana Allah?
Why?
Will be easier and if you don't try
you might actually end up dead So the
higher you go the more difficult it becomes
some people stop at 4,000 meters some
at 5 some at 6 some at 7
some at 8,000 meters and then some
stop right like 100 200 meters before the
peak they say I have to go back
down and Some die because they're so close.
It's like this wall and The other wall
at the end of the mosque They're that
close, but they know if I continue now,
I'm dead.
So they go back down And obviously no,
I'm almost there.
I want to get there.
Even if I die, I don't care they
walk and they die on their way and
This is just people who want to reach
the climax the the peak of the earth
What those who want to reach the climax
of nearness of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala This
is incredible.
And and this is why the higher you
go to Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala And this
is not physical height, right?
It's it's any spiritual the higher you go
The less people that will be with you
and at the end you might feel very
alone You will start with many and end
maybe with one two or nobody And this
is why on our path to Allah subhanahu
wa'ta'ala.
We should never ever wait for others This
is very often what we do.
Come brothers.
Let's start fasting on Monday and Thursday Yes,
it's like when you go to the gym
say come on brother.
We start three times a week.
Yes, and if he's absent once and Then
twice you will stop going as well.
Why because you started as a team Your
way to Allah is not as a team.
You're a team player Meaning you're helping others
But you what you have your own goal
your own individual goal don't wait for anybody
It's too precious.
It's too high It's worth it keep on
climbing don't look back never give up and
Even if you have to die in the
last hundred meters, and I mean don't mean
physically then do so When it's most difficult
that is when you are the most near
You know sometimes when you pray and and
I've said this before Sometimes you're in prayer
and you come out of sujood.
You don't know why you come out of
sujood You're like Allah Akbar you're in sujood,
right?
And then why are you coming out of
sujood?
If your wife or husband or your children
are waiting for you at night What is
the reason why you come out of sujood?
Scroll scroll your phone watch some television.
Is that more important than your prayer and
connecting to Allah?
So when you're there and the moment you
want to get up stay in your sujood
You want to get out of your sujood
again stay in your sujood you want to
get out again stay until you don't want
to leave and That leaving hurts you That
you say the reason why I have to
get out of sujood is not because I
want to But because I am a human
being with a body and I need to
go to work tomorrow for example, whatever But
until you want to stay in sujood That
you don't desire to get out of sujood
That is where you will melt But it's
like when you put iron and into an
oven and right before iron is about to
melt it shakes and shivers This is what
it does shakes and shivers shakes and shivers,
but if you then take it out, it
will not melt So now if you leave
it in it melts we always withdraw While
our soul is shaking and shivering but not
melting If we would have waited a little
bit longer we would have found what we
were looking for you see so Don't wait
for others.
It's your individual path to Allah SWT And
the path to Allah SWT Needs to be
as such because it is the way to
paradise Subhanallah and then he says Look and
he's saying this When did Imam Ghazali die?
Somebody knows?
I just looked.
I don't know.
It's a 505 That's almost a thousand years
ago, right?
So look he said thousand years ago look
he said So the way is difficult and
so forth and said and above of all
this which I have mentioned Fa inna al
-abda daif The servant is weak wa al
-zamanu al-sahab and the times we live
in are difficult He was saying that thousand
years ago He said wa amru al-deeni
mutaraja and he says and the practice of
religion is decreasing wa al-farahu qaleel And
we don't have a lot of spare time
wa shughlu katheer and we have so many
things to do wa al-umru qaseer and
our life is so short wa fil-amali
taqseer and we fall short in our deeds
wa al-naqidu baseer wa al-ajalu qareeb
wa al-safaru ba'eed He says wa
al-ajalu qareeb and death is near wa
al-safaru ba'eed and the travel is
long He was saying this thousand years ago
He was saying you know people don't practice
religion as much as they used to That
was 450 years after the death of the
Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam You know deen
is not the way it used to be
You know we have so many things to
do so many distractions What about today?
I always Say like that one of the
biggest disease today is fake book You know
Fake book was invited By I mean Facebook
Those say Facebook, but maybe he doesn't know
how to pronounce it so The thing is
fake book was invented by people who have
no friends Who had no social system in
place?
You know we Muslims We always had a
social system in place Where people would visit
one another when they were sick where they
would see one another when they would gather
in the mosque You know where people would
take care of one another where parents would
you know?
Be be taken care of by their children.
We had this social system.
We were not in need of fake book
We were not in need of snap We
were not in need of Instagram, but the
problem is that we who were not in
need of it Started using it and it
killed our watch our tradition Like today when
you don't see someone you don't really feel
that why because you keep on what's stopping
him all the time So I wrote a
little booklet about The etiquette of usage of
social media, you know because I got so
fed up really people They send you messages
11 in the evening.
They don't give you Salam say they just
say ah did you see that did you
hear?
That no no politeness sometimes.
They would send me you know Interrogation marks
there was like hello, and they expect you
to answer right now Hello, then three integral
interrogation marks one two three Sheikh.
Don't hide we know you are there I
know you have seen this message and is
it Halal for you not to respond to
people who are in need?
So I just you know left what's up
for what it was now I'm in telegram
telegram and the same thing is starting to
happen so okay But we we need you
know to re-establish our system we have
it in place and the rewards are immense,
but anyway And he says And he said
and worship is the only provision that we
will take with us to the hereafter So
we are really in need of it Try
for yourself apart from your obligatory actions to
find one action extra deed Which you will
not share with anybody not with your wife
your husband your neighbors your mother your father
your children No one and hold on to
it until you die One one is sufficient
One thing which you don't talk about to
anybody it can be feeding the poor It
can be two rakaat during the night.
It can be fasting on a day where
nobody knows that you are fasting Whatever it
may be but come with one hasana which
nobody knows of and Make that you Your
Savior on the Day of Judgment inshallah.
What's the time please?
And at what time do they okay?
Do you have any questions about what I've
said?
Okay, what what do you take away with
you from what we have said so we
are going to read all the book of
Imam Inshallah a lot of beneficial things will
come out of it inshallah.
Yes mean hedge Mean hedge will I be
Dean?
No, man, try to look it up and
then share it with uncle if you like
Okay, someone Incredible yes, what do you take
away with you?
Yes Exactly yes somebody else Yes
None okay, very good Yes Thinking okay Here
on this side no one True love is
not burdensome.
Yes What else is it really only two
things you take away from all the class?
Yes Yes, very good, okay very good so
action is taqwa is more of an action
than it is of a feeling yeah Okay,
let's continue reading a little bit inshallah Allah
And he says Here And
he says like in brief seconds that you
do not use or utilize can never be
recovered.
Like some people say, I lost some time,
let me make it up.
That's impossible.
Because the time you used to make it
up could have been used for something else.
So this is why losing time is the
worst of things one can do.
But now we say, I need to rest,
right?
But even your intention behind coming at rest,
if you say, now I'm going to chill,
just going to watch the moon and the
stars, with my little mocktail, and I'm sitting
there with my little book, and my wife
here, my child here, looking at the sunset
for example, you say, to come at rest,
so that I can continue giving everything of
myself to worship.
Then this moment is worship.
So someone who is not able to turn
every second into ibadah is someone who doesn't
know what ibadah means.
Is that clear?
Everything can be ibadah, but really everything.
When you eat, then you say, so I
re-energize so I can take care of
my family, or so that I can pray
or do some sports.
Eating, every little thing you put into your
mouth is worship.
Even being kind to people is worship.
The Prophet ﷺ said, and when you put
some food in the mouth of your wife,
it is a sadaqah.
Even that, there you go.
So you can turn everything into worship.
And this is where the fiqh al-ibadah
comes in.
From now on, everything you do, you know
subhanAllah, when you go out of the mosque
and you open the door for someone, have
an intention.
Say, I'm opening the door so that the
angels will open the door for me on
Yawm al-Qiyamah.
So when you open that door, you feel
your iman increase.
You feel happy.
People see you smiling, hey, why is he
always smiling?
Well, in his head, there is an entirely
different world to what we see.
It's the same thing.
Your baby, you have to change the diapers
for example.
You say, okay, I'm going to change the
diapers, one, to help my wife, two, to
relieve my child, not only my child, this
human being, from that which bothers it.
So when you change the diapers, your iman
might increase.
So then you see, people whom you think
don't have a lot of worship, their faces
are very radiant.
Say, but I don't see that person praying
a lot, I don't see him doing a
lot of dhikr.
No, his heart is always in sujood.
His heart, or her heart, is always in
sujood.
You might not see it on the outside,
but on the inside, it's illuminated by yearning
for Allah's mercy.
And these are the best people.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, some
people will have the highest levels.
He said, whom are they, ya Rasulullah?
He said, it are those when they are
absent, they are not missed.
And when they are present, they are not
noticed.
Those who mourn over them, are few in
number.
But their status with Allah is exalted.
There's a guy that, sometimes you as a
student of knowledge, or someone who's important, might
say, poor guy, he doesn't know his deen
a lot.
That guy, who's always in the mosque, Fajr,
Duhur, Maghrib, Isha, you never see him insulting,
doesn't know a lot, but he's always with
his heart connected to Allah.
It can be somebody working as a postman.
When he's delivering the post, he's making sure
that he doesn't make any mistakes.
Do they deliver posts here?
Yes they do.
So anyway, all the examples that you can
imagine yourself, like you're a butcher, trying to
keep your meat as clean and neat as
possible.
When you weigh the kefta, that you're correcting
your prices, everything is worship.
Is that clear?
So that's the biggest favor that this ummah
was given.
And then the last thing I'm going to
read, he said, فَصَارَ هَذَا الْخَطْبُ إِذَاً وَاللَّهِ
مُعَضَلَىٰ He says, so this affair, this matter,
so this matter is actually very very complicated
and difficult.
وَالْخَطَرُ عَظِيمُ And the dangers are enormous.
فَلِذَٰلِكَ عَزَّ مَنْ يَقْصِدُ هَذَا الطَّرِيقُ And this
is why the minority of people follow this
path.
The minority of the people really truly dedicate
themselves to the path of worship.
They just want to be 9 to 5
Muslims.
You know, I live like everybody else but
I'm a Muslim.
And then you have those who are truly
aware, dedicated, and with their hearts and minds
and bodies.
So in very brief, this is the very
beginning of the book of Imam al-Ghazali.
I ask Allah SWT to give us a
life long enough to read it entirely and
to reward the Imam for his efforts and
to grant us a piece of his connection
with Allah SWT and to transform us from
people who talk into people who walk the
walk and to not take our lives unless
he is pleased with our words and deeds
and hearts and intentions.
لا إله إلا أنت سبحانك إني كنت من
الظالمين الحمد لله رب العالمين