3 Ways To Establish A Legacy

When you think of the word legacy, what comes to mind when you think of the concept of legacy in general and more specifically, your legacy, what you leave behind in this world, what comes to mind, it's interesting to note that generally speaking, humanity will pursue and people will pursue a form of legacy that is in accordance to their worldviews, what they value, what they see as the purpose of life, if there is one for that individual. And as people are trying to formulate their own arbitrary, their own subjective purposes in life, they tend to find that creating a purpose from nothing will end up falling short. And we find this in study after study psychologically and

philosophically, where people are trying to find something meaningful find purpose for their existence. And when they don't find it, or when they reject what there is being sent to them or shared with them. They end up trying to formulate their own worldviews, their own purposes. So when we talk about the worldview of Islam, and the worldview of Muslims, we define legacy in accordance to that in accordance to what we believe to be true. Because you cannot formulate a legacy based on the definition of secularism, or a liberal philosophy or another ideology or another religion, it has to be in accordance to what we believe what you hold to be true.

And so in order for us to talk about our legacies, we can talk about maybe 20, different principles, but for the sake of time, we'll cover three, three principles to establishing your legacy. The first is to recognize that there is a link between your legacy and the actual purpose of life that you have. Now, we are not formulating our own purposes in life, we were told by the one who created us, the One who created this universe, why we exist, Allah the follow up alma mater, will hire attorney,

son Ramallah, the One who created death and life in order to test you to see what's best in their deeds, their actions. And notice here, it's sending Ramona not necessarily a third, what I'm gonna say about the quality, and the excellence and the correctness of one's actions, not necessarily about the quantity. And I ask Allah subhanaw taala, to guide us always to that, which is best. There are people in this world who are looking for a legacy, and striving to leave something behind. And they may have that intention. But when it comes to accepting the message of the Creator, they're rejecting it. So they're rejecting with it, the definition of success, the criteria for your purpose

to actually be fulfilled, you were created for a purpose for you to leave a legacy behind, necessitates fulfilling that purpose. Because if you gain every kind of success of this world, but in the afterlife, you've rejected, what there is that what was sent to you have a message and a reminder and guidance from God, then you haven't really gained anything. Because if you live in this world for 1000 years, it's incomparable to an eternal life. Allah subhanho wa Taala reminds us as well, that through the fulfillment of one's purpose, you find tranquility, when you pursue what you believe to be true, and what is evidence to be true intellectually, psychologically, spiritually,

you'll find with that a fulfillment a psychological need, as many studies have found, in fact, that is one of the greatest needs for mankind. It's not about the physical pleasures that people have. And yet, we're living in a times in which we all know, looking around the world, and looking at the different forms of media and entertainment, movies and TV shows that are trending in different places. That what often times is being taught to people is that you'll be happy if you buy this product. If you are a consumer, if you keep fulfilling a physical need, you will be happy if you are living a hedonistic lifestyle, of just chasing basic human pleasures, without boundaries, and the

realities we find in society that in fact, it is contributing to a lack of happiness. We find there are people who can fulfill financially and everything else that can fulfill any physical desire that they want, but they're not happy, they're miserable. And in many cases, it's even led to a forms of depression and suicide and so on and so forth. It's not fulfilling the spiritual need that we all have the psychology the psychological need that we were created with. So when we are talking about actual legacies, we're talking about doing something that is aligned with

higher purpose, Transcendence.

And so a true legacy from the Islamic perspective is for a person to liberate themselves from the expectations of all worldly things and all people and to submit to the expectations of the Creator. Because if you are pursuing truth, you cannot place the creation above the Creator. If you're pursuing what you believe to be true, not just pleasurable, but what you believe to be true, philosophically and theologically, you cannot place people or worldly pleasures between you and that truth.

Imam Al Bukhari Rahim Allah, famous scholar, the greatest scholar of Hadith, from the third century, went through a number of trials and tribulations. He was the most famous scholar of his time.

And his funeral prayer, his janazah was one of the largest and yet at the end of his life, Imam Al Bukhari Rahim Omar went through a number of trials and tribulations due to some politics due to a political authority due to some Phaeton some tribulations. And as he traveled from line to line, he ended up passing away Rahmatullah Allah, may Allah have mercy on him in such a state. And yet he was arguably the greatest scholar of Hadith, and one of the greatest scholars of Islamic history, one of the greatest intellectual thinkers.

So your legacy is not about the state of people, it is not about validation. Your legacy is not about fame or glory. Your legacy is not about how much money you have or how many degrees you've accumulated, or how long your bio is. Your legacy has to be aligned with the purpose of life with Allah subhanaw taala. Which brings us to the second point. The second principle is no doubt sincerity. If you want to leave a legacy behind that is aligned with your purpose. It has to be sincerely for the sake of Allah. We don't do things acts of worship for the sake of people, we help people, we serve people, we serve His creation, but we're not doing so for their sake in terms of

the intention. The intention is that these are good things. These are moral things. These are necessary things for the sake of the One who created us, the one who will hold us accountable. A legacy that is not sincere for the sake of Allah is an invalid legacy from the Islamic perspective, a legacy that is not sincere for the sake of Allah falls apart. And it will be rejected in terms of the acts of worship in terms of the deeds themselves. And it's important for us not to confuse being a role model or being a righteous community member or being a pious person in society serving other people confusing that with things like fame, or credit or glory, or jobs or your status or anything

else. It's not for social media followers, it's not for people to see you, you're not doing these things for the sake of the creation. And yet, it is possible that some people who are sincere Allah subhanaw taala, will test them with fame, and other people who are evil will also have fame and some people who are righteous will the unknown to the rest of mankind, and they are the majority, and many people who are evil are also unknown to others. So it's not a measuring stick. You don't look at someone and say because they are famous or because they're not that this person is or is not righteous is or is not sincere, sincere. It is an internal thing first. And if you're working on

yourself and your legacy, then you know that your sincerity will most likely show up behind closed doors, who you are behind closed doors, who you are when you're at home, with your family, who you are when you're alone, and you're worshipping Allah subhanaw taala are you doing what's right? Are you are you striving? Or are you looking to be alone in order to disobey Him? Your your legacy has to be established on the principle of sincerity. Imam Al Bukhari Rahim Allah, his mother, what do you know about her? Most people know very, very, very few details about her. In fact, there is not much we know about her, except that she was very pious, she was very righteous and she was very

sincere. How do we know this? She was a single mother raising this young child who became later on Imam Al Bukhari Rahim Allah, a single mother working really hard striving to take care of her child's development. And she spent a good amount of time in his development with his teddy bear his upbringing. And in fact, she invested a lot as well financially, to make sure that he was taught by some of the greatest scholars

imaginable Hari Rama hola his legacy we know of it. It is a continuous charity until the end of times. It is the most studied Hadith book the most relied upon book of narrations with the most strict measures of authenticity and authentication.

And of course, when we think of that legacy and his continuous charity, we should be linking it to the parent as well, in this case, a single mother, think of the rewards that she has. And of course, when you see something like this lasting more than 1000 years, we recognize that sincerely has ripple effects. A sign of

Something being accepted by Allah subhanaw taala. An act of worship that you did, or the raising of your child is that the good will last after you depart from this world, after you die, it will move on it will continue. And if there's a lack of sincerity, and there's a lack of effort, and there's a lack of clarity, a lack of focus on the purpose of life taught to one's child or children, and they start to kind of lose their faith lose their identity, they're confused in this world in this era, in this time, in which many people are confused, many people are lost, many people are looking for something of substance.

What ends up happening maybe to them is not severe in the parents eyes have slowly losing their identity or their faith. But what happens to the generation after that their children and then their children and then their children? Imagine baja de la mala. This is one example that we are talking about. We can all imagine that 200 years ago now 1800s, let's say a righteous couple, a righteous mother or righteous father, invested time and effort and sincerely worked on raising their children, which is no easy feat. And they spent so much effort on it.

Yes, sacrificing other things of this world, yes, sacrificing at times, maybe greater career maybe a greater amount of time in the corporate world, maybe sacrificing some pleasures as well, for the raising of their children, what ends up happening to their grandchildren, and their grandchildren and their grandchildren. 150 200 people later descendants later, what happens to them in terms of the bedrock of the blessings of Allah subhanaw taala because this mother and his father, or even a single mother, single father, were sincere. Your sincerity can move mountains, your sincerity can move mountains, your sincerity can move mountains, but we cannot afford to live our lives distracted

by worldly pleasures distracted by societal pressures, and forgetting about the element of sincerity May Allah subhanaw taala make us amongst the sincere alumni. I mean,

the third and the last principle is resilience. So you have number one, the purpose of life has to be correct for your legacy to be successful. Number two, you have to be sincere and sincere is not a one time task. It's an ongoing part of life. It's an ongoing experience, where you're renewing your intention for the sake of Allah subhanho wa taala, the Exalted and then finally you have the effort, the resilience and it's linked to your sincerity, because a lot of times people say I can't, or I won't, or I give up. And so they perhaps started off an act of worship with sincerity and then they faltered and then they gave in, it became too difficult their faith was tested.

Oftentimes, a test will arise in order to distinguish between the one who's really sincere and ambitious, and the one who give up very quickly, and that test may come in different forms. So no doubt resilience. Sabir is combined with many other acts of worship in the Quran. Sabra is also combined with victory patients and success. Sabir is linked with perseverance is linked with paradise. Eternal success. Sub is something we rely upon we engage in, we exemplify, we nurture, and it requires no doubt sincerity. And it won't always be easy. People will talk about you at times your tests will be your own family, or a community or maybe people in another place maybe people

online, Muslim community and non Muslim community. People might oppress you, you might face some other struggles. It might be in something societal might be in something political might be in something financial, your test may come in different forms.

And it is a test of faith.

How long will you endure? How long do you hold on? Allah subhanho wa Taala reminds us in the Quran, a hassy been su ie Oatstraw coup de PUE.

One whom la you've done, the people expect to say I believe and they're not be tested for their claim. No people expect to say I believe I'm a believer, I'm a good person. Externally, that's easy. But then when the test arises, what do you do? How long do you hold on?

How long do you endure? You intended to pray as a minor example you intended to pray a voluntary prayer? You're at home you decide I'm going to prickly and you started your claim. You finished the tour because then you remembered you didn't have a loop.

You go make Hulu and pray again. Or do you give up oh, I tried. I didn't have a man goes out sets out to pray in the mosque, budget a prayer and it's dark and he can't see and he trips, his clothes get dirty.

He goes back home he changes and he intends to go back to the masjid he walks out again. He trips somewhere else, his clothes get dirty, goes back home and changes once again to go to the masjid does not give up eventually the shape on stops trying to make this man trip because every time he goes back and his sincerity is renewed, and his intention is still there. He's being forgiven more and more and rewarded more and more for his deed for his persistence and doing something good. How long do you endure

people might

Talk about you. There are so many people who became righteous religious, more practicing in the pursuit of what is true, and their own family members made them feel bad about it. You You think you're a good person now I know what you used to do. Their own relatives, their own friends, their own community cannot count the number of times people in this community and other places became Muslim, and their own family members at times were not supportive of that. And in other cases they were.

And so yes, the the tests we may face may come from our loved ones, it may be a test of relationships. How long will you endure, and hold on to what you believe to be actually true? So you're looking to please the One who created you, and not necessarily the creation, the pleasure of Allah subhanaw taala is lasting, the pleasure of people dies as well. When they die, they disappear. When they die, the pleasure, the satisfaction, the compliments, the complaints, the criticisms, the insults, the oppression dies with them, and the rights that you had and the principles that you held on to are lasting. And you're heading back to we are all heading back to the One who created us, the

one who will hold us accountable.

The famous scholar Imam Muhammad again from the third century, Imam Ahmed Rahmatullah Ali. In the year 800, faced one of the greatest trials in Islamic history known as the Inquisition

and mechana. Imam Muhammad Rahim, Allah was the most famous scholar perhaps, of Baghdad of the area very often generally, the region was known throughout the OMA.

And as a famous scholar, you would assume that people wouldn't mess with him. And I don't mean people like the masses. I mean, the government's Imam Muhammad Rahim Allah faced a trial when the Khalifa at the time, and Moon from 830 to 833, I started what was known as the Inquisition because he was influenced by mortality philosophy, a type of sect or denomination that was influenced by Greek philosophy and attempted to change and reform foundational things in Islam and Islamic theology. So he became the Khalifa. And what he started doing was changing certain principles that scholars were teaching for years before for decades before for the last 200 years, trying to change

that into multicity philosophy. And one of these issues that I'm not delving into it deeply was the question of whether or not the Quran is created. So what it tells us we're saying the Quran is created. Of course, this is very problematic, it's rejecting something very important, which is what the speech of God cannot be created. Qalam Allah, the speech of Allah subhanho wa Taala Allah subhanaw taala speaks, he tells us Kalam Mala Mala Mala Musa cleaner, and Allah sight, Allah's hearing, Allah has attributes cannot be created, they are eternal, they are part of him. So you cannot say the Quran, which is the speech of Allah, you cannot say it is created. And yet that's

exactly what the Khalifa did. And he started this in the Inquisition because the scholars refused to accept that they kept teaching Islam as it was. Now today, we may see that this is a very minor issue in terms of impact, like nobody's thinking about this, people are not debating this, this is not an issue that people have.

And yet it was at the time.

So what did he start to do? He passed basically a law to ban this you cannot teach anything except what monetization are saying. And so the scholars started being silenced one by one giving in the Khalifa is requesting that you stop teaching such and such they gave in one after the other, except the Imam Muhammad Rahim Allah. They said, I refuse that contradicts the Quran, the revelation of God, I cannot teach something I don't agree with that is rejecting a foundation of Islam, I cannot do that.

And he was persecuted, he was tortured. He was beaten, he was taken to prison numerous times. In fact, he stayed in prison for a number of years, take into the courts of the Khalifa to debate in public. And they tried to bring people to debate with him. And he basically intellectually wiped the floor with them with more than a dozen proofs from the Quran and authentic hadith. And it may seem like a minor issue today. And yet, the greatest scholar of that time was being persecuted for it, tortured, one of the most severe forms of torture. And he endured, he didn't give in, he refused. He said, I can't, it would be easier for him to give in. And it would be easier for someone in that

situation to say, well, you know what, given until this person disappears until the next ruler comes in, and then teach people what's correct or teach in private or something else. No, he refused. He said if I give in and the scholars given it will have a ripple effect in the community.

So he sensed some responsibility on his shoulders. And he refused to give in, presented his evidence in the court numerous times and stayed in prison until that Khalifa that Caliph was replaced by another and mutawa killed in your 847. And eventually he stopped the Inquisition. And Imam Ahmed Rahim Allah was released. His story was shared throughout the OMA. It was known to other scholars. It inspired so many people why

A man inspired in fact, if you look at some of the studies in academia and some of the PhD dissertations, and inspired a lot of non Muslims as well, it wasn't just Muslims. And it wasn't just scholars why he endured, he was resilient. He held on to what he truly believed to be revelation. And it is revelation. And it had an impact throughout the OH MAN throughout history to our times, theologically and philosophically, the question is, how long do we endure? And how quickly do we give up, you may not be facing an inquisition, like a moment, you may be living in physical comfort, you're blessed, you're privileged, you're not struggling with maybe worrying about your next meal,

worrying about whether or not a bomb will drop on your village tomorrow, you're not worried about something specific in terms of the pandemic and access to vaccines and things like that. Maybe you're living in comfort physically.

But what happens when your test is the test of ease? are you passing that test? And Are you enduring, because we have many people around the world, who are wishing to be in our shoes wishing to have a fraction of the blessings that we have, just so they can have comfort, they're not worrying about in terms of their survival, so they can spend some time learning searching for the truth, finding Islam and studying it, growing in their knowledge and their nearness to Allah subhanaw taala Allah the Exalted.

And yeah, in other places around the world, like here, perhaps there are many people who are tested by distractions. Your test is not that your Government doesn't allow you to study Islam. Your test is not that you are not allowed to research theology and philosophy. Your test is not that you don't have access to the internet and 1000s upon 1000s upon 1000s of beneficial series and articles and books and publications, you have access to all of that. That's not our tests. Our test is the one of distraction, the one of pleasure, how much time is being wasted, how many opportunities lost? And are we grateful for what we have access to? Are we grateful for these blessings? May Allah subhanaw

taala keep us grateful, and guide us and forgive us for our shortcomings. And may Allah subhanaw taala alleviate the fears of those who are struggling all around the world? May Allah subhanho wa Taala make us amongst the resilient and the sincere and those who are constantly looking for the truth and acting upon it Allahumma Amin seek forgiveness from Allah He is the Ever Merciful The oft forgiving, a Julio od ha That was stuck through Hollywood a confessed of Pharaoh in the Hall of a photo.

Of hamdu lillah wa Salatu was Salam ala Rasulillah wa ala early he was suffering he woman wala what helps us to be resilient. What helps people endure? Number one, as we mentioned, is the pursuit of knowledge. Knowing what is right helps you to stick to what is true. But if you don't know what is true, it's going to be hard to stick to any principle, the pursuit of beneficial knowledge, the pursuit of beneficial knowledge, the pursuit of beneficial knowledge. I know we emphasize this in many of the Friday hotlines, but we cannot stress this enough. We all have access to so many lectures, so many Institute's so many programs do we take advantage? How much of the knowledge that

we seek or the knowledge that we consume on a daily basis is actually beneficial? And what part of it? Well, part of it is truly impactful. We all have access to these blessings. And yet, at times we ignore at times we neglect. These are the types of knowledge that transform us and transform society and change many generations to come. We cannot do that. If you don't know what's true. May Allah subhanaw taala grant us beneficial knowledge. Number two is a strong support system. Good friends, surround yourself with good people. People are looking for the truth and acting upon the truth. People are trying to support one another and when you fall short, they advise you they don't support

your immorality. They don't support something evil, they advise you because they truly care about you. And when you see them to remind you of something good when you see them, they remind you of the afterlife, a good community stay attached to the community especially during a pandemic like this, it is very difficult. And so what a lot of people have done is found themselves busy with online classes and virtual interactions. And of course, whatever you can have in person interactions, but be very cautious. And number three is a constant connection to the Quran. If you want to be resilient and you want to endure, you have to be connected to the speech of the One who created this

room. You have to be connected to the speech of Allah subhanho wa Taala when you recite and you will fall upon where you come across an idea. They sing of Allah subhanaw taala in the lady Nakamura buena Allahu musta como Verily those who say, Allah is my Lord and then they remain resilient upon it, they stick to it until they die. They hold on to it. As difficult as it may be in your life. They hold on to it through all distractions and all trials and tribulations.

and they die in that state. The angels when they come to them the soul is leaving the body will say to them alerta Hafele Walter has no Have no fear, no grief, no sadness will actually do have an agenda to let you continue to argue and, but instead have the glad tidings of the paradise that you were promised before. In other words, you're welcomed into a better place. Be steadfast endure, hold on to what you believe to be true. And don't give in don't allow any human being. Don't allow any society don't allow any ideology don't allow any pleasure, any distraction, any temptation of this world, get in between you and your pursuit of what is true. May Allah subhanaw taala guide us

forgive us an increases in goodness, may Allah Subhana Allah allow us to live for the purpose of life and allow us to die in a good state and to leave behind many continuous charities. May Allah subhanaw taala grant us all a powerful legacy one that is sincerely for his sake and not for the sake of people. And may Allah subhanaw taala keep us resilient and enduring and upon Sabir until the day that we die along that I mean

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