Suleiman Hani – Trustworthiness- A Timeless Virtue – Session 8 – The Revival of the Ummah Series
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AI: Transcript ©
Before we begin
InshaAllah Ta'ala for the weekly series, I actually
want to share
just an interesting story.
I apologize by the way I haven't seen
you all for a while and may Allah
SAWHTALA bless you all. We had taken a
group from Michigan for Umrah
in November, alhamdulillah,
and we came back a few days before
Thanksgiving,
unlike most groups which left. Alhamdulillah, they took
advantage of the American holiday.
But when I got back, I was a
little sick, and I didn't want to get
anyone else sick, so I actually stayed away
for a few days. And I came for
Jummah Khutulah. I saw some of you, and
then I left. And then right after this,
I had another international trip
for another institute. We went to Australia and
New Zealand,
and New Zealand was very interesting. I don't
know if anyone here has been there before.
You have been
all around Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch.
What I found interesting about New Zealand, which
has a very small community,
but there was a very interesting story that
took place approximately a year and a half
or two years ago,
as far as I understood. In Auckland,
so unlike the United States and Canada where
the indigenous populations
have officially have reservations in the US and
Canada,
In New Zealand, they're embedded in society. There
are no reservations.
So the locals, the natives,
the Maori tribe, m a o r I,
one of their chiefs
became Muslim. I wanted to know why.
He converted to Islam, which is very interesting.
And they told me the story was as
follows, very straightforward. His son was a criminal
and he was in jail
and he was really bad to everyone. He's
just like a really bad person. He's in
jail
and he committed a really bad crime and
he's still in jail till this day
and then one day in jail he has
a dream
that he's walking around a black object
and he has no idea what this is,
obviously we know what this is, so he
starts asking around, I had this very vivid
dream,
I'm walking around this black
structure and I don't know what it is.
He asks the guard
and the guard says, sounds like something I
heard that, you know, Muslims do, let me
ask someone for you. And eventually they got
the contact for a Mufti
and they put him in contact with the
Mufti to ask him questions about religion.
So he starts asking him about Islam, long
story short he ends up becoming Muslim in
jail.
When he becomes Muslim he receives, you know,
books and things like this and he starts
to change over time.
His family who had basically been disconnected from
him because of how bad he was of
a criminal before,
eventually they started reconnecting and the father, the
chief of that tribe, started noticing his son
is just a completely different person.
And the way he described it was like
he just 180
degree change, like completely different person.
And SubhanAllah we see this sometimes when you
study the Sira and sometimes in our own
communities and lives as somebody who Allah Subhana
Wa Ta'la guides them and they're sincere in
wanting the truth, they completely change when they
take that truth seriously.
So the father was so amazed by this
he started noticing his son's different so he
asked what happened, he said I am a
Muslim now, I believe in God, it's a
different religion,
I had
a dream about this and God led me
to Islam and I feel so happy and
I feel so tranquil and at peace.
And the father was so amazed by this
because he said I didn't believe it was
possible for my son to change, only God
could change him. Like there's no way, the
only explanation is that this is true.
Now obviously that's not the only reason, Yani,
the father ended up looking into Islam and
finding that this is what he had been
looking for for many years. So the father
became Muslim which is not the best part
of the story. The father converted to Islam
and because he's a chief, he's responsible, he
has authority over
part of the land of the Maori tribe
and one of the masajid in Auckland now
was actually built
on an area right next to a number
of Maori homes
and the chief was in charge of that
area. So he donated that plot of land
to the Muslims to expand their masjid out,
and he comes to the masjid regularly now
as part of the community and he came
actually,
to the program that we had over there.
But what I found amazing about this, subhanAllah,
we here and we study of many indigenous,
tribes and different types of native religions in
different countries.
The indigenous in Australia versus, for example, in
Canada and the US, and the types of
beliefs that they had that are mostly we
see mostly different types of shirk and you
know pagan worship, spirit worship, obviously all this
is a culmination of centuries of the devil's
work, may Allah protect us all in our
communities,
but
he was so sincere,
so kind, so aligned with what is true
that when presented with Islam it was so
easy for him and many of his tribe
to become Muslim as well, and sometimes we
we don't recognize,
that at times there are many people who
just have not heard of Islam properly, they've
heard of Islam but they have not heard
of what Islam's rituals are, the character, the
changes, they've heard the wrong things about Islam,
they've heard of Muslims in the news,
and so as a reminder of the need
for us to continuously do dawah regardless where
we are and ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
to guide us and guide others through us
and to recognize that sometimes the pattern of
hidayah that we talk about, that someone's looking
for Islam then they become Muslim, is not
always the case. Sometimes you have these rare
stories or somebody had a dream about the
Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and they didn't
even know who it was or they didn't
know what Islam was and they ended up
becoming Muslim. May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala guide
us and guide others through us, Allahum Amin.
We'll get started InshaAllah Ta'ala with our weekly
program,
Bismillah Alhamdulillah Rasulullah wa lalahi
wa sahabihi waamanwala.
One time it was reported
that Umar ibn Khattab
was sitting with a group of companions in
a very small home
and he said tamanno wish for something. I
mentioned this on one of the Friday khutbas
and one of the brothers told me this
was one of the most amazing stories I
heard about Umar radiAllahu anha, he told the
companions wish for something, tamanna,
everyone go ahead wish for something, so one
of them said I wish this house that
we are in was filled with gold so
that I can spend it in Allah's path
as charity. And Umar radiAllahu anha again he
said tamanna, wish for something else, somebody else
go
ahead, as though he's looking for something. So
somebody else said I wish this house was
filled with perils and with every kind of
precious gem so that I can give it
in charity for the sake of Allah, he
said tamanno somebody else wish for something and
they realized he's looking for something they said
manadriyaamilal
mumineen, we don't know what to wish for,
what are you looking for,
O leader of the believers.
I wish this house was filled with men
the likes of which, like Abu Ubaydah radiallahu
anhu's Abu Ubayda, he's one of the 10
that the prophet alaihis salatu wa sallam mentioned
in one hadith that are given glad tidings
of Jannah, he's one of the companions that
was nominated to be the next khalifa, in
fact after Umar radiAllahu an.
Abu Ubaydah was of the highest quality
of people you could possibly meet amongst the
Sahaba, he was a truthful man,
he was a truthful man and the Prophet
alaihis salatu wa sallam testified to this. He
said something and that is the theme of
our
discussion tonight, he said
Every ummah
has its trustworthy person, meaning the person who
is known as the most trustworthy.
This person stands out. We we know that
generally at that time if you had a
nickname
in in Arabia
it was because you really were known for
that thing, that was your trait. It doesn't
mean nobody else has it but it was
your trait and the Prophet alaihis salatu wa
sallam is saying for every Ummah there is
that person who is the pinnacle example, the
greatest representation
of what it means to be a person
of amana, trustworthiness
and that person in our ummah is Abu
Ubaydah radiAllahu an and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says,
the believers
the believers who succeeded they are those who
are true to their trusts and their promises,
their covenants.
This ayah is found in the Quran twice
once in Surat Al muminoon and once in
Surat Al Maarij
and both of those passages in the Quran
for those interested in tafsirjams,
both of these passages
break down the traits of the successful believers.
Bad Aflaal muminoon in the beginning and then
you have Suratul Maarij as well, 6 traits
in Suratul muminoon, 8 traits in Surat Al
Maarij. Amana,
when we talk about this concept to be
ameen, in Islam it has a general meaning
and it has a very specific meaning with
its own context and we'll talk about some
examples so we can be very practical Insha'Allah
Ta'ala. As for general trust, the Prophet alaihis
salatu wa sallam,
he frequently recited his Ayana Sahaba as well
and you can imagine how they would think
about this responsibility as the final ummah.
When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Inna arodmal
indeed we offered, there's a lot of tafsir
for this ayah we're not going to get
into, we offered the amana, the trust
to the heavens and the earth and the
mountains they declined to bear it and they
feared it but human beings undertook it, they
accepted it. Indeed
human beings especially those who disbelieve, he was
unjust and ignorant,
the one who is ignorant, the one who
is oppressive, the one who's unjust. So the
amana here is referring to all types of
trusts, all types of responsibilities, all types of
rights that people have upon you whether this
is your family, your friend, your neighbor, non
Muslim, Muslim, old and young and Imam Khurrabbirahumullah
he says the word amana generally in Islam
means all of your religious duties, everything. So
everything you are obligated to do you're responsible
for and this is why the prophet alaihis
salatu wasalam he defined the Muslim
the Muslim is the one who people are
safe from his tongue and his hand and
then he said, wal muminu
man Aminahun Nasu aladimahim wa amwariem. The believer
meaning what's better than the the next level
for you to have a completion of imal
is for people to feel like they can
trust
their lives and their wealth with you, that
they're not worried you're going to harm them
in terms of their lives or in terms
of any material possessions. So what are some
examples so we can be very practical inshaAllah
ta'ala, what are some examples of what it
means to have this trait of trustworthiness,
to fulfill the trust? Number 1 very practical
example
and very relevant today is with people's secrets.
With people's secrets does not mean just your
family because sometimes when we talk about this
people say yes this is obvious, we know
of many ahadith of the husband and the
wife, their secrets should not be exposed to
anyone else, they should not be talking to
family members, in laws, sharing stealing secrets about
the husband or the wife to other people.
So the the prophet alayhis salatu wa sallam
he said for example,
the most,
one of the most severe types of trust
that is betrayed on the day of judgment,
arrojlu yoftliilam
raatiwatufliilahi
thumma yanshurusirwa.
Basically a man
and a woman, like the husband and the
wife, they go to one another for what
they go to and then he divulges her
secret, meaning he exposes something that is not
supposed to be exposed. But there's another example
that's more general than just the husband and
the wife, and this applies to all of
us, and this applies to social media, and
this applies to WhatsApp messages, this applies to
emails.
When the prophet alaihis salatu wa sallam he
said according to a report from
at Tilmrit, If somebody says something to you,
they narrate something to you, they said something
to you and then he turns around meaning
he leaves, then it is a trust.
And this is why some of the sahaba
understood
basically gatherings, when you have a 1 on
1 gathering or 3 people or 5 people,
by default in Islam
it's a secret, what does that mean? If
it's not known that this thing is public
or you're allowed to share it with others
then you shouldn't share it unless you're positive,
and while this sounds like a very high
threshold or standard of like requirement verification
it doesn't obviously apply to every single thing.
There are some situations where naturally you know
this is not a private matter at all,
but the default requires us to be a
little more cautious,
to be more mindful,
because a lot of the problems that happen
amongst family, amongst friends, in terms of ghiba,
in terms of backbiting and namima
is because people are not cautious with what
other people have stated. They're constantly sharing, sharing,
sharing, do you know that she said this,
he said this, oh by the way they
did that, they did that, who said you're
allowed to share that? And while this sounds
sometimes sounds very strict, it only sounds strict
if we become very desensitized to sharing people's
secrets, to sharing things normally. And again there's
a healthy balance, that balance cannot be
subjective,
that balance has to go back to a
metric and the default stance is if you're
not sure you can share it then you
shouldn't share it, you should be cautious with
what your friends tell you, with what other
people tell you, an example of this is
somebody coming to you, a family member, and
just venting, Venting not about a problem that
they needed help with, all these people are
doing these things and I know she did
this and he did that. Be very cautious,
are you sure, like, that's something I'm allowed
to know? Are you sure there's something they're
okay me with me knowing? Sometimes we have
to remind our family members in the wisest
manner possible.
We have to remind one another,
be careful what you share, be careful dropping
names, be careful those details, this is a
type of amana and sometimes we we divulge
the the things that are in fact the
most secretive things that people have entrusted us
with, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us.
So again this applies to the family, this
applies to friends, this applies to most conversations.
What does this not apply to? Public statements,
public posts on social media, things that
culturally are known to be public, they're not
things that are a secret and Allah knows
best. Another type of amana is taking care
of your body,
taking care of your health,
and in a time in which we are
able to access and see much of what's
happening around the world in terms of the
blessing of health that we have access to,
we are reminded more than ever to be
very balanced in terms of our lifestyle choices.
And so an example of this is Abdulrah
radiallahu an, he was trying to fast basically
all the time, he was trying to pray
qiyamulay all night and not stop at all
for any sleep and the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam basically told him don't do that,
fala tafaaam, he said sun wa'afdr
fast some days and break fast other days,
and stand for prayer and sleep as well
meaning you need this and you need that
and then he said fa'innali jasadiq aalika haqqah
your body has a right upon you and
your eyes have a right upon you and
your spouse, your wife has a right upon
you as well because he would not spend
any time with her because he was always
fasting or always pray praying qiyam so there's
no time basically to be with his wife,
so the prophet alaihis salatu wa sallam is
telling him take care of the rights of
your body, take care of your health.
Sometimes
we use this hadith to justify being on
the opposite end of the spectrum, being too
lax, Say yeah just take care of your
body when you're not doing any Ibad at
all, you're not doing any nawafil at all,
you're barely doing any effort and you're saying
yeah my body deserves,
basically it's right, that has to be in
accordance with what the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam is saying. Another example of this
is the amana, the trust that every one
of us has when it comes
to positions of authority, when it comes to
family, when it comes to organizations that we
work with and so a simple
conclusion is what the prophet alaihi wa sallam
said when he said the best of you
khayrukum khayrukum li'ali or in another way akhyarukum
the best of you are those who are
best to their families, in one hadith the
best of you are those who are best
to their wives. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam also said kullukumra' and every one of
you is a shepherd. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam is reminding us we have authority
that we are held accountable for. Mas'ulun, you're
going to be questioned,
so whether it's your children or your wife
or your husband, your parents, whatever it may
be, every single person is going to be
asked about the things that they had any
authority over in a dunya and it is
a trust and this is why many times
we'll remind college students who ask about leadership
in Islam, we were told we're not supposed
to look for and seek leadership.
If you are qualified and nobody else is
stepping up and you are able to do
good or somebody evil will step up then
you are required to move forward and in
fact move forward but remember this is not
about power, we don't think of
authority in Islam as like I have power,
no it's rather I'm accountable, I'm responsible.
So when you become when you get married
now you are accountable, now you are responsible,
when you have children now you are even
more responsible. Same when it comes to organizations,
when it comes to political power and you
see this in Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu that
he was serving the people. If I do
something in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah
then support me and if I do something
that contradicts that then advise me, meaning stop
me from doing the wrong thing, this is
what it means to serve the people.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam also
said
many times we talk about Birlil Walidaym and
the rights of parents which is the default
starting point for family dynamics and rights but
then you move on and you find what
children also have,
rights. One of those rights is to raise
them upon Islam, to teach them the religion,
the why and not just the what. One
of those rights is to teach them what
they need to get through
their society, their temptations, the hardships in their
times. One of their rights is that you
take care of them physically, financially, and emotionally,
and spiritually.
You try to provide everything you can provide.
Another of the many examples of trust we
encounter
is debts and loans. So when you take
a loan from someone that your intention should
always be, you Allah I'm going to repay
this loan and this is an example
of a trust. Another example is when you
do business with people,
when you sell things, when you buy things,
one of the men who was basically,
selling things at the time of the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, he passed by this
man and he put his hands basically inside
the kind of edible corn that the man
had and he noticed basically some parts of
it that were moist and he asked him
about this he said what is that? And
the man said yeah Rasulullah these were drenched,
the ones inside, the ones that were hidden,
these are drenched by the rainfall.
He said why did you not place this
one, the one that you hid, why didn't
you keep it on top so the other
people can see it? And then he he
said very clearly, 'man nagashaf alayhisaminni'
'whoever cheats is not following me' in other
words, meaning that's not what I'm teaching.' So
the man understood, show the people the spoiled
part and don't just try to represent it
or present it as something that is good.
The
truthful,
trustworthy Muslim merchant is with the Prophets.
Is with the righteous in the afterlife. And
so this is a reminder when you work,
whether you're working for a company or you
have your consultant or a contractor,
whatever kind of work you do that you
are not taking anything that does not truly
belong to you and that you are not
selling anything at all of a product or
a service or anything in those
categories
that is deceptive in any way, that you
are falsely advertising something, over exaggerating something, may
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us consistency in
the fulfillment of this trust, Allahumma Ameen. And
then finally most importantly,
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam reminds us the consequences
of all of this. For you to be
a person of amana, to be very sincere,
to be very honest,
sometimes it will cause you to lose some
things of a dunya, sometimes it means you
won't get ahead, sometimes it means in a
cutthroat
capitalistic society that you're not getting ahead, sometimes
it means politically
that some governments will lie to people, spread
propaganda, and violate every kind of international trust,
international law, human rights as you see today
with the violation of the rights of Palestinians
left and right, every kind of trust is
betrayed, every kind of lie is perpetrated, every
kind of twisting of the narrative
is taking place, and it's not taking place
just overseas,
it's taking place especially here in the United
States of America where the one who is
standing
for justice, the one who is defending those
who are literally facing genocide and ethnic cleansing
is being
portrayed as a pro terrorist, is being portrayed
as violent, is being portrayed as someone who
is advocating for genocide.
What kind of society do you live in,
in which politicians
themselves
seem like they are bought out, that they
cannot fulfill the trust of the position because
of wealth, because of an agenda, because of
power, because of other dynamics that are taking
place behind the scene, so there's no fulfillment
of amana, there's no fulfillment of trust. What
happens when a genocide is literally taking place
and in the western part of the world,
United States of America, they're debating in front
of Harvard's president and UPenn's president, they're debating
what does it mean to call for the
genocide of other people? Genocide is happening right
now, genocide is taking place right now, so
this is when trust is not just being
violated
with regards to a specific group of people,
but the trust of the politicians
and those in position, those in power
to be able to, stop an injustice, to
change the situation, that many of them are
corrupt, many of them are bought out, and
this is not surprising to us. We know
that there is,
a structural corruption in the system that we
are in. It doesn't mean we don't work
to fix it, it doesn't mean we disconnect
and disengage, in fact we have to work
harder, we have to strive, we have to
be strategic and utilize the tools of the
land that we are in, figure out and
understand the system, work with those who are
actually working, hamdulillah, on the ground and they
understand that there needs to be a strong
political strategy
to stop the violation
of trust at a structural level, at an
international level. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alleviate
the affairs of our brothers and sisters in
Gaza and utilize us for their justice and
the justice of other people, lawma ameen. On
the day of judgment, the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam said,
the feet of the servant of Allah, meaning
you won't move, shall not move until you
are asked about your life and what you
did with it, your knowledge and what you
applied it to,
your wealth and how you earned it, where
you spent it, and your body and how
you wore it out. In other words you
cannot leave that presence, that gathering, except that
you're questioned about these things, these are what?
These are trusts, that Allah gave you a
body and that's a trust, he gave you
your soul and that's a trust, he gave
you time and that's an amana, he gave
you maybe loved ones as a test in
this world and that is another type of
trust. The money that you earned is a
trust and how you spent it you are
entrusted with it And what's amazing about thinking
of all of these things as responsibilities
and trust from Allah is we start to
think about how we are dealing with what
Allah gave us, rather than just other people
or moral actions, you are dealing with Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala and he gave you, he
entrusted
to you something very very heavy
and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
pass these tests salaam alameen.
And the last thing I want to say
about amana very quickly,
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam described that bridge
over the hellfire,
the sliraat, which is very thin and some
people move very fast and others slower and
others slower and others will crawl and some
will fall, may Allah protect us. The Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam mentioned that on the day
of judgment
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would allow eventually the
doors of Jannah, the gates, the awaiting area
of paradise to be accessible now, so now
people are crossing as Siraf, they're crossing over
*
and as they're crossing over * the Prophet
alaihis salaam tells us that on the right
and the left
you will see that trustworthiness,
amana, is on one side and silatul Rahim
is on the other side and they are
dispatched calling out to the people who fulfill
them, in other words. That you Allah so
and so who's about to cross over hellfire
was a person of trust,
You Allah so and so who's crossing over
the hellfire was a personal silatulbarim,
they took care of the family ties and
silatulbarim
we usually think just reach out to the
family member, the one who has a right
upon you, the one who already reaches out
to you, the one who is on good
terms with you. Salatulraham
in many authentic ahadith
was applied more so to the family members
that cut you off, to the situations where
there isn't a connection, that you are trying
to fix things, you are being patient when
people are being impatient,
when people are rude to you, you are
holding on. That's what the the man literally
said to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
that I have family members, they're very abusive
verbally to me, they insult me and I'm
patient with them, I'm kind to them, they
cut me off and I try to uphold,
I try to fulfill salatul Rahim and the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam encouraged him, he said
Allah will be with you so long as
you're doing what you're doing, if that is
true Allah will be with you so long
as you're doing what you're doing. As for
what they are doing to you it's as
though they are being punished, meaning they are
they are causing themselves future regrets, don't stop
your responsibility.
So you have silatulrahem on one side and
you have amana on the other side, take
care of your rights, take care of your
rights, take care of your rights, the rights
of your family members, the rights of your
parents, the rights of your children, the rights
of parents never end even when they pass
away, that you uphold the ties of
kinship in terms of the people they loved,
in terms of their friends, in terms of
their relatives, and the people that they loved
to connect to, as well as making du'a
for them, and of course trustworthiness with regards
to financial transactions, worldly responsibilities,
any position of authority that you have. If
you are a parent you have a great
great great
thing that you are entrusted with, may Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to pass that
test, allahuma ameen.
This series is all about the revival of
the Ummah through different characteristics starting at the
individual level,
and this week and next we'll start to
wrap up more of the individual traits and
move on InshaAllah Ta'ala in 2024 move on
to the traits of the family but today
I want to cover 2 traits InshaAllah Ta'ala
and both of these are mentioned in the
beginning of Surat Al muminun. The first trait
is that of trustworthiness,
again Qad Afla Hal muminun you have
we spoke about this in the last session,
we spoke about protecting the prayer altogether, we
spoke about iman, tawakkul, ihsan
and khushur and then later on Allah Subhantha
talks about those who guard their chastity
those who protect, in other words, their chastity,
their private parts. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam made it very clear, the one who
guarantees, meaning they only do what is righteous
in terms of what they say, in terms
of what he says salallahu alaihi wa sallam
between their jaws or between their legs, if
they do that which is pleasing to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala they are guaranteed jannah, they
are guaranteed jannah, these are where many people
commit major sins, may Allah protect us. Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said indeed haya,
what we translate
loosely as modesty,
haya which is for men and for women,
haya which is in appearance and in action,
haya which is internal and external,
haya and iman
come together.
If one of the 2 is missing so
is the other, meaning when your haya decreases
in that moment you don't have iman, your
iman has decreased. Doesn't mean it disappeared altogether
but it's decreased to the extent or in
proportion
to how much haya you've lost.
Haya is for both men and women, old
and young, and it's in different types of
practices.
So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
he gave us that powerful story and reminder,
a historical moments that I mentioned in one
of the previous lectures, I think the very
first session we had, the 3 men who
were trapped in the cave and they each
made dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You
Allah, if you know that I did this
thing, this very difficult act of worship, if
I did this sincerely for your sake then
save us, in other words from this cave.
That was the very first session we had
on, sincerity.
1 of the 3 men made dua with
something with regards to haya when he was
about to commit a major sin with a
woman and she reminded him fear Allah, fear
Allah, and he didn't move forward not because
she was there but because of what she
said about Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, fear Allah.
And that's the type of reminder we need
to constantly accept that in your mind, in
your heart, if you think you're about to
do something wrong and the thought of Allah
crosses your mind, stop in the moment, stop
yourself, fear Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that might
be a deed that leads you to relief
from a worldly hardship
or a relief on the day of resurrection
as well. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam also
spoke to the young men in his tribe
in Quraysh and he said to them, You
ma'amasharashalabaquraish
he said, O young men of Quraysh,
protect yourselves, protect your private parts, he said
ikhfadhu furoojakumalaman
hafilafaro jahu falaahu jannah, the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam said whoever guards his chastity in
other words
will certainly enter Jannah. He made it very
clear so that nobody doubts
how great of a reward it is to
restrain yourself, so when he says alaman hafilah
fahu jahu fala hul jannah whoever protects his
chastity
is guaranteed jannah
it's because
naturally at that time too it's not an
easy thing for people to do.
If that's the case then, what about the
case today
when there are more and more and more
temptations,
interruptions,
distractions
through devices, through the internet, through things you
never planned or expected even if you are
extremely practicing as a Muslim. You try to
guard your environment, you try to only watch
the things that you know will not have
anything problematic,
but every now and then something surprises you,
something
unexpected happens, what do you do?
In these situations, we're talking here especially for
the adults not just for our own children
or our youth, that you take all measures
and in that moment you are reminded that
this is one of the most noble acts
of worship.
So if you hear someone complain
and tell you today the haram is everywhere,
it's so difficult to be practicing, to fear
Allah, to stay away from haram, then the
reward is also much greater, the reward for
staying away from it is much greater. So
look at the opportunity and not just the
challenge, look at what you can accomplish of
reward on the day of judgment.
When your test in a dunya,
when your test in a dunya is more
difficult than somebody else's or a different generation
before you, your reward is also greater. So
this is why when we talk constantly about
what's happening in the gazza we're emphasizing what,
their test is very different than our test.
So if you're going to complain about the
test of just seeing what's happening and the
mental anguish that many Muslims face and the
depression many people feel, know that they are
able to pass their test and you are
able to pass your test but the reward
is not like your reward.
They have access to a different type of
reward because of the hardship they're going through
and Allah chooses, that's his divine wisdom.
He chooses who's going to leave this world
in a state of martyrdom
because all human beings will leave this world,
every human being is tested in this world,
every human being has their departure point, many
people die in their sleep every single day,
many people die in car accidents all around
the world every single day, many people die
in homicides
all around the world and some people die
in this Ummaha Ash Shuhada, Allah decreed shahada
for them.
It doesn't mean that the injustice that's committed
is allowed, wallahulahiuhibbubalamin
follows right after that.
So you don't become confused about the 2
different things, how you left this world and
the reward that's waiting for you. The test
that you have,
the greater the test the greater the reward,
the greater the test the greater the reward.
So if you find that you're struggling with
anything of temptation
shahawat or shubuhat pseudo intellectual doubts
to restrain and to refrain to hold yourself
back means the reward is much greater, the
reward is much greater and of course we
cannot imagine the reward for the shuhada,
we cannot imagine the reward for being in
a situation where you feel that much of
the world in terms of those who have
access to military power has abandoned you, that
they they have just
completely neglected your situation
and when you feel that way you know
truly you have no one but Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala
and when people leave the world in that
state
we don't know what the reunion with Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala and the prophets and the
angels and the righteous will be like in
the next life. May I ask Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala to bring down his justice to
our brothers and sisters in Gaza and to
accept the deceased of shuhada and to bring
about a swift relief, alla'ma ameen. The Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam gave us a very
summarized
powerful advice that every Muslim can take this
one hadith
as a way of life as one of
the most practical things to move forward with
with regards to hayab, with regards to a
comprehensive
type of modesty.
He said
have
modesty
before Allah as He deserves, as is His
right. So the sahaba said you Rasulullah
we have
haya, inna nastahi walhamdulillah,
that's what the sahabah said, like we have
haya, maybe their understanding was we're dressed appropriately,
we don't do the wrong things, we don't
commit the fah, you know, fahisha we used
to commit before Islam and then he said
laysadaq, the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said
that's not what I'm referring, that's not what
it means. When he says
have modesty before Allah as He deserves,
he explained what it means and this is
where the practical advice comes in and it's
very summarized very short He
said
however this is what I mean, he said
he
said rather it is to have hayat before
Allah subhanahu wa'anahu wa'a he said rather it
is to have hayat before Allah subhanahu to
guard the mind, the raas, does it mean
the head, the mind
and everything that runs through it, this is
the advice of think pure in order to
act pure, sometimes people struggle with external things
and the only advices they want to take
are how to change my environment externally,
and they don't focus on the heart, they
don't focus on their thoughts, they don't focus
on breaking a pattern where you're thinking of
something or something is triggering a bad thought,
so you are reminded by the Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam to even purify your thoughts,
not just your actions, as much as you
can and then he said and
to guard the stomach and what fills it.
So yes the general things that we know
avoid the things that are haram, avoid consuming
you know intoxicants and anything like that but
also over consumption,
also overeating to the extent that you are
lazy or,
you're starting to affect your health negatively,
which countless, countless, countless doctors, researchers,
specialists, and studies
constantly advise people especially in our times be
careful of how you're eating not just what
you're eating, be careful because it has an
effect on your mind which then has effect
on your idada, has an effect on your
lifespan, has an effect on your family and
everything else of productivity,
so what you consume as well. And then
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said and
to reflect upon death,
wal tadkur al mawtawalbila
remember death and trials because that detaches you
from a dunya.
One of the most common things I've been
hearing for the last 2 months
with everything that's unfolding and everything that's happening
in the gazza of trials
is how many brothers and sisters in other
parts of the world especially here in the
US
are constantly saying I feel so
privileged
but at the same time when all of
this started happening
every video I watched, every picture that I
saw, every time something
of a real human being was shown to
me I felt like I was overly attached
to a dunya in my routine like I
was just so distracted
and this shattered my attachment to a dunya.
This reminded us we don't belong here, we
really belong to the akhirah, we belong to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we don't belong to
this world in the sense that we are
not attached to it. And this is why,
in fact, sometimes when people say, I don't
want to watch any news at all, I
don't want to see what's happening anymore, I'm
done. Yes, sometimes people are talking about this
from the mental health aspect and some people
will burn out more than others and some
people will channel thoughts in the wrong way
more than others, but at the same time
spiritually
there is that benefit of not
thinking that you belong here, of not just
becoming distracted and deceived.
Don't be deceived because in many parts of
the world death is hidden, in many parts
of the world death is limited in terms
of how often you hear about it, talk
about it and even when it's done in
many western societies
it's done in a very specific materialistic
way, may Allah protect us and I don't
mean our kamija I mean generally in western
culture. So when you're seeing what's happening and
you're seeing the trials of our brothers and
sisters,
one thing you can do is to channel
that thought into what you're doing for the
akhir, what dua you're making for them, what
you're doing to return to Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, what repentance
came about from this trial in your personal
life. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala protect us.
And then the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam concluded,
woman aradal akhirata
tarakazina tad dunya whoever desires the hereafter
let him or her abandon
the deception, the embellishments
of al dunya.
Sometimes we go above and beyond because there
are no other
paths in mind, there are no other things
we see in front of us So you
reach a point in life where you have
a certain material lifestyle
and all you see after that because there
is no constant reminder of the afterlife or
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala what happens you're looking
out for the next milestone.
There's a brother who told me once he
felt for maybe 20 years of his life
all he was doing was climbing like this
ladder and it wasn't like the typical corporate
ladder, he said I was climbing this ladder
that I had in my mind from a
young age because that's what we're bombarded with
you know, in western culture and it's very
materialistic.
But he said, 'I realized the problem with
myself is every time I got to a
better place financially I wanted more, it really
didn't end and I started to think about
the next goal was. I realized along the
way there was no growth spiritually or in
my knowledge or my practice, so it's not
like at the same time Allah blessed you
with your job or a family or children
or any kind of rizq,
it's not like you also noticed, you know
what I also studied all these topics in
Islam, I also studied the tafsir of the
Quran, I also memorized this part of the
Quran, I also attended these things, I also
changed in this way, I noticed my nawafil
have changed, my voluntary
prayers and so if you don't notice any
spiritual change
and in your life you're noticing material changes,
career changes, educational growth,
ask yourself what it is that you need
to remind yourself about the embellishments of the
dunya versus the akhirah because they are at
the end of the day they are kind
of decorative, they are external and may Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala guide us to always focus
on that which is lasting as well, lam
ameen.
And then the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
said Whoever
does so
protects their thoughts,
their stomach, meaning their
organs as well their limbs the things that
they're doing and also protects themselves in terms
of thinking of the akhirah
has really
exemplified
haya before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as they
should, to think pure and to act pure
in other words and to keep your sight
on the afterlife.
May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant us that.
Many people ask what are some ways we
can act upon this, this advice
In a day and age that hypersexualizes
everything in advertising, in marketing, in videos, in
movies, even video games for children at times,
so what are some ways to protect ourselves?
I'll give some practical advices very quickly, number
1, yes the advice that Allah or the
command that Allah gave us to control one's
gaze, and when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells
us to lower from our gaze, to lower
from our sight, it's not all of your
eyesight, it's not all the time, it's when
there is something bad that could happen and
when there's lust, and this is why every
situation is different and this is why it
varies from case to case. So a lustful
look is prohibited in Islam,
a lustful look is prohibited in Islam meaning
it is sinful in Islam. May Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala protect us and forgive us. One
time
one time some young students were,
actually we were talking about college students, we're
talking about
challenges
of
being a college student on campus and walking
around especially in the spring summer times. So
I'm trying to summarize the story. One time
one of the students, he said I feel
like
he's being very blunt it was all Sheba,
it was all young men, he said honestly
I feel like I can't control myself and
I never have.
He said every single time, I'm reading like
one of the things that he wrote, he
said every single time a good looking woman
walked by he said I feel compelled to
look, like no matter what I just he
said I knew I got nothing out of
it but I felt compelled to look and
then what shattered this for him was one
statement,
one statement from Sufyan athawri rhamma'allah,
from the earliest generations.
He said a woman will pass by a
man, a specific kind of man, and he
cannot restrain himself from looking at her lustfully,
again differentiate between looking versus looking lustfully.
He says he cannot restrain himself from looking
at her lustfully although there's no benefit in
it. And then he said what can be
weaker than that? Meaning what's weaker than the
one who literally cannot control
when he looks or what he looks or
how he looks and his lust and so
on and so forth. And Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala gives a command to men and to
women
and he gives a command to men and
to women to dress a certain way,
which of course responds
to a lot of the liberal talking points
about people controlling themselves, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
who created us commands us as human beings
to do our part. So what is your
part? Control what you're doing in terms of
looks and lust and of course control what
you're wearing. Yes there is an impact on
other people and of course this applies to
women and applies to men, especially in our
times in our society, but this is something
we cannot deny that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
emphasizes in the Quran, that men and women
both have a responsibility in society.
This doesn't mean that the one who looks,
the one who looks he's not to blame,
no he is to blame, but there's also
a blame on the one who goes out
creating fitna or facilitating fitna for others, but
where is this balance, where is the line
drawn? It goes back to the boundaries of
the sharia, it goes goes back to what
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has said is the
the practice of modesty for men and for
women, and there are many fiqh rulings of
course about all of these things, I don't
want to get into these as a tangent
but the point here is that
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us something practical
that in our times we have lost many
times, we have dropped,
we've in western society also frankly we've normalized
many things. The second practical advice that western
society has not yet caught up on is
the concept of khalwa, for men and women
to be alone in private.
What is the relationship between this and everything
else? This is one of the most simple
practical
guidelines
as seemingly
insignificant
as it seems it has protected so many
people, so many families, so many marriages, from
so many problems
and it has protected many people from the
door of Shaytan.
Khalwa for men and women who are not
related basically to be alone in private is
not allowed in Islam generally speaking and that
that requires obviously a discussion on the what
is the guideline, does it mean if you
have an office that your door is closed,
does it mean if you're a professor or
a teacher you're not allowed to have like
the office door closed with a student, with
a colleague,
khalwah generally speaking is for a man woman
to be alone and for there to be
a reasonable assumption that no one could interrupt
at any time, that nobody could see what
is happening and it protects people today more
than ever before. About 7 or 8 years
ago when the US was going through what
we saw the Me Too movement,
you started seeing in corporate spaces, in workplaces,
men and women talking about guidelines
that they wanted to implement to protect themselves
from
not actual accusations that are real, from false
accusations.
So you had a lot of men, 2
things in particular a lot of people saying
what?
A lot of men were saying, 'I don't
want to be falsely accused' so they said
I'm not going to shake the hand of
anyone at work, men or women,
and this is when Muslims started joking about
creeping Sharia, of course, we're like welcome to
Islam, and the second thing is when men
and women started saying I will never be
alone in private with a co worker of
the opposite gender so that it's not possible
for anyone to falsely accuse me of anything
and we said creeping sharia once again, we
already have this concept of khalwa in Islam,
although this sounds light there has there have
been many cases all around the world
of sexual harassment, of abuse, of infidelity,
of fornication, of many other things
because of something that many times people mock
and sometimes the people who mock it are
Muslims.
What do you mean? It's okay, it's healthy,
we're adults, we're mature, why are you making
things a big deal?
It's not because of you in particular that
there's a ruling, it's because of society and
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave us rulings that
even if the individual says I don't have
a problem with anything, I'm not tempted, I'm
not this and that, it's not just about
you following it for yourself,
it's because it applies to all of society
and there's a betterment, there's a protection,
there's a well-being for everyone
when these conditions are followed.
And in our own communities in America,
in our own communities in the United States
we've had many marriages
destroyed because of infidelity that started in workplaces
and started in other places because something as
simple as khalwa was not followed, something as
simple as don't be alone, don't have too
many private conversations.
Are there sometimes exceptions to this in some
corporate spaces or workplaces? Yes, yes with guidelines
in place, there are some exceptions sometimes. Are
there exceptions sometimes in terms of communication? Sometimes.
But generally speaking we don't look at the
exceptions and make them the default ruling because
we have seen many people hurt by this,
we have seen many families broken up because
of this. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect
us and guide us and of course while
this advice is for those who are married,
this advice applies even more so to those
who are single and maybe more tempted and
things like this to remember that shaitan comes
to people in times of vulnerability. The prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam even forbade the man
from entering the home
of his sister-in-law when she's there alone and
we may think in many cultures what's the
big deal? In some cultures in fact many
Muslims don't know that that's not allowed, like
you shouldn't be alone in private with like
your sister-in-law or with you know somebody that's
that is
yani that that you that has to cover
up in front of you and they belittle
this and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
forbade this when the sahaba asked, he forbade
this and he said entering upon them is
a type of death, meaning it's deadly serious,
meaning shaitan will play with this, it doesn't
mean you're doing something wrong, it doesn't mean
she's doing something wrong, it just means there's
a door that you don't want to open.
Don't open any of these doors and you
know for sure if you don't open these
doors you're
guarded constantly.
If you allow the door to be open
because of habit, because you belittle the concept
of khalwa, then it's possible shaitan has one
entry point into your life in terms of
vulnerabilities,
and what we're supposed to do is close
off these vulnerabilities as much as we can,
and sometimes when you think of I'm not
a cyber security expert and I'm assuming maybe
we have some who are over here, do
we have any in the audience just out
of curiosity? Cyber security alhamdulillah, on sister side
alhamdulillah. So I don't know much about it
but I do know enough to know that
all it takes to really mess up an
entire
company's
database to have a breach is just like
one vulnerability,
right? And it could
be
like, social engineering, like hacking, like just one
employee's account. It could could literally be something
that seems insignificant.
And I know this is an analogy, but
it's important for us to recognize that likewise
taqwa is for you to have a shield
all around.
Don't open the door for shaitan, don't play
with that fire, may Allah protect us all.
The 3rd practical advice, make dua, make dua,
oh Allah protect me, and this is why
we find the dua of the Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam, Allahum razookhanahu da, watuka, walaathatha,
chastity,
Allah grant us guidance and righteousness and chastity
meaning protect us in our body parts and
independence as well self sufficiency. So make a
lot of dua if you are struggling with
these types of things as well and ask
Allah for, especially if you're not married, ask
Allah for halal outlets in other words. The
4th is dhikr,
remembering Allah with much remembrance,
many scholars have comments on these ayaat is
one of the reasons that some people are
more protected than others from falling into these
sins, that you are constantly making dhikr and
du'a. Number 5,
especially for those who are who have a
lot of free time, stay productive.
I don't like to say stay busy because
being busy and productive is not the same.
When you're busy you're doing a lot of
things, when you're productive you're growing in some
way, you're accomplishing some kind of goal beyond
just a basic responsibility.
Number 6, stay around good company as well
because our company we know can affect
the, the impression that we have of what
it means to be trustworthy,
that you violate the trust, and as well
with regards to guarding our chastity,
many people are already aware there are so
many today there are so many movies, TV
shows,
trends on social media of things that
actually,
they glorify
the violation of rights, they glorify,
you know, open relationships and what is it
called polyamory and all of this like cheating
and mistresses all that, they glorify these things,
in fact some of the people who glorify
these things have some of the greatest following.
So it's a reminder for us to really
protect ourselves in terms of our company and
then final number 7, our environments.
If you're consuming something constantly and I always
say this, if you're constantly consuming something
that's going against what you know is your
Islamic belief, your worldview, it's as though you're
consuming something that could distort your Islamic worldview,
meaning what? It becomes normal to start thinking
a different way and the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam told us to guard what we're
thinking, not just our actions, don't say I'm
not doing it, I'm just watching on social
media, I'm just entertained by it, it's just
a funny person to follow and they're doing
something haram left and right. You're guarding yourself
in terms of your akhirah, you're guarding your
thoughts and your heart, you're guarding your family
as well and if you've fallen into sin
in these two areas
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keeps that door open
so long as you're alive.
Turn to Allah and repentance altogether O believers
so that you may be successful
at the time of many of the righteous
like salahadeen ayub rahamullah and others
before many of the the battles at the
time of the sahaba as well you will
find references
that many scholars have brought up in their
writings
on the traits
of the individuals
that those leaders surround themselves with. And so
many times you will hear about salahuddin Ayuri
as an example rahimullah
and that he used to like amongst the
people around him, he used to really like
the people who practice the Quran,
like ahlulquran
and they practiced it and so the night
before for example,
October 11, 87 the liberation of Aqsa, may
Allah subhanahu wa'ala allow it to be facilitated
soon. The
nights before that happened many of the historians
would talk about how you would see a
group of the people with salahadeen aayubirahamullah praying
Qiyamulillah,
you'll see a group of people
reading Quran, you'll see others just making dikr
and dua, the same way when you're at
Arafah, you'll see people doing different things, the
same way when you're in the masjid for
articaf, you'll see people doing different things and
likewise the things you don't see when you're
at home and other people are in their
homes, what are you doing as a practice
in life? So he surrounded himself with these
types of people but also there's something else
to keep in mind, there are many enemies
of Islam
back then
and today
who are constantly,
constantly,
constantly
trying to go after Muslims in these two
areas, these two traits
to get people to violate
the trust that Allah has given them. So
briberies,
corruption through wealth, corruption through wealth in terms
of opportunity, we'll give you this, we'll give
you $20,000,000
as a lobby for example.
They try to get people to break their
principles for worldly
agendas
and number 2 their chastity.
There are many people in the world today,
Muslims and non Muslims,
who have fallen into the traps
of individuals who went after them just to
entrap them so they could blackmail them, so
they could benefit from them, and some of
these people are politicians, some of these people
are politicians who are in fact
facilitating allowing a lot of different types of
evil and injustice and oppression to continue the
world, and I would not be surprised if
we had unfortunately many politicians in this country
who are blackmailed as well and who have
fallen into some of these,
traps, but I want us to talk just
about us for a moment as Muslims,
that we don't fall for these traps, that
we are more cautious than anyone else in
the world. Waladina homlifurujim
hafiloon. Yes, this is a trust Allah has
given you, so you're thinking about your relationship
with Allah, you're thinking about the akhirah, but
know that there are some people who know
that if they can get to you through
your shahawat
then you will be distracted and you will
also lose that naslim that you will get
from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You're not focused
on the akhirah as much,
you've proven to those individuals you're willing to
violate the rights of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
you're willing to oppress your soul
by falling into
sexual traps and intimate traps and all of
this and that the akhir now is on
the side. So they know perhaps there's also
another avenue in and they are able to
violate now what the other traits that you
have of amana
and there are many people in the world
today who are linked who are linked as
politicians
to what is happening in terms of Zionism,
in terms of injustice, in terms of structures
of evil and violence
in which they have been like many before,
they have fallen through these types of traps.
I know this sounds like a very bizarre
way to end this session to talk about
the topic of
amana and chastity
but I remind my brothers and my sisters
all around the world that these are not
things that we can play around with, these
are two characteristics that are tied together in
the beginning of Suratul muminoon and they have
ripple effects
in al Dunya because the Muslim who stays
away from those temptations
before that night before the battle for salahdinayyubi,
that night before the battle for some of
the sahaba as well like the battle of
Badr,
you can imagine that no matter
what an enemy tried to do to them
of temptations or seduction or anything worldly as
well of finances of wealth that they would
not fall for that.
Knowing that, intansoolallahan
surkur.
Walayansuramwalayansuram
Allah Subhanahu wa'ala will give victory to those
who uphold his religion, to those who give
victory to these trusts, these responsibilities.
We are all responsible for
our families, our times, our effort, our health,
our capacities, our networks. Utilize your trust as
best as you can and to facilitate justice
in the world as well. May Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala protect us, guide us, allow us
to follow these characteristics and others, and may
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us amongst those
who benefit from what we hear. May Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala bring down his swift justice
and his mercy to the people of Ghazza
and Finasteen, and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
punish those who oppress them and punish those
who kill innocent people. May Allah
stop in their tracks, those who are facilitating
and aiding this kind of injustice in the
world, and may Allah
allow us to live to see a free
finaslina to pray in Masjid Al Aqsa.