Tom Facchine – al-Raghib al-Isfahani #13 – How To Develop Elite Qualities

			So we talked about the relationship between the top two levels, okay? The alpha and a beta. What
about the relationship between killer alpha and Inara? Right? And the author of dogmas for HANA,
he's trying to get us away from extreme asceticism, when he's talking about this because some people
have fallen into this, where they imagine that attaining to the highest level of spiritual success
and spiritual refinement necessarily means absolutely abstaining and neglecting from this life, this
dunya this world, and that's an extreme right, and when we the Prophet alayhi salatu. Salam was also
checking some of the companions with this, right there were some companions that were so zealous
		

			that they would pray all night every night, and they would fast every day. And they would spend all
their time in the masjid. And constantly he had to check them and say, Listen, I pray at night
sometimes, and I don't pray at night, other times, or you know, I sleep is the better, he says, I
don't spend the whole night every night praying, I pray some of it and I sleep some of it, right? I
am married, right? That was another thing, some of the companions went to the extreme thinking that,
okay, because this urge of, for sexual intimacy can go awry, and it can be hijacked can be the
source of lust, and desire and bad things, that I'm gonna completely stay away from it entirely. And
		

			the prophesy said, No, I'm married. And so he was constantly checking them. It's like, I fast some
days, and I don't fast other days, constantly checking them to bring them back to moderation, right,
telling them that you don't have to completely neglect this dunya, it's not actually going to help
your spiritual advancement. Why? Because the things that are here for your email for your livelihood
are actually potential avenues of worship. Somebody thinks, Okay, because there is this phenomenon
of sexual urge and intimacy and lust, I'm not going to get married, I'm going to be celibate, that
person has made a mistake, because they don't realize that Allah has given us the relationship of a
		

			spouse in order to worship him. He's given us that school and anybody who's married knows that it's
all about transformation. And you're going to learn a lot of things, right? And so if you deny
yourself entrance into that school, you're depriving yourself there's no way you're going to advance
and get these sort of elite qualities and be ready for that. But how are you going to be a Khalifa
of the creation and you can't even the Khalifa of your home? Right? When it comes to your spouse or
relationship? Yeah, you got to get in there. And you've got to learn how to trance transform
yourself, and you got to be patient with the other you have to become sensitive to another person's
		

			needs. Right? You have to manage these things like expectations and disappointment, and you have to
be patient with the faults of others and things like this is part of the game. Right? And so if you
just come to the conclusion that well, oh, I can't get involved in that because it could potentially
go wrong. None enough. The idea is to get involved with it and do it the right way. That's how you
transform. We can say the same thing about business and livelihood. Okay. Does the fact that
somebody could potentially make their livelihood in a haram way mean that you should just go be a
beggar? Just go house to house, you know, dressed in your really, really rough clothes, and just so
		

			I'm the I'm the holy man of the village, please give me alms. No, you have to get in there. Because
a person who's able to get in there and make their livelihood in a permissible way, actually, in an
excellent way that pleases Allah, that Allah proves us is better than somebody who just subtracts
himself from the game entirely. It's the same thing. So all of us for honey wants us to understand
that there's no contradiction between a Mata and Cadenza that actually, the level of a MATA is
potentially the training ground for developing the virtues that are eventually going to be essential
when it comes to being a Khalifa being this the steward or this manager on, on on earth or in the
		

			creation that you have to Yes, go out and make your livelihood and do it in the right way. Go out
and marry and and have children and do it in the right way. And be aware of those things. And
through those relationships and through those spheres of activity, start to intentionally develop
those higher elite qualities that are going to come in handy when it's time to be responsible for
the rest of creation.