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.