Hold Your Soul to Account

Anybody who runs a nonprofit or has a business knows the importance of auditing.

When you audit your business, or your organization, you have to turn it all the paperwork to somebody else to go through the fine tooth comb, and make sure that everything is as it should be, if you said you spent $5.32 Over here, you have to have proof to show that that's actually what you did. If you said that you paid this and you got in this, then you have to have the receipts, you have to be able to prove it. Even if you don't own a business. When it comes, April and April is not too far away, you have tax time, and tax time as a similar sort of thing we have regularly built into our calendar, the need to take account, the need to look back on what you earned on what you

spent, and to report it to some other authority outside of yourself.

Why do we have to report it to an outside authority? Why wouldn't it be easier to just have self reported taxing, we could be the IRS for our own selves. Or you could be the audit for your own business or for your own organization.

Because if we were left in charge, many of us would feel a temptation to cheat. Many of us would feel the temptation to lie, we would have an incentive to fudge the numbers, the things that are coming in, especially with taxes, we would want to minimize so that we don't have to pay more than we would want and the things that we have going out we would have the temptation to maximize to make it look like we should deserve a bigger return than we actually do. People need to submit to an outside authority to sign up for an audit that is organized and controlled by somebody else, not them. Because we can be easily led astray as Allah subhana wa Tada tells us in the Quran, that if

everything were up to our own desires, it would surely lead us down the wrong road. And there's a couple of ways in which this happens. One of them happens just simply from the neffs from the inside, what the neffs wants. And Allah subhanho wa Taala warns us to be very very careful about thinking that's exactly what we want equals what is good for us know Allah subhanaw taala tells us that sometimes it can be the opposite. Allah azza wa jal says quotevalet Community Tala Hua called Hola calm well as tech Rahul che well who are higher lecom was to hippo che. Well who are Sherlock Holmes? Well, lovely animal we're in tune.

In this context, Allah subhanho wa Taala had revealed the verses that were finally permitting the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam to defend themselves and to engage in warfare. But Allah subhanaw taala recognizes that fighting is something that people don't want to do. It's not something that people love to do or sign up for willingly, which is why he says, fighting has been prescribed for you. Even though you don't like it. Even though you dislike it, you find it distasteful, you would rather not be doing it. But then Allah subhanaw taala says, but perhaps you hate a thing, while it is good for you. And perhaps you love a thing. But in reality, it's bad for

you. And Allah subhanaw taala knows, and you all do not know anybody who has kids knows that this is

intuitive that goes beyond the need of having to prove, if you were to let your young child decide what they would eat for dinner every night, I guarantee you, they would never look at anything green again. Unless that green was some type of candy that was colored from a factory, they would choose the candy and the chocolate and everything that was bad for them. Despite the two things that would come despite the stomach aches that would come despite all the other early onset of diabetes and whatever else have you the consequences that would happen, you can guarantee that they will not make the wisest choice, they will not make the wisest choice for themselves. And it stands to reason and

we've said this on this memoir previously, if we can't let our young kids decide what to eat for dinner, then how can we allow them allow them to decide their gender men babble Hola. This is absurd. But that's not the point of today's clip. But that's the point of today's football is that there is a disconnect between what you love and what is good for you, between what you hate and what is bad for you. Those two things are not the same and we need

Need an authority outside of ourselves in order to help us figure out what is right and what is wrong, if it were left up to us, then we would surely go astray. What makes it worse? What makes it worse is that we don't only have to compete against ourselves in this process, it wouldn't be bad enough. And it would be difficult enough, if we had to only compete against our neffs and the part of our soul that wants to do evil that inclines to do evil that enjoys the tasty things of life a little bit too much. But there's somebody else in the room. There's another force that is conspiring against us. And this is the dub. This is the shaytaan. And this is all of his helpers, and his

soldiers and his cavalry. Allah subhanaw taala says, and sorrows and he said he Idaho more human need him, well, May, Idaho mache, tonto 11, Rura. How does the devil get you to act out? How does the devil gets you to do wrong? He doesn't come up to you in the morning and say, hey, it would be a good example, if you stole from somebody today. Or it would be a good idea if you killed somebody today. Or it would be a good idea if you cheated on your spouse today. That's not how the devil operates. That would be easy. No, how does the devil operate? Allah says in this idea that he makes it beautiful to you. He suggests things to you. He provides rationality you and he fills you with

false desires. He hypes you up. He's the biggest hype man out there. Satan promises them and arouses desire in them. That's what the is translated to mean. But the devil does not promise them anything except delusion, Mirage, it's smoke and mirrors. Once you get that thing that devil had you pumped up, you thought that your happiness was finally within reach. The second that you hold on to it, it all comes off, the mask comes off, and you realize that it wasn't really going to make you happy anyway. And you're left with regrets. As the devil abandons you. Those are two sources just too and there's more that demonstrate that we cannot rely just on ourselves to figure out what is right and

what is wrong. We cannot rely just on ourselves to be able to do right, we need that external authority. We need a third party audits. But there's yet one more source of influence that we have to talk about. And that is peer pressure. That is what everybody else is doing. If you thought it was bad having to fight against your own neffs. And then on top of that fight against the shaytaan. Well, guess what, you also have to swim against the current you have to fight against the grain what everybody else out there is doing. The majority. Allah subhanaw taala tells us to look out to don't trust the majority. He says, Well, I've got a solid rough, gnarly, nasty if he had a quarter and

immune couldn't leave method. Ferber act federal NASCI illogical fora, we have certainly diversified for the people in this court and every type of example, every type of argument you could possibly want. It's here in the Koran, but the majority of people refuse everything except for Cofer. Except for disbelief except for rejection except for denial.

And Allah says it another idea that if you weren't to follow the majority of people, then you would surely be led astray. So we see with all of these and there's many, many more, but for the sake of time, every single one of us needs that guidance that comes from outside of ourselves. This is a deen, where we don't just rely on dreams. We don't just rely on how we feel when we wake up in the morning. We don't just rely on reading the signs and the tea leaves or something like this. We have to rely on the revelation the guidance that ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada gave us and yet

And yet, there is an important role for ourselves holding our own selves accountable. Yes, we can't do it alone. Don't get it twisted. We cannot do it alone. However, there is a role to play in each and every single one of us holding ourselves accountable first before you turn it over to that third party.

If anybody here I know some people in the executive committee, we take care of the taxes. We can't just throw everything to the auditor. We have to take care of it first we have our own internal audit then we turn it over for somebody to say yes, this is good or no this is not. You have to prepare your own taxes before the IRS goes through it. And then says yes, this looks like it checks out or no Something funny is going on.

In our religion in our deen we also

have to take account of ourselves before the day comes where Allah subhanaw taala is going to take care and take account of us. This is called Maha Sabha. It's a very, very important concept in Islam, Maha Sabha taking account of yourself and what you're doing.

Because if you are talking to a parent, I'll make give you an example like this.

Is it better to turn yourself in? If you've committed a crime? Is it better to turn yourself in? Or is it better to get caught?

What's your sentence gonna be like, if you turn yourself in? They're gonna take it easy on you. They're gonna say, Okay, well, you know what, yes, what he did was wrong. But he came in, he came into the precinct himself, he turned himself in, Let's lighten it up. Let's take that into account. Compare that to the time when the criminals in the high speed chase. And the cops have to run through the back yards and hop fences and get bit by dogs in order to catch the criminal? How are they going to treat that criminal? They're going to throw the book at him. They're going to rough them up a little bit before he even gets back to the back to the precinct. The way that you treat

those two different people is completely opposite. And so what do you think if you take account of yourself first before turning it over to Allah subhanaw taala on the day of just you turn yourself in you say Allah, I did wrong. I did this and I did that. And I was mistaken. And this was wrong. How do you think that Allah will treat you on the Day of Judgment versus versus

if you try to get away? If you try to say no, I didn't do anything wrong. That wasn't me. No, no, I had every reason to do that. I was justified and you're running away from that angels Dino Allah subhanaw. Taala described the angels beating them on their backs, whipping them with chains. And for the absolute furthest degree, which is Kofa the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam described the angels extracting the renegade soul from the body as if you were pulling out a hook.

You go, you've gone fishing before you've seen those hooks. Once they get caught in something, when you pull it out, it only tears. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said for the soul who is wrapped up in denial and rejection, when the angels come to take their body out of their soul out of their body.

It's like removing something that's a rope with all those hooks attached and it will tear and it will hurt.

So brothers and sisters, we take account of ourselves now.

We look at ourselves now. We handle on we submit and we say yes, Allah, I'm wrong here and there and there and there. There's things I haven't even done that I don't even remember doing. That I seek forgiveness for the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam used to ask forgiveness for the things that he remembered doing. And the things that he didn't even remember just so he was safe. And there's a story. I didn't plan on sharing, but it bears remembering here that I should probably Allahu anha. Towards the end of her life. She had a conflict with her, her cousin Abdullah and are best suited me, Abdullah Manana. And she made a promise that she wouldn't speak to him. But she made a promise

that was open ended if she didn't say that. For example, that's like, if I talk to you again, I have to free 40 slaves, she left it open ended. So this went on for a long, long time. And eventually Abdullah bin Omar and his friends, they convinced her to break that promise that she had made but she was so fearful of Allah subhanaw taala that she freed dozens and dozens and dozens of slaves, fearing that she would have to meet Allah subhanaw taala with that, because she didn't know she was taking herself into account or she was taking account of herself. before Allah subhanaw taala did some of the setup. They said that you will never achieve piety and righteousness until you hold

yourself more rigorously accountable, then even your business partner or that you would a business partner. You guys know if you go in to business with somebody, you start seeing questionable purchases, you start seeing questionable expenditures, you start seeing funny business, you start to look into things what's going on here, wait a second, because that's your money. You want to make sure you know where it's going. While the son of said you're never going to become pious, you're never going to become righteous until you take yourself to account just like you would that other business partner.

Even Okay, and Rahim Allah He gave us some tips and some strategies for how to hold yourself accountable. And there's two major types of holding yourself accountable. One of them is to hold yourself accountable before you do something because prevention is always easier than the cure. It's always

easier to take care of something before you fall into sin than it is to clean up the mess after that you have sinned. So the first is before that you act and the second is after, before you act, what should you do?

You should pause the minute that you want to do something you should stop and think before you act. Don't rush into things. This is an action from the shaytaan that Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam might have said this is a weak Hadith, a larger, Amina shaytaan. However, we have the opposite meaning in authentic hadith where the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam praised al Hal will enter. He praised deliberate action, taking your time with things. This is a quality that Allah subhanaw taala loves. So every single one of us has to be intentional, every single one of us has to be mindful. In the middle, beneath every single thing you do, Allah is going to hold you to account

according to what you intended. What did you want? What were you trying to accomplish with this thing that you were about to do? And so even no claim, he says, Ask yourself four questions. Before you go about just rushing into something and doing it. Ask yourself four questions. First, Is this thing even possible to do in the first place? Because if it's not possible, then you might as well not even waste your time to? Is it better that I do this thing or not do it? A lot of us can understand this, when we think about the things that we say, sometimes you're in a gathering, and something occurs to you to say, and then what, three minutes later, you're like, you know what, I

really didn't have to say that. I really wish I had not said that thing. Some of the things that we do add value, and some of the things we do take it away. So every single one of us should think before we speak before we act is the thing that I'm about to do going to add value to my afterlife, to my virtue to those around me, or is it only going to decrease it? The third question is this for Allah or not. And we know that every single thing that we do, if it's for Allah will be rewarded, even going to the bathroom, even going to sleep.

As my Sheikh said, he said, some of us fall asleep and some of us go to sleep.

You can lay on your bed, and so sleep overtakes you, or you can make wudu you can say Bismillah you can say some health care, you can say some data on the bed, that whole time you're sleeping can be worship.

The angels can be writing good deeds the whole time you're knocked out. But you have to have the right intention. You have to do it for Allah subhanahu wa Tada. And the final question, do I have the tools that I need in order to do this thing? Do I have the help around me, somebody wants to become a half of the Koran. Somebody wants to become a scholar. And they're only hunting and pecking their Google Search. In English that's not you have to reach out to people, you have to find that you have to find people who are going to help you hit people who are going to be able to assist you, in your, in your endeavor. So those are four questions to ask yourself to take account of yourself

before you rush into an action. Okay, what about after? What about once we make a mistake? What about once we fall into error?

This is where we see the importance of what Allah subhanaw taala says in the Quran, and nevsun love web, the self reproaching soul Allah subhanaw taala swears by it.

The part of your neffs that feels guilty when you do something wrong. The part of your soul that questions yourself. The sadoff used to say that every single believer blames himself or herself. Blaming yourself shows that your hearts alive. Blaming yourself shows that you care what Allah subhanaw taala thinks. And so if you look and every single one of you think about it, when you lay down to sleep at night, go over the actions that you did every single one, go through your day from fetcher onto her onto ask her to mark them until the end of it.

And look at the things that you did.

Look at your obligations, your prayers,

your gnathopod you spend on your on your family, your responsibilities. Did you have any shortcomings? Was there anything that you didn't do you rush through your prayers or you weren't mindful? Or you had the opportunity to do it earlier? But then you didn't and you delayed it unnecessarily.

Look at the things that you shouldn't have done in the first place. All those will help run ads. Every time you spoke a negative word behind someone's back.

Every time you said a curse word, every time you lied. Every time you shared something without even verifying it.

All the macro Hatha things that you have maybe technically they're not haram but really you shouldn't have been doing them anyway.

And then look at the things that even are permissible

But they're taking up too much of your time. They're taking up too much of your time that could be spent elsewhere. The video games, the scrolling, the clicking, the searching the surfing the web, all of these things yes, they're not strictly haram there's nothing wrong with them but you could be much more. You could be doing much better. You have so much time Allah subhanaw taala gave you 24 hours in a day How are you using those 24 hours? Hold yourself to account everybody hold yourself to account as amaro the Allahu Anhu said before you are held account of a Kulu Cody ha That was so cute Allah Holly Welcome on Saturday Muslimeen colada pastel Pharaoh in the hole for Rocky.

Alhamdulillah Allah if Cerny was shook Allahu Allah toffee if he wants you in any way Sherwyn La ilaha illallah wa after rulership Are you gonna sort of evenly share any one shadow and unabIe in our so Eden and Mohammed and Abdullah would assume that they either do and so Allahu alayhi wa that he was awkward as Harvey he was when he was selling water, steam and cathedral

as amarena hot tub said, hold yourself accountable before you are held to account. And by that he meant the Day of Judgment.

Our time on Earth is very short. Every single one of us has to invest, just like you invest in your physique. When you go to the gym, just like you invest in your portfolio when you put money into it. Just like you invest in anything else, your house, your car, whatever it is, invest in your afterlife, specifically the message of today. Invest in your afterlife by holding yourself to accountable now. Don't let yourself go if you let your body go, what does it look like? He starts to get out of shape. You start to get flabby, you're not as strong. You can't run up the hill, you can't play a game of soccer or anything like that. Don't let your spirit go. Don't let yourself go

when it comes to your soul. Just don't ride on cruise control. take account of yourself. Now think about what you did think about more intentionally the things that you're going to do and vet yourself. Look at your intentions. Take a hard cold look in the mirror and have that moment of reckoning before it's too late. Because every single one of us, every single one of us wants to ease that day. That's going to be a day of chaos and a day of regret for many of us. So any single advantage that we can get, we should make sure that we avail ourselves of the opportunity to make it as easy as possible.