Reflections on Surah Al Asr

Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar

along

on

luck bonus

as

in

all

ash had one

off

Edelen no more Miguel rasool Allah all

s Hadwen no more him my god rustling

All

right he won't

Hi

hola

hola

hola. AWK

awk Bowtell bottle

ILA

all

hamdulillah Hina Ahmed who want to stay in who want to study he want to stop federal 102 bilLahi min surely I'm pushing them and sejati I'm Melina mejor de la who Philomel de la Houma Euclid follow her the era or shadow Allah Allah Allah Allahu la sharika wash shadow under Muhammad and Abu rasuluh Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik ala Nabina Muhammad. While early he was so happy he was telling me Lahoma to Sleeman Kathira and my bad old praise due to Allah and His praise and blessings and peace beyond the apostle Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his family, his companions and his followers until the day of judgment. I bear witness that Allah is the only one worthy of

worship and Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his last and final messenger.

A father, so his son holding two nice big red apples.

So he said to the Son, shared one of them with me.

But quickly, the son took a bite from each one.

Father was like kind of said, Hey, that's not nice. You should share, you know, sharing and caring and he started talking to him about how important for him to share, especially if you have extra

than the son said, Dad. I was actually testing both of them to see which one sweeter to give it to you.

Maybe it was bluffing the kid? I don't know.

But regardless if he was truthful or not,

at answer

could be pretty much true.

Because so many times children are very amazing creatures

that you can learn so much from them. You can be inspired by them every day as you watch them.

You know, I seen Shiva Brahim.

Since he started teaching in a man Academy inspired every day with a story about kids. He got his white hair already humble

Love before he goes there, but you know what yesterday he shared amazing stories about kids. And many people who work with kids get a lot of inspirations. And you know me personally, working on watching and being an investor being community around children, you know, my for my own too, it's always an inspiration, because they have so much purity in them.

And that's why it's so important for us, to not allow anyone to corrupt this purity of the hearts of our children.

And I'm saying this because even that's not my topic of today. But I'm saying this, because we are in an election cycle. Do not elect anyone who in any way shape or form or how will allow corruptions to come to our children's schools. Do not give that person your vote, even if it means that I give my vote to someone who will make my personal life art.

I'll choose that over someone who will corrupt my kids at school,

and will introduce legislation that goes against every moral code that we understand as human beings from Adam until today.

Come back to my topic for children. And how inspiration Yeah, and how much inspiration you can get out of them. One thing I noticed and something that I think we are endear need for it as an adult,

is how lot even as they grow, like I see this in my children, high school, middle school, you know, elementary, even when they are younger before going to school, I'm sure you all share with me the same observation, which is they are very goal oriented. You know, they pursue whatever they want to achieve. They have all these goals and dreams and life is so good. When you ask a kid What do you want to be? And you listen to all these dreams that they have what they want to be,

you know, the one who don't dream are dead people don't dream

living people who have lived they have dreams. They're driven by these dreams, they are motivated by these dreams. And so many time, so many times as us as adults, we don't have these dreams anymore in our life. We are motivated by these goals that we want to achieve. We so caught up with the everyday things that you know just to pass by, you know this to do these problems, but there is no really clarity what I want to be what I want to achieve

and that can be very sad. And unfortunately, it is in both sides in religious matters and worldly matters.

For examples, there is no any clarity of what goals religiously you want to achieve in your life.

Let just pick one

or Salaat

Where do you want to be? immuno Kodama Rahim Allah see when he has a goal oriented epidemic Lord in the lagoon to other Allah and your zucchini Salah tell me Ahmed, I always want to be like an Imam Ahmed and his commitment and Salah

you Mohammed used to pray in the daytime in the daytime 300 volunteer rockers can easily tell me I track average volume does not a night prayers.

If not with them I said what is the cannula who salata and Allah Subhan Allah bless me with that.

So if you only 30 said for 20 years I want and the struggle so hard with my prayers

since last Ramadan Ramadan coming a few months

your goal was to do what how to improve your salad, your girl maybe how to have more sushi and the salad. Your goal is to increase the number of salad that you pray in the mustard.

Your goal is not to delay any Salah to pray on time in the beginning of the time.

Look at your relationship with the Quran.

How much progress you have made. The reason that you have no progress made much because there is no really clear goal

that you don't have a clarity of your goal. You don't have a goal. You don't have you don't identify anything that you want to achieve. Just imagine a basketball team playing

and there is no ring there's no goal

or worst. There is a

Go. But the team play and the goal that ring is not the focus.

That's a loser team. Who will never win. They will never score.

It's so boring if a game without these two rings

can imagine soccer field with no goals. Basketball with no goals. Football with no goals.

What a boring game. Exactly how this your life is so boring without having a clarity in what you want to achieve. Goal is what motivates you to pursue.

That's why men always have these goals in his life.

Men, US Bahal Acura aka Rohan may not be Sussan said you woke up in the morning and the Acura is your main concern.

You will go

out and it is unfortunately, even in worldly matters.

Many times you don't have a clarity, you know, you used to have dreams like when these kids like these kids, but what are they, what why they were lost? Where what happened to them. It is okay to change your goals as you grow.

It's okay to switch your goals. But what's not okay is to love without clarity of what you want to achieve, or what you want to be as individual as community, as family as a society as a country. Unfortunately, sadly, the truth is, most of us discover where we discover where we are headed. When when we arrive.

And we discover when we arrive. That's what Discover all that's my destinations, I guess.

And that's something needs to be worked on. Even sometimes when it comes to family relationships, you have to identify what you want to achieve.

You can just say, okay, you know, most of the people just day by day know I want to work on something I want to work. For example, my communication improved my relationship with my son, or my daughter, I want to spend more time with them, the more you're able to identify what you want that to identify different means and ways to achieve what you want, the more successful you are. You have plan A and B. Now I say mashallah, the alphabet is too many, not only limited to a and b, there is a, b and c and d, you can put so many plans and so many ways to achieve what you want. It is so important to have why in your life.

Without why usually you can keep going strong can be you know, achieve fast what you want to achieve.

And, finally,

if you don't

pursue your dreams, and you are motivated by a dream, most likely you will be led by your problems

every day in your life.

And when you're led by your problems, you can see the big beautiful picture out there. You're always stressed out. You always have anxiety, you always, you know feel like things tight. That's when it's Nam, we have this big concert. You know, I had good karma. Look at the other good that Allah subhanaw taala have given you the other blessings. What is this all about? It's about shifting your narrow vision from focusing on, you know, the problems to the big picture to big picture, which is you have so many options out there. You know, I can't stop thinking of all was Martin Luther King when he gave that famous speech and he said, I have a dream.

That's right. Can you imagine if that speech was I have a problem?

Can you imagine Martin Luther King leading his movement by saying we have they have a problem don't they?

But he did not let this problem to what leads them as the dreams what leads them? That's exactly the same advice we give to so many people who are excited about defending Islam and talk about Islam Islamophobes always try to make us as Muslim to speak about what we are not I'm not this I'm not this I'm not this I'm not that. You know what happened when you start saying this, that you will never be able to tell people who you are and what your religion is and what this is about.

And that's what this dilemma you can be caught in

you know, if there is no

if there's no value you add to the world.

You just an addition

Neither lumea Can you Nexia that? Is it Allah Allah Haddad phantom moto road zyada la vida de vie. You know, they said men and people like zeros.

The values depends on what are the stands? Have one and have one zero after the one. What does that become?

10 you put two zeros 103,000 that you bring five zeros, and he put it before the number

00001 Nothing, you add nothing to the one.

You have you add nothing to it. I know some mathematics is gonna come now, these professors had no shift, actually, you add something to it, you know, just in a lame term, you know, me and math, we kind of departed or had to go, you know what math to start having problems. I said no, a lot other things take care of anyway. So going back to the point, which is if you don't add, what do you stands, what you stands for, that's what really makes your value appear in the dunya.

And that's why I started with this point, or I mentioned this point at the beginning of my life. And my talk today that this issue that we have principles, we have values, we can just give it up, there are certain values he can't live without.

Because if you don't have something to stand for, you will fall for anything.

I love also sometimes when I look at children, I'm amazed by one thing I want to mention today.

Their ability to deal with mistakes and a very positive energy and waves in it before they go to school and they are taught in schools being wrong it means being bad. Their nature their fitrah tell them then being wrong. It means an experience. Something I can learn allowed me to grow.

You know success in life is never, never was about not failing, not falling on the ground. Success in life is your ability to stand up every time you fall down.

Your ability to correct yourself. That's why in Islam, we have a big concept called Oktober. Repentance. To the extent similar, Matt said even after Tober, you're in a higher status than the status you were at before the sin. And if you are on this level, before committing the sin, you commit the sin you go down after Toba, you repent to Allah do you go to the same level you were before the sin? They said no actually go higher.

That's an amazing

it's not an invitation to make mistakes and sins, but an invitation for you to know that we are weak, we will make mistakes, but we should learn from it. We should grow. We should not judge people based on the mistakes that they have done to us or to others only.

We take in consideration but it's not the only thing I can put you in that frame and that's it. Yeah, the man

had an methyl minion Nabi SallAllahu Sallam What a beautiful example in the seer of the Prophet sallallahu Sallam when Osama had been saved in Ibiza Salam was so mad at him because he killed someone after this person said lol Allah in the battlefield. And if you know the background of it, this man killed so many Muslim soldiers. And he turned the battle around the Muslim are winning and this man is start killing among the Muslims likely army, many of the horsemen and assortment and he will basically inspire the enemy to come back full force and to push back the Muslims.

So Shama saw this and he strike them and he basically when he strikes him, the man dropped his, he lost his sword. Then when he's about to strike him said eyeshadow Lila, very obvious. He's just trying to save his life, but to some abstract him in navy sasakwa adulto by the an IRA, you killed him after he said that his war is not about killing.

And he said some a wished that day that I was not Muslim before this day. I wish that this my first name is not because of how bad I felt.

That's a big mistake.

But look, two years later, Osama leading the biggest army in the Muslim

time at that time of the process Allah at that time,

the biggest army he sent him to the north, under his command Omar, Abu Bakr, cantata, Emirati, Amara Walker.

He did not judge him through that mistake only it was an opportunity for him to grow up.

May Allah subhanaw taala make

Among those who learn from their mistakes and grow from it, you know, and make a loss panoramic all us successful in this life and the next, according to Mr. Hollywood.

hamdu lillah wa salatu salam, ala Rasulillah, Juana Ali or sabe woman, what a hobo

I still remember when I moved to my new house,

my kids were the first people were the first one in the family, the younger one, to get so used to the neighborhood to the house, discover things that I didn't even know about. In no time they got so used to the new school to the new friends, new neighbors.

This is a beautiful thing that Allah subhanaw taala put it in the heart and the mind of children that they have very, they're very flexible, very good and adjusting to the change.

And this is something so essential for surviving. So essential for thriving, so essential for your ability to keep moving.

You know, those who cannot adjust, belong to Jurassic Park

don't belong to this time, if you don't have the ability to adjust, you just belong to somewhere else bring to museums.

there those who cannot adjust as individuals, as community, but adjusting also has to be according to the right for the right reason in the right way.

We study in biology, we study in history, we study, you know, it's a basic things you study that adaption and you adapt to the change is something natural, it's a natural phenomenon, you can deny that.

And basically, this dumped into the new things make you evolve, make you become better, and so forth.

And that's in physical sense, and in the spiritual sense, and all in many different areas in life. So what I'm saying here, some of us can't move on,

and to adjust to the new stages of life that they are in.

Or, for example, their family in or their community, no other country and this stuff stuck to the past.

I was in England, last two weeks.

And one thing that I kept hearing from the brothers and sisters, they're shocked, I don't think we can go back to what we used to be. I don't think we can go back to the way we used to be. With all the changes in law, I don't think the whole world will come back to what it is happening. I think there's a lot of things I said who said that we have to go back to what we used to be

like 10 years ago, 15 years ago or 50 years ago.

Why didn't you why you always have to go by what about you know what, and who said that I have to go this direction where I go straight to the you know, to hell or to like to the basically to the cliff, I don't have to you always have the choice to change your direction

to arrive to new lands and to New Destinations.

That mentality of always have to go back to where they used to be I can adjust to these new challenges view that in the right way and the right form in the right frame. Those who have the ability to do that those the little the real leaders, historically in Muslims world, and FIP and Hadith in every area.

They did not just stuck to certain frames and they said that's it, as long as these adjusting adjustment made according to the right principles for the right cause for the right reasons.

It is important for us to to know that if example, I give you just random examples, you can make an analogy and milk pass on

any somebody after they're you now in your 50s or 60s. house you're happy. You can't act like someone in 40s or 30s This is a new stage of life. You know when you're on your own you'll be stopped your 50s and up that when you relax.

Don't let every word work you out. Don't let every silly comments make you angry. You know there is no time left much of your life to be distracted with these things. You know what? Just let it go. Enjoy your life.

Relax, awkward Arabic You know focus on your Ibadah more focus more on Allah than the creations

Somebody, for example, that's a new stage in your life, you know somebody and they're teenagers or they are in their 20s Don't expect them to behave like for example, someone in their 50s.

Like one brother was said to me, I was in a conference recently, just like give me a random example. So he was talking about how your any brothers and sisters are, honey men and woman are just brothers and sisters. We should not always sexualize this whole thing, you know, which is fine, but he kind of pushed for it. Then I looked at I said, How old are you? He said, I'm like, you know, 66.

I said Yanni, don't compare 62 years old or 80 or 58 years old, to a guy who's 18 years old.

What his testosterone is like shooting skyrora

and his sexual drive to that door and oh, you relax. Yes, you relax for a reason. Okay, but this young man is not like you this young woman is not like you it is it the audacity if you think this way

and not true, not true.

So somebody will start talking from certain position that they are in? Mashallah, yeah, he, you have a wife and mashallah you fulfill all your needs with her. But that's not the case. With these young men and woman

don't compare yourself to them and said, Oh, it's okay for them to be like this. And that. That's why there is rules and Sharia for him. So not understanding, you know, to just harass you. And you have to know that if you're a new position, don't judge other people. This people move on in their life and became in different stages. I tell you, some people, their wives, their daughters became married, their son became married. You know what, he's not anymore, though. Kids who stay at your home. Anytime you want them know, they have their own life. You have to respect that new stage in their life.

Your kids are not you know, elementary school, the grown up. You have to respect that.

Same thing with your dad, same thing with your wife, with your husband, adjusting to these new stages in life is so important.

I was telling my dad that. Who's

yet somebody was telling me that day he wants to reserve a room for a guest. Then he said or something like that hotel. Then he was telling me Yeah, you know, it's like $25 $35 the room. I said, Oh, that was like, right after the great flood. But no hurry. Salaam

$35. You can get like a four star hotel, you know, a decent place for 35 watt LED to 25 doors anymore. What are you living? You know, okay, this is couple of doors, go get yourself a meal meal. What are you living in the 80s you know, that you need to understand that this change. You like it you don't like it? That's the reality is the more you're able to do that the more you will be able to you understand you live in America, you have a responsibility on your shoulder. And that's a big subject. But I hope today, this two issues, it became something of concern to us.

You know, that's why I'm here in our community, we need you. We can't offer not to have you in the mustard more often. We can offer not to have you, you know, coming to the regular prayers.

Because the situation that you're living in require from us as a community to be close to help one another to look after one another.

The pressure is so strong.

I ask Allah subhanaw taala to protect all of us. And I ask ALLAH SubhanA data, to help us to stay our course and our Eman and our faith until we meet him while he's pleased with us to forgive our parents and to bless our life. To bless our businesses to bless our homes to bless our cities and countries to bless all the world and we ask Allah subhanaw taala to make those who lead us and to lead the Muslim around the world the best of us and the midst of them. Alarm in Minnesota called Houda auto power alpha fold, you know tuna husana Taqwa on to the Kia antihero, Monza ka Antonio Mola, Hina Khaled Islam McNally Eman where children are gonna be you can Mohammed Ali Salatu was

Salam. Allah hum in earnest leukemia Leary Cooley Hodge anywhere Argentina who became an usher particularly agilely who actually accidentally Tammen Al Hamra. He mean with Ebola.

Tina, also Lila homos salam ala Nabina Muhammad salah.