Soul Searching #04 – Finding Happiness

Lila Hamza *reen wa Salatu was Salam O Allah say he didn't more serene Sayyidina Javi now whenever you know Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam to Sleeman kathira

Welcome back to my website, Masha Allah doesn't come along here Alhamdulillah it's good to have you at Yahoo brahim.com forward slash live for this fourth episode of soul searching, which is Mashallah a wonderful initiative in collaboration with our dear brothers and sisters at Green lane Masjid, in the United Kingdom in collaboration with forces, which is the Federation of Islamic councils of the various universities in the United Kingdom. I'm honored and hamdulillah that we're studying a path to purification, and digging a little bit deeper into who we are, what we want, and searching for ways to attain the things that we seek most in life. And then pray the loss of Hannah want to add up

allows you and I to be from those who are successful, those who venture forward in the path of righteousness, and truth, Allah Ameen, and those who are in the support of others.

So those of you who are on my website, now, you should be able to see me on the left, and on the right, you'll be able to access the PDF, which has some of the information that I'm going to go through, as you know, I do obviously add a lot more than what's written up for you there. But it's an important guide to kind of speak about some of these technical issues. Today, in the fourth installment of soul searching, we're going to talk about one of the central pursuits central requests and quests that human beings have in life, which is the pursuit of happiness.

If you and I were to be truly honest with ourselves, and we were to follow our train of thought, it would lead us to coming to that understanding that the thing we all want most, the thing that we're all seeking, the thing that we are all hoping to attain, to hold on to, to maintain that whatever of it we have, we don't want to let go. And whatever of it that's missing, we want to attain it, we want to keep it, we want to be able to share it with others spread it amongst others, for those of us who were genuine in that regard. And that of course is happiness. So you might say, you know, might ask you what do you want? Now I want a job, okay, but why do you want the job, because I want

to, you know, have somewhere to go each and every morning that is contributing to society. I want to be able to earn my own income, be able to afford some of the things that I want. Okay, but why do you want all that? Because, you know, I want to feel I see that that word I want to feel that I'm contributing, I want to feel better about my situation. I want to make my parents, my wife, my husband, my children, feel proud of me. But why do you want that? Because

I just want to be happy. It's gonna bring me happiness.

Now, of course, this short answer is you want the job. But the long answer is, you want the job for so many things that leads you to that moment of inner quiet, inner solace, inner self dignity and self acquaintance, inner happiness. And I've used that word, inner, inner, inner, inner intentionally,

we need to kind of speak about the two levels of happiness. And we you know, our topic today is a sad happiness. There is the happiness that everybody can experience which is fleeting.

And that happiness, which is of a physical gratification, its sense sensed by the body. It's appreciated through scent, smell, touch, it's something that is physical, something that you can have, that gives you a sensation inside of happiness for a particular duration, for a particular intensity. And it's not long lasting. It's fleeting,

which makes you and I kind of pause and say, Well, you know, if I actually get to where I want, like, I have a goal if I can succeed, if I can get to that goal, then I'll feel happy.

I want to unpack those two words, happiness and success. Most people conflate them, they put them together when they are actually two separate concepts, two really important concepts that were never really meant to be merged together in that sense. One can be a byproduct of the other for a moment of time.

But they can be mutually exclusive, even if they are found at times inclusively of each other, but not generally.

Success is metric. It's measurable. Like you can you can, you know, I can ask you, how successful are you, you can ask how successful Are you academically? Well, this is the mark that I received. This is my academic standing. This is the university that I was able to be given admission to, these are the qualifications that I was able to attain.

You might ask about somebody's affluence, how financially successful are you? Well, how much money you have in the bank? What kind of car do you drive? What's your postal code? You know, do you have stocks, bonds, you know, what, what's your net worth? And if you want to ask about even somebody religiously, as being a successful Muslim, sometimes it's the physical becomes the means of success. Oh, she wears hijab or I see him in the masjid. He's got a beard. He wears a Koofi, you know, that these things, these are the signs of a successful Muslim. All of us No, of course, is that those things, those attainments, which are all desirous, they are all things that we naturally inclined to

in the Arabic language, it's called the Fed Isa. And you'll have a head Isa, you have a natural desire and natural inclination for the things that is very easy. When it's attained. There's a tapering off from the sensation and the joy that it provides. And that's a human function. And that's from the mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And that's from the predestiny of Allah, that there will not ever be a completion of a sensory happiness that is found in this worldly life. It is always something that's tremor, temporal, and moving and shifting from one position to the other.

So therefore, happiness is something that can be a byproduct of attainments through success. But it's fleeting, it escapes you and even though you want to maintain it, keep it hold on to it that isn't always within your hands. So a person might say my success, I can't you know, I can't wait until I get married. Once we get married. We're gonna live happily ever after all of us married folk, we're like, Man, you have no idea, son. Right? It's probably the law. Because that concept is not it's not material. It's not real. There's no happiness Ever After in a physical sense, in a financial sense, in a health sense, in a body sense.

There's always transitions and there's always ups and downs. So is happiness therefore unattainable? What Allah promises different. Allah says.

I mean, I mean, I mean, come slowly, I mean, record in our own that the one who works righteous deeds, be they a male or a female. Well, whoa, I mean, because of their faith as a consequence of their he man, their their certainty of faith in me, and I know he and now Hi, Atlanta, Eva, I will bless them with the good life, the happy life. It is attainable. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is described as as sad that Hulk Asada nurse, the happiest of all human beings. And you can say brother Yeah, hold on a second, Isn't he the one who was born so I send them orphan from his father. His mother passed away a few years later, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

He

endured so much myths, mistreatment in Mecca for the 13 years of you know, in the battles of Odin that, you know, he buried six of his children, three sons, three daughters. So Lola heard he was he buried grandchildren? How could he have been happy? See, because it's not the physical, the prophets I send them as address was the happiest of all humanity. And we will understand why that happiness is something attainable is something learnable and it's something you and I can become more joyful in it. It is an internal process of cleansing, cleansing our intentions, cleansing our doubts, cleansing our insecurities, and putting firmness and trust into weckherlin Allah. It begins with

knowledge and continues with repentance, and ends with a struggle to become a better person which leads me to more knowledge, more returning to God, which encourages me to struggle more and learn more and practice more and struggle more and it's an unending pursuit.

of contentment that is real and material

that is a you know that for example we speak about the stomach your stomach desire you know you want to try different foods different things but it's delight in eating and drinking its physical dimensions is limited and there's only so much you can consume there's only so much you can taste before that what you taste becomes something that which you resent

happiness therefore is something that is experienced

but it's quality duration and and and intensity will vary and if a person is connected to something more than just the sensory then that happiness can permeate and continue and level off and remain for a longer period of time so i wanted to speak a little bit you know about

what is the greatest

aspect of our knowledge as muslims it is that we become more acquainted with allah mati fabiola la farlam and de hula in come to know with certainty not as worthy of worship a god but see that certain knowledge of who our creator is that he is the source of our happiness if we surrender unto him that the creator becomes homeless salaam allahumma enter salam you are the source of peace while minca salah and wha la kaoru do salaam to you is peace to you it returns right when you begin to think of the cow the statements that we make as being a map that you and i can follow to attain happiness our quality of life will become much more significantly improved in its impact

every perfection besides allah is an imperfection

everything that we think is complete everything that we think we want everything that we are seeking and and desire to need was never meant to be long term the hearts that inhabit our resilience to ward's the aspirations of the physical alone are those that are able to stand in the presence of allah subhana allah and attain the true joy and contentment of hearts allah says about the believer allah allah hopefully allah him without whom he has no they will have no sadness and no fear and medina avenue academy henrietta han those who believed in me and those who lived a conscious aware life of my involvement in their lives

that you know i share a lot of what we did in our tradition as muslims things are known by their opposites so when allah subhana allah allah tells you that these people have no fear have no sorrow means that these people are given liberty live in a given a lack of insecurity and they are given happiness even though the world around them may not reflect that

some of the great imams of the past they would say you know if the kings and their princes understood the joy that we existed in they would use their kingdoms and their swords to try to strip us away from it or give up their kingdoms to have what we have so have a lot checklists i'm a middle column he used to imitate me as well he used to say that there's agenda in this worldly life that until you can enter it you will not really be able to access the agenda in the next life

and that gender in this life is that you become familiar with a lot and find contentment in your heart as well halak minh as the happiest person is the one who brought happiness to others it's not the one who received that themselves is not the one who benefited materially from it is that you were able to engender goodness willing liveness in other people's lives and you know many quotes are there in that pdf that i do want you to go through when you have time but one of the hallmarks that we need to come back to is knowledge and magnify the acquaintance the knowledge that we seek to have with allah subhanho wa taala becomes a very very important powerful tool for you and i to build joy

and happiness in our lives that when i know that i am always with allah that allah is always with me in the malcolm i am with you and may allah hear that the witness of allah is always with us it gives me a greater appreciation for everything

thing that I have in life. And that's why everything that we do begins with Bismillah.

You know, just just that word, just that letter, the bear. It's not it's Milla Bismillah it's not been led by God, it's Bismillah With the name of Allah. What Why, why that letter? Well, that letter back in the Arabic language, it signifies the wisdom witness that you want to you're saying, Oh Allah, I want to be attached to you, I want to be connected to you that this drink, I'm about to drink this food, I'm going to enjoy this home, I'm entering into these clothing that I'm going to wear Bismillah I acknowledge that this is only because of that which you have given me in virtue that others may not have been receiving

the strength that I had to earn this income to earn this food to allow me to enjoy it. This is because of you. Yeah, Allah. And I acknowledge you when this is with you, as being the one who is connected to me that I seek to connect myself to.

But you also mentioned isn't you mentioned that the name of Allah, and in the Arabic language, and it's one Muslim man, the name and the one being named, the one the name is to signify the one being named. So it is to hold a law in the greatest theme, but it's a law of showing that is witness is something that we must attain. It's not Billa it's not you're immediately connected to Allah. No, you need to find his name, you need to hush Li whisper his name, you need to approach him, you need to take the first step you need to make the first initiation you need to be the one who surrenders to Allah, to find Allah subhana wa tada present with you. And that's powerful. That's an incredible,

you know, that statement Bismillah this whole world, this whole universe arises from it. It is only because of Allah that you and I exist. It is only with Allah, that you and I have this power. It is only because of that, that Allah has said he is on ramen. Bismillah R Rahman, because all of this creation that are those who are in it, who consume of it live in it, who are not worthy of it, because they have not surrendered to Him, but because he is the compassionate, he has overlooked this to hold them accountable at a later date without depriving them in the immediate state.

Bismillah he is a rock man, what can I be Nina rahima. And he is Rahim. We ask Allah Rockman Rahim to show us his greatest kindness and mercy on the day we returned to him. Allah Hammami

knowledge

is something that therefore is meant to cement our servitude to Allah, that you become added that word ABD is very powerful in the Arabic language, right? It means two really significant things. One is that everybody is bound to something Jani

everybody's enslaved to something. But when you are, the second element of Abdullah have is that you are the one who volunteers. You're the one who controls what you are bound to.

So but you know, there's two types of people, those who are slaves and those who choose who their master is. Pamela.

Pamela, Allah. Hi, I'm Eva Rahman, our lawmakers from diabetics are often the ones who choose to be surrenders and slaves to Allah, because everybody else is a slave to something, some are a slave to their job, some are slave to their last summer slaves to their sexual desires, some are a slave in slave to, you know, their, their, their hobbies and their the inclinations that they seek to fulfill. Why are why is it that in many of the most affluent societies of the world, you find the greatest levels of self medication. So for example, a recent study said that in Australia 96% of sexual encounters between a man and a woman, husband and wife, boyfriend, girl, whatever it is, 96%

of sexual encounters between couples

were under the influence of a stimulant, either for both or one of the the participants, meaning somebody could not find a connection with another person, unless there was a stimulant in them. And you can see this in popular culture. You know, somebody comes home, it's on the TV all the time, honey, I've had such a rough day at work. Can you

Put a bottle of wine, pass the beer, give me two bottles, you know, I just need to relax. It's not the taste of it. That's relaxing. It's not the, the consumption of it that's relaxing because they consume copious amounts is the it is the medic medicated state that washes over the body that desensitizes the pain, the lack of happiness, which is pain that is experienced, while Allah tells us every victory lap. It is through the conscious understanding of the words of God, the remembrance of God, that you can attain peace, dogma involute, that the heart can find tranquility that the hearts can find rest. Right? It's not sitting there and saying the mantra Subhana Allah Subhana

Allah Subhana Allah Subhan Allah no alone, but it's the liberating that everything that is meant to be perfect is tarnish Rubble, except the grandeur of Allah Lulu Jalali will Ikram, the one who is a full grace majesty, and has no no alteration. Subhana who went to Allah. So those are powerful elements that I want you to kind of consider powerful statements that I want you to keep in mind, that knowledge and moodier and enslavement are meant to be together, you need to know why you've made a law your master. Why is the last verse verses of the Quran. Pull out Obi Robinette Robin asked the Lord of humanity. The one who created originated support sustains

Maliki nurse, the one who is the king of humanity, the law giver.

ILA he knows there, therefore the only one who should be worshipped subhanho wa Taala. Compare that to the one who is heedless walking around, doesn't know where to go, you have to have bottle shape on that the being headed from one head from one place to another unknowing of who their Lord is. And therefore knowledge becomes the first step to acquaintance and to producing a long permit to permanent level of happiness as a baseline in life. That what happens physically and externally for me, does not erode the joy that I can experience in my heart shall assign him, you know, he used to say, my heart experiences moments of delight, that a people of Paradise were experiencing it, they

would be living the greatest of happiness that, you know, at times, he's saying that I can find my heaven on earth. Right? That you can find that moment of connection, that moment of cydnus, that moment of solace, that moment of, of ease and comfort and tranquility, it is attainable. We ask Allah Subhana Allah to Allah, to grant us admission to the gender of this world before we have returned to him to enter into the next. What is pure and more fulfilling of our intimate moments with Allah subhana wa to Allah is that we seek to envelop and cover our heart, with the meaning of his remembrance with the utterances that we make, but with the practice of what we are seeking to

bring into our life. So when we say Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, what that should say to me, nothing. Allah is the Greatest. Nothing is greater than a law. That thing that I'm desiring should not come between me and Allah, that wrong that I did to that person should not come between me and asking for them for forgiveness. That error that I made can be corrected I can come back to Allah. Because Allah who acaba right Subhana Allah Subhana Allah, you know, all are imperfect in standing but Allah, Allah is the one of glory that is untarnished, humble. I understand my own mortality, my own weakness, my own need, in in becoming a better person

to fulfill the aims that I seek in life. And everything in this world, whether it's a rose or a pond, or a swing Li for the smile of a beautiful baby child, all of them

have the dual ability of bringing joy but also bringing hardship.

While it is a loss of henna to Allah, that when we remain connected to him, that we find that we find comfort and ease. So I wish to introduce the cycle of test gear. That the knowledge we have from Allah with Allah leads us to coming back to Allah. So your knowledge of Allah should bring you to saying I need to come back to Allah I need to become a better Muslim.

which is what we call tober now that toba then says well i've asked allah for forgiveness let me try harder let me do better which is the third aspect it's called mujahid the struggle the jihad of the soul is the greatest you had you and i wage so your knowledge leads you to understanding and itemizing your mistakes and itemizing where you can improve and that then encourages you to push forward and to become more practiced and more practical in your approach and more diligent in fulfilling your good deeds which then leads you to getting more knowledge because the more you do the more your faith soars the more your face soars the more you recognize your need a lot more and

returning to him

the more you come back to allah subhanho wa taala the more you find success through your jihad and will jahad against your lower self that is going to be one of the main themes that we continue with in part five as we move forward in sha allah i pray that allah subhanaw taala grants you and i success your brother your high brahim was salah while ico will come to light or volcat