Yahya Rhodus – Knowledge and Wisdom Imam alHaddad #21
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Smilla Rahman and Rahim Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa Tada
sadati will attend Motorcity or as a udana OMO learner Mohammed in
early he also became a Salam Edma in Subhan Allah and mana lemma LM
tena in the content Alleman Hakeem while our whole wala Quwata illa,
Billahi, OLALIA and alim. The next Hadith that we are going to take
from the orig ment of Riyadh the Saudi Hain is narrated on the
authority of a bee Herrera Radi Allahu Tada and who another sort
of Allah he sallallahu alayhi wa Urdu Savio, suddenly, McCall. Lisa
should either be Surah RT in the machete do Liddy yum Liko enough
so who and the other Mustafa carne this hadith translates as The
strong man on the strong one is not the one who throws people in
wrestling. The strong one is the one who has control of himself
when he is angry.
And that this is that a hadith that indicates to us the
importance of our understanding about what is true strength. It is
found in the collection of both al Bukhari and Muslim and so the
Prophet sallallahu Sallam says here laces should you do transit
here as the strong man
and that the one that has strength the one that you think is that
truly strong? Bit sorta
and so that this word Asad ah, oh sada is to Russell and SATA is to
throw to the ground. And in this particular form, fu Allah, a
surah. That means Allah love and Masada This is the one who is very
adept at throwing people to the ground. There is another word in
the Arabic language that is very closely related to this one. And
if you simply change the diacritical mark on the raw and
you make it a circle so that it reads a surah, and actually has
the opposite, meaning it's manual going up getting in venerable
solder, it has the meaning of someone being thrown to the ground
a lot. So what is mentioned in this hadith is the former, ie the
one who is that very adept at wrestling in throwing people to
the ground, and adept at that, pinning them down. Laces should
either be Surah, about what our Prophet is saying, solo licen him
is. The strong man is not the one who throws people in wrestling,
who is the strong person then Oh rasool Allah, in the machete, the
strong man is the one who has control of himself. When he is
angry, I love the em lewco Enough, so Milaca M lewco, is to be in
control. This is where we get the word Melech, which is a king,
lithium liquid of Su and del hardab, when they become angry,
and so our Prophet is indicating what true strength is, in this
verse, that hadith of his Salah Ali, what I do is have your Salam,
and that he's indicating that you can only truly have strength, if
that you learn self control. And specifically, is it if we can
remain in control when we are angry?
And love is one of the Arabic words for anger? And how is it
defined, we all know what it is, but it is the opposite of
contentment. And it happens when things don't go the way we want
them to go. When things go against our will. And it leads us to do a
number of different things. And many of those things potentially
are things that are unlawful. Whether it is a we insult someone
that we say bad things about someone that could lead to hitting
someone that could lead to even taking someone's life. And
sometimes we get angry very, very quickly. And so what we need to
learn is and this this scholars do indicate is that the Prophet
speaking about that, controlling our anger in this sense as being
the true strength does not diminish the importance of having
physical strength. And we know that many of the companions were
physically strong. And we even have certain instances where that
the prophet is Companions would show their strength to the
disbelieving folk and Mecca. This is the wisdom behind that it was
known as in the back where you're showing your right arm when you're
doing toe off and the first in the toe off that after which there is
a sigh and so that this
doesn't take from that, but we're learning about what true strength
is. And other words is that your physical strength won't benefit
you, if you don't have true strength, they actually go hand in
hand. And this is really an indication of the importance of
discipline. And so what we learn here really is, is that your own
knifes, which is you, it's your own self is the greatest opponent
of all. And that it is as if that it is like a wrestling match. And
there are times where you might throw your enough to the ground,
but then there's times where you're knifes throws you to the
ground. And so you're enough's is an is your opponent. And what we
need to do is to train ourselves to be able to control our knifes,
and subdue the opponent of the knifes. So if you think about it,
like a wrestling match, the two wrestlers going back and forth, is
that this is that the way that we are with our own selves. And what
we need to do is to learn to that throw our knifes to the ground and
to pin it. And that so that we can win this ongoing battle between
ourselves we that we as taking place with our own selves, and
that our province southern Lysander mentioned and another
Hadith, and that, that our Prophet says, Allah in alhaja gemvara tune
to Qaddafi geovany Adam, indeed, that anger is like a hot coal.
That is kindling in the heart of the son of Adam inside the son of
Adam, allowed to own either hombre DNA, do you not see how his eyes
become red one T faki o dajia. And the way that his veins start to
stick out. And so the Robert is describing the physical
description of what happens when people get angry, their face gets
red, they start making certain that facial expressions and their
veins start to stick out and these types of things. And that he's
saying is that this is because we even say that I'm boiling right
now in English. And so that when we that the reality of this anger
is happening at the heart level, and it leads to even these
physical changes that in the way that we look. And then that leads
us to do a number of different things potentially, he says, for
either watch it I had to come Shainman dareka. And our Prophet
said, If any one of you finds anything that has been mentioned,
fell old, alarmed, amazing. He says, The earth, the earth,
is teaching our tests to ground ourselves, the earth, the earth,
because Earth is a symbol of humility. And one of the greatest
flaws that could arise from uncontrollable anger is Keba is
arrogance. So the Prophet said the earth the earth, and then he goes
on to say, Allah in the header rejected him and kind of multi
Erica dub sorry, la La, indeed, the very best of men is he who is
that very slow to become angry. And that very easy and quick to
please,
wash shall reject Him and kind of sorry, I'd rather be guilty of the
law. And the worst of man is he who is quick to be angry and slow
to police. So these are the two opposites. And this is what we
should strive to be like, because this is also the description of
our Prophet salaallah de rsip, sudden him, he was the easiest of
people to please. And he was the slowest of people to become angry.
And that is the best case scenario. And then opposite to
that is the worst person in the worst type of person. And these
are people that are very quick
to be they become angry very quickly. And they're very hard to
please no matter what it is that you do, it is simply not enough.
And then he says, and then there is a man who is that slow, he
becomes angry, that slowly. And then that he that is pleased also
that he's that he's that slow to become angry. And then he's slow
to cool down. And then you have a man who was quick to become angry.
And quick to that cool down he says for me to happy here is that
this is kind of the middle state that one in a sense that cancels
out the other if you will. But what we really want to strive to
be like is the first person, the one who is easy to please and that
has a manifestation. And this is extremely practical, that if we
bring this into our lives, if you think about all of the people that
we enter
packed with, whether they be friends, whether they be family
members, sometimes it could be siblings, sometimes it could be
children if we have them. If we think about this at the workplace,
especially if we have a team working underneath us, or we're in
some position of that authority,
how easy are we to deal with in relation to achievements in that
in terms of that people acquiring that are contentment, we should be
people that are that pleased that very quickly, and this doesn't
mean that we have low standards, it's perfectly fine to have high
standards. But we want to balance those high standards, with that,
allowing ourselves to become pleased, easily, and that we have
to have realistic standards based upon the people that are around
us. And if we know their abilities, and we know that we're
setting a standard that is too high for them to attain, then we
should probably lower the standard. And we should have a
baseline degree of expectation for all people around us and we
shouldn't be offended when that people don't live up to the
standards that we have set. And this is a challenge. Sometimes we
become offended very easily. When we try to impose our particular
standard on other people and we don't allow people that the room
to make mistakes and that nor do we tend to make excuses for them.
And then in a hadith Our Prophet said SallAllahu sallam, Mata
Jarrah Abdon, Jarrah 10 of data in the lawyer as a German general
idea, reason, yuck of the MaHA Abdullah, which he lied to Allah,
is that no servant will force himself to swallow anything that
is better in the sight of Allah than a forced swallow of
suppressing anger, that he suppresses in order to that seek
the noble countenance of Allah. And so that to genre is to force
yourself to swallow something. And just word is usually used when it
comes to taking medicine that is not desirable, forcing yourself to
swallow it. And so that of anything that we can force
ourselves to swallow, the very greatest thing that we can force
ourselves to swallow, is that moment where you're about to
become angry and lash out, and you suppress it.
And so look at what our Prophet he gave us this amazing, that
metaphor, imagining that if you are forcing yourself to swallow,
again, some type of medicine, it's unpleasant in that moment, but
that medicine is going to help you. It's a big pill or it's a
type of medicine doesn't taste very good. So
it's, you forced it down, it will benefit you after that. And if
anything, that you force yourself to swallow, the greatest thing of
all, is in that moment, where is it you are angry, and you are
about to lose it? And you're about to lash out?
At whoever's around you. And then
you control yourself and you suppress it. And in another Hadith
with a similar meaning, well, Mom and Dad it in a humble Eli, yeah.
menjaga at the wreathen Jakob de Maha abd there is no for
swallowing that is more beloved to me, then forcing yourself to
suppress your anger, or a forced swallow of anger, that you said
that the servant press suppresses. And then the Prophet says
malerkotla Maha Abdullah Lai, Allah Mela, Allah jofa Imana, that
no servant will suppress that his anger for the sake of Allah.
Except that Allah Tada will feel his heart with iman.
So the that what comes after that moment of anger is that great
good. And, again, is that our dean is a practical Dean, we know that
we're going to become angry.
And the first step is to learn what's called called middle
eighth, suppressing or anger. And if you look at these words in
Arabic, that refer to anger, you can almost feel the fury in the
word itself, hubbub, right the line and the Lord hold the hub,
and other word labeled as the line in the law. And these words almost
have like a sense of fury in them, and
that human beings will become angry. But it's about what it is
that we do with our anger. Well, first and foremost, why do we
become angry? And then secondly, what do we do with our anger? And
if you look at what the scholars say, we have a great understanding
of how to, in principle, balance our anger.
Why do we become angry?
How do we become angry? To what degree do we become angry? To what
degree do we take out our anger, and so forth and so on. All of
this has to be balanced, because you could get angry for the wrong
reason, you could get angry to the wrong amount to the wrong degree,
you could take your anger out on the wrong person, you could that
show your anger at the wrong time.
All of these considerations that are very important in the moment
when you're angry, you know, thinking about anything. But one
important thing that we have to remember is, anger actually is a
show what's a desire.
And so just as when you have a desire to eat something, and you
don't feel that you're fulfilled, until you eat that very thing, the
same things with anger. Anger is a type of desire that you want to
that, do whatever it is that you are thinking about doing. And you
feel that somehow you fulfilled yourself, as a result. In
sometimes it's as silly as a thing is like hitting a wall or
something. Right?
Like, you might hurt your hand even Why did you do that?
As if it's going to really make you feel better. And usually, when
we
calm down, is that we regret, what is it we said, what it is that we
did? This is where our Prophet is teaching us about the importance
of that, controlling our anger. And then very briefly, because
this is a long drawn out discussion, what are the practical
ways that our Prophet advised us to listen and to control our
anger, and that, you remember was already one of the books of how he
treats anger. And he talks about that the source of anger, and how
it relates to sheer Tom, because shaytaan himself was created from
that fire. And that when you become angry, it's very easy to be
like Shere Khan, but at the same time, is that the other meanings
of Fire, fire is one of the most important elements because without
fire, there's no warmth, fire transforms it, like it's only when
you put something in the oven, and you make it that it makes that
food that was previously an edible, edible, it turns something
that was previously a number of ingredients together into
something that actually tastes very delicious. So fires, that
very, very important. And it's very, very important for our own
physical bodies, if we don't maintain the right temperature, if
we're too cold or too hot, is that our body will be imbalanced. So
fire is important. You have to have anger, there's a reason why I
love to add to give us anger. But the key is, is that what directs
your anger is the sacred law in your intellect. In other words,
your anger is in line with the sacred law, in your intellect, you
get angry for the right reason, to the right degree, at the right
time, in the right place, in at the right person and so forth, and
so on. So what are some practical examples is that the first is
comes in a hadith of the Prophet sallallaahu Salam were two of
them, that were starting to insult each other. In front of the
Prophet Salah lady, I do sabe Saddam until one of them became
extremely angry. And the Hadith that says it was almost to the
extent is that his nose was about to fall off was about to like cut
into pieces because there's just so much anger, that is almost as
if like the nose was about to fall off the individual from his anger.
And then the Prophet sallallahu sallam said in the light and will
Kenny mutton indeed and I know a word low yo Kula has a look at the
band where this angry person to say it, love the hubba and hula
dub, his anger would cease and it will leave him What is this word?
Allahu Mihnea over the weekend many chiffonade regime of Allah
indeed I seek refuge and you from the repudiated devil says one of
the first is that practical pieces of advice in this works is that if
you become angry, you're about to lose it. You're trying to suppress
it, a lawman near with a beak admonition on regime who the
villainess should seek refuge in Allah. Why? Because you're most
vulnerable in that moment.
And shutdown is going to try to get you to say something to do
something. And then you'll try to in a very diluted way rationalize
why you had to do that. Why you had to say that. And then if you
think about in your mind, though, you shouldn't be thinking oh, I
should postpone it. This is not the right time. I'm gonna do it
later. No, that's too much. Then your knifes ah it's like fighting
you. Because that you just feel like gotta say something. That's
your enough's and if you're being pushed like that to do it
Almost 100% of the time, almost 100% of the time, especially in
the lower degrees of spiritual purification, that you will make
this mistake from minor to major.
And sometimes people do things when they're angry left home, low
water quality levels that are serious. It's not just something
small, it's something huge. Sometimes people will ruin an
entire relationship because of one, that bouts of anger that they
couldn't control themselves. And then once that word is said,
oftentimes the damage has been done. And the person that you said
that to might not ever forgive you, or even if they do forgive
you, it might take them a long time to overcome that. And it
might just remain there. And then you're going things are fine for a
period of time and then write comes out again.
And this is why we need the prophetic guidance. The first
thing we do is bIllahi min ash shaytaan regime and then
our Prophet sallallahu Sallam taught us in a hadith in elevada,
about Manisha THON Inger is from shippon when the shaytaan Hoda
coming in now, and she thought it was created from fire were in the
mail taught for a Narbonne mat. fire is extinguished with water
for either a diva goon fell yet towel. So one of you becomes angry
and let him perform will do that him perform the ablution.
So this is that one of the other things we can do. And then our
Prophet also taught us a lot I sent him either Habiba, Docomo,
I'm fairly Angeles, if one of you becomes angry and he's standing,
then sit in there have Anuradha will Aletheia your budget, if and
then if that his anger goes, and that's fine. And if not, then let
him lie down.
So we have that different things that we can do, the first thing we
do is I would do believe in the shutdown energy, if you're
standing sit, if you're sitting lay down, that if you feel that,
that's still not going to work, you leave the room. And if you're
still angry, perform, we'll do one of those things will work. But you
have to put in that effort in the beginning, into that try to
control yourself. And again, is that this is like a wrestling
match.
That your opponent is always there with you.
And your opponent knows all your weaknesses. And you are vulnerable
in front of your opponent. Because it's you.
It's you.
And you have to just work on yourself and work on yourself and
train. And if you get thrown down, you get right back up. And you get
right back into the match. And you have courage and you don't ever
let yourself go out and get pinned. You don't ever let
yourself get choked out spiritually, ever. Right. And the
only way that you can be choked out, or be pinned to the ground
and lose is that if you never dust yourself off and get back up and
keep trying.
As long as we dust ourselves off every time that we lose, or we get
thrown to the ground or if it's in terms of rounds, we lose the
round, if you will, is that as long as we keep getting back up,
we're never truly going to lose. And then one day we will string we
be strong enough in order to win the match. But isn't the lie to
Allah, and that half of who says they hear something that's very
beneficial. He says Aquila, Shafi developer is the data to heal
Halkidiki one of the greatest things that can that can repel our
anger is to bring
to heart the unity of Allah is luffa Allah, Allah Allah.
The only one who really does things is Allah.
So just think about the things that we get angry over.
I say we we are human beings. And we all fall into this think about
the things we get angry about. If we could just remind ourselves in
that moment,
it's from Allah,
you will protect us from getting angry.
And think about the beautiful theater of our Prophet size
Center, where one of his family members broke a dish.
And what was the prophets responses? Everything has an
agile, everything has an opponent term.
He was seeing it from the standpoint of reality, even if
that person was person was negligent, yes. So it's good to
teach people okay, this is how you do things. But you're not going to
teach someone by getting angry at them. That's not the way the
Prophet talks a licen. Yes, there was times when he did get angry
and he had to make a point. But generally speaking the way he
taught
was gentle, and merciful.
And so that we have to be gentle, and we have to be merciful. And we
have to remind ourselves is that Allah subhanho wa Tada
is that he is the doer of every act in reality, his human means
earn, what it is that they do. And if it's wrong, it's that
attributed to them. But the second way of doing this is to also that
it when it relates to anger towards someone is that in that
moment, we tend to only really have uncontrollable anger, when
it's someone that we can relay that leash out upon. If it's
someone that's
socially speaking in a higher position than us, if it's someone
that's not as physically strong as we don't tend to leash out in the
same way, is that we tend to keep that in. And then that actually,
it turns into oftentimes hit blood, rancor, because we weren't
able to get that anger out. And then there's a whole process that
we have to treat that, that we'll have to speak about at a different
time, but is that we tend to if the people are like us, or beneath
us, in physical strength, or in that social standing, or something
of that nature, or in position, is that these are the people that we
intend to lash out at. And it's important that in that moment, we
remember
the power we have over that person is one thing, but what about the
power of Allah over us.
So think about in that moment, you could leash out, you could harm
that person in some way. It'd be haram, of course. But think about
the power of Allah over you.
And that should be enough to just
just completely
that put ourselves in a state of submission to Allah to Allah, and
that we should be able to subdue ourselves by thinking about that
particular reality that Allah to Anna has power over us subhanho
data, made a lot of other Katara buses to be from those who are
truly strong, and have the ability to that put themselves in check in
to control their that ego and to control their lower self.
So in sha Allah, we're going to take the next we're still in
chapter 23 of knowledge and wisdom, titled The Golden Mean, we
took the first part of this chapter and we reached the point
where it says now know that the limits of moderation so this is a
third paragraph from the beginning of the chapter, and it's the first
paragraph on page 63.
Miss Mila Rahmani Rahim Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen wa sallahu
loc now Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam in knowledge and
wisdom by Imam Al Haddad, may Allah benefit him and bless him
benefit us through him.
Know that the limits of moderation may not be evident in the Middle
Way difficult to locate except for those who have religious insight
and are well versed in knowledge and certitude. Therefore, any
person who experiences problems in this area must refer to such
people. And if
and if as frequently occurs these days, he cannot find any of them,
he must halt and wait until he is sure what the right thing to do
might be.
The best course of action when confusion occurs is to lean
slightly on the side of excess and praiseworthy things such as
humility, liberality, and modesty, and slightly on the side of
frugality and habitual things such as eating, sleeping and talking.
This only when confusion occurs, for the praiseworthy thing is to
keep to the middle way. It is in the nature of the soul to lean
towards excess and lack of restraint and habitual things and
toward insufficiency and neglect in matters of religion. It is
therefore wise and appropriate to go against the souls and
culmination on both accounts, God the Exalted wheeling the proof of
Islam.
So what remember had dad and this is
his scholarship is to mashallah Tabata Kala, it's so practical for
us to bring this into our lives. So he was speaking about the
golden mean and how, really in everything at the level of belief
at the level of practice, at the level of our character, every
single thing that relates to our deen that ultimately relates to
the idea of this golden mean at every single level. This is really
what it is all about to maintain balance in every single aspect of
our lives and everything that was mentioned and the way that we
interact with other people the way that we spend our time and so
forth and so on. The all of the different virtues that we should
be striving to attain
They are virtues that in reality are a balance between two other
excesses. So he's saying
no, no, that the limits of moderation may not be evident
evident. Where is that middle point that really is the greatest.
That place of being in the center between the two extremes, we might
not know what it is, and the Middle Way difficult to locate
except for those who have religious insight, and are well
versed in knowledge, and incertitude. Okay, he says that
the rasa fina, the Alibaba Bazaar, and Rasul Allah, and when you're
paying the people of intersite, and those who are firmly grounded
in knowledge and uncertainty, a lot to add to, that opens up for
them, that this very knowledge, what it is that they need to do,
and what is a balance, that in these various virtues in this
various things that they do. Therefore, any person who
experiences problems in this area must refer to such people. So this
is why it's so important to have people like this in our lives.
People that when you're going through difficulties, when you
have problems, you can go back to them, you can ask them questions,
that you might think that the solution to your problem is A, B
or C. But when you seek their advice, known unknowns, you can't
do that you have to do this. Or perhaps you should do this, or
whatever else it might be, it could happen. That could be that
they've dealt with previous situations like that they might
have certain experiences that you have yet to have, or can be based
upon that knowledge that they have, that you do not have. It's
important that we have people like this that we go back to. But
look what he does, he doesn't just leave us bereft of guidance,
because someone might say, Oh, hey, I'm living in this far remote
place, my local community, I don't know of anyone like this. So what
am I supposed to do? That he says it's still that something that we
can do, despite the fact that we might not have these people to
help us. So He says that we should refer to such people. And if as
frequently occurs these days, and this is roughly 300 years ago, so
what about now, he cannot find any of them, he must halt in wait
until he is sure what the right thing to do might be.
And we don't always have that luxury. So we have to do the very
best we can, if we're in a situation where we try to halt and
we try to wait. And then we have to make a decision, we don't
really know, the beautiful thing is, is that you still have to do
your best. And you will be judged according to your intentions. So
whatever it is that you do, if you don't have the ability to really
learn what is right to do in that situation, you don't have the
people that you need to bounce your ideas off of them or to seek
their consultation, you still have to do your very best. And
ultimately, you'll be raised according to your intentions. And
the hope is, is that if you indeed would have spoken to someone if
you had the ability to do so, and that there wasn't so you didn't.
Is that a lot to add or we'll overlook that. What is that? You
did? If indeed that it turns out that it was a mistake. So what
does he say though the best course of action when confusion occurs,
is to lean slightly on the side of excess in praiseworthy things. So
when it comes to virtues, praiseworthy things, is that, if
you doubt in this moment, should I really remain firm? Or to be a
little bit that humble? It's better to remain Tane that
humility? Or that should I withhold a little bit because this
person is starting to rely on me? Or should I remain generous? It's
always better to err on the side of generosity, that is this being
too modest or is it this is what the Middle Way in relation to
modesty is, you should incline more towards modesty and slightly
on the side of frugality.
And the word that he uses here is we emit from an audio electrical
killer with FSR. So frugality is that you that actually that cut
back a little bit, it's safer to do less of those things, when it
comes to habitual things, okay, and things like what eating and
sleeping, talking and drinking and so forth and so on.
That all of the customary things, is it leaning on the side of
cutting back is again and this is when confusion occurs, is that how
we should approach these matters? This own this is only when
confusion occurs, for the praiseworthy thing is to keep to
the middle way. It is in the nature of the soul to lean towards
excess and lack of restraint and habitual things and toward
insufficiency and neglect in matters of religion. It is
therefore wise and appropriate to go against the souls inclination
on both accounts. Okay, so see me because the soul naturally is
going to, it's likely that it's going to move
Have away from virtue and is going to move towards what he calls
these habitual things is that you want to do the opposite. You want
to move a little bit towards the virtue and a little bit further
from these habitual things. But again, we should always remember
is that what we're striving to maintain is a balance, putting
everything in its proper place. But again, this is the hardest
thing of all.
Lay
the proof of Islam Imam Al Ghazali Rahim Allah has given similar
indications in his writing. To explain further if a man giving
charity is undecided as to whether he is being miserly or profitable,
let him go a little more toward the side of excess. For this is
better than avarice. The soul is inclined to like money and to
dislike parting from it, so that it must therefore always stand
accused of miserliness. If a man is undecided, whether he is
excessively or insufficiently humble, let him move a little more
toward humility, for the same reason, as for habitual things, if
for example, he cannot decide whether he is taking the right
amount of food or sleep, let him move toward reduction and economy
for the soul again stands accused here, and any reduction in such
thing is an reserved reservedly praiseworthy, so as long as it
does not affect one's mind or body adversely understand these things
for they are important. So he gave some practical examples here. And
these are very easy to understand, so there's no reason to repeat
them. But what we want ultimately is to find that balance, and if we
can't find that balance, that this is what we should force ourselves
to an incline towards in the exact various examples that he gave.
Okay.
Then, no, may God have mercy on you that some people of virtue and
Sufism have been said to do things which one may think, go beyond
moderation and the limits of the Middle Way, being overzealous in
their acts of worship, while reducing their habitual things to
such an extent as to reach the limits of human inter endurance.
If they are people of beginnings, these things are taken to indicate
the resolution to discipline the soul, train it, refine his
character and reduce its into its reduced its density. This can be
achieved satisfactorily only by means which may resemble in
moderation and overstepping the limits for the soul is like an
unruly abstinent animal, which can only be tamed and trained for
writing and work by reducing its fodder and imposing hard tasks on
it. When it loses its willfulness and becomes compliant, then it is
led back to the middle way. This is the explanation of all that is
said about such people early in their careers. And these are sound
practices quite compatible with wisdom and correct management.
So one of the things is that those who place focus upon disciplining
the soul and training it spiritually, is that in order to
maintain that balance, or to that achieve that balance, if in one
direction is that they are lacking, is that they will go out
of their way to make sure that they focus on this particular
area, so that they can maintain that balance. So if you find that
someone is, for instance, that they are extremely miserly with
their wealth, is that they have to force themselves fourth is himself
forced himself to give until that they maintain that balance of
generosity, which is between two extremes, extravagance on one hand
and miserliness on the other, and that they put their wealth in the
very best of places, and they that use it for those that are in most
need, where that's going to bring about the most reward for them.
And so that these are techniques that we have to use to cure
diseases as well, like arrogance, as someone is plagued with the
degree of arrogance is that you have to force yourself to be
humble, and to do certain things that in and of themselves, it's
not ideal that you necessarily do those things or remain doing those
things, things, but you do them in order to tip the scale in the
direction of humility so that you can again, maintain that balance.
And so humility is that again, a balance between what between
arrogance and haughtiness on one side and on the other, that
humility in yourself, but sometimes you have to tip the
scale in the other direction to get back to that balance. And
again, this has to be done very gently and very carefully and
under the direction of a teacher and there are still
Teachers from the bounty of Allah to Allah, that are masters of
spiritual discipline, they've mastered their own souls, and that
they have the ability to help other people master theirs. And
that they have this really incredible ability to be patient
with people that day in and day out, week in, week out, month in
and month out, year in and year out, so that, then these traits
can become inculcated within them. And so these are examples, and
there are many more that could be mentioned. And if you think of it
as a writing beast, even though we're so did you know, we're so
distant from animals these days, these metaphors don't have the
same meaning as they had in previous times. Most of us don't
have experience with cattle or with goats or with horses, and
then know what it's like to that train a horse, for instance, or to
deal with a stubborn donkey or something like this. And some of
the things that you have to do, previous generations they
understood. And my, even in this country in which we live, my
grandfather, growing up that he was that what they used to do on
the weekend for fun was to go ride horses, that the whole family
would go out, they'd all be on horses, and the younger kids would
have like little billy goat with a cart and things like that. And
they didn't live on a farm, they had a farm, they lived in the
suburb of Kansas City, Kansas. But this is the kind of thing that
they did on the weekend. And there was one time where one of my
grandfather's horses bit, one of his children, his children was
climbing a tree, and the horse comes up and I took a bite out of
one of his children. And my grandfather was a Master Horseman.
And one of the things that he put on his boots with spurs. And he
went, and he said, he was just waiting, as he rode that horse to
act up. And that horse knew that any little Mo, he's about to get,
you know, whispers, and he put that horse in line immediately.
And this is the way that is, you know, you have to that you can't
just let animals rule you have to treat them with son, of course.
But you have to also direct them. And that that to direct them
towards what it is that they should be doing. You don't
overburden them, of course, but is that you can't let an animal
control you, you as a human being have to control the animal, and to
do so of course with our son. But there's a lot to be learned from
having pets, and doing so properly, and the way we should
interact with him. And that being interacting with chickens and
goats and livestock of different sorts. It's very, there's a lot of
lessons you can learn about life, that as we become more distant as
a society from these things, we don't learn some of these
practical examples, the Prophet said, Mammon Nibi Illa, Waka
Alana, there's no prophet except that he herded sheep. There's a
wisdom try herding sheep. Try herding sheep. Let's see that
someone tried to hurt goats or sheep, and just see how long they
last. Let's see your clemency. Let's see if you start beating
those sheep or not. Are those goats? Right try, you know that
also raising cattle. This is not easy. It is not easy at all. I've
tried to herd goats before law holder with a court to the villa.
It is not easy. And then what attorney I had three goats. And
what they would do during the days that they would send them the
mothers in one direction. And the kids they call them actually in
the other direction.
And if you weren't careful, they all come back about late also
time, which is the time that you're also as a student getting
ready to prepare yourself, you're getting ready to go into the
masjid to read your law into study your lessons. But if they meet up,
then they just run off.
Whereas what you're supposed to do is that you're supposed to catch
the the mother goats and tie them up. And then if the mothers are
tied up, then of course the kids will not gonna run off because
they want their mother's milk. So then you have to catch them
before they drink too much of their mother's milk or you're not
gonna get any of that milk. Right. You don't want to keep them from
having milk you share you give them a little bit but you also
have them to milk and so you have to tie them up separately, so that
they don't drink all of their mother's milk if you want some of
the milk. But if they would ever meet and they're clever, sometimes
they do me you got to be on guard
You're all No, and then they just go off
in getting them is not an easy thing. Because if they see you
coming, right, they keep walking. Now keep in mind, you're talking
about sand. And in Mauritania, there's that two types of like
there's thorns like and I'm saying thorns like, you know, for
people that have feet like myself that grew up in the city,
the mortar 10 feet or so they've developed such a, you know,
callousness on the bottom of their feet, these big thorns, they
probably can't even feel them, most of them. But for city
dwellers like myself, Oh, my goodness, you step on them, and
you're wearing plastic cheap sandals. So it actually goes
through the bottom of the sandal and gets you. But then they have
these other ones that are like just little prickly things that
also are definitely anything but comfortable. And then you know,
you're already you know, tired and this and that you're trying to get
to the masjid and your goats just ran off. And then you have to go
spend about 2030 minutes and hopefully get back before Maghrib
and trying to catch him. And then, you know, three of them all at
once, and to shepherd them back. Now try doing that while keeping
cool. And not losing your temper. Oh, let alone if there's like 20
or 30 in the herd. The point of this is, is that, that
unfortunately, we're distant from these things. And that it's it's
it's part of interacting with animals, that you learn things
about how to interact with your own self, one of the greatest
metaphors of your knifes is the untrained horse.
That naturally is wild, it does not want to be ridden. It does not
want to be domesticated. It wants to do what it wants to do when it
wants to do it. And that if you ever tried to that ride a wild
horse, one of the first things it does, it bolts. And this is what
enough's does. As soon as you try to restrain it, it bolts, right.
But then you have to.
And they used to let the horses and and go wild. And these were
relatively trained horses, I guess. But it was always amazing
to see them catch the horses with a one, two, and then saddle and
then use. And I mean, these these people were, I mean, they were
men, they were true men. And they would sneak up on the horse. And
sometimes they had ability to just like one or two people, you kind
of have to duck. And then you grab it by the main and then you can
control it. Right. But on another occasion, there was one person I
saw, I literally saw that person do this, he kind of snuck up on
the horse. And he just jumped up on the back of the horse *.
And then as soon as he got on top of the horse, the horse bolted.
And he just
until he was in controladores, like you can imagine, he was like
from a movie or something. But they were reached out they were
men. And it was amazing. You could have a 10 year old boy to be
completely in control of the donkeys because he used to ride
donkeys. And it was one of the things that we did We rode donkeys
while we were there. And they know immediately when you get on their
back, whether you're an experienced rider or not
immediately, immediately.
And donkeys they have a bad reputation of being stubborn, they
are stubborn.
And they know if you're a good rider or not. And if you weren't a
good rider,
they would intentionally it seemed at least, that as you're walking
down the path take you to the side of the path, you'd see a big
thornbush coming up. And you're you're trying to like even, you
know, hit them, move them and they just keep going like this.
And just take you right to the thorns. And you're wearing this
baggy martini and clothing, the dura and you're trying to duck and
you get in your way and he like takes part of your face and your
turban and your your Dada like gets ripped. And then it does this
like four or five times on your ride.
And you're like this stubborn animal and then you see like a 10
year old kid.
Like it's no thing but those things are obedient, just
completely obedient. And part of his the sounds, Each animal has a
sound that you get it to go or you get it to come in if you kind of
like, right, not good on the sounds. It's like not speaking
someone's language properly. That they they know all this animals
are smarter than we think anyhow, the point of this is that we need
to be like this with our own selves. When our knifes bolts we
need to learn to restrain it and that it is like our soul is like
an unruly, obstinate animal
which can only be Trent tamed and trained for writing and work by
reducing its fodder, right which is the food that you give the
animal and imposing hard tasks upon it in a balanced way, but all
of us need to do this to a certain degree, this whole life is about
restraint, it is about cutting back.
If on the other hand they are people of endings, then these
things are to be understood as the consequence of being overcome by
spiritual states so that their secrets are overwhelmed by lights
and unveiling of mysteries. At this point, the servant departs
from the exit exigencies of his humanity and becomes in most
respects, more like the noble Angels. This state is not
perpetual, for it occurs at times and not at others and should be
conceded to those that occurs to
such dates are beyond their control and should be considered
norm breaking karma with an example is what has been related
about shifts a hill, Ibn Abdullah Rahimullah who used to eat only
once every 15 days and that not at all during Ramadan. Another is
that of Abu Zubaydah l bursary, Rahim Allah who during Ramadan,
entered his house and told his wife to bolt the door and leave a
small opening through which she threw him a loaf of bread every
night.
At the end of the month, she unlocked the door only to find 30
loaves stacked in one corner. Others have been said to eat once
a year, and our master the cooked up and macadam, Mohammed bin Louie
Ibn Ali Baba Ali, we may God have mercy on him and grant people to
benefit from him, remain for months near the end of his life,
with neither food nor drink. On his last day, they force some food
into him. And when he felt it, he opened his eyes and said something
like, Have you grown impatient with me, after which he passed
away into the good pleasure of God, the Exalted, there are many
similar stories about both people have beginnings, and people have
endings, the explanation is, as we have stated above, however, they
can be understood in more ways than one, all of which are
acceptable and to be conceded to them, may God cause us to benefit
from them.
So he's talking about the LLB diet and had any high art that people
learn the beginning of the path is that and again, this has to be
under the direction of a teacher who knows what it is that they're
doing. They know the ins and outs of the path, and they know what's
right for the time in which people live in for the particular person.
And so that this is why they say is that some of the best books to
read that when it comes to the science of Ersan, the science of
the soul of our that, the latest books, the most recent books,
because they tend to take into consideration that most recent
time in times change. And that we simply can't do what the people
before us that did in terms of all of its detail, but in terms of
principle, we can, by way of example, if you look at some of
these, that feats of going without food, this is very real. This is
not a joke. This is not just some fable, this is very real. And I've
witnessed people that only ate one time of day, I've witnessed people
that would go several days without food with my own eyes. With my own
eyes, I've witnessed this, this is very real. And some of the great
people who came before us, they are so sustained by their state.
And they've inherited what our Prophet said is, indeed, that I
sleep, that indeed, that I spend the night in the presence of my
Lord, that and he feeds me and gives me drink in the veto and
rugby, I spend the night in the presence of my Lord, and he feeds
me and he gives me drink. They've inherited this, that all of these
different aspects of the, of the life of our Prophet Seisen, other
than what was solely reserved from him, that can be inherited by his
Oma. And some of them have inherited this where they could go
long periods of time. And there's many, many, many examples of this.
And that there are that smaller examples of this even in our very
time. So these things are very, very real. And when we hear the
stories of a man locking himself for 30 days someone sees what does
it mean? What it is they weren't spending time with their families
and don't think in the way that you normally think that appreciate
the fact that these were people that dedicated themselves solely
to the sake of Allah Tada in the amazing thing always is to me, as
if someone had to go to some business training for 30 days and
didn't see their family
In our time, that's perfectly fine. But if someone wanted to do
that for worship, oh, this person's neglecting his family,
oh, this person is not saying that we go away for 30 days, I'm trying
to make a point here. Is it in our time is that people are that
hypersensitive to that doing things that for the sake of the
dean, but if it's for dunya people, oh, yeah, I'm totally fine
with that. We have to be as parents be very careful with this
as well in relation to what it is that we impose upon our children,
anyhow, is that that these examples of these people are not
like the LLB diathesis. The irony is that these are the people that
are at the end of the path. And sometimes they have very powerful
states that affect what it is how they normally experience life. And
there are many examples of them that are defined in their
biographies. And even if we can't be exactly like them, we still
read their stories. And we try to emulate them in that the any way
possible. One of his great examples is seeing the full game,
we'll call him humble, but it by Louis, who was in this very
powerful spiritual state, and he was standing in prayer for about
four months, in Masjid by Louis. And there's a particular spot that
they know where this took place to this day. And people go, and they
pray in this particular spot for the blessing. And when
that his family started to worry about him, they came and they
forced food in his mouth.
And then they that heard a voice say is that you know, have, you
know, are you worried about me, or have you grown impatient with me,
and then he opened up his eyes, and he passed away. And so these
things happen, these things are possible. And that it is very
important, I will say, in our particular time,
in a time, that is defined as being a very materialistic time.
This is a time where people increasingly are being dominated
by material material in in the understanding of materialism. And
the greatest way to that combat. This excessive materialism is with
spirituality,
is to open up the door for you to remember a lot of adequate data
often. And to that attach your heart to spiritual matters, and
you'll find is that the more you will always remain in the means we
always will remain the means we're never going to be outside of the
means is that the more that spiritual you become, if you will,
is that the
more that your relationship will change to the means. The means
becomes easier and facilitated. And so in other words, if you just
focus, focus, focus on dunya, dunya dunya, you're so worried
about dunya, and workers, all these types of things, you're
chasing something you're never going to really actually achieve
or receive. But if you slightly detach, and you focus and you make
sure that you have a time during the day, that you work on your
spirituality and you remember Allah and you recite Quran, you
sin, so to watch and so forth and so on, is that you will find is
that Allah facilitates for you what it is that you thought that
you had to outwardly do an outward you had to chase to be where you
wanted to be in relation to worldly things. And this is what
our teachers say, what remains is for us to actually do it, we will
let see the blessings of Allah Tada in doing that, and we will
see is that his ease in our affairs, what we want to do is to
dedicate ourselves to Allah and when you do that he will take over
your affairs, doesn't mean it's always going to be easy, but there
will be ease in the hardship.
And there will be joy in the difficulty. And that's really what
we want. Those are some of the greatest manifestations of the
Divine facade of divine facilitation, and our matters May
Allah Allah give us Tofik and bless us in all of our different
affairs and to make these works easy to put into practice in these
meanings easy to put into practice, may we live and die upon
the ilaha IL Allah Muhammad Allah rasool Allah when we live and die
upon the teachings of our prophets, Allah licen him in this
person month, we have learned how to bring your hearts to life with
love of the messenger of allah sallallahu alayhi salatu salam ala
Kuhnian, Saudi Hutton, germy and Sherman Hadar to genuine accuracy
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