Yaser Birjas – Hastening To Do Good Deeds
AI: Summary ©
The speakers stress the importance of rushing into something without hesitation and staying steadfast on a path of fear to avoid confusion and discomfort. They also emphasize the need to be prepared for death and avoid giving charity. The speakers stress the importance of practicing and not giving charity, as it is the nature of success, and encourage people to make good deeds and not wait for it. They stress the importance of practice and avoiding giving charity as it is the nature of success.
AI: Summary ©
In the new chapter, He
says, this is a chapter on hastening to
do a good and virtuous act and inciting
people who plan to do so to rush
into it without any hesitation, like do it
without hesitation.
And he says, Allah says, so hasten towards
all that is good.
Like if you're going to be rushing into
something, go run to that which is good.
Don't run because there's a new sale or
a new product came out.
That's not what you rush for.
But rush when there's something khair.
There's a new program, a new lecture, a
new activity that is good for you in
the dunya and in the akhira.
That's what you run for.
Allah says, and march forth in the way
which leads to forgiveness from your Lord and
for paradise as wide as are the heavens
and the earth.
Prepare for al muttaqeen, the pious ones.
Like if you're going to be racing and
competing with anybody, then compete for that which
is beneficial to you in the akhira more
than that's within the dunya.
So Allah subhana wa ta'ala is asking
us to rush, to race, to compete in
that which is virtuous and that which is
good.
Then he says in hadith number 87.
In
this
narration the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says,
be prompt in doing good deeds before you're
overtaken by turbulences which would be like a
part of a dark night.
During that stormy period, a man would be
a believer in the morning and turn to
disbelief in the evening.
Or he would be a believer in the
evening and turn disbeliever in the morning and
would sell his faith for worldly goods.
So what does that mean?
If you remember, this chapter is part of
the bigger chapter.
Which chapter we're talking about, if you remember?
The previous one.
Steadfastness.
What's wrong with you guys?
Is it too late?
So it's basically being steadfast.
And part of being mustaqeem and on the
straight path of course there are a lot
of challenges.
So here the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
has given us heads up.
He says, look, listen.
The time is going to come when things
will be extremely, extremely confusing.
People will lose direction.
In the morning they believe in something.
By the end of the day they lost
it.
Why?
Because it's confusing.
By the end of the day they have
explored other things that have confused them.
And then sometimes in the evening mashallah they
find faith and they find peace and then
by the time they wake up in the
morning the next day they lost it because
they get confused again.
Things are so confused and the Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam says, these fitan, like the
darkness of the night.
And we talk about darkness of the night
when you cannot see anything at all.
And I mentioned that one time, you guys
remember?
One time we went to these cabins and
they took us all the way deep into
the cabins.
And then they asked us to make sure
our phones are off and our watches as
well too and your pockets.
Like they want you to remove any source
of light.
And then they want us to experience the
complete, perfect, pitch black in a moment in
the darkness of the night.
And the moment we were ready, they turned
off the lights.
Once the lights went off, we became in
extremely uncomfortable darkness.
Literally, uncomfortable darkness.
And sometimes when you turn your lights off
at home or in your room, you can
see a glimpse of light here and there.
You can see a way.
You can even see the shadow of something.
But in that moment, we could see absolutely
nothing.
Like my wife was next to me in
one of those experiences, was next to me.
I couldn't even see her.
I put my hand in front of my
face.
I could not even see my hand.
The shadow of my hand, I couldn't see
it.
This is how dark it gets.
And they say in that kind of darkness,
if someone, was put in a situation like
this, in a few days, they will lose
their mind.
Because this is it.
You can't tell the difference between right from
left, up from down.
You lose the sense of direction and the
sense of everything.
You can't.
And people, they lose their mind as a
result of that.
Imagine when people, not necessarily in a physical
darkness, but this metaphoric darkness.
Like you live in a society, everything is
dark.
Morals, activities, people, attitudes, you name it.
Everything is just so dark.
It makes you feel uncomfortable.
And as a result, especially people who are
not very well equipped with the proper knowledge
in a time like this, the fitan can
sweep them into the ocean of darkness.
They go far away.
And that's why you need to remain steadfast.
And you need to remain steadfast on this
path so that when these things happen, not
if they happen, no, when they come, because
the Prophet says they will come.
So when they come, you're ready for it.
So how do you prepare yourself and be
on that path and remain steadfast?
The Prophet says, don't take any chances.
If you can't fast Mondays and Thursdays, what's
stopping you?
If you can't give charity, what is stopping
you?
If you can't come to the masjid, alhamdulillah,
with comfort, what is stopping you?
If you can't wake up at night whenever
you're still sleeping, alhamdulillah, you have water ready,
the house is warm, you can still get
up and do your ibadah, what is stopping
you?
If you can't go for umrah and hajj,
what is stopping you?
If you can't read the Quran and teach
others, what is stopping you?
You look at all these good deeds, what
is stopping you from making more of these
good deeds?
Because that's what the Prophet is asking us
to do.
He says, look, if you have a chance
to do good, don't wait for it.
Don't say tomorrow, inshallah, start tomorrow.
You know, inshallah, next year, inshallah, when Ramadan
comes, bismillah.
No guarantee, there's no guarantee for anybody to
survive until then.
And a time of fitan, and that's something
very interesting and very important to understand.
It doesn't matter how much you know, because
you say, alhamdulillah, I have enough knowledge, mashaallah,
laqadarallah, in times of fitan, I know my
way, I know how to judge these things.
You're dreaming.
You're dreaming.
Ibn Qayyim, rahimahullah wa ta'ala, he says,
at the strike of a calamity, people become
completely heedless of the knowledge.
What does that mean?
Your knowledge will be useless.
Because when you're too emotional, when you're too
emotional, your rationale goes down, if not completely
out of the window.
You don't even know, you don't think straight
anymore, because you're too emotional right now.
You're too scared, you're too angry, you're too
anxious, you're this, any kind of extreme emotions
will cause the people to, you know, lose
their rationale in that moment.
So therefore, when the calamity strikes, and people
are scared, they're sad, they're grieving, they're angry,
they're this, they're that, they say things and
they do things, you will be surprised and
shocked at it.
It's like, what's wrong with him?
What's wrong with her?
You say these things, astaghfirullah, I mean, what's
wrong with you?
Yeah, because the rationale is not out of
the window.
So what does it help people to stay,
you know, strong in terms of calamities?
He says, it's not the knowledge that keeps
people steadfast.
It's the strength of their iman.
And the strength of your iman is based
on what?
Of the practice of what you know.
How much you practice of what you know.
Because what's the essence of knowledge?
Practicing, putting into action.
And if you're not going to put into
action, that knowledge, or what you think that
you have as knowledge, will slowly and gradually
fade away, and fade out and disappear.
So therefore, when the Prophet says, he goes,
don't hesitate, don't take any chances, rush into
it, be prompt.
If you get an opportunity to do good,
what is stopping you from that?
Think about this.
I want to reflect on this statement.
And keep it in your mind.
If you can make wudu every time you
finish, you know, use the bathroom, what's stopping
you from this?
If you can't pray your tahajjud or your
wudu before you go to sleep, what is
stopping you from this?
In any good way, what is stopping you
from doing good deeds of jamaat?
So make sure to think about it, because
may Allah protect us all.
I mean, times of fitna are very near.
And we need to be, inshallah, prepared with
our strength of our iman, with our practice,
and alhamdulillah, that we build so much, with
so much momentum and energy, so if these
things happen, at least alhamdulillah, we are in
good position.
May Allah protect us all from the fitna.
We ask Allah to keep us strong and
firm in our iman.
We ask Allah to teach us that was
beneficial to us, and make us benefit from
what we learn.
We ask Allah to show us that which
is right, and make it easy for us
to follow it, and that which is wrong,
and stay away from it.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
give us the ability to remain steadfast on
the path, at least to him, and only
to him, Ya Rabb al-alamin, wa alhamdulillah,
wa salamu ala nabiyyil muhammadin, wa ala alihi
wa sahbihi wa sallam.
Any questions?
Subhanakallahumma bihamdik.
Ashra lalant astaghfiruka tubarik.
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.