Yasmin Mogahed – How Do I Know If I Am Being Tested Or Punished

Salam aleikum. This is ismene Mujahid and you're listening to serenity streaming live on one legacy radio

as the days are winding down of Ramadan and you know we're right now we're in the the most, you know, the most precious days of the year and of Ramadan and that's the last 10 days of Ramadan, specifically, the the last 10 nights of Ramadan where we know that Allah subhana wa tada says in this last period of Ramadan that it is protection from the Hellfire and and so we ask Allah subhanaw taala to make us among those who are protected from the Hellfire and Aloma mean, and when I shuttle the lion had asked the prophets I send them, you know about later to whether this this powerful and holy night, what she should say and he said that we we should make the we should say the this the

following Dalai Lama in NACA, our phone to hiwula 451. And the meaning of the sky is is really beautiful, because Allah subhanaw taala one of his attributes is awful, and awful in Las panatela has a lot of attributes that denote His mercy. And this specific one is one of the most, one of the highest, because it doesn't just talk about covering, covering up us in like a lot of food, for example, but this is actually talking about completely obliterating the sin and the lead, you know, taking it completely off of our record. And so we ask Allah subhanaw taala who loves to do this, that he does this for us, he removes our sins, and as if they had not, hadn't, we had never

committed them Aloma, I mean, now the topic I wanted to touch upon today is a is a really a very high station in the past to Allah subhanaw taala. And it's a form of, of worship of a battle of the heart, which is one of the highest, the highest levels. It is contentment with the decree of Allah subhanaw taala. And it's a riddle. And when we talk about ryda we, you know, Riddler is, is something which it's, it's really the highest level that we aspire to reach. And the reason for that is that when we are faced with a hardship or a calamity, we can respond in, you know, one of three ways, one way we can respond, is the wrong way to respond, which is with impatience and complaint,

and resentment towards Allah subhanaw taala and this is the person who, if things don't work out the way they want them to, they feel anger towards Allah subhanaw taala it's, it's the attitude of why did you know why me? or How could this happen to me and it's it's it's a lack of either sobor nor and it's a lack of both sobotta and amrutha. But it's it's it's the way that we as believers want to make sure that we are not reacting, because this is the reaction which makes that calamity itself, a punishment upon us rather than something that is good for us. And we know as believers, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam teaches us that everything is good for a believer, every matter that

comes in, in the path of a believer is good for them. And the reason is that, if it's something that we like, then we are content. And so it's good for us. And if it is something that we don't necessarily want it, we're still patient, so it's good for us. And so the response of a believer, if the believer has the proper response, every matter in our life, anything that that comes along our path will be good for us. And, and we can see this in our own lives that whenever we had situations where we responded properly, it ended up being good for us. And so the first again, the first, you know, the first response is the response that we don't want to have. And that's the response that

makes this calamity not good for us, but rather a punishment for us. And it gets at the question of you know, a lot of people ask this question of, how do I know when I'm, when I'm being tested? How do I know if this test is a punishment for me or a blessing for me, and the way in which you know, the scholars explained that you know, the difference has to do with how you respond. Your response is what determines whether that test is good for you or bad for you. And and if you do respond with impatience and resentment and anger towards Allah subhanho data, that is a sign that this actually is a punishment for you

And this doesn't mean, when we talk about the second level, which is subpar, you know, that we respond, then with, with patients, having responding to a hardship or a calamity with Subbu does not mean that you don't feel pain, it doesn't mean that you don't, you know, even cry, it doesn't submit, it does not contradict feeling sadness or feeling pain, as we know, you know, profit. You know, we, you know, we know that, for example, when the in the stories of the prophets, that Prophet Yaqoob, for example, when he was when he lost his son, and and how much he cried about this, that, you know, until he went blind. And so the idea here is that, obviously, he was in a state of, you

know, he was, he had suffered, but that didn't mean that he didn't feel sadness at the loss of his son. And, and so sobor is the second level. And that's the response that we as believers are told to have. That's the response that we're in fact commanded to have in, in, in situations that face us. And that is to have patience, even if it does hurt, even if it's difficult, but we are striving to be patient. And as the prophets lie, Selim tells us, the way to get patience patience is a gift from Allah subhanaw taala. The way to, to get sober is to strive to have it. So this is the person who is trying really, really hard to not complain, or is trying really, really hard to have sub, that's the

sub word. And so when you're when you're striving to have patience, then Allah subhanaw taala blesses you and gives you sub. And that's the second level of the response. And that's the very, that's really what a believer should have as a requirement. And then there is an even higher level, and this is the highest level of response. And that is the the level of RDA. And, and that is not only that, I feel patient, I'm patient, at what Allah subhanaw taala brings me, but I actually am content with it, I actually am pleased with what, whatever Allah subhanaw taala gives to me. And if you look at the the concept of suburbia, you know, the second level, when we respond to hardship

with Subbu, our reward for that is the is that Allah subhanaw taala removes our sins. And this we know from a Hadith of the Prophet, so the light is send them that says that anytime that any hardship or loss or sorrow, that a believer in, you know, encounters any of these things, their sins are removed from them, like leaves falling from a tree, and the prophets I send them says that this is even the prick of a knee of a thorn, that even that remove sins, but in order to have calamity, you know, in order for calamity, to have that effect, we have to respond with Subbu. If we do not respond with sobor, then it doesn't have that, that that, you know, that result of removing our

sins. And then when you look at the third and highest level, which is what are the and that's the to be pleased with whatever Allah subhanaw taala gives you and to be content with it. In that level. It's even beyond just the removal of sins. But this level actually means that with the calamity, and when you respond with rather, it actually elevates your station with a loss upon Odile. It elevates your level, in nearness to Allah subhanaw taala. And so ryda is a level that we all you know, aspire for. And it's the again the highest level it isn't. It isn't expected from everyone I'm Allah subhanaw taala does not ask from us more than we can bear but it is it is the goal. It is the you

know what we aspire to as believers. But at the very minimum our response should be even if internally, there's turmoil, we we still control you know, we we restrain the self and be patient without complaining of Allah subhanaw taala and again, that's different than complaining to Allah subhana wa tada complaining to Allah subhanho wa Taala is something that even the prophets did, when when the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam was, you know, afterthought if and everything that he had to encounter his daughter to Allah subhanaw taala is so beautiful and in that he's saying that I complain only to you. And this is what the prophets did is that their complaint was not of Allah,

their complaint wasn't Oh, Allah has done this to me and how could a lot do this to me, but their complaint was to Allah subhanaw taala in the way that you you know, you go to a friend and you complain and you can find your weakness and your own and your pain and that's, in fact something which is which we should do, we should go to Allah subhanaw taala with our pain and with our weakness

And that's, that is does not contradict suburb but rather is something that we should do and that's to to complain to Allah subhanaw taala inshallah we'll take a break now and when we return, we'll discuss more on the topic of law. And and what is the meaning and significance of the station.

Salam Alaikum. This is Yasmin magette. And you're listening to serenity streaming live on one legacy radio. We're speaking today about a very high station, which is the station of rhythm, and rhythm, meaning contentment, and, and being pleased with the decree of Allah subhanaw taala being pleased with his decision. And when we look at how it is that we can respond to things that come our way in our life, when things don't work out the way we want them to, how is it that we can respond and there we talked about three different ways that we can respond, and one of them is complaint. And we as believers are told to, you know, that that will only make that's harmful, actually, not only for

the Hereafter, but for our life here to respond in that way. And second, the second level is the level of sub to have patience. That's the the the level where it's, it is painful, but we still are controlling that complaint against a loss upon data. And we're being patient. And the highest levels that are done in the RDA is that I am actually pleased with whatever Allah subhanaw taala sends to me, and one of the most beautiful examples that I've heard of this concept of radar is if you think about, you know someone in your life that you absolutely love, and and you think about that person giving you a gift. Now you can think about this person that you you know, that you're in love with,

that gives you this gift, and then think about another person who you don't know necessarily really care much for, and they give you a gift. Now, if you look at, you know, the two gifts, it won't matter. Suppose that the person that you're in love with gives you a dandelion dandelion, I don't know, they give you something that doesn't really have necessarily, you know, it wouldn't be something that most people would get excited about, I guess. And then some someone else who you don't care much about, they gave you a bouquet of roses. So you know, usually that would have more value. But to you which one has more value, which one is more, you know which one's going to matter

more to you, it's going to be the gift that came from the person that you love. And no matter what that person gives you, it's going to be precious to you and it's going to be you're going to love it just because you love that person. And the you know the other gifts, no matter what it is, is not going to be as special. And so if you think about our relationship with Allah subhanaw taala in this way, if we really love Allah subhanaw taala you know, and this is, this is something that we strive for, if we really love Allah subhanaw taala then anything that he gives us, we love and this really is the concept of Russia that we are pleased with anything that comes from him with the with the

understanding that this situation or how this thing worked out or what I was given or what I was not given what I was, you know what a less pathetic gave or what Allah subhanaw taala withheld, all of it came from him who is the source who is the decision maker, who was the one giving this gift, it is Allah subhanaw taala and so if I really love Allah subhanho data, I will love anything that comes from him, any gift from Allah subhanaw taala will be something that I love. And this is again why this is the highest level because the riddle can only come out of love, rather can only come out of having first a very you know, having that very, very high station of love for Allah subhanaw taala

without love for Allah subhanaw taala you cannot have rhythm because rhythm again comes from knowing that this because I love this the source of this gift. I love the gift no matter what it is, whether it was what I was seeking or not. But because I know who who was the giver and I love the giver. I love the gift. And so this this response to everything that comes our way is is the most lofty response and it's the response that makes the that the servant of the last panel data get higher in their station in their nearness to Allah subhana wa Tada. Now, one of the, you know, in every single moment that we live, there's always one of three options or or at least one of three options that we

can choose from

One is, at every moment in time, there is some commandment of Allah subhanaw taala that needs to be either obeyed or there is a prohibition of Allah subhanaw taala that needs to be, you know, state that you need to stay away from or or avoided, or there is a decision of Allah subhanaw taala called or some some sort of Decree of Allah subhanaw taala that we need to be patient about. And so if you look at your life, and you look at every moment of your life, the way in which you can live this life as a constant, a betta you know, we, we know that Allah subhanaw taala has told us, well Malak to genuine allele, I will do that I have not created jinn and humans except for one purpose, and

that is to fulfill our Buddha to Allah subhanaw taala, to be added to worship Allah subhanho data. So if this is our purpose of creation, then that means it's something that we can do, at every moment of our existence. If it if, if it was just restricted to something that we do, once a week, or you know, once a year or twice a year on aid, or or, you know, in Ramadan, and that's it, then it wouldn't be the purpose of our existence, Allah subhanaw taala saying that a bad is something so much greater than just a few religious rituals, that a bad day is something that could, because this is the purpose of our existence, it must be something that we can be in a constant state of, it must

be something that we can do throughout our life at every moment of our life. And the way to really be able to do that is to look at every situation in our life at every moment, that which of these three options are there is there What is that? Is there a commandment that I should be obeying a prohibition that I should be avoiding, or a decision or a decree of Allah subhanaw taala that I should be patient with, and even higher level be pleased with. And if I look at everything in my life that way, then I can make every moment into Iboga. And so if you look at those three options, you'll find that the one that we even as believers tend to fall short in most often, is the third

one. And that is the color of Allah when Allah gives us something in our life, and we're not pleased with it. And we don't even have subber We don't even have patience in it. This is even as practicing Muslims, this is usually the the the part or the aspect that we fall short in most is finding is being able, how do we respond to the decision of Allah subhana wa, tada? Do we respond with sobor? Do we respond with RDA or do we respond with, you know, complaint and impatience.

And one thing that we really have to realize as well. And one one example that I gave recently was, if you think about going to, for example, a surgeon, when you're going to a surgeon, and this is something, you're basically putting yourself in a very vulnerable position when you're going to a surgeon. And so what you're going to want to do is to look for someone whose credentials you absolutely trust, you're never going to go to a surgeon who, you're not really sure whether or not they graduated from med school, right, you're not going to you're not going to trust your life to such a person. So what you're going to do is find someone whose credentials you trust, once you find

that person, you know, this is like the top surgeon in the nation or whatever in the in that particular area. Once you find that person now, when that person you know, is basically, you know, doing the procedure on you, are you complaining about it? Are you criticizing? Are you worried about, you know, wait a minute, you're doing this wrong, and you're doing this, right? You're not you're not doing any of that, in fact, you've completely given up, you've given your trust to that person and you are your if they tell you, okay, I'm going to need to do this, this and this, you're not going to say no, you're gonna say yes, I'm pleased with whatever, you know, plan you have. And I

know that you know, best and it's in your hands, and I'm going to trust that. And so you think about this situation. The reason why you can do that is because you trust that person's knowledge. You trust that person's abilities, you trust that person's experience and their credentials. Now imagine if you were in a situation where you didn't trust the the the the doctor's credentials, you weren't even sure if they graduated from from, you know, from any, they weren't even sure if they if they really are licensed to practice. In that case, you are and you're going to be very unsure and you're going to be sort of looking at each decision they make and being very, you know, you're not going to

be pleased with that with that decision, any decision that they made.

Now when we look at our relationship with Allah subhanaw taala, the question we have to ask ourselves is, do we know his credentials? Do we trust his credentials? Allah subhanaw taala? Do we really know him? Do we really understand that he is at Hakeem that he is the most wise? And Allah Eileen, and he is the one who knows, who knows. And he's the the most knowing, and that he and that he has, the more he has power to do everything, and he knows better than we know. I mean, if if we really understand and the more that we can understand these credentials of Allah subhanaw taala these attributes of Allah subhanaw taala, the easier it would be for us to not question his plan.

Because the same way we don't question the plan of the surgeon who we trust, we you know, and even if we don't understand it, and that's very key, no one's gonna say, No, you can't do any procedure on me, you know, you're going for brain surgery, and you say, you can't do any procedure on me, unless I understand every single part of the procedure. Well, that's never going to happen, you're never going to say that, because you trust that you don't know what that surgeon knows. And that surgeon knows what they're doing. And you're not going to say that you can't do. In fact, you can't do any minute little step until I first understand it, and you explain it to me completely. And we

don't even do that with a human being. Now imagine Allah subhanaw taala it says, if we think Allah, like, we can trust the credentials of a surgeon, and not make them explain every little, you know, part of their plan, and we don't feel we need to understand it. And yet with the Lord of the Universe, we feel that first that we can understand, you know, every single part of his plan. And second, that we need to and we're and we're entitled to, and we feel like Allah subhanaw taala you know, has this almost like an obligation to make you understand anything before he does it. And this is, you know, Subhan Allah, Allah subhanaw. taala is the Lord of the Universe, he's not a surgeon,

not a brain surgeon, not just some human being, he knows what he's doing. And so the more we can really understand who it is that we're dealing with, who Allah subhanaw taala is and who we are, the easier it will be, to have trust in Allah subhanaw taala. And to have, you know, patience and and and, and actually reach a level where we can be pleased with his decision, because we know that he has our best interests in mind, whenever you one of the other attributes of Allah subhanaw taala is Al working. And our keel is someone who you can trust it's a trustee. So if I need something to be done, and I can't do it myself, I entrust someone else to do it for me. And that person who I

entrust, I choose that person carefully. It's somebody, obviously, that I trust, because I've entrusted them with some matter of mine. And once I do that, I know they have my best interests in mind. And Allah subhanaw taala is the ultimate trustee Allah subhanaw taala is working. And if we really know that he knows what his best, not only does he know what's best, he wants what's best for us, and he has our best interests in mind, then we would give it you know, we would we would have that trust and let Allah subhanaw taala do what he knows best. And not and not question that and be pleased with his decision. And shall I'll take a short break now. And when we return we'll we'll

finish up on the topic of rota.

Santa Monica, this is Jasmine Mujahid and you're listening to serenity streaming live on one legacy radio. We talk today about a very, very high station with a loss of Hannah Donna and this is already having been pleased with the decision of Allah subhanaw taala when things don't necessarily work out the way we envisioned them, are we pleased with the decision of Allah subhana wa tada and the more that we can know Allah subhanaw taala the more that we can understand, and, you know, witness his attributes, the easier it is to have patience and you know even even higher to have ridata to have, you know, be pleased and content with his decision. And so we ask Allah subhanaw taala that that you

know that we can reach the station where everything that we encounter in life, we see Allah subhanaw taala behind it, and we don't question the the plan the perfect plan of Allah and whatever he gives us we're pleased with even more so than you know, we would be pleased with any gift that was given to us by someone that we love. And if we love Allah Subhana Allah we feel that anything that comes from him is beautiful, anything that comes from him

Is is good for us and inshallah will be good for us in this life and the next inshallah remember us in your diaries we ask that in these last that we take advantage of these last precious nights of Ramadan specifically these last 10 nights and tonight is an odd night so inshallah you know try to take advantage of that and and keep keep us in your doors and the oma inshallah Coolio Holly Heather Mustapha lalibela come in Nova funa Rahim Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh