December 10th, 2017
Yasmin Mogahed – Muhammad – The Eternal Illuminator
AI: Summary ©
The importance of humility and not blaming oneself for the experience of a difficult point in a life of trial is emphasized, along with the need for forgiveness and humility. The speaker emphasizes the power of focus on mercy and the presence of evil in one's life, and how it can affect one's response. They also mention lessons learned from past experiences and how people are responding to the focus of their heart.
AI: Summary ©
I have the opportunity today to speak about a story which is very moving to me personally and a story which we can all learn and gain a lot of inspiration from. And that is a story
of
a point in the Prophet sallallahu ascendance life,
in which he did himself described as one of the most difficult points of his entire life. And we know that he lived a life of trial. But this was one of the most difficult when he was asked later on by his wife, what was the hardest time he named this this moment.
But before I talk about this moment, I want to give some context. The prophets I send them struggled in Mecca for many years. And one of the his greatest supporters during the struggle
was his wife Khadija of Yolanda and his uncle, they were among his greatest supporters.
And what happened is that within a very short time,
they both passed away. And this was then named the year of sadness. And first, because he lost both of them in a very short time span.
Now, after going through all of this, and the boycott, and the loss of these two beloved people, to him, his greatest supporters,
he took a trip to a nearby city of pif, looking for support there. And when he went there, he found the complete opposite. He was thrown stones were thrown at him, he was wounded. And he was even made to bleed to the extent that his sandals were sticking to his feet from blood.
He was treated with the utmost disrespect.
And as he was leaving, he made a very, very powerful dollar to Allah subhanaw taala. And this is what I want to speak about today. This is why
this is why it has so many deep lessons in it. And I advise every one of you to really study this doc.
In the beginning of this Torah, the prophets I send them he says something very, very interesting. He says a school he uses this word ESCO, which we hear in other places that prophets have said, he says to Allah subhanaw, taala, I complained to you check one. Now this is very important because we live in a world where we complain a lot. Check was something we're all very, very familiar with. We're used to complaining, right? If we don't get the service we want, we complain. We're very, very accustomed to complaining. And sometimes we complain about a love. And what does it mean to complain about the love? This is when something doesn't go our way, or we're in pain, or we lose something
that we love, or we're being tested? And we we turn to Allah and we respond with, how could you do this to me? Or why me God? It's not fair. This is a complaint against God. And this is something that a believer should never do.
But what you'll see is that prophets themselves did something very different. They did not complain against a lot. But they complained to Allah. And that's a completely different thing. to complain to. The panel dialogue isn't to say, Yo, this isn't fair. It isn't to say How could you do this to me, it's to turn to a law like you turn to a close friend. And to turn to Him and to tell him, it hurts. This is difficult helped me complaining to Allah subhanaw taala is asking a lot for help. It is to admit to Allah, your own weakness is not to complain about Allah, but to turn to Allah and asked him for help. And this is what the prophets I send them did in this moment. He said, I
complain to you.
And this is a lesson for us. Because we in our lives are going to be faced with trials we're going to be faced with times when we feel humiliated, or we feel that we are in pain, we lose things that we love, or we are tested. And this is a lesson for us of how to respond. In fact, in this drama is the cure to pain.
It's actually, it's actually a blueprint for success when you're being tried. It's a blueprint for success when you're being tested.
And that blueprint is turned to Allah and humble yourself and invent your own inabilities. Don't try to put on a front with a law. Don't try to act tough with Allah. Don't try to act like I got this with a love. That actually is the wrong answer. When you are being tested. The answer is not to try to stand up and say I got this. The answer is the opposite. It's to bow down and to humble yourself and to say, yeah, Allah, I need you. Yeah, I can't do it on my own. And that's what every single Prophet, peace be upon them all. They all turn to Allah and they humbled themselves in that moment. And they turned to Allah and they asked for help. And that's exactly what the prophets I send them
is doing here. He says, I complain to you, what is he complaining about? He says, I complained to you of my own weakness. See, oftentimes, when we are complaining, we want to complain about everyone else, right? The problem is always outside of me. We tend to be the victim of our own problems, right? We never take responsibility. We never humble ourselves. Instead, we we want to blame others. We want to put the blame outside of ourselves, right? The change needs to happen from the outside. prophets never did this. Even if you go and you look at our father Adam,
from the very beginning,
from the very beginning, when he slips and he eats from the tree, that he was prevented from you no one would think in that situation well, who made him slip? We are told in the Quran that the shaitan made them both slip as
we know that it was the shaped bottle made them slip by deceiving them. But what's so interesting is when you look at the daughter of atomized celeb, he's not even leaving check on. He never even mentioned stripe on it. His daughter, Robin avala and fusina were in dentistry. Elena was then akuna Minal Casa de his dryer, is to say, Oh, my Lord, Robin, Oh our Lord, we have wronged our own selves. He is taking full responsibility for his situation. And for his slip. He says, We have wronged our own selves.
We're in the dusty Lana water homiletic una casa de. And if you do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will indeed be among the losers. This is where success comes from, is by humbling yourself and turning to Allah. And that's exactly what every single Prophet did. When they were faced with trial. He says, Oh Allah, I complain to you of my weakness, my scarcity of resources, and the humiliation I have been subjected to by the people,
almost Merciful of those who are merciful. This is another point I want to reflect on. And that is, oftentimes when we're being tried, or going through difficulty. Sometimes we feel angry at God, we feel angry at Allah subhanaw taala. This How could you do this to me attitude. But when you look at the the responses of the prophets, peace be upon them all, within their pain, they are focusing on a loss of mercy. They aren't saying God, how could you do this to me? They're saying God, you are the Most Merciful of the Merciful. Looking at you.
Right? He was tested year after year after year, losing, losing, losing, right? He lost his health, his wealth, his family. And finally, what does he say to Allah subhanaw taala.
He acknowledges that he's in pain. He acknowledges that difficulty has befallen him. And in the same breath, he says and you are the Most Merciful of the Merciful. And so the believer here, this is a blueprint. The believer continues to focus on Allah's mercy when they are being tried. The believer doesn't lose hope.
The believer continues to focus on the mercy of Allah subhanaw taala while they are in their pain while they are being tested, and that's the blueprint for success. And you are the Most Merciful of the Merciful and that's exactly what Mohammed sigh send them is focusing on in his most difficult time of his life.
Oh lord of the week.
And my Lord to
the prophets I send them is acknowledging that Allah subhanho wa Taala. He's humbling himself, I want to just emphasize there is a theme of humility. The only way out of a storm is by getting down. So this is the thing, you know,
I grew up in the Midwest, and you know, every region of the world pretty much has its own brand of natural disasters, right? You have areas where you have earthquakes. In California, the areas where you have hurricanes, you have areas you have tsunamis, you know, you have sand storms, and in some places you have tornadoes, I grew up in a place where we had tornadoes. And one thing that you'll learn about tornadoes, and it's interesting, because every natural disaster has its own escape route, right, its own place where you can go to escape.
And for a tornado,
the only way to escape a tornado is to get low, is to get down. And the lower you can get, the more safe you will be. That's why you're supposed to go into a basement. Or if you don't have a basement, just get as low as you can. And that's the thing about storms in life, is that if you want the fastest way out of a storm, is to get down is to get low, to humble yourself, and to turn to Allah, and to beg for help. And this is what every single Prophet did peace be upon them all. They never stood up and said, I got this watch me, you know, bring it on that kind of attitude. They never relied on themselves, they got down, they humbled themselves. And they always relied on the law. And
they always focused on the mercy of Allah subhanaw taala, they never lost hope. They didn't despair.
And they didn't get angry.
He says, To Whom have you entrusted me to a distant person who receives me with hostility or to an enemy to whom you have granted authority over my affair. And now here is where I want to put special emphasis. The next line of this drive is something that is so powerful, because it shows the focus of the prophets I send them even when he was being tried in his most difficult time Look at his focus, he says in them yakun because
for now,
he says what is translated as
if you are not angry with me? If you are not displeased with me,
then I do not mind.
What is he saying here? This is very powerful. Everything that is going through, look at the focus of his heart.
The focus of his heart isn't the wounds that are on his body, or the blood that's coming out from you know, his wounds. His focus is the pleasure of Allah. His focus is is a lot displeased with me or is pleased with me. And he's saying that so long as the law is not displeased with me, then I'm okay. Because his focus was clear his focus wasn't actually himself. His focus was a lot. And you see how different the responses depending on your focus. When the focus is Allah subhanaw taala, your response is completely different. His response is, as long as you are not displeased with me, then I'm okay then I do not mind. And that's what comes out of a person whose focus is Allah
subhanaw taala.
Now, you'll find
that the dry goes on,
and he says, your fever is a more expansive relief to me.
And the next part is one of my favorite parts in this job.
He says, I seek refuge in the light of your face, by which all darkness is dispelled, and every matter in the heavens and the earth in this life and the next are set right as so powerful. I seek refuge in the light of your face, by which all darkness is dispelled and every matter in the heavens and the earth are separate.
Look at the focus of the prophets I send them.
This is the most painful moment of his life. This is a man who lived with loss ever since he was born. He was born his father was gone. Then his mother, that his grandfather, that his uncle, that his wife, that his children, he was constantly living with loss, and yet this was the most painful moment of his life.
Even in this moment,
even in this moment, His focus is the light of Allah. And he realizes that he sees that this is where things are rectified. See, where do things where does salvation come from? This is a very important lesson.
When we are when we are in a difficulty, when we don't know which way to go, when we when we feel trapped, when we don't see a solution.
When we're being tried.
Where does salvation come from? See, we as a community, we are being tried, we are being tried politically, we as individuals are being tried. We have our own individual trials. Some of us have financial trials, some of us have relationship trials, some of us have psychological trials, mental trials, physical health trials, everyone is being tried.
But the question becomes, where is the salvation? Where? Where does it come from? And this is what we learn from here. This salvation comes from the light of Allah subhanaw taala. Look at the focus of the prophets, I said them, I seek refuge in the light of your face, by which all darkness is dispelled. And everything is set right in the heavens and the earth.
The prophets, I send them embodied this mercy, so much, that after this Dora
the angel came to him,
to breed it, Sam came to him and told him Allah Subhana, Allah has put the angel of the mountain has control over these two mountains around Paul, if
you just say the word and allow little bull will destroy fire.
And look at the response of the office, I send them this is extremely powerful, because it shows you that when your focus is different, your response is different.
It's all about your focus. So if his focus had been his own ego,
then he would have said what, destroy them and it would have been his right. Allah said, it's okay. A lot give that that that command that permission.
But his focus was never his ego. His focus is not his ego, the fact that they insulted him and abused him and kicked him out and physically harmed him. When he was only bringing a message to them of truth.
Because his focus wasn't his own ego, his focus was a love. Look at the beautiful response that he had.
His response was that he did not want them to be destroyed. Because he said, even if they don't believe maybe in their progeny, there will be those who will believe His focus is clear. We have to understand that our lives change our lives transform, when we transform our focus. You know, the power of focus is something that
always moves me when I when I hear about the story of Musashi because this is another example of the power of focus when Mussolini's celeb was tried, when he was in a situation where he looked tracks. He's with Benny Israel,
and they're trying to escape Pharaoh and his army. Fernando and Jeremiah Nicola Moosa in Malibu dracoon. So they're trying to get away from this, the worst time to walk the earth type. This is Pharaoh, right, Pharaoh to put it into context, used to kill babies as a policy.
He he was the man who said, well, we'll cut off their limbs on opposite sides. This is who Pharaoh was, and he is behind them with his army.
So when the bed is not either people have this other story the children of Israel, see the army, they see each other, they
respond in sort of a very human way, right? What is your response? When you look like you're trapped
in an elevator, who they respond with Indeed, we will be overtaken.
Many of us respond like this. When we only see the problem, when we only focus on the problem itself on what it is that we're afraid of. We often respond with this exact type of reaction in animal drakul we
We'll be overtaken, you know, this hopelessness and this despair that we felt last election.
You know, I'm saying that's it. That's it for us. We had a collective in nanodrop.
You feel me? We that's it for us. In America, we will indeed be overtaken now. We're all going away in some kind of camp.
Right?
Do you know why this happens?
It all depends on the focus of the heart.
What are you focused on? Whose power you focused on? Whose power you focus on? The power of Trump? The power of Pharaoh?
Look at Musashi he said he was focused somewhere else. Color Canada, color Canada. He said no, absolutely. Not positively. Absolutely. Not. Canada, in their decline is a very emphatic No, absolutely not.
Color Canada, in my era.
He said, No, we won't be overtaken absolutely not impossible. Why? Because his focus is different. He says, indeed, my Lord is with me.
And when you have a focus on your Lord, you don't respond in that way. You don't respond with despair, no matter what the situation is. I mean, can you imagine the situation he's in his tracks. I mean, there's a giant body of water in front of him there at the Red Sea. And there's a massive super power army behind them. And he's like, he didn't flinch. He didn't despair.
Canada, in the mire of the sea, it by no means, indeed, my Lord is with me. And he will get you through this.
That is the power of hate, real to hate. That is the power of the focus of the heart. And that's exactly what Allah did. Allah got him out of the bat, in a way that no one could ever imagine. A lot open the Red Sea from all sides.
And these are lessons timeless lessons for us. These aren't just bedtime stories. They're cool stories. You learned them when you were two, three years old. And then you went to sleep. But these are not just stories, they're lessons. They're lessons about our lives. Because you know what? Let's be honest, we probably aren't going to be in a situation, hopefully, where we are stuck between a large body of water and an RV behind us.
But will we ever feel like we're trapped? Will we ever feel like we can't find a solution or we can't find a way out of a very complicated problem? will that happen? Absolutely. And the question becomes, what is your focus?
And what your focus is will determine your response.
The one who focuses on a lot doesn't disappear. No matter what the situation is.
A lot of panels it tells us in the Quran, and acetone and data while Am I Chico method.
Do you think that you will enter Paradise without going through that which those who came before you went through my sets who will bet sir or what the law was Zillow.
they encountered difficulty adversity and they were shaken. You know this word Zillow, it shares the same route with the with the word earthquake in Arabic zigzag.
They were shaking so much like an earthquake shakes us have died.
Hatha Yoga Rasulullah Dena no matter who.
They were so shaken until even the messengers and those with the messengers asked Matt tomasulo When will the help of a locum do we feel like that just now? Yes, sometimes sort of.
But then Allah soprano die that tells us
in North Korea, indeed, the help of Allah is near our cooling polyhedra was stopped for a while in order for him to panic a little bit darker shadow and that led him and stuck to require to Blake was Salam alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh