Yasmin Mogahed & Suleiman Hani |Q&A| Nice to Meet You | 16th MAS-ICNA Convention
Yasmin Mogahed – Nice to Meet You – Q&A
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The speakers discuss the importance of trusting one's parents and intentions in the surgery, as it can affect one's response to pain and knowledge of one's parents. They stress the need for understanding and approval before undergoing procedures, and emphasize the importance of trusting one's parents and intentions in the surgery. The speakers also emphasize the importance of understanding and not giving up on pain, as it can affect one's response to the pain and knowledge of one's parents.
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la mina chanela Gene smilla rahmanir rahim o salat wa salam ala rasulillah anusara bH mine, a Mishra sadri where Siddeley Omri wila, Dr. Melissa Annie of gold calling Allah subhanaw taala tells us in a hadith cutscene. So a hadith could see is a hadith in which Allah subhanaw taala is speaking, but it's in the words of the prophets. I said, I'm in his own words. So that's what makes it different than the Quran. And then the Vanya dB, I am as my servant, or my slave thinks of me. This is a very profound statement. And in the lineage dB, I am as my slave thinks of me, this statement can change our lives, because Allah is telling us that he is what we expect from him. He is as we think of him,
we have to be a people who think positive of Allah subhanaw taala. And so the the theme that I want to speak about today, in terms of knowing Allah, is one very simple theme that can help a person navigate their entire life, and navigate through their storms and through the weather of their life. And that is something called hosting of London Villa, hosted London Villa means to have a positive opinion of Allah subhanaw taala. To always expect positive and good from Allah subhanaw taala. I want to talk about this concept and talk about what it really means. And then talk about how we can start to really, really apply this in our lives. And then the effect that it has, I want to give you
guys an analogy.
I want you guys to imagine that after this talk is over, you go outside and your mom is up, you know, she's pulled in. Maybe she's with you, but imagine that she's not. And that she's actually come and picked you up from outside the lecture. And you get in the car, and she starts to drive. And as she's driving, you ask her because you don't recognize that the route that you're taking. You asked her where are we going? And she says to you just wait, you'll see.
Everybody imagine this? How many of you at this point are calling the police? Because you're so frightened?
Is there anyone who's at this point calling the police calling? 911? I don't know where my mom's taking me. I'm really scared. I think she's gonna hurt me. Anyone?
Okay, why is it that you're not afraid?
is a very simple question. I mean, a very simple answer, as trust, you said it in one word, because you trust your mother.
Now I I emphasize to you that you actually don't know where you're going, right.
So I want you guys to keep that in mind. You don't know where you're going. But you trust the driver.
You trust that your mother is not going to take you somewhere and then leave you there in a ditch. She you trust that she's not going to hurt you. And so because of that trust, even when you don't know the route, even if you don't know where this driver is taking you, you have complete trust
that she is not going to harm you. You have complete trust that the driver has your best interest in mind. Do you know what that's called? That's called falseness.
That means that see many of us we hopefully have been when it comes to our mothers, we we know that our mother has our best interests in mind, we have a good opinion of our mothers, we trust our mothers, and because of that trust, and because of that good opinion. We don't panic, even when we don't know where she's taking us.
Now, what does that have to do with Allah subhanaw taala a lot takes us in our lives. Allah is the driver of our lives.
And yet many of us when we don't know where he's taking us, we panic. We do that thing where you call the police and say, I'm scared, I don't know where I'm going we do that. We but maybe we're not calling the police or calling our friend or we're calling our family member or we're whatever whoever it is that we're calling. But that feeling of panic, that feeling of of anxiety,
is because we don't have enough trust and a good opinion of the driver. Maybe you've taken turns in your life that you never expected. Maybe you went down routes that you never wanted.
But if you have a good opinion of Allah subhanaw taala you know, that he will never do something to harm you.
Even
When you don't understand the route,
I'm gonna give you guys a second analogy.
Have you guys ever been to the doctor before?
Of course you have, right? Everyone's been to the doctor or at least some point in their life.
When you go to the doctor, imagine that you go to the doctor, and the doctor says to you, ma'am, or Sir,
you have a very serious you have a very
serious illness, and I have to operate. I have, you have to have a surgery.
Now, when the doctor tells you this, how many of you in this room are actually surgeons?
Exactly. didn't really think so. So you yourself don't know anything about surgery, right? Is there anyone in here that can do brain surgery? Raise your hand.
Okay, so no one in this room knows how to do brain surgery. But when the doctor comes to you and says, I need to operate,
I have to do brain surgery on you because you have this illness.
What is our response to the doctor? How many of you who have no experience and no knowledge of brain surgery, say?
Actually, you can't operate on me until I understand every single procedure that you're doing? Wouldn't that be a bit arrogant?
You know nothing about brain surgery. This person went to school for 12 years, and has 12 years experience. And you're saying that you you need to understand.
You guys following? Alright, let's back up. When Allah does stuff in our lives,
when Allah does stuff in our lives, he's operating on us. Yeah.
But many of us,
we think that we need to understand every single motion that not a surgeon is doing. But God. Is that not arrogance? Is that not arrogance, but God? Why? Right? We like that word. Why? And it's almost like, yo, God, you have to explain it to me before you're allowed to do it.
That's how we act. Now, I gave you an analogy to show you how completely ridiculous and how completely arrogant it is, with a human being. Okay, a human being who actually you could have been a brain surgeon, if you studied for 10 years, right? But you can't be God, and I can't be God. And yet we have this type of arrogant attitude with a lot. But a lot, I don't get it and therefore I don't approve. You know, it's like, I don't approve God. I don't approve of of your actions.
We wouldn't dare say that to a surgeon.
Allah Subhana Allah knows what he's doing. This is what we have to realize. When you go and you study the names of Allah subhanaw taala. You find that among his names are attributes of knowledge and Eileen and Hakeem
that Allah is the most knowing a law is the most wise as semia al Basia, right, the one who sees everything, the one who hears everything.
So we're not talking now about your mother, who's limited. We're not talking now about a doctor who's limited. We're talking about someone who's Unlimited, and who has unlimited knowledge and unlimited ability. And yet we questioned him.
We questioned him and we put ourselves at a level where we think that we need to approve we need to understand, but see if I take you back to the analogy of the surgeon,
when the surgeon says this is what needs to happen. What do you say as a patient, you say, do what you need to do I trust you.
You say do what you need to do, I trust you. And you wouldn't dare say I have to understand first because you know,
that you can't understand.
Allah subhanaw taala tells us in the footer en
Assa and to crochet and will hide en la comm it might be that you hate something. And it's good for you. Have you guys ever hated something before?
Have you guys ever have? Have you guys ever been upset about something that happened in your life has it ever happened?
Of course it did.
Allah saying it may be that you hate something and it's good for you.
How many of you have been upset about something that happened, you didn't get into the school you wanted didn't get the program you want, he didn't marry the person you wanted. You didn't, whatever it was.
How many of you
later on down the line found out that this was actually better for you? Has that happened to anyone?
So usually in Allah's mercy after time, maybe not that moment. But after time, Allah allows you to see just a little bit of how he saved you.
Allah tells us this, that, that indeed, it may be that something that you hate is good for you, wasa and to hibou, Shea and wahoo, a shadow knuckle. And it might be that you love something you really wanted something.
But it's actually bad for you.
Well, La Jolla, la One, two, let alone here is the point. Allah knows and you do not know. This is where we have to come back and humble ourselves and realize who Allah is and who I am.
See, if I go back to the analogy of the surgeon,
there's only one case where you're not going to trust the surgeon.
one of two reasons you won't trust the surgeon. The first, what if you're not quite sure they went to med school?
Not quite sure. You know, I mean, there's some check in the matter
how you're going to feel about the surgery that you're about to undergo,
you're not really going to be you're going to be panicked, you're not going to trust the doctor, because why you're not sure of the doctors knowledge.
But what if you know that this doctor went to med school,
but you think that this doctor is just trying to get rich, that maybe they have an ulterior motive, and maybe you don't really need that surgery, but they're going to get a lot of money?
Are you going to feel relaxed, that you're going to trust the doctor.
So if you don't trust that the doctor has your best interests in mind,
then you're also going to be panicked. So what have we just said, there are only two reasons that you're going to be panicked in the surgery. The first is if you don't trust the knowledge of the doctor. And the second is, if you don't trust the intentions of the doctor, are you guys with me? Now let's look at Allah subhanaw taala and he's high above any analogy.
Do you trust the knowledge of Allah?
Do you think Allah has the knowledge? Ask yourself this question doesn't lie? No. And the answer is whether you have wiki man or you have strong men, I don't think anyone can argue with the fact that Allah knows. Yeah. Allah knows everything.
So that's the first criteria so that we can trust. The second criteria is intention. And this is what brings me to the topic that I wanted to speak about, and that is hosting of vanilla. Do you really believe that Allah wants good for you?
Do you really deeply believe that he has your best interests in mind? Or are you afraid that maybe just maybe he's trying to hurt you?
See, you would never think for a moment that your mom's trying to hurt you.
Right?
But do you really believe that Allah has your best interest in mind? This is a question we have to go deep to really ask ourselves.
Allah subhanaw taala is more merciful. For us. He has more mercy for us than a mother to her child.
But we have no problem trusting our mother.
When things happen in our lives, that hurt us,
our level of understanding oftentimes affects our response.
So I use this analogy in my classes, have a child, a six month old baby going to get a shot. Now that shot might have medicine in it.
But what is the response of the six month old child to getting a shot? Has anyone ever taken a baby to get a shot?
It's not pretty, right?
They scream, they yell, they kick, they're angry.
And how do they feel towards the doctor? The one who gave them the shot?
Are they happy with the doctor folks? I know it's early, but are they happy with the doctor? No, they're very angry.
The second child I want you to imagine as a 10 year old who goes to get a shot. Now you can sit and kind
Explain it to a 10 year old, right? You're going to get this shot, it's going to make you better. But I'm sorry, it's going to hurt for a moment, but it's going to heal you, it's going to make you stronger. And so what is the child whose 10th response to this shot? Well, maybe the doctor is not their best friend, but they're not gonna punch the doctor either, you know, they're patient.
The third example is an adult. Now an adult has full comprehension of what is happening, of the adult goes to the doctor gets a shot. And now what's the response of the adult?
Thank you, doctor.
Absolute gratitude. But what about the prick? What about the pain? To see the difference between these three scenarios, every single one of them had the exact same pain.
Every single one of them had the exact same needle, the same experience.
And yet each of them respond differently. Why because of their sight, their understanding, this is called bossy,
bossy, it means your your ability to see or your insight, your understanding. And so when a person, the one who had more understanding,
was able to respond differently. The child had no understanding beyond the pain.
Many of us in our response to our life are like that child. We don't have any understanding beyond the pain, beyond the fact I didn't get what I wanted.
Or I lost something that I loved. It didn't work out my way. And that's always see. And what's our response? Just like the child, anger,
anger, sometimes directed at God, anger at Allah, how could you do this to me? How could you take this from me? How could you not give this to me? I've been asking for it for X amount of months and years, why aren't you giving it to me? Right? Does this sound familiar at all?
Why me? It's not fair.
That's just like the the response of the child who doesn't understand that this shot, although painful, is actually curing them.
But then we talked about the 10 year old now this is analogous to sub, because sub is the minimum of what we need to have as a believer in response to our life. And that is, even if it hurts,
we do not complain against Allah. We do we are we are patient with the decree of Allah, even if we feel the pain, and it's human to feel pain.
But we do not complain against the doctor. Now let me just quickly emphasize complaining to Allah is different than complaining about Allah.
This, here's the difference. complaining about Allah is why me It's not fair. How could you do this to me? anger, resentment, lack of acceptance. That's, that's a contradiction to sup. And we have to avoid this type of response. If we have responded in this way, we have to fix it. There's always hope. By the way, I don't want anyone ever leaving this room thinking there's no hope. Oh, I messed up. I you know what, I don't have patience, I'll just, you know, I give up. No, there's always hope so long as you're alive to fix it. You're here you're hearing it now. And you can fix it, you can ask Allah to help you to be patient.
But the third example was was the adult. Now I explained to you that an adult has full comprehension of what's happening. And that's why the adult can respond with the highest level response, which is called the rhythm. Rhythm means to be completely content with the decision of the doctor with the decision of Allah subhanaw taala.
But see, you can't have that type of response without having an understanding of who the doctor is and what he's doing.
And when you do have that type of understanding, that's when you can respond with the the the the highest type of response of Ruda of actually thanking the doctor.
There are things that happened in your life, and at the time, you wished it would stop, you wished it hadn't happened, but after time, if you go back and you look, you can say thank you to the doctor. Aku nikoli have I was
For lalibela come in no formula him Subhana columbium Deck I showed on a hill and the stock required to bow Lake