Yasmin Mogahed – Understanding Egypt, A Spiritual Look

			Mr. Lake, this is ismene. Magellan, and you're listening to serenity streaming live on one legacy
radio. Today, we'll be discussing some major things which are happening in the world today. As many
of you know, the the people in Egypt have taken a serious step towards freedom and standing up in
the face of a tyrant. And so I wanted to talk today about what's happening today in Egypt. And to
give it some perspective, and inshallah talk about how it really does apply to us today, standing
here in the United States and all over the world. But before I begin, I want to actually start with
painting a scenario for you.
		

			Prophet Musa alayhis salam stood in front of the Red Sea, and as he stood there, there was a tyrant
and his army approaching from behind. Now, while they were in this situation, there was some of the
people amongst, you know, amongst Moosa amidst this situation, who began to divide. And those
people, when they looked ahead of them, they saw only defeat.
		

			Allah says in the Quran, in chapter 26, verse 61, and when the two bodies saw each other, the people
of Moosa said we are sure to be overtaken.
		

			But Musa alayhis salaam had different eyes, his eyes were spiritual eyes, and they saw through the
illusions of worldly hardship and defeat, he saw through with his heart which was connected to the
Most High, looking at the very same seemingly impossible situation. Musa alayhis salam saw only God.
		

			Allah tells us in the Quran that Moosa says something very, very powerful. Once he gets into this
situation. He says Kela in my Robbie, say, Dean, he says, By no means, so when they are saying,
we're going to be overtaken, we're going to be defeated. He says, By no means my Lord is with me,
and He will guide me through.
		

			Now, we right now are standing
		

			in a very similar situation. But you'll see that what happened with Musa alayhis salaam is exactly
what he what he said would happen. Indeed, Allah did just that. Allah then tells us what happens
next. In the Quran, he says, What's translated as then we told Musa by inspiration, strike the sea
with your rod. So it divided and each separate part became like the huge firm mass of a mountain.
And we made the other party approach. We delivered Moosa and all those who were with him, and we
drowned the others.
		

			Now today in Egypt, we are standing in front of a Red Sea. Today in Egypt, a tyrant and his army are
at our back. Today, there are some who are seeing only defeat. But there are others whose eyes are
seeing through the blockade to the path and the hope beyond it. See today in Egypt, there are some
who even though there's a tyrant at their back, is saying, in my Arab be saya Dean, indeed, my Lord
is with me, and He will guide me through. Now, here's the question I wanted to get to. A lot of
people are probably asking and wondering, why is it that at such a critical time in history, we
would even be talking about these ancient stories? Why would something that happened 1000s of years
		

			ago, be relevant today. The reason is this, it is not just a story, nor is it ancient. It is an
everlasting sign and the lesson for all time, because you'll notice that in the very next area,
Allah says, very early in this is a sign, but most of them do not believe. So what is it a sign of,
it's a sign of the reality of God and the secrets of this world. It's a sign that tyranny never
wins. And that blockades and obstacles are only illusions created to test us, train us and purify
us. But most of all, it's a sign of from where success comes. And it's a vision of what that success
looks like against all odds at a time.
		

			When we think we're trapped, defeated and powerless. Now some people right now are wondering, why if
indeed we are on the side of God, does victory not come easily? Why is it that we Why doesn't God to
just give the righteous people victory without such an immense struggle and sacrifice? Now the
answer to this question is also given to us by Allah in the Quran. Allah says in chapter seven,
verse 94, we did not send a prophet in a town, but we overtook its people with distress and
affliction, in order that they might humble themselves. Now you'll notice in if you if you read the
the, this, the the wording that's used here, Allah says La La homea around. Now the concept of
		

			Todaro is important because Allah is saying that the reason we are giving them this hardship or this
distress or this affliction, is in order for them to reach this state of Dada. So then the question
is what really is pulled on a rock, wall to load rock can be translated as humility, but to doTERRA
is much, much, much more than just humility, to really try to visualize and understand the concept
of raw, imagine for a second that you're in the middle of an ocean, and you're all alone in a boat.
Now imagine that all of a sudden, a huge storm comes, and the waves turn into mountains surrounding
you and about to take over you and the boat. Now think in that situation, about calling for the help
		

			of God. Think about what kind of state you would be in, think about the the the level of awe, and
dependency and and humility that you would be in at that point, when you call on God. And if you
think about that, you'll understand that that is what the lottery is. So what a lot is saying as
though again, that he's actually he actually creates these conditions of hardship, in order to give
us this gift. God says, See, because you have to understand that God doesn't need to make things
hard for us, right, he creates situations in order to allow us to reach a state of closeness to him,
which we would otherwise be unlikely to reach. So this priceless state of humility, near and utter
		

			dependence on God is what the Egyptian people have been blessed with today. And it is through that
hardship which they are going through right now that they were given this gift.
		

			But Allah also mentions other purposes, for these hardships and struggles. So for example, in the
next area, Allah says, What's translated as and we divided them throughout the earth into different
groups of them, some were righteous, and of them some were otherwise. And we tested them with good
times and bad times, that perhaps they would return to obedience. And that's chapter seven, verse
168. Now we'll go ahead and take a break right now. But when we return, inshallah, we'll discuss
what this other purpose of hardship is in our lives.
		

			Welcome back. This is yes, mean Mujahid and you're listening to serenity on one legacy radio, where
we're talking about Egypt and how we can interpret what is happening right now in terms of
ourselves, and, and in terms of the whole world? Join us in the discussion by calling in at
800-955-5548. So what we just finished speaking about is what Allah talks about in the Quran, when
he talks about the reason for hardship, because the natural question that a lot of us are wondering
is that if you know this is really a struggle as as it as it most definitely is against tyranny, and
we err on the side of the good, why doesn't it just come easy? Why is there all this this high
		

			price, why is there this sacrifice in the struggle that we have to go through? And so what we're
doing is we're talking about, well, what does the law say, is the purpose for this struggle and this
sacrifice in the Quran? And what we've just recited was the translation of one of the ayats where
Allah says that that he
		

			Tests us with good times and bad times, that perhaps we might return to Him that allow me to Jerry
on the other Jeroen means he needs to come back to Allah subhanho wa Taala. And in another area, and
this is this is in sort of lm Ron and it's it's a it's a it's a very, very powerful as and I'm going
to go ahead and read the translation. This is sort of lm Ron verses 140 to 142. Allah says, if a
wound has touched you, be sure a similar wound has touched the others. Such days of varying fortunes
we give to men and men by turns, that God may know those that believe and that he may take to
himself for your ranks, martyr witnesses to truth, and God loves not those that do wrong. Now this
		

			is this is the part I really want you to focus on. Then Allah says, Allah has object also is to
purify those that are true in faith, and to deprive of blessings, those that resists faith. Do you
think that you would enter heaven without God testing those of you who fought hard in his cause, and
remained steadfast. So here Allah is describing the purpose of hardship as being something which in
Arabic is called campaigns and campaigns is actually the same word that's used to describe the
heating and purifying that happens to gold. So you know that without heating it up, gold is a
precious metal, however, it is full of impurities. And in order to purify gold, what do you do to
		

			it, you heat it up. And this is what God also does to the believers. By under by by putting them
through hardship by putting them through struggle, believers are also purified, just like gold. And
so you'll notice that that is actually exactly what has happened to the Egyptian people.
SubhanAllah. Only days before this uprising, the world had considered the Egyptian youth a lost
cause. We believe that they had lost their direction and their purpose, we thought that they had
chosen to live their lives instead, on the streets, cat calling out to girls or at internet cafes,
smoking hookah. Through this hardship the Egyptian youth have been brought back from the dead. Now,
		

			instead of standing on the streets of the hookah bars, the very same youth are standing on the
streets in defiance of tyranny on their knees praying, and with their hands facing towards the sky
calling on Allah, the same people who just days before, barely prayed, stand now in front of
military tanks in order to bow down to their Creator. Only days before the uprising. The tensions
for example, between Egyptian Muslims and Egyptian Christians had grown to an all time high. Today,
the Christians and Muslims stand side by side, in defense of each other and of their country. And
the same people who could not trust one another the day before, now are coming together as brothers
		

			and sisters as one single body to defend their streets, their homes and their neighborhoods against
these thugs. And through this hardship, a person who only days before lived for his cell phone,
shisha and cigarettes has become willing to sacrifice his own life, to give freedom to his people.
		

			A lot tells us in the code on say, Who is it that sustains you in life, from the sky and from the
earth? Or who is it that has power over hearing and sight? And who is it that brings out the living
from the dead and the dead from the living? And who is it that rules and regulates all affairs? They
will soon say Allah say Will you not then show piety to him? chapter 10 verse 31. It is a law who
brings the living out of the dead, and he has brought us back from the dead. But we should not think
we should never think for a moment that any single moment of everything that is happening is not
happening with a purpose, a deep, profound and beautiful, liberating purpose. One other thing which
		

			is extremely, extremely deep, is that for decades, the Egyptian people have lived a life of fear.
		

			But when you let fear control you, you are a slave. A law has liberated the Egyptian people from the
slavery by making them actually face and overcome what used to be their greatest fear.
		

			Allah has liberated the Egyptian people by allowing them to look their oppressor in the eye and tell
him and the entire world that they will no longer live in fear.
		

			And so whether MOBOTIX stays or goes, lives or dies, it really doesn't matter. The Egyptian people
have already been liberated. They have been liberated. Hosni Mubarak is irrelevant. He's nothing but
a tool, a tool by which God carries out his plan for the Egyptian people and for the entire oma, a
tool to carry out his plan to purify, beautify, and liberate the Egyptian people and the oma at
large. And whether we are in Egypt today or not, is actually unimportant, because Egypt is just one
limb of our body. The purification of Egypt is a purification of the whole body of our oma. It is
the purification of you and me. And it's our chance to ask ourselves to what we are attached to.
		

			It's a chance to ask ourselves, what are we afraid of? What are we striving for? What do we stand
for? And where are we going?
		

			We'll go ahead and take a break now. And when we return, we'll just continue the discussion about
what we should learn from what's happening now in Egypt.
		

			Welcome back. This is yes, mean Mujahid and you're listening to serenity on one legacy radio. We are
talking today about the happenings in Egypt and what it means for us, for us internally for us all
over the world. So if you'd like to join the discussion, please go go ahead and call in at
800-955-5548. So we were talking about how this purification of Egypt and of the people of Egypt and
especially the youth in Egypt, is not only a purification of Egypt, but of the entire Ummah as a
whole because as we were told by the prophet, so little Lavanya was setting them, the entire oma is
like one body. And so if there's one thing that's happening in one side of that body, so if there's
		

			something happening in my arm or in my leg or in my foot, it affects the entire body. And if there's
a part of my body that's being purified, the entire body is being purified. When, and and that
brings us back to the issue of that when a body is in a deep, deep slumber, rather a coma. It is
only out of Allah's infinite mercy, that he sends us a wake up call. It is only from his infinite
mercy that he sends us life where there was once Only death. We were heedless. So he sent us assign.
We were asleep. So he woke us up. We worshipped this life and preferred our material possessions to
the liberation of a soul attached to and afraid of nothing but him. So he freed us. How many people
		

			will experience something like this in their lifetime? How many people will experience the opening
of a see the humbling of a tyrant? Shouldn't we ask ourselves why we were chosen to see it to
witness it? Shouldn't we ask ourselves why we were in what we were intended to learn, change or
transform. Because if we think for one moment that it's all just about the people of Egypt, then
we've desperately missed the point. We, you and I were asleep. And Allah chose to wake us. You and
I, we were dead and Allah gave us life.
		

			See, we're conditioned to believe that our enemy was outside of ourselves that he had power over us.
But this is also an illusion. See, the enemy is inside of us. All the external enemies are only
manifestations of our own internal diseases. And so if we really want to conquer those enemies out
there, we must first conquer the enemy inside of ourselves. This is why the Quran tells us that
Indeed, Allah does not change the condition of a people until they first change what is inside of
themselves. We must first conquer our own greed and selfishness and Schick and ultimate fear, love,
hope and dependence on anything other than God. We must conquer our own hope adonia our own love of
		

			this dunya of this life, the root of all our diseases and all of our oppression. Before we can
defeat the pharaohs in our lives, we must first defeat the pharaohs inside of ourselves. So the
fighting
		

			Egypt is a fight for liberation. Yes, but liberation from what? Who is truly oppressed? Are you anti
free?
		

			What is true oppression?
		

			In the Tamia Rahim Allah one of the greatest scholars answers this question when he says, quote, the
one who is truly imprisoned is the one whose heart is imprisoned from God. And the captivated one is
the one whose desires have enslaved him.
		

			You see, when you're free inside, you will never allow anyone to take away your freedom. And when
you have that inner freedom, that's when you can look through the tyrants and the thugs to the Lord
of the tyrants and the thugs.
		

			When you are free inside, you become an enslaved bubble. Because you can only enslave a person with
attachments. You can only threaten a person who is afraid of loss.
		

			You only have power over someone when they need or want something, that you have the ability to take
away.
		

			But there is only one thing which no person has the power to take away from you. And that is God.
		

			And so when we fight to free Egypt, on a grander and a realer scale, it is a fight to also free
ourselves. It is a fight to free ourselves of the tyranny of our own neffs and desires. It's a fight
to free ourselves from the servitude to the slave of fight to free ourselves from our own false
attachments and dependencies, from everything that controls us from all that we worship other than
him.
		

			It's a fight to free us from our own slavery, whether we are slaves to the American dollar, to our
own desires, to status to wealth, or to fear, the purification of Egypt is a purification of us all.
		

			That's why you'll notice that the formula given to us in the Quran for success, it consists of two
elements. One is suburb, and different forms of suburb, which means patience, perseverance, standing
firm. And the second element is taqwa, fear of God alone. Allah says what is translated as in sort
of lm Ron, this is the final area of suited lm Ron, all you who have believed, persevere, and endure
and remain stationed, and fear God alone, that you may be successful.
		

			And so if we watch Egypt today, and it's as if we're only it's only a step, spectacle happening
outside of ourselves, without cleaning, examining, and really changing our own selves and our own
lives, then we have really missed its purpose. Because after all, it's not every day that a sea is
opened before our very eyes.
		

			A holy holy Heather was stuck for a la de la comme innovaphone Rahim. I pray to Allah that that he
purifies the entire oma and that he makes the people of Egypt stand firm in front of the tyrant, the
tyrant that is outside and the tyrant that is inside. Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
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