Yasmin Mogahed – What many of us know about God is wrong!

			One of the biggest mistakes that we many of us grew up with is that we grew up with a concept of
Allah subhanaw taala as being something like a police officer waiting to put you in jail, and this
jail is called Gehenna. Okay, so many of us grew up with this concept of, for example, the first
terminology, the type of terminology that we first learn as we're, as we're being developed in our
Islam is how long?
		

			Right? jahannam? These are all little children who don't know anything else? No, Hassan, and
Johanna, am I right? And this becomes like the first concept introduced to our children. And so our
children from early on, they are taught that Islam is a list. Islam is a list of things that you can
do. And then the punishments that you're going to get if you do them. And then a list of things that
you can do, but the list of things you can't do seems a lot bigger. This is the concept many
children grow up with, is that Islam is just a list. Okay? We, it's hard for us to eat this, it's
hard on for us to wear this, it's hard on for us to act like this. And while all of these things are
		

			necessary and important, don't ever think that rules are not necessary. We need rules to drive what
happens if we had no red lights, no yellow lights, no green lights, right? No stop signs, we need
rules. But there is something very crucial missing. And that is that we have the wrong concept of
who it is. We have the wrong concept of who our Creator is. Many of us don't actually have a
friendship with a loss of time of God. Why? Because many of us just grew up thinking about Allah, as
a police officer waiting to put us in prison. And that prison is called gender. And so this is
actually a problem. Because when that person grows up, and now we have youth, and then we're
		

			wondering, why aren't the youth coming to the masjid? Why aren't the youth involved? Why are many of
the youth actually leaving Islam? There's a reason this is happening. May Allah subhanaw taala
protect our youth, many people are not taught the right foundation, the right attachment to their
Creator, because they are taught their religion as just the list as just a list of huddle and head.
And when you do that, here's what happens. Imagine you have a child, and every single day you tell
this child from the time they're just you know, in diapers, that you better watch out for the
police. Because if you make one little mistake that police is going to come is going to arrest you
		

			and throw you in prison. Then the next day you better watch out You better watch out one little slip
up and that police is going to come and throw you in jail that police is and you know what you
better watch yourself because that police's Aren't you feel me? So what happens as that child grows
up? And how and what kind of relationship? Is that child gonna want to have with the police? Anyone?
Is that child going to see the police and say you don't want to be close to the police. I want to be
friends with the police. I want the police and need to be you know, close, close buddies. I'm going
to go and express my, my needs and my emotions to the police. No, in fact, that child will just want
		

			to avoid the police. You understand? If the police is over there you go that way. Does that child
love the police? No, the child fears the police, but wants nothing to do with the police. You
catching what I'm saying? And so many of us grow up with that type of relationship with God. That
type of relationship with a lot where we fear a love and not in the healthy way. In other places
fear a lot right? Fear of love. That's that's important fear of love. But what is healthy fear of
love? This is not the type of healthy fear of Allah. How do you know? I'll tell you why. Because
healthy fear of a loss and carefully healthy fear of a law makes you want to run more towards a less
		

			healthy taqwa it's called healthy fear is called. This is a consciousness of a person. But here's
how you know that it's healthy and it's tough. What is that it will make you want to run to alone.
It will make you want to get closer to a law
		

			As they say, you will escape you will you will run from Allah to Allah. What does that mean? It
means that you will run away from a lot of anger, and Alas, punishment and a lot of displeasure by
doing what by running to Allah, not by running away from home. And if you find yourself running away
from Allah, if you find yourself trying to avoid God and avoid religion, you know, this, this this
phenomenon that we have with our youth of I just don't want anything to do with it. I don't want to
go to the masjid and I don't want anything to do with religion and maybe I don't even believe that
is not healthy that that is born of an unhealthy fear that was planted into that child. And it
		

			starts very young. The same way that the person is trying to avoid the police.
		

			That that's how that person is trying to avoid a lot. Just keep me with Why Why? Because you know
what, any mistake I make, I'm going to * right? I you know, if you're, you hear crazy things
like, Oh, yeah, I'm gonna go to * anyway, somebody will do what I want weird stuff. But this type
of mentality needs to be unlearned. Why? Because Allah subhanaw taala is mercy supersedes His wrath.
Allah subhanaw taala is not like a police waiting to put us in jail. Allah subhanaw taala is more
merciful to us than a mother is to her child. And I want you to absorb what that means. I want you
to think about a mother for her child, I want you to think about what a mother would do for her
		

			child what a mother would do to protect her child. And then I want you to think about a love
supplemental data and how it was Mercy is infinitely more than that. A loss Mercy is the source of
all other mercy.
		

			Allah subhanaw taala is not waiting to put us in how Allah is waiting to forgive us. Allah is
waiting to have mercy on us. And so there's a lot of unlearning that we have to do when we
understand who Allah subhanaw taala is, because that will later on in life affect how we understand
everything that happens in our life. You see, so if you think about Allah, as just wrathful it's
just waiting for you to mess up, you know, then when you fall,
		

			you will actually fall into despair.
		

			Because your understanding is that leads me
		

			or allies punishing me. See, these are the types of understanding that you will have if you fall, if
you think about a lot as a police officer, then when you fall, you're thinking will be a was angry
with me. Allah hates me.
		

			Of Us punishing me it'll be a very negative concept of who Allah subhanaw taala is, and that
negative concept will lead you to despair. One of the most important tools
		

			that we can have in this roadmap is something called hostname. 101 of the land means to have a
positive opinion of Allah soprano that that is what we have to we have to change from the root