Yasmin Mogahed – What’s The Secret To Happiness – PT 2
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Santa Monica, this is Jasmine which I hate and you're listening to serenity streaming live on one legacy radio. We are continuing today with the question of what is the secret to happiness. Today, we want to hear from you, we are opening the lines again to listen to your stories we had last time about some people who had talked about their stories of how they searched for happiness in certain places. And then, you know, ultimately where they found that happiness. And we did, you know, we didn't get a chance to get to all your stories last time inshallah, we will be able to get to some of those that we didn't get a chance to cover last time. But we want to hear from you, we want to
hear your stories. And, you know, the whole idea here is that we want it to be a dialogue we want to listen to you and and we are connecting right now with people from all over the world. We have listeners from Europe, to Africa to Asia, and we and we we all are inspired by your stories. Last week, we we had a sister, a caller, who shared her story about how she had suffered from severe anxiety and, and how, you know, she tried all these different methods of trading it and then eventually, the, the only way that it was treated was that she actually she said that she started to do the things that Allah soprano that I had told us to do. You know, she started to pray and she
started to do more digging and remembering a light and, and she said that that actually is what cured her Subhanallah and she was able to find that peace of heart. And it goes completely in line with the words of Allah Spano. Tata, because Allah tells us an abbey decree law, he told me that peace, that internal peace comes with the remembrance of God. And it doesn't come with the remembrance of any other thing. That's one of the really powerful things to remember is that we, as human beings, we remember a lot of things. And, you know, we we are always searching for happiness. And we're always kind of, you know, there's something we're thinking about, there's something that
we're remembering. But it's it's either that we're remembering the Creator, or we're remembering the creation. And the remembrance of the creation is not what gives peace, but rather the it's the only the remembrance in the remembrance of the Creator, that the hearts find peace. This is this is you know, it makes sense because we know that God is the one who created the heart. So God is also the nourishment of that which he created. We had also some other stories that we didn't get a chance to get to, but inshallah I'll be sharing those stories now. We had one sister, who wrote
one sister wrote selam sister, yes, I mean, I met you at the United for change event. And
she said, The girl who cried when she met you in response to what brings true happiness, I would say being closer to Allah, before I became closer to Islam, nothing made me happy. I traveled the world and had everything at my disposal. Nothing really helped. I would cry every night, and I didn't know why. I was blessed with so much. So why was I sad all the time, I started to remember a lot and prayed more and, and hamdulillah I feel much better. It's still a struggle. And I pray that I never turn away from Allah subhanho data. I mean, we we we ask that you never turn away from Allah subhanaw taala. And we ask the same for ourselves and for all those listening and for all people,
that we never turn away from Allah subhanaw taala that is the source of life. Allah is the source of life, the source of the life of our hearts, the source of the life of our souls, the source of our true inner life. Another sister shared, making people around me happy makes me happy. There was a short time when I also thought like every girl, that someone special would make my life happy and I really wanted to marry him, but got the best lesson from him in the form of betrayal after wasting my four years on him, so now I know no one can make you happy except for Allah subhanho wa Taala and I asked him
To make me happy in the life hereafter in sha Allah, the way he wills, you know, I think that the, the sister here touches upon a very, very, you know, common misconception and a very deep point. And that is, I think as women, let's, I mean, just look at the types of stories that we grow up with. And I don't think it's just, it's just limited to women. But you see that, that, that the stories we grow up with the fairy tales we grow up with, they teach us that happiness exists in Prince Charming coming to save you that that's when happiness begins. That's when the happily ever after begins, you know, those those stories, those those messages, those ideas are, are put in us. They're taught to
us from a very early age, look at the stories that that we that we hear growing up, you have Sleeping Beauty, which is essentially a story about a woman who is, is that who is completely helpless. She's, in fact, it basically a coma. Because, you know, and she can't break out of it, unless Prince Charming comes and kisses her. And so, it basically is, you know, Prince Charming comes in, he is the one who brings her in a sense back to life. This, this is a message that, you know, your life doesn't really fully begin until Prince Charming comes into the picture and, and completes you or rather, in this case, not just completes you, but actually gives you life or, or
gives you back life. So you know, these messages, you know, you'll find, so what is what is what is a girl you know, or or, or a guy who who grows up, you know, constantly bombarded with these messages what what does that person internalize? Well, you know, it might not be specifically in that form. But we do, then, you know, believe that, you know, our life doesn't fully begin until we get married, our life doesn't isn't fully isn't really going to be fully complete, until we get married, and that there's no happiness outside of that we need we wait for a prince charming to come and save us to come and complete us to come and bring us back to life in fact, and it's like this
idea that we'll never be happy until then. And all of our problems kind of will magically disappear once once we meet that special person. And that's a very dangerous way of thinking. Because as you know, there is nothing that can save you or bring you back to life or complete you except for your relationship with your Creator, except for Allah subhanaw taala the the relationship that one has in marriage or that has it with any of the creation is one of of part of that path to God. But definitely it is not the completion of the human being. And we and we spoke about this that there is a there is a very important difference between completing your deen and completing yourself. The
prophet SAW Selim told us that marriage is half of your deen that marriage completes your deen. But that's very different than saying that it completes you as a human being that you're not a complete soul or a complete human being your your purpose in life is not complete, until you get married. Those are very different concepts. Marriage can complete your deen and it can be one of many things that can aid you in your deen. Because it is that it is it is something that helps you in building your character. It is something that helps teach you how to be a better person. Essentially, if you use your relationships, if your relationships are making you a better person, then you've gotten the
point. If your relationships are just about feeding your own need, if your relationships are just about making me happy, then you've missed the point. And in fact you will not have successful relationships if the point of the relationship is to feed that inner emptiness or to to make me happy. That wasn't the point. That's not the the the goal of a relationship The goal of the relationship ultimately, and the goal of all all things in fact in this life are to make us better people are to make to basically beautify our hearts and so that when we journey through this life, it's a process of purification of the heart, and then inshallah when we meet Allah subhanaw taala we
can meet him bill Caliban Salim with a heart that is beautiful. That is sound that is healthy shala we will take a short break
And when we return, we will open up the lines for your calls and for your own stories of how you found happiness.
Salam Alaikum. This is yes Mujahid and you're listening to serenity streaming live on one legacy radio. We are talking today about the question of the secret to happiness, we are sharing your stories talking about where you found happiness, and what are the places where you can't find happiness. And oftentimes, as it turns out, the places where we generally look for happiness are in all the wrong places. And one of the, you know, one of the places where most of us tend to look for happiness is in the creation. And when we say the creation, it includes everything other than the Creator. The creation means money, the creation means status, the creation means people, the
creation means power, the sense of control, these are things that we look for, we look, we, we look for happiness, and and these are all the wrong places to find happiness. One of I think, the most
deceptive of those places. And the one that's probably the myth that's taught most successfully. Without you know, anyone, even the the best hearted people wouldn't find a problem in it. And that's the myth that that happiness is found in other people, that happiness is actually something that you that you get from, it's a film that you get from other people. And I want to clarify this because there is this concept in the Quran where Allah subhanaw taala talks about put it out to iron Allah, you know, the Doha, this has been a headliner, min as word, you know, with a reality now kurata iron, will Allah gift us with making our spouses and our children the coolness of our eyes? So some
would would say, Well, isn't that happiness? And I would say yes, that is happiness. However, ultimately, the happiness comes from Allah subhanaw taala. And these are gifts that Allah gives us. But if we are seeking the source of happiness in the creation, then that's when we fail. And that's when we get disappointed. And that's when we come back, not just empty handed, but broken. Because when you ever you're looking for something in the wrong place, it's like digging into concrete with your bare hands. When you try to dig into concrete with your bare hands, you don't only come back with with empty hands, but you come back with broken fingers and * hands. You know, it hurts to
try so hard to get something from the wrong source. And so essentially, it's about what is the source? What is the source of happiness? What is the source of fill? Yes, Allah subhanaw taala gives us contentment, unless upon that it gives us the iron the coolness of our eyes, in our spouses in our children, in our friends, that these are, these are gifts from Allah. But ultimately, again, when you ask for something you asked from the source, and when you seek you seek from the source. This is essentially what we say at least 17 times a day he aka Naboo iya can assign you alone do we worship and You alone? Do we ask for help? When we're asking for something? Who do we ask from? we
you know, even when we ask a doctor to cure us, we ask a friend to help us that's fine.
But we know ultimately, where where that tour comes from and where that help comes from and it's only from Allah subhanho data.
someone writes, I found happiness and giving away more of my beloved things to those I love than keeping them
upon Allah. You know, this is actually a really powerful concept. And that is a concept that Allah subhanaw taala speaks about in the Quran when he says when when 10 will be in tune for human matter hipbone
that you will not reach goodness until you give from that which you love. In fact, this is something that Allah tells us in the hot end, and it is something they've actually found in modern day research, that the people who have more money don't necessarily
I feel happier. But it's what they found is that it's those people who spend their money on others that actually are happier. Those the panelists, it's it's the having the money and then spending it on others or having things and giving it to others that actually increases your happiness. We have Elizabeth on the line, Santa Monica, Elizabeth awali. Can you hear me? Yes, I can hear you now. Okay. I just wanted to say Firstly, that it's wonderful to get to listen into your show, and come to dinner. Thank you, as a young Muslim convert. In my short, 26 years of life, I have found that happiness for me has come mainly from serving other people. And it's something that as you said, you
know, our faith really does emphasize Santa Monica, I think,
hello, okay. I can hear you now. Can you hear me? Yes, I can. Okay, Yes, go ahead. You were saying? Okay, well, I was just saying that, you know, I found in all of these years of, of being a Muslim,
that happiness really does come from serving other people and giving for myself, it just fills me with so much joy to help people who are, you know, in poverty or who just need emotional support. And I think one of the best things that we can do as human beings is really be good listeners towards others. And I don't know, just some random ideas that I had is the first time I call into your show. So it's a great pleasure to hear you Yes, means it's a great pleasure to have you call them. Thank you, Elizabeth. And, and the point you make is very valid. What you've experienced, you know, through your life is actually something that researchers have even found in their studies. You
know, they kind of have found that that people what they say, One theory is that people have sort of a bass line level of happiness. And
overall, people don't much change from the baseline, when something really good happens, you know, people might peak a little bit from the baseline, and then they eventually come back pretty quickly to that baseline. And when something bad happens, you know, something tragic or something, a loss, they kind of go down from the baseline, but then again, eventually go back pretty quickly to the baseline, and that there's kind of this, this baseline that we're, we're at, regardless of what happens in our life, we just go a little bit up and down. However, they have found that one of the things that increases the baseline, it's not just the little spikes, but actually increases the
baseline is generosity, giving to others, and Subhanallah, the, you know, the two things that they found, one was generosity. And the other is gratitude, that these two concepts are what can actually increase the baseline of happiness. So it's an extremely Semak concept, as you said, of giving to others. That's how not I mean, you know, one of the reflections that when I was thinking about that, I was thinking how merciful Allah subhanho wa Taala isn't how it's actually a manifestation of his attribute. I love thief. Because a lot, you know, subtly in subtle ways he gives to us without us even realizing it. And one of the ways in which he subtly gives to us is he actually makes it
pleasurable for us to give to others. So panelist, it's like he's providing for us by the means of other people by making it pleasurable to give in a substantial part of His mercy. Is that that exact thing, imagine if it was just, there was no reward internally for giving to people would be a lot less likely to give. So Subhanallah thank you for your comment, Elizabeth.
No, thank you for mentioning gratitude. And that's actually you know, when I feel at my lowest points because I've had some pretty low points, always training back to a law and remembering what I've been blessed with and seeing the people who don't have what I have has been a life saving for me and it's always the quickest way to bring happiness back. Absolutely. analyst panel data tells us we're in Chicago Toma as you then come and if you are thankful if you think him if you are grateful, then I will increase you so it's it's absolutely an Islamic concept almost pinata tells us how to, to have more, to have more, to have more happiness, to have more contentment, also to have more
blessing, and that is to be thankful to Panama and Hamza Thank you. Yes mean? Thank you, Elizabeth, Santa Monica. When it comes to them, we we have another comment on on the chat box, I found happiness when I got depression, because when I got over it, I really knew what happiness is. This is also Savannah, like extremely profound, you know, another
sort of reflection that that you can get from this and something that I had been recently thinking about as well as how we learn things through their opposites. So for example, we wouldn't be able to understand, a night if there was no day
knew we wouldn't understand darkness if there was no light. And similarly, Allah subhanho data says in a manner also to struggle with hardship is ease. And I think there's so much depth in this in these, in this area, particularly, that you know, with hardship is ease and you know, a lot of times we think of this as
hardship, there's ease, and there's a lot of meaning we can take from this one is that when Allah subhanaw, taala gives us hardship, he also gives us ease at the same time with hardship, there's ease, not after not bad, but with Ma. And, and so unless panatela may give us things that are difficult, but he also gives us things that are to help us and to give us ease. At the same time, you're having a difficulty in one aspect of your life, but at the very same time, you're having ease in another aspect, Allah gives you the ability to withstand, that's the ease. But there's another level two, I think, and that is that if we had only ease all the time, like the brother said, if
everything was always easy, would we even notice that it was easy? Would we would we feel that, that it's happiness, it's almost as though it because we know what sadness is that we can even appreciate happiness? And we because we know what hardship is, it's, it's kind of like, if you were on vacation all the time, and you never had to work, you know, after a while you it doesn't really feel good anymore. You know, it doesn't feel relaxing, because you're, you know, say you're retired and you you know, you don't a lot of people become very, almost depressed when they when they retire, because, you know, it's well, okay, yes, they're not working, but they're not happy either. And so
the idea is that Subhanallah It is, it is when we, when we recognize, or rather, when we experience struggle, then we're able to recognize ease, you know, it's when you're working really hard, that you can appreciate your your time off. But if you really didn't have to work at all, the time off, doesn't feel the same way. So panela someone else writes, not sure if this is related, but one can falter even though they're praying five times and having a strong Dean, I mean, committing sins, they are considered pretty bad. So, you know, this is yes, it is, it is somewhat of a, you know, a tangent, tangent here, but, you know, the idea of, of committing sins. We are human beings. And yes,
it's true that, you know, as soon as you start praying five times a day, you're not going to become an angel. However, however, if we are praying properly, las panatela does say inessa lotherton, Han and fascia you and Moncada that
that Salah prevents protects from from shamelessness and evil deeds. So there is a protection in Salah in prayer. That does not mean of course that that we become angels and that we're no longer human are able to falter. But it does mean that Allah is protecting us from shamelessness and evil deeds and even when we do commit sins which as human beings we will fall into, we will return to Allah subhanaw taala and repent. And that's the point is that Allah doesn't expect us to be perfect, but Allah wants us to come back to him and repent, when we do make a mistake or we do slip. So that's you know, ultimately that's the point and, and again, again, it's it's it's Salah is your
protection, it does give you that barrier, from you know, the the major, major things and even again, if you fall into those major sins, you will you do have that return to Allah subhanaw taala in repentance, another listener writes, I feel happiness when I do something for people, specially in terms of time, help in the time of need, but sometimes I feel bad that I can't do enough for them, please pray that my dreams come true really want to work for child labor and hunger. May Allah subhanaw taala use you for his for his cause, and to help other people alone. I mean, it definitely when you help people in time of need. Then Allah subhanaw taala helps you and this is this is again
shown in psychological research, but also Allah subhanaw taala tells us this, we know from from numerous Hadith of the Prophet slice lm where, where we're taught that whenever you you ease or you take away a difficulty from from the children of Adam from another person, Allah subhanaw taala will take away one of your hardships on the Day of Judgment. You know, and and there's this connection between how we treat other people and how Allah subhanaw taala treats us you know that there's a we're taught by the prophet sallallahu Sallam that when we help another person and try to take and take away one of their their hardships, Allah will take away our hardship on the day of judgment and
also when we come
up the faults of our brother or sister. And that's super important. Sometimes unfortunately, we do the opposite. We look for fault in another person, and we want to expose it. And when we when we treat people in that way, then we are asking that Allah would treat us in the same way on the Day of Judgment, when we're looking for people's faults. And then when we find out a fault in another person, we expose it, then that also may be how Allah treats us on the Day of Judgment, that our faults because trust me, you're not perfect, I'm not perfect. We all have faults. And if we're seeking out other people's faults, guess what Allah subhanaw taala is better at seeking out our
faults. And Allah subhanaw taala is better at exposing faults than we are. So we have to be very careful when we when we do that. And in fact that we're taught by the prophets of the lie, send them that, that when you cover up the faults of other people, so you find out that someone's doing something that's that's shameful, or something wrong, and you and you try to cover up that person instead of exposing them, then Allah subhanaw taala will do the same for you inshallah, on the day of judgment and cover up your faults. Yes, me and I think serving others is super awesome from volunteering to helping a neighbor. But I think it starts to have a reverse effect when you start to
depend on the outcome or success of your efforts. How should we address the need for affirmation and success? That is a beautiful question. And I think it actually there's a very important reason why we tend to depend on the outcome or success of our efforts, if something is done purely for the sake of God, and this is actually one of the litmus tests to know whether we're doing something volunteer, or activism or whatever it is, one of the litmus tests to really truly know if it is being done for the sake of God is that we don't lose hope. When we don't see results. We don't lose hope and give up when we aren't seeing an outcome. The reason why is because if it's purely for the
sake of God, regardless of the physical outcome that we see with our eyes, regardless of the so called result, we are still getting our reward for Allah from Allah subhana wa Tada. So it's kind of like, it shows you Why am I really doing this, suppose someone, I'll give you an example, someone puts in so much effort into an event, you know, they, they plan, they're planning for weeks, you know, they're trying, you know, sleepless nights, so much work, you know, goes into planning these things sometimes. And then after all, the planning, you know, almost no one shows up, they raise almost no money, suppose it's a fundraiser, whatever it is, and the person just becomes so hopeless,
that they just give up the work. That in and of itself, it's a, it can be a sign that what I was doing it in order to get a result, right, I was doing it in order to get x y, you know, X number of people to attend or I was doing it to get y number of money or number of dollars raised or, or whatever. But if I'm really doing it for Allah, Allah does not reward me based on the result. Allah rewards me based on two things, my actions and my intentions, and neither actions nor intentions are linked to results necessarily at all. So you may not have any results, but your but your actions and your intentions were pure, you will be given the highest reward inshallah. So it's it's a very good
point. And it's something that we have to always remind ourselves in, in purifying our intention that regardless of the outcome, regardless of the, the result, our reward is with Allah subhana wa Tada. Elizabeth writes, Allah says in the end, that he created things in pairs, happiness and sadness go together indeed, yes, upon Allah. And again, you know, in Amala, 303, with a heart with hardship is ease and and, you know, Allah tells us he created the day and he created the night in like you said that the pairs that that these things, really the pairs and the opposites are what really allow us to understand, you know, to understand things, we understand, you know, those people
who, who, who revert to Islam, you know, they say that like, because they, they, they in their previous life, or before they became Muslim, they lived a certain reality, they lived a certain life, and because of that life that they live, they can truly appreciate and understand the light of Islam as like when you see darkness and you know what it's like, then you can fully fully appreciate the light. And so it isn't, no we should, we should realize that there is a wisdom in everything that loss of how no data created, there is a wisdom, even in the sadness even in the struggle even in the the lack of happiness and
It's those things which then allow us to appreciate the light, and the happiness and the ease. Someone else writes, I found happiness by being religious, used to spend nights crying, but Alhamdulillah now I'm remembering a lot more, I find myself at ease when I feel unhappy, I just remember that someone out there has got it worse. This is definitely a tool of, of increasing happiness. And it's ultimately gratitude, realizing that there's someone who has got it worse. This is known as the Prophet size. And I'm told us that when it comes to Deen, when it comes to religion, we should compare ourselves with those who are better than us. But when it comes to dunya, we should
compare ourselves with those who are less than us, those who have less than us. And the reason for that is when we compare ourselves, you know, what's what's what's ironic is that we actually do the opposite. Usually, you know, it makes us feel better that when someone comes and says, you know, why aren't you wearing Hijab? or Why aren't you praying, it makes me feel better to say, Well, at least I'm not doing what that person is doing right, or I know a lot of hijab Bs, and one common one is I know a lot of hijab, Bs, and they're, they do XYZ bad things. And so the idea is that it makes me feel better by comparing myself to someone who I, I perceive as being doing something lesser Indian,
or I perceive as being lesser in religion. And by comparing myself to those who are less than me in religion, I become, I feel comfortable with where I'm at, and I and I, and I can make excuses for where I'm at. And in fact, we're supposed to be doing the opposite, we're supposed to be looking at those who are better than us look at the examples that are better than us, in order for us to strive more not for us to become complacent. And then, you know, with dunya, this is often what we do, we again, do the exact opposite. And that is that, you know, when I have, you know, if I have a, you know, a nice, I have a nice car, and you know, maybe I'm content with it, but I look at my neighbor,
and my neighbor has two nice cars, then all of a sudden, you know, then I'm not content anymore, because I've compared to what, what seems like more in dunya? And unfortunately, that's what we do. Well, yeah, I have, you know, I have this, but this person has has so much more, why do I have less, and so we tend to look at Indonesia, we compared to those who have more than us. And as a result, it makes us, you know, discontented, it causes a lack of contentment, and it causes in gratitude, when in fact, what we should be doing is as the, as the listener said, we should be looking at those who have less than us. And by looking at those who have less than us, it breeds gratitude, instead of,
you know, a lack of appreciation, and says, when we are depressed, we appreciate our mortality. My depression, along with a string of horrible experiences made me question the purpose of life, which then guided me to Assam, Allahu Akbar. And you know, this is a theme that we see Subhanallah throughout the end, Allah subhanaw taala says that one of the reasons that he gives hardship is because it makes people come back, Allah says, Allah, Allah homeotic Jeroen in one a, in order that they come back, come back to him, it is oftentimes during those times of hardship and depression or or difficulty, that we are shaken out of our coma, right, shaken out of our sleep, and distractions.
And that's when we wake up and come back to Allah subhanho data, but at times, it takes that shake, and that shake is his hardship. And so this is a, this is sort of a you know, this is a common theme on a, you know, with human beings, that's our human nature, that when things are easy, we have the tendency, and this is not always the case, you know, this is not always the case. But we have the tendency when things are easy to become distracted and to become heedless of the reality of the things in life, right. We forget about the hereafter when we feel comfortable in this life, but when it's those things are taken from us in this life, and when we feel afraid, or we feel sad, that's
when we remember, like she said, mortality we remember the bigger things we remember what's after this life. You know, this is this is our overall art our human nature. Again, this is this is not always the case. There are some people in times of ease, they do feel grateful, they do have gratitude, and they do remember Allah subhanaw taala but overall, this is a human weakness that we tend to forget when things are easy, and we tend to remember God more when things are difficult. And it is Allah subhanaw taala who's the most merciful, he wants us to remember him he wants to bring us back and so at times it is by sending hardship it's by sending the storm that we seek shelter in
him. And when it's really nice out right and there's no no hardship and we feel comfortable. We don't feel the need
Need to seek refuge in God as much. And so sometimes it is actually a mercy that Allah subhanaw taala sends us that hardship in order to come back to him. Again, you know, we can call in, we do have the lines open, the number to call in, you can call in the number is 714-988-8182, we would love to hear from you, you know, to share your stories, your reflections, your insights, on this question of happiness. Roxanna says making people around me happy makes me happy. There was a short time when I also thought, like every girl, that someone special would make my life happy. And I would and I really wanted to marry him. Yeah, this was the the story we shared earlier about how she
learned that that isn't where happiness comes from. It is a very, very common, a common myth that we think that other people are going to fill that hole that we have inside of us, and Subhanallah that that whole, you know, once you really try that, you realize that that emptiness can only be filled by Allah subhanaw taala. One point to make here, I think it is true that by making others happy, we also feel happy. But there's also I think, a trap that we can fall into there, where we also dependent in a way on making others happy. And that can also be a trap. For example, I've had many people who they become very depressed because no matter what they do, they can't make their parents
happy. And And And yes, in Islam, we are told to try you know, we are told will be Wiley, Dania Santa, and we're supposed to treat our parents with, with sand with with the most beautiful of treatment. And and that heaven is at the feet of mothers and with so much emphasis on this treatment of parents. However, there are some people who who do everything in their power they do what they're told, they do what all that they can they do what Allah subhanaw taala has asked them to do, but still they're not able to make their parents happy. It's, you know, it's just they've done what they can and they just can't do it. And so at that point, they become still very depressed. And that's
because, again, it's looking in a sense for results. Because your job ultimately isn't to actually, you know, quote, unquote, be successful and to get the result, your job is to do the work. Your job is to have the pure intention, the result of your work and the result of your intention that's with Allah subhanaw taala, you will not be asked about the result, you will be asked about your effort, and you will be asked about your intention. Look at the prophets, peace be upon them. Some of them had followers, some of them had almost none. Does that mean that those who had less followers were somehow less successful in their mission, that isn't the measure of success, the results are with a
law. That's not what we're asked for. So, you know, sometimes again, it can also be a trap, where we, when we depend our happiness on the happiness of others, it is true, we should we should serve others and we should try, you know, to give to others and be generous. However, we have to be careful not to make our happiness dependent on the happiness of others on being successful in make because sometimes no matter what we do, if we can't make the other person happy, and that isn't our fault, that's against something that's not in our own hands. Phil Ross writes, in my humble opinion, Allah subhanaw taala tests our love and commitment for him in hardships. Again, it is it is a very
good point that that hardships, has a number of hardships have a number of wisdoms behind them and these are some of them are told to us in the code and and some are, you know, we may not know Allah subhana wa tada knows best. But Allah does tell us that there is a number of reasons why Allah subhanho data gives us hardship. One of them is that we may come back to him, one of them Allah subhanaw taala says leiomyoma, solo livina M and o in order to undergo a process called plumb Hayes. And Tom Hayes is a process of purification. And it's the same type of process that that that's used to describe the purification of gold, when you want to heat when you want to, to purify gold and
remove any kind of impurity from the gold, you heat it up. That's what you do to purify gold, that process of heating up gold is what removes the impurities. And similarly, the process of hardship is what purifies the believer, Allah says, The oma has Hello livina M and that Allah also puts believers through this process of, of purification. And that process itself involves heating up involves hardship involves struggle, but the result is purification. And I mean, this is not something that you really, really understand until you experience it. That that you see that through your own life. That those those those
periods of time that when you were in them, you know, you just wanted them to end right? Sometimes you just, you just it just hurts when you're in it. But it's it's, you know, it's over time. And when you look back at those periods in time, where that were the hardest for you, and maybe were the most painful for you, you see how they changed you? They see you see how they taught you? And you see how they purified you. So panela someone writes, asks, How can you change your lifestyle, to be happy and to please Allah, and leave you an easier daily routine that is wasting time? Mostly? I think the answer for this is, is really in the remembrance of Allah subhanaw taala The reason we
become distracted by the things around us and by the things that ultimately don't matter, is because is because we have forgotten about Allah, we become distracted when we don't remember him enough. One of the ways we forget about a lot is in the salon, we abandon the salon. We I, we either don't pray, or we pray late, we delay our prayers, that that that act in and of itself is going to distract us is going to make us less able to focus on those things that really matter and, and will will will, you know, that'll make us focus more on on things that don't matter and wasting our time comes as a result of, of not really being able to focus on the truth and on the realities of this
life in the neck. So I would say practically, it has to do to the change in your lifestyle that's going to make you more happy. First of all, and and going to make it easier to use your time wisely is increased in your remembrance Allah subhanaw taala says LLB decree like ultimate in nikolova indeed in the remembrance of God to the hearts find peace and satisfaction, so you will become more happy with the remembrance of Allah. Similarly, Allah says woman Otto than decree Fenella whom I shun banca whoever turns away from my remembrance, for him will be a narrow, miserable life. When you turn away from the remembrance of God. You're not happy, ultimately, you're not into the true
type of happiness. You don't have that. And, and, and remembering God is remembering those things that matter. And so it will become part of your lifestyle to to focus on those things instead of those things that don't matter. The greatest advice, Elizabeth writes, the greatest advice I have ever received is to always have a good opinion of God in good and bad times. I have lived my life with this point in mind, even though the darkest moments of my own life even through the darkest moments of my own life, trusting that he knows best for us always. That is absolutely beautiful advice. And I agree it is probably one of the best advice that someone can give Huston of London,
London now having the most beautiful and best opinion of Allah subhanaw taala no matter what you're going through, and and even when you can't see in it, you can't see in it the wisdom or you can't understand in it the good, you know, with full certainty that it's good for you. You know that because you know that Allah would never do something bad for you Allah would never just put you through hardship just for the sake of hurting you. You know that because you have Hilson of thunder Bella, you have the best opinion of Allah Subhana Allah and Allah tells us in had youth, let's see that whoever that Anya in the Lonard dB, that I am, as my servant thinks of me. So let my servant
thing good of me. Allah saying he will be as you think of him. So if you think good of Allah all the time, you have the best opinion of him. If you believe that Allah will never, never leave you, that alone will only bring you what is good for you. That's exactly what will happen. That is exactly how Allah subhanaw taala will be with you. If you believe that Allah is going into that Allah is the most merciful and that Allah subhanaw taala wants you to be near him and Allah or whatever he sends you is good for you. That's exactly how unless pinata will be with you. However, if you think otherwise, that's how Allah will be with you. So be very, very careful how you view Allah subhanaw
taala and what is your opinion of Allah subhana wa tada
nor writes, I feel happy when I feel that I'm making progress. I am in a process of learning more and becoming better little by little and have sincerity towards Allah. On the other hand, it scares me so much when I don't have the intense sincerity, but at home the lead normally comes back after a short time after making lots of thought. Absolutely. And it's important to remember that sincerity is a gift. Sincerity is it comes from God It does not come from me. And so we ask Allah subhanaw taala continuously to make us sincere and to make it last easy for us. It's important that we ask Allah Subhana
Allah make it easy for me make setup easy for me make make truthfulness easy for me. Make patience, easy for me. And and just you know, we ask Allah to purify our intentions. But at the same time remember, you are only human. Sometimes by putting a standard too high for yourself a super human standard for yourself, you actually set yourself up for failure, and, and slipping lower than you would if you had not put such a high standard. What I mean by that is, is this issue of sincerity can also be a tool that shaitan uses against us. For example, when you're trying to do a good deed, you want to get up and pray or you want to help out in the mission, you want to give charity shaitan
could come to you and whisper and say, actually, you're only doing that you're only getting up to pray because you want people to say, Man, he's so religious, or she's so religious, you're only going to help in the mission, because you want people to say, oh, look how how pious he or she is you only want to give money because you want people to say you're generous. And and and it is true that we should not be doing these things for the sake of the people. However, when shaitan uses that against you, what do you think he wants you to do? He wants you to stop doing the good deed. So what may happen is, when I'm trying to get up to pray, or I'm trying to do more thou or I'm trying to do
you know, give charity, he comes in whispers to me, well, you're only doing that for the people. So just don't do it. That's the bottom line. So the end result is now I haven't done something, I basically haven't done the good deed. So instead what we should be doing is continue to do the good deed, but at the same time, struggle and make the art to purify your intention. Do not abandon the deed, this is a trick of shaitan. Ultimately shaitan will use whatever trick in he has whatever method he can to get you to not worship Allah. It doesn't matter which direction he comes from. So sometimes he may come through the direction of this, this idea of sincerity or you're not sincere,
so just don't do it. And as a result, we abandon the good deed. Don't abandon the good deed, don't abandon it, because you're afraid of your impure intention. In fact, continue the good deed. But ask Allah subhana wa tada to purify your intention. At the same time.
Make writes, whenever I feel happy, or sad, stressed or even mad, I try to remember that all these emotions, try to remember that all these emotions, and reflecting on these emotions example why I feel them are what makes me human, nothing else stays the same. If happiness is the standard, then also remember that happiness runs in circles. A lot of the time I feel stressed and wonder if I'll ever truly feel as happy as I have in the past. But it's through reading and listening to his words that I feel calm and content. This is ultimately what helps me power through and find clarity in what I do. Absolutely. And remember that happiness is a creation, sadness is a creation, all of
these emotions are the creation of Allah subhanaw taala. And remember that Allah does not do anything without a purpose. Allah created happiness for a purpose. And Allah created sadness for a purpose. So remember that, that it isn't haphazard, it isn't without meaning. It isn't without, you know, a better and greater plan. It isn't, you know, just, it isn't random. It isn't random, it's part of a greater plan. And just seek Allah subhanaw taala to to make whatever it is that you are going through good for you. If it is happiness, sadness, whatever it is, it may ask Allah subhanaw taala to use this as a means to get closer to him. henna says I find that when in a moment of
weakness, and I think a person has given me grief. That's when I feel really upset and depressed and lost. And when I remember that even hard times are from Allah, then the problem becomes more bearable because then I know Allah won't leave me alone. Allahu Akbar. That is a beautiful way to think. Remember that whatever comes your way, was never meant to miss you. Whatever befalls you was not meant to miss you, and whatever missed you was not meant to befall you. You know, there's a Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu wasallam which he says that no person will taste the sweetness of a man until he realizes that whatever has befallen him was not meant to miss him. Whatever has missed
him was not meant to be fallen befall him. Allah Subhana Allah knows best Assa and Takahashi and oho hydro netcom. It may be that you hate something, and it is good for you, wasa and to Habu shade and shadow nachum. And it may be that you love something, it's bad for you. Allah knows and we don't know. This is extremely important for us to understand if we are to taste the sweetness of Eman. Whenever something happens that you don't like, or something isn't happening that you do like remember that it isn't the person who's in charge, right? It isn't that you know the person
And, you know who, who, who's involved or that, you know that that gave you something or took something from you or, or, or whatever it happens to be of the creation. Those are just tools, but ultimately everything comes from Allah subhanaw taala and everything is within his knowledge and within his will. So, so seek Allah subhanaw taala and remember that this is really the idea of Rhoda, that contentment, knowing that everything comes from him and therefore and therefore, we love whatever comes from Allah subhanho data. According Cody Heather was stuck for a lot. You will come in our photo Rahim. subhanak alaba ham deck and share the one that you learn and stuff pero cuando
la wa salam o Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh