This talk was delivered at the 4th Annual Journey Of Faith conference Nairobi Kenya in 2017.
Yusuf Estes – How To Attain Peace
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The speakers discuss the importance of responding to a statement about Islam and the need for a more in depth study of human behavior. They also touch on the concept of "ma'am" and the importance of achieving success in various aspects of life, including education, work, and personal life. The speakers emphasize the need for a more in depth study of human behavior and the importance of finding ways to help people in difficult situations and avoid suffering. They end with a brief advertisement for a test.
AI: Summary ©
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Mohammed Bala was just here and I heard him try to get you guys to raise your voices. I think you you're on mute or silent.
Berlin is the topic we're talking about is down.
We get too much echo and
the topic we're talking about is down to multiply your deeds. And one of the things that are very important for us is always to respond to a Salam alikoum with something better or at least equal to it. The right
and if I remember right, the Hadith it says that the prophet SAW Islam
was sitting with some of his companions. And somebody entered and they said,
they said this is one
and somebody else says Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa.
And it said
salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. Nab became three. So it's either 10 2030 or 1234 memory serves. You just want to be on TV.
Anyway,
bring it back up, right.
So if somebody says Salaam Alaikum to you, you got to say what it comes Salam rahmatullah wa barakato. Or, or at least equal,
or better, and what the Olimar the scholars they said. So if somebody says, saw my comb, you should at least say Salaam Alaikum wa rahmatullah enemies Islamic from Rob mantova. Then you gotta say salaam alaikum wa rahmatullahi? Wa barakaatuh. But don't go further than that, because it's too much. Everybody got that?
Okay, you sure everybody understood this?
dagger easy. Bunch of extremists, man.
handed a lot of below me. All of us are concerned, really, about what our purpose in life is.
Every human being comes to this conclusion. At some point that I need to find out why I'm here. What am I doing here. And because of that, every human being can communicate that subject with any other human being.
I've worked in prisons
around the globe.
I've also had a chance to visit with people in their palaces and their castles, and had a good chance to talk with people from all walks of life.
I discovered that this really is the one topic that everybody would like to know about. This is a topic they want to know about.
But also discovered along the way,
that all human beings they want one thing.
One thing that everybody wants.
And if I ask you right now, what do you think that every human being wants this one thing?
What's the first thing comes in your mind?
If you said money,
I promise you That's not the thing that everybody wants. Somebody laying in a hospital,
especially somebody that's near death. Have you told them you want money? They'd be like, Who cares? I want my good health. I need my good health.
And if you said,
well,
a beautiful woman.
Well, I definitely would agree from my standpoint.
But that wouldn't be everybody.
A woman going says you want a beautiful woman?
Well, most of them.
So
if you said well, a beautiful mate. There's still people. That's not the number one thing in their life.
The more you think about it, the more you realize that we really do.
Don't have a pat answer.
Yet there is one common denominator.
Because if I want money, or fame, or a beautiful spouse, a big house,
I'm starting to make my stuff rhyme. I was listening to mom and well, not so much. You know, I'm saying, Mama. Yeah, I was like, I can't help it make you want to run.
No matter what it is, though, that you want.
It's because you have an ultimate ulterior motive behind it. If I had money, then I could do something. Yeah. If I have a big house, then
if I have a good job, then if I'm famous, then will always have an ulterior motive. Because if I have f, f, f,
what, what is the thing that you're really working toward?
We could ask a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a counselor, somebody, and probably we would eventually get the right answer. Because they study that. What is the tour your motive behind every human being? And actually, there is one common denominator and we as Muslims should know it. This should be a part and parcel of the teaching that we're giving to ourselves, to our children.
And even to the non Muslims.
Every human really wants what's called an Arabic language Salaam.
And if you said, Wait a minute,
all I got to do is walk up Germany go slam and they're going to be okay. No, because it's not what I meant.
I want you to first understand something about the word Salaam. We translated into English as what everybody knows, what do we call it in English?
By the way, I have a microphone in you don't so I need to hear you. What do we translate Salaam into English?
Exactly. Exactly wrong.
Not because it's not peace, but because it's not enough. One of the names I smell suffer of Allah subhanaw taala is a salon. Sir. Yes or no? Yes. It's one of those names. Allahumma disallow momento salam, we say that after every salon Yes.
from you is coming this and you are this, we are getting this from you.
And the translation said, You are the piece and from your comms piece.
You know what the problem is?
You need to have a more in depth study of the root of the word and then the ramifications behind it. Because the love is the epitome of every one of his attributes, a smile so far.
And in reality, and I got this from a very good scholar. He said in the Arabic language, it's difficult to translate. This is one word so most people are just copping out. They're just saying piece.
Done.
And in fact, it's much bigger.
Security is there selama safety, security is in this word. It's teslim Salomon.
I sat down the salon. So along with this is coming, the security, the safety, then you find
peace because you will not find peace until there is safety and security. Is that right? What kind of peace is you say, Oh, I'm at peace. But there's rockets going off around you and guns going off and sirens going off in people running up and down and you said okay, I'm at peace. No, you're not. Because you're insecure. You need security.
And this is a part of salon. You need the safety and this is a part of salon
and then you have a piece. Oftentimes,
in advertising, they show us a picture of an island.
With a big palm tree and the beach, and the gentle water rolling up, and they advertise, you know, you're going to take a trip and relax and have peace. You've seen these ads, you know what I'm talking about? Yeah. You're like, wouldn't that be nice? I want to ask you a question. Have you ever really sat in one of those places for a long time? The sun's bearing down on you, right?
Maybe bugs crawling around on your flies everywhere.
And then there's those monkeys up there in the trees, making all kinds of racket, maybe a coconut falls on your head.
And then above that water being so steel and nice, the ocean.
The ocean isn't always still a nice in that beautiful blue sky. And you're telling me it doesn't ever rain? No storms ever come up? hurricanes don't come up. So yeah, it's an image. But is it realistic? In in the same way, life itself? There is an image that we like to portray. But is it realistic? So when we begin to talk to people about this subject, they begin to identify with this, this concept.
this weird thing that I really want, what is it? I want inside? Why do I strive so hard to get a good grade? Why am I working so hard overtime to make so much more money? Why do I need this big house? Why do I need to have this kind of car? Why? What is inside of me that it's telling me I have to have it
so that I'll be happy?
Again, we'll go back and look at the media advertising, the stuff we see on television, the things that we hear on the radio, in the magazines, the newspapers, billboards, all of these things have a similar pattern, trying to tell us if you just had this one thing in your life, it would be beautiful. If you had the Ginsu knives in your kitchen, you would be one happy camper. Oh, yeah. And if you have this carwash thing, whoa, you can wash your car so fast, and we're all happy. And the big smile
is the right these are the ads in you know, man, if I just have this kind of toothpaste, I'll be the happiest guy in the world.
There was a carrier
and you buy the toothpaste, then it would taste good.
What I'm trying to get across is the point
that we have confused things in our lives with this media advertising.
We've confused things in our lives, even with preachers, ministers, teachers, people around us trying to give us good information. They mean well.
But do they really have the hock? Do they really have the truth. Because if I'm telling you, you can buy this and you'll be happy, I'm deceiving myself in you at the same time.
Because you can never tell somebody they'll be happy
with whatever it is, you can't guarantee that because happiness is a state of mind a state of heart.
This is where you'll find this not outside inside. Now, don't confuse happiness with success. Success is an achievement level, you know, when they have the picture looks like a thermometer, and you're raising funds and you're gonna get so much money, or you're building something in your company. And when you get to this level, you'll achieve level one, level two in education level one, level two, level three, and you get up the top level and they give you a diploma.
You made it you're successful. But are you happy?
For a little while, you feel something because you achieved this level. I made it I got it. You walk across the stage, you know
you heard that right. And they give you the diploma and you get it you open it up has your name on it. They misspelled it, but it's okay. I got my diploma.
You know how Muslim names they have a lot of fun with that.
The problem is doesn't last very long.
Because you find that you had the same problems that you started with. The diploma didn't get it for you.
The job that you want it. You finally got the job. You got up in
In the ranks, you're now the manager who? Ooh, but are you happy?
No, but you succeeded. You got what you wanted, right? You wanted that Allah gave it to you, but you're not happy.
You want more.
Some people want children. A lot of people want children. If I just had a child, that'd be happy.
And they get a child.
That's not the one I wanted.
This one.
Just kidding.
Maybe you want another one? And another one and another one. Maybe you have five children, six children. 810. Muslims, or no, in the world, by the way, we have the most children.
We do. Muslims have the most kids.
But does it make you happy?
Sometimes our sisters, by the way, are so busy taking care of kids, they don't have time to think about whether they're happy or not.
But the fact is, happiness and success are not always the same thing. You can achieve a lot of goals, inshallah, by the permission of the law, but will you be happy.
And that's the same common denominator for every human being the worst murder that I met in prison, the best religious person that I ever met the poorest man in the street, and the richest man in all of Saudi Arabia,
animals, most powerful person
on the planet, according to people anyway.
All of them still have the same exact thing in side.
They want
their they want security.
They want that safety. They want that protection around them. And they want to find peace inside of that.
The worst dictator in the world still wants his own peace, his own Sadam his own security, then you have a bunch of security guys around him,
doesn't he?
You know why?
Why does he need all these people around him? Because he's very insecure.
So how you get it down to this, how can I get this thing? And you can't,
you can't get it unless as alum or granted for you.
a solemn, like he dire guidance is not yours, it belongs to Allah. But he can give it to you, the creator, the Sustainer of the universe, is the one and only one that gives his dire guidance to people.
True or false? True.
Now, imagine this is one of his name's Heidi. And another one of his names, attributes. Characteristics is a set down security,
safety
piece.
And you're never going to get there unless he gives it to you.
So the poorest man in the world could be very
much insecurity and feel good. While the richest man in the world could be very insecure, no peace. Now, do you understand from this little short introduction to the subject? Why even the richest people, the most famous people, the people that have the most things in this life still commit suicide? Have you ever wondered about it? Now, you know?
Have you ever wondered why somebody rich would steal, steal? Why would they do that? They already have everything, why would they cheat? Why would they want to do that? Now, you know?
Now let's look at the other side.
Why would somebody so poor, he only has one pair of shoes, the only pair of shoes he has in the world and he's the old man.
But he sees somebody else has no shoes. And they're poor. And they're also in same condition as him he takes his shoes off and gives it to this person and he smiles.
He smiles.
Why?
Why is it somebody could take food the only food that they have
Have and give it to another person who's starving and they can smile and say said
said
because they know inside that the only one who gives them the risk is a result.
They know inside the only one who gives his diet is heavy. They know inside that the one who is capable of giving the security given him the peace
is a center.
Now you have a better situation you've talked about this. You've shared this with other people now imagine then you can introduce one more word. We talked about Salaam Salama, this is security and peace. Salaam, yes, also peace, but he didn't mention the security the safety, then you can talk about another word. All of these coming from the same route, same route seen lamb meme
film from this another word, slum.
If you know as llama, then you can begin to understand how you can achieve that level of
what is that the llama
and the English language. There is no word for it. We have to give you a combination of words. So bear with me while I share this with you.
First of all, there is something we call an English surrender. Okay, I want to give a demonstration of this. Put your hands up.
I said Put your hands up.
Hey, you go way up. All right. stretch them out like this arrived. standstill.
You're ready for airport?
Oh yeah, I know all about that.
Just surrender and do what somebody else wants you to do. And you have no objection whatsoever. You just do it. That surrender, second word, submission. And now it means that I'm going to do it
to me.
Don't tell me Don't do it. I won't do that submission.
Then the third word, obedience, it's related. These are related to each other obedience. It means to obey. There's a rule you will obey it.
The fourth word is sincerity. Again, this is all connection. This sincerity means that even if nobody's watching, you will still obey the rule.
You're out in the jungle, you're out in the desert. somewhere. Nobody is out there.
But the rule is the same speed limit.
So you obey the speed limit. You can go 100 miles an hour.
No problem. But you said no. Speed limit. I'm gonna stay with the speed limit. And there's a stop sign. But I'm looking. I don't see another car for 20 miles anywhere. Why would I have to stop? It's a rule. I'm going to stop. This is sincerity.
Then
peace.
After I've done all these things, I gave up myself. I surrendered myself.
I'm obeying I'm in complete submission whatever comes I'm going to do it and will be sincere with it not 99% 100% a lot does not accept you to be 99% with him. Only 100% That's it.
All right. Now comes sellout. Peace.
But also security. Also the safety. All this is coming in this one package us llama This is a verb. This is an action. This is what you do with your life with your mind with your heart. Surrender submission, obedience, sincerity and peace with a law.
It gives you an order to do some you don't go well. I don't think that I don't really understand that. Can we examine that from a scientific point of view? What is the benefit of doing Salamis it like exercise? Am I gonna feel better when I put my head on the ground? I mean, do I really have to do that I may get my head dirty. I mean, you know,
what is the benefit of fasting maybe I should lose weight. Maybe I could, you know fit in the dress. It was a little bit tight. You know?
Because if I'm doing this, this is not for a while.
If I'm doing this not for Islam, while I'm doing it,
sure.
Maybe I do it because other people do it.
If this what I want is not Islam.
Islam is the verb. Islam is the noun. By introducing this subject, watch how we did it. We started with what everybody wants. So you got everybody's attention.
Then we explained it from the point of view of the inner psyche of the human being.
And we found out that's true, that is what we want. And now how do we get it to acknowledge first and foremost, that you're not God? If you were God, then you would always have your peace with you. Because you could make your environment be what you want it to be, is that right?
But you don't have that ability. I don't have that ability. I cannot make anything I can't. All I can do is hope that the Almighty will make things work out for me, and that are true. Isn't that how it works? Once we acknowledge this, then we begin to understand what Islam is, for ourselves first.
And for others second, whether it's your own family, your own children, your own, distant family, your neighbors, people you work with,
as much as you want to help other people.
There's no benefit. If you didn't help yourself first. Begin inside, internalize, look inside of yourself, and ask yourself, do I really understand what I'm all about, and how I can make it better?
A lot tells us something in the Quran that we very often misunderstand. Because we use terms the way other people tell us to look at it. I want you to think now with the new mind that you just inherited from Allah, He gave you this knowledge, you heard me say it, but he's the one that allowed me to speak and allowed you to hear it. Now from what you just picked up, listen again to a translation of Quran when Allah tells you, he does not change the condition of a people
until the people change themselves.
Doesn't that really mean inside of us, we have to make the change.
We're not talking about changing diapers on a baby here.
We're not talking about changing clothes. We're not talking about changing jobs, changing career moves. We're talking about internalizing, changing the human being inside, so that we can achieve what we really want in this life. To get that real peace, that security, the safety of knowing no matter what happens is from Allah.
Because part of that piece, I want you to think about this part of the piece that we're talking about.
I gave everything to Allah. Now no matter what he gives me, I should say what hamdulillah?
Yes or no?
Should I be pleased with what Allah gives me? If I truly believe in Allah, and I believe that I've given him over my life. So whatever he wants for me, this is what I should want for myself, right? What if it's cancer?
Somebody comes into Islam, it happened. One of the prisoners came into Islam. 28 years old, he got cancer, he died.
Before he died. I interviewed him and talked with him for a little bit. He started crying. I said, Why are you crying?
He said, What do you mean? I said, Why are you crying? He said, Well, they told me I only have maybe a few days left to live. I said, you're actually very fortunate. You're lucky. He said, What? *?
I said the rest of us.
We don't know that. We don't think about it. We think we're gonna live forever.
None of us in this room are really thinking I'm gonna die tomorrow.
Are we?
Are you really thinking that's it? I'm gonna die tomorrow. No. Even if they told you that. You wouldn't believe it.
But he had been told and he could feel his body giving up. He knew inside. He wasn't gonna make it much longer.
I said so why are you crying?
All of us will die. kulu Nuff said that attractor mode. Are we all going to die? Yes or no? Yeah.
If you know that
What should be your job?
To get ready for Zim? Right? You get ready for it.
And then I told him, the good news is in Islam, if you die of a disease
if you die from a headlong fall,
if you die by drowning, if you die in childbirth for our sisters, if you die in these kind of circumstances, a very, you know, powerful death, like there's something amazing.
Professors love guaranteed them, not just paradise, to be like the murderers, the Shahada
in the agenda.
The brother said to me, really? I said, Yeah, you got some very good news. If you're patient, you keep patient with the law. When you pass away, you'll be with the Mujahideen. Surely, yes.
He became very happy.
They say he died with a smile on his face.
Because he understood this message, total surrender submission, obedient sincerity, and peace with a law,
then you'll have the peace here on Earth.
I'll end this by mentioning something our Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him told us.
He used the term in the Arabic language, it means astonishing ajeeb at Jeevan, amazing astonishing is the condition of a true believer movement.
Because only good comes their way, it's all good for them, the life is good for them, no matter what is good.
If he gets the things that he wants in this life, he says hamdulillah he's thankful to a lot.
And if he gets the difficulties the fitna the trials and tribulations that come with life.
He makes several, he's patient person very
still, in his heart, a humbler for whatever.
And it's good for him. It's good for him. But it's only in the case of the true movement.
So when you see our brothers and sisters suffering around the world, you should be striving and struggling your best to find ways to help them if you can, but at least making to offer them But know this, if they're true believers, Allah will make everything secure for them, regardless of what we see in this world. Allah is taking care of them. Even if they are bombed and killed, murdered, mutilated, all of the things we hate that and we should, we should, it's wrong. But no, this, those believers are in a much better place than they ever were in this life.
Because for the true believer, everything is good. Whether they get everything they want in this life and they say Alhamdulillah
or if they have difficulty, but they make patience.
Finally, this one little piece of advice to myself more than anybody else, a story of the prophet SAW someone told us, he said there's two people who come on the Day of Judgment yamo Cameron to one of them, he had everything in this life, everything anything he wanted, Allah gave it to him.
Even when he was gonna die, Malakal mode, the angel of death came to take his world take his soul. He said, Wait,
I want to feast. I want a big meal before I die. Okay, got that.
Then he died.
The other person, he never got the things he wanted in this life. He wanted just this are some small note. Difficulty after difficulty problem after problem, even when he's gonna die and medical mode came for his roof to take his life.
He just wanted a drink of water. And you didn't even get that.
Now these two Come on the Day of Judgment. The one
the one who had nothing, had all the difficulties. He will be taken and pushed into the agenda. Like you push a pin into something and pull it out. And he'll be asked in your whole life. Did you ever see any difficulty? He will say no. And my whole life. I never saw any difficulty because that one second in the agenda, wiped it all out. The other person he had
Everything in this life everything, but he'll be pushed into the knowledge and now he'll be put in the Hellfire, like you put a pin in something and pull it down a second.
And he'll be asking your whole life. Did you ever see anything good? Who said Well, my whole life, I never saw anything good
that one second from the * wipe down any any good that he saw in this whole life.
Now I won't leave you with that because the prophets lifetime didn't leave us with that some companions. They asked Wait a minute, want to know how come a guy he had everything? And he went in the hellfire. And another guy he had nothing and he went into general How does that work? prophesied Islam said something. I'll translate it to you in a quirky way in English, but it means nobody's perfect.
Nobody's perfect. This is good news for us because we're not perfect, right?
Nobody's perfect. Nobody is perfectly good. Nobody's perfectly bad.
The first man who had everything in this life, actually he was bad.
I hated this man. He was so bad. But he wasn't perfectly bad. He did some good things. So Allah gave him all of his good in this life. So he will never taste or even smell the agenda.
The other man Actually, he was very good. A very good man. But he wasn't perfectly good. He made some mistakes. He did some bad things. So Allah gave him his punishment in this life
he suffered in this life, so he would not have to suffer in the next life. So he wouldn't even have to smell john, the hellfire.
Now does it make sense to you?
You can see how we all fit much better now when you understand what the life is really about. Allah tells us in the Quran, this is Abdullah and the Abdullah a test from Allah.
A test.
He asked us in Surah ankerberg, Chapter 29 of the Quran
has given us
the meaning of it. He said,
do the human beings think
that
they will be left alone just because they said we believe
and that they will not be tested? For sure. Allow us to test them.
Just like he tests the ones before.
This is a test. And our professor slump said that the Anbiya the prophets are the ones who suffer the most. So don't think that suffering means Allah doesn't love you. In fact, it could be the very solution to all our problems. So I leave you with this one dot that may Allah always keep us close to him and give us the security the safety the peace. Salaam salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.