Zaid Shakir – Islam Is Work Lazy Muslim Is An Oxymoron
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AI: Transcript ©
Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen.
All praises due to Allah.
Abundant praises are due to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala for the many blessings he's bestowed
upon us.
And the greatest blessing he's given us as
we've repeated time and time again in this
world is the blessing of Islam.
As Imam Ali radiyallahu anhu mentioned, Inna min
na'eemat dunya, and yakfiyaka al-Islamu ni'matan.
From the blessings of this world is that
Islam suffices as a blessing.
We pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
increases our appreciation of this blessing.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in his
noble and exalted scripture, A'udhu billahi minash
shaitanir rajim.
Inna allatheena qaloo rabbuna allahu thumma istaqamoo.
Tatanazzaloo alayhumul malaa'ikatu allatakhaafoo wa latahazaloo.
Wa abashiroo biljannati illatikuntum tu'adoon.
Allah ta'ala mentions as we translate that
verily those who say our Lord is Allah
and thereafter they are upright.
Thumma istaqamoo.
The uprightness and many definitions.
One of our great scholars he said, Alistaqamatu
imtithaloo ma'murat wa jtinnaboo anil manhiyat
alasabeelil dawami wal thabat.
Imtithaloo minal ma'furat.
To implement those things that we've been commanded
with.
So to implement all of those things we've
been commanded with and some of them clarify
by saying qawlan wa fialan wa khuluqan.
Those things we've been commanded with in terms
of our speech.
So istaqama is to always to the best
of our ability speak like a Muslim should
speak.
So we take no pride in gutter language.
We take no pride in being able to
utter profanities in the same manner as some
person who has no religious training at all.
Qawlan wa fialan and in our actions and
those things we've been ordered to undertake as
a Muslim to be consistent in our prayer.
To be consistent in our acts of worship
be they engaging with the Quran consistently not
waiting for Ramadan.
In a couple weeks some people will go
to their shelf dust off their Quran and
then they'll get busy and then after Ramadan
put it up.
No istaqama is to engage with the Quran
constantly and to be enriched by the Quran
on an ongoing in an ongoing fashion.
In all of our acts of worship and
in our character to constantly seek to improve
our character.
To constantly seek to remain on the character
of the believers rather in the company of
the non believers of not non-believers they
could be righteous people who actually encourage us
towards good character such as honesty and fidelity
etc.
But no matter what situation we're in to
constantly try to exemplify the character that a
believer should exemplify.
Qawlan wa fialan wa amalan.
So he said al istaqamatu al imtithal minal
ma'thurat.
To implement those things that we've been commanded
to implement.
Wal ijtinaab anil manhiyat.
And to avoid those things we've been prohibited
from and to do that consistently.
So not occasionally not most of the time
but to endeavor to do them all of
the time.
To avoid the things we've been forbidden to
speak about.
To avoid the things we've been forbidden to
engage in.
So a person who is striving for istaqama
is not a part-time Muslim.
Is not a part-time believer.
You know occasionally you know if I'm with
the right people you know I can get
down and I can smoke the joint also.
And I could take a sip on the
wine or the beer or whatever.
That's not istaqama.
Istaqama is to be consistent.
Umar radiyallahu anhu.
He said al istaqamatu an tastaqeemu wa la
tarughu rawaghani thaalab.
That you are consistent.
That you go straight.
And that you don't maneuver like a fox.
Wa la tarughu rawaghani thaalab.
That you're not maneuvering in your religion.
I could find a loophole over here or
loophole over there.
Loopholes are for taxes not for religion.
Istaqama is for religion.
We're not looking for the way out.
We're not looking for the shortcut.
We're not looking for unlawful ease.
We look for ease in the situation that
requires ease because Allah facilitates ease in our
affair.
But we're not looking for some illegal ease
or some ease that comes through some far
-fetched interpretation or machination with the religion.
This is what Umar was warning against.
An tastaqeemu.
Al istaqamatu an tastaqeemu wa la tarughu rawaghani
thaalab.
You don't zigzag like the fox.
You know I can dodge this ruling.
I could get around this and I can
figure out a way I don't have to
do this.
No.
We walk on the straight path and we
try to go straight and that's the way
of our religion.
So Allah Ta'ala says about those people
inna allatheena aamanu thumma istaqamu.
And he says thumma istaqamu.
This conjunction thumma.
The grammarians they say you feed at taraqi.
It conveys the meaning of the elapsing of
a significant period of time and it's relative
to this situation.
So istaqamu doesn't come overnight.
At first we're struggling.
You know we take our shahada and we
miss a prayer here or there.
We slip back into a habit we might
have had but we keep working at it.
We keep working at it and gradually we
overcome those things.
And so istaqamu we shouldn't get frustrated if
what's being described to consistently and unwaveringly adhere
to those things we've been uh implement those
things we've been ordered to implement and avoid
those things we've been ordered to avoid in
our speech our actions in our character and
we're not there don't get frustrated keep working
keep working and in time inshallah ta'ala
we'll get there but it takes work.
We mentioned uh and the other night in
another context the the inspiration these were the
words it was sort of spontaneous but we'll
try to capture it.
Inspiration only comes becomes permanent through perspiration.
So we can be inspired we can have
a state that we temporarily attain to but
that state will only become permanent by perspiration
by hard work.
So we mentioned this is one reason some
of the spiritual paths they they put the
aspirant into the khalwa into the state of
isolation and hopefully it will be successful they'll
get a glimpse of what they're aiming for.
So they'll know what they're working towards.
So they've seen the goal and now having
seen the goal it will motivate them to
put in the work so that what they
experienced temporarily in the khalwa becomes their permanent
state subsequently.
So that was good I want that to
be how I am all the time okay.
Get busy you have this is not islam
brothers and sisters is not a religion for
lazy people.
A lazy person can go to heaven don't
get me wrong but those people want to
hit the heights.
Those people want to grow those people want
to elevate you have to work for it.
It's not going to come easy and it's
not going to come cheap.
Nothing in this world that's valuable comes easy
and nothing in this world that's truly valuable
comes cheap.
You have to pay the price hadith thaman.
To read hadith thaman.
You want it pay the price and the
price is steep.
It doesn't come cheap.
And this is the advice the prophet this
reflects this verse is a reflection of the
advice the prophet gave to one of his
companions.
When Sufyan bin Abdullah al-Thaqafi came to
the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and he asked
him Proclaim
your belief in Allah and Sufyan bin Abdullah
al-Thaqafi was already a believer.
In other words renew your faith.
So we have to renew our faith and
one way we renew our faith is by
reclaiming it by restating it.
To remind ourselves what we've committed ourselves to.
It's a reminder.
Remind yourself of what you've committed yourself to
and then work for it.
Work towards its attainment.
This is what Allah ta'ala is telling
us and this is what our prophet sallallahu
alayhi wasallam is telling us and we should
heed this lesson.
One of the reasons that we slip sometimes
and we feel ourselves backtracking is because we
lose sight of what we've committed ourselves to.
We get into the mundane everyday bump and
grind of life and we forget it.
Hey wait a minute.
I left that because I wanted this.
I wanted what Islam had to offer.
That's why I left all of the nonsense
I was wrapped up with.
Now look at me slipping back into that
nonsense.
What am I doing?
We have to remind ourselves.
Allah ta'ala mentions in the Quran.
Amongst the believers there are men and women
of course but specifically in this verse men
who are truthful in the covenant they've convened
with Allah.
They are truthful in the covenant they've convened
with Allah.
So we should be truthful in what we've
committed ourselves to.
When we say la ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah
and then Allah ta'ala says so at
the time of their death the angels descend
upon them and they remind them don't be
afraid of what's ahead of you because you're
a believer and you strive and you did
your best and you try to attain to
that state of consistency in your religion so
don't be afraid don't be afraid
of what's before you and don't be saddened
by what you've left behind you because at
the time when we know there's a very
serious test and we've taken that test and
this dunya is a test for the believers
you're going to be tested you're going to
be tested this is a test when you
take a test a very important test and
you finish the test you're not thinking about
the possible 90% that you got right
you're thinking about the 10% you got
wrong reflect on it say oh man i
knew that answer what happened my brain just
froze up you're not thinking of what you
got right you're thinking about what you got
wrong and so at the time of our
death we're not going to be thinking about
how many ramadans we have have in we're
not going to be thinking about how many
salats we prayed five times a day for
x number of days we're going to be
thinking about that lie we told we're going
to be thinking about that person we might
have cheated or defrauded we're going to be
thinking about that insult we hurled in a
moment of heedlessness but the angels are there
to reassure the believers who have proclaimed their
faith and who have striven to implement what
Allah would have us to implement and to
avoid what he would have us to avoid
don't be fearful of what's ahead and don't
be saddened by what's behind you and have
glad tidings of the paradise you've been promised
this is what we're living for brothers and
sisters sometimes we put so much focus on
this world and what's going on and transpiring
in this world and how we're going to
do our part to change the world and
that's all good but we forget we are
not living for this world we're living in
this world but we're living for the akhirah
we're living in this world but we're not
living for this world we do what we
can do in this world we do what
we can do for the betterment of this
world but not at the expense of our
soul not at the expense of our soul
and we understand this is and this is
one of the most important lessons we can
learn today we understand that as we struggle
in this world our struggles are not about
winning or losing our struggle is about obeying
Allah subhana wa ta'ala and staying within
the limits set by Allah these
are the limits set by Allah don't come
close to them these are the limits set
by Allah don't try to transgress them so
we understand winning and losing that's Allah's affair
aziz al hakim victory only comes from Allah
in the quran victory only comes from Allah
subhana wa ta'ala it doesn't come from
us and then so after saying that what
does Allah say you have nothing to do
with this affair the outcome of this affair
your job is to strive within the limits
that have been set the victory comes from
Allah subhana wa ta'ala this was revealed
after uhud Allah says you won at battle
you lost at uhud but you had nothing
to do with the outcome of the affair
victory only comes from Allah the mighty the
wise our challenge is to stay within the
limits and this is a challenge we need
now because of the the the inhumane viciousness
with which many of those forces arrayed not
only against the muslim but against the poor
struggling people of this world in general and
at the head of our very nation and
not everyone in the nation they're good people
but those controlling the mechanisms of policy those
controlling the military industrial and now the security
industrial complex the brutality and viciousness with which
they with impunity destroy and ravage the lives
and lands of innocent people inspire some muslims
to want to respond in kind but that
will never bring victory because we can only
have victory through the pleasure of Allah subhana
wa ta'ala and Allah ta'ala is
not pleased that we transgressed against the limits
that he set regardless of the circumstances or
the situation this is a lesson we have
to internalize because these verses are reminding us
of spiritual realities number one our death even
muslims we're so caught up in this materialistic
reality that surrounds us or the materialistic let
me rephrase that the materialistic illusion that surrounds
us that we lose touch with the spiritual
reality that is the ultimate reality because what
is physical passes only Allah remains in the
end this is all transitory those realities associated
with Allah those are the lasting realities and
the lasting realities come from our spiritual works
the realities we might or illusions we might
attain that are laudable by any standard and
by the standard of our religion they're transitory
they're transitory we achieve a political victory does
the political the political circumstance our efforts have
helped to shape does it endure forever sometimes
it might not even do it for a
decade this is a lesson of history but
Allah ta'ala tells it is the lasting
reward from the good deeds that you do
that are best with your lord as a
reward and best for you to hope for
the good the enduring good deeds and our
worldly strivings are part of those but we
shouldn't take our eye off the prize have
glad tidings of the paradise that you have
been promised that is the prize when Allah
ta'ala talks about the prize what does
he tell us that's something else something you
would all love victory from Allah and help
from Allah in a speedy victory but the
fauz and
forgiveness from your lord what greater thing can
we get than forgiveness for our sins what
if we meet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and we're carrying the mountain of sin that
we've accumulated in this world Allah ta'ala
says forgiveness from your lord and he will
enter you into beautiful gardens beneath which rivers
flow and beautiful mansions in gardens of eden
that is the great victory in terms of
worldly victories so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
and our religion doesn't neglect our worldly state
but it helps us to keep everything in
the proper priority something else you would also
love that is the great victory something
else you would all love help from Allah
and the speedy victory give glad tidings to
the believers so we have worldly work and
we have worldly victories but we should never
take our eyes off the big victory because
if we compromise our principles and violate the
commandments that govern our action then we lose
the great victory seeking the lesser victory and
this is what we reminded some of us
converted to Islam from Christianity myself included one
verse in the bible that resonates in this
context what profits it a man that he
gains the wall and loses his very soul
what profits it a man that he gains
the wall but loses his very soul so
Allah ta'ala he tells us the angels
the sin and then what do they say
that we are your protectors and we are
your supporting friends in this world and in
the hereafter brothers and sisters we're never alone
neither in this world nor in the hereafter
Allah ta'ala reminds us the angels are
with us not only the angels sometimes we
can become desperate and think we're all alone
or think that the forces arrayed against us
and all of these weapons and all of
the money and all of the resources and
all of the alliances arrayed against the Muslims
is overwhelming and people get desperate and despair
some people give up and stop struggling stop
working all together the angels are with us
and the order is important because that despair
first and foremost it can afflict us in
this world so Allah ta'ala reminds us
the angels are with us and not just
the angels the birds on the day of
the the the feel Allah ta'ala sent
the birds against the forces of Abraham the
birds are with us the trees are with
us the skies the clouds the rains they're
all with us and those who seek to
to undermine and to distort and to disfigure
and this defame this beautiful religion they only
have one wali or one set of all
their shaitan their awliya is shaitan and at
the end of the day the struggle in
this world is not a new struggle there
are new labels to describe the various parties
but it's a simple struggle that's been waged
since shaitan assailed adam alayhis salaam it's the
struggle between the awliya of Allah and the
awliya of shaitan that's the struggle awliyaullah wa
awliya ash shaitan and Allah ta'ala is
telling us it is a struggle so
Allah says fight against the awliya of shaitan
and know the level of your fight know
the level of your struggle but understand it's
a struggle and if we just stand back
and we're just passively cruising along down the
road of life believe me you're gonna we're
going to be waylaid by one of the
awliya of shaitan we're going to be waylaid
by one of the awliya of shaitan so
Allah ta'ala the angels tell us we
are your supporters and your protectors in this
world and in the hereafter so you're never
alone brothers and sisters never imagine never think
that you're alone we
are your
protectors
in this world and in the next and
in the next you have everything that your
soul longs for and you will have everything
that you could summon so no matter what
happens in this world we're heading for a
place where we will have joy and we
will have bliss and we will have rewards
that we cannot even imagine whatever
we want and what is it that is
waiting for us when we say keep our
eye on the prize it's only a metaphorical
statement waiting
for us is what no human eye has
ever beheld what no human ear has ever
heard and what has never been imagined by
a human heart another thing the greatest delight
you could imagine is inadequate to describe the
joys of paradise this is what is waiting
for us and Allah ta'ala says this
is a this is a a gift and
this is sustenance from a merciful from a
forgiving and merciful god our lord is merciful
brothers and sisters never doubt it never lose
sight of it never lose touch with that
reality and he's forgiving we talked about those
who might meet Allah with a mountain of
sin you have to work very hard because
Allah's forgiveness is deep and Allah loves to
forgive sins Allah loves to forgive sins Ramadan
is coming about this month Abu Huraira radiyallahu
anhu has said يغفروا فيه إلا من أبى
everyone is forgiven in Ramadan except one who
who refuses they said hearing that who would
ever refuse oh Abu Huraira he said one
who refuses to ask Allah for forgiveness brothers
and sisters the only thing between us and
forgiveness is to ask Allah for forgiveness ask
Allah for forgiveness ask Allah for forgiveness and
in Ramadan ask with special passion and special
commitment and then we'll stop here Allah ta
'ala he starts by reminding us about our
speech إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا and
then our being upright and once we've internalized
those lessons once we're upright in our speech
and once we have affirmed our tawheed and
we've affirmed and we've striven to to actualize
that in our actions and in our character
then we're in a position to call people
to it so Allah ta'ala then says
وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ قَوْلًا مِّمَّنْ دَعَيْلَ اللَّهِ and who
is better in their speech than one who
calls to Allah who is better in their
speech than one who calls to Allah so
there's a foundation for that and that foundation
is affirming tawheed with sincerity and depth and
then striving to actualize through our actions and
then we're in a position and we have
a foundation to call to Allah he says
who's better in speech than one who calls
to Allah and so we're still the connection
between the speech and the action in this
context is just as important so that our
speech is not empty when we make the
call and it's not contradicted by our actions
وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ قَوْلًا مِّمَّنْ دَعَيْلَ اللَّهِ وَعَمَلَ الصَّالِحَةِ
so those people prepare themselves their actions are
consistent with their speech this reminds us we
are not a religion of talk we don't
give good speeches and then do nothing we
work and then we speak so this second
speech وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ قَوْلًا مِّمَّنْ دَعَيْلَ اللَّهِ it
came after the استقامة or the effort and
striving we are workers our prophet ﷺ worked
everyone who followed in his way worked we
talked we listened to the speeches of Malcolm
X but Malcolm X didn't just talk he
built institutions he trained people he started newspapers
he was instrumental in starting Muhammad Speaks newspaper
he worked he just didn't talk and because
he worked when he talked his speech had
more power his speech had more power because
it wasn't based on just sound it was
based and built and rooted in action and
that became power that became power because why
those who work and then they talk they're
doing something pleasing to Allah how do we
know because one of the strongest condemnations in
the Quran is the condemnation of the one
who talks and doesn't work and it's directed
that condemnation is directed to the believers يَا
عِيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لِمَا تَقُولُونَ مَا لَا تَفْعَلُونَ
كَبُرَ مَقْتًا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَن تَقُولُوا مَا لَا
تَفْعَلُونَ oh you believers why do you say
that which you don't do grievously hated is
it with Allah that you say that which
you don't do that's directed to the believers
we're people of of action وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ قَوْلًا
مِّمَّنْ دَعَيْلَ اللَّهِ so who's better in speech
than one who calls to Allah and does
righteous deeds وَعَمَلَ الصَّالِحَةَ وَقَالَ إِنَّنِي مِّنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
and says verily proudly not not vainglorious pride
but dignified honorable pride and this is the
state of the believers وَلِلَّهِ الْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
وَلَكِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ the izzah the the
the authority and dignity dignified authority is for
Allah his messenger and the believers the hypocrites
realize it not don't hang your head because
people are talking about you or writing nasty
things about you or talking about you on
the television or the radio hold your head
high because you're not alone and what do
you care what the awliya of shaitan say
about you anyway when the angels and the
awliya of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with
you وَقَالَ إِنَّنِي مِّنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَقَالَ إِنَّنِي مِّنَ
الْمُسْلِمِينَ so pick your head up and understand
the awliya the angels are with you the
trees are with you the birds are with
you the animals are with you all of
the servants of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
with you are with us so we forge
on as dignified human beings أقول قولي هذا
واستغفر الله لي ولكم رسول المؤمنين يا قوم
استغفروا الله الحمد
لله رب العالمين إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ يُصَلُونَ عَلَى
النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُوا عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُوا
تَسْلِيمًا اللهم صلِّ وسلِّم وبارِك على سيدنا وحبيبنا
محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم تسليمًا كثيرًا brothers
and sisters as we mentioned there's a struggle
going on in our world it's clear and
our contribution has to be our greatest contribution
at a spiritual level we have to gather
our spiritual resources this is what Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala has blessed us with not
one of us not two of us most
of us we have to gather our spiritual
resources because materially that's the advantage of the
awliya of shaitan because shaitan he only sees
the material he revels in the material when
he was asked to prostrate to adam what
was his claim ما منعك إلا تسجد إذ
أمرت قال أنا خير من خلقتني من نار
وخلقته من طين he pointed to his physical
what he perceived to be his physical superiority
why didn't you prostrate when you were commanded
to do so i'm better than him why
is he better he's more generous more charitable
he kisses more babies he does more charitable
acts no because of his physical composition you
made me from fire you made him from
clay that makes me better every racist follows
his footsteps we're better because of our skin
color because of our hair texture because of
this that or the other we're better because
of our physical nature no Allah teaches us
in time doesn't allow to elaborate any virtue
we have as an ummah only lies in
spiritual advantage and that's what we have to
cultivate first and foremost if we seek to
impact this world and if we cultivate those
qualities collectively believe me we will impact this
world in ways that will boggle the mind
and the next verse talks about that but
we've mentioned those verses before so we'll stop
here our
lord pour patience upon us and make our
feet firm and let us die as Muslims
and forgive us forgive us and have mercy
on us you are our master so help
us against the disbelieving people oh Allah we
seek refuge in you from worry and sorrow
and we seek refuge in you from weakness
and laziness and we seek refuge in you
from jealousy and anger and we seek refuge
in you from the darkness of debt and
oppression of men oh Allah divide for us
from the fear of what you will cause
between us and your disobedience and from your
obedience how you will make us reach your
paradise and from the certainty of what will
make us overcome the difficulties of this world
and grant us with our ears and our
eyes and our strength what you have given
us and make it a heritage from us
and make it a fortress against those who
oppress us and help us against those who
are our enemies and do not make our
difficulties in our religion and do not make
the world a greater concern than us and
do not reach us with our sins who
does not fear you and does not have
mercy on us oh most merciful of the
merciful and forgive us forgive us and have
mercy on us you are our master so
help us against the disbelieving people oh Allah
help the muslims in every place oh Allah
help the muslims in sham oh Allah help
them oh Allah help them from you oh
Allah oh Allah help the muslims in palestine
and in every place oh Allah help the
muslims in afghanistan and in pakistan in iraq
and in every place oh Allah oh Allah
help the muslims in every place oh Allah
help the muslims in shaitan oh Allah help
us in this country you are our master
so help us against the disbelieving people oh
Allah help the muslims in shaitan oh
Allah help the muslims in shaitan oh Allah
help the muslims in shaitan oh Allah help
the muslims in shaitan oh Allah