Zaid Shakir – Pleasing Allah With Good Character And Dawah
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AI: Transcript ©
Inna alhamdulillahi nahmaduhu wa nast'ainuhu wa nastaghfiruhu
wa nastaghfiruhu wa natubu ilayhi wa na'udhu
billahi min shururi anfusina wa min sayyi'ati
a'malina man yahdihi allahu fala muddilla lah wa
man yuddil fala hadiya lah wa ashhadu an
la ilaha illallah wahdahu la sharika lah wa
ashhadu anna sayyidana muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu ya
ayyuha allatheena aaminu attaqoo allaha haqqa tuqatihi haqqa
tuqatihi wa laa tamutumma illa wa antum muslimoon
ya ayyuha allatheena aaminu
attaqoo
allaha haqqa tuqatihi
wa
laa tamutumma illa wa antum that it's a
struggle, that it's a battle, that it's not
a joke cannot approach our deen as if
it's a joke this is a serious affair
amrun azeem it's a great affair it's an
affair that we in this age, living in
this age, have a tremendous responsibility we are
the heirs of the prophetic legacy al ulama
warathatul anbiya the scholars are the heirs of
the prophets and the people follow the scholars
ya ayyuha allatheena aaminu attaqoo allaha haqqa tuqatihi
wa laa tamutumma illa wa antum muslimoon ya
ayyuha allatheena aaminu attaqoo allaha haqqa tuqatihi wa
laa tamutumma illa wa antum muslimoon but
they can't sing a single missile, a single
rocket, a single bullet to defend the Palestinians
that they're slaughtered in the streets like dogs
so if there are no legitimate political authorities
al ulama then the scholars so collectively we
have a tremendous responsibility our deen is ibadah
wa ma khalaqlul jinna wal insa illa liyaabudoon
I've only created the jinn and the human
that they worship me as related from Ibn
Abbas illa an illa liyaarifoon that we know
Allah which is a different type of struggle
but the majority of the exegetes that they
worship me so ibadah is critical but so
too is the refinement of our character in
terms of ibadah the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam
he mentioned innama bu'ithtu mu'allimah I've
been sent as a teacher so he teaches
us the legislative rulings he teaches us the
rulings of the religion how do we worship
Allah subhana wa ta'ala he teaches us
the meanings of the Quran so he teaches
us that aspect of the religion but he
also said innama bu'ithtu li utammimah mahasin
al-akhlaq I've been sent to perfect good
character innama bu'ithtu mu'allimah I've been
sent as a teacher innama bu'ithtu li
utammimah mahasin al-akhlaq I've been sent to
perfect good character so these are emphatic statements
innama normally say innama yufid al-hasr innama
is a particle that conveys a meaning of
restriction so innama innama al-amalu bin niyat
it's restrictive actions are only acceptable based on
our judge rather based on the accompanying attention
al-hasr but if we say it's restricted
to this or that they're two statements for
emphasis I've been sent as a teacher I've
been sent to perfect good character and the
two are equally important I know many of
the brothers and sisters here know there are
many cities in this country where there are
Muslims from Muslim countries who if they miss
the first row in Fajr the Takbir of
the Imam and you see them you think
their mother died what's wrong brother I missed
the first row for Takbir but they'll get
up from the first row after the Imam
makes the Taslim they'll go to the liquor
store and open it up and sell poison
to the people a poison that destroys relationships
a poison that destroys families a poison that
destroys communities a poison that Allah has cursed
and won't feel any shame or compunction in
that no the worship is important yes we
should strive to be in the first row
everyday for every prayer that we can that's
critically important but we should understand that we
should also strive to perfect our character if
you want to know the importance Sahih Hadith
from Aisha she said Rasool Allah peace be
upon him the believer will realize by his
good character the level of the faster the
believer will realize by his good character the
level of the faster that a believer will
attain through his or her good character the
rank of a person who fast perpetually and
spends most of every night in prayer a
Muslim a believer through his or her good
character will attain the degree inna al mu'mina
la yudriku will attain bi husni quduqihi through
the goodness of his character or her character
darajat al sa'im al qa'im the
rank of one who fast except the days
is not permissible and spends a good portion
of every night in prayer they go together
the prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam was described by
his lord wa innaka la ala khuduqin azeem
you are on a lofty standard of conduct
you are on a lofty standard of conduct
wa innaka la ala khuduqin azeem Aisha radiallahu
anha she also relates kana suila Aisha radiallahu
anha anha an khuqi rasulillahi sallallahu alayhi wasallam
fa qalat kana quduquhu al quran his character
was an embodiment of the quran his character
was an embodiment of the quran kana quduquhu
al quran there is a lofty standard al
quran al azeem wa innaka ala khuduqin azeem
all of the character traits that are mentioned
in the quran were embodied in the prophet
sallallahu alayhi wasallam just as they were embodied
in Ibrahim alayhi salam inna Ibrahim kana ummatan
qanitan lillah Ibrahim was an ummah one meaning
of that, all of the virtuous qualities you
find epitomized in various individuals in a nation,
this person is so honest brother so and
so is so honest sister so and so
is so truthful brother so and so is
so faithful when he gives his word Ibrahim
epitomized all of that and our prophet sallallahu
alayhi salam and our prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam
took it to a whole another level kana
quduquhu al quran brothers and sisters many of
you here not all but many are concerned
with the affair of tasawwuf concerned with tasawwuf
one of the definitions of tasawwuf at tasawwuf
kulluhu akhlaq tasawwuf is all about good character
faman zalika quduqan faqad zalika tasawwufan and whoever
has increased you in a good characteristic has
increased you in tasawwuf so why do we
say that we say that my dear brothers
and sisters because the Sufis should be the
most upright shining exemplars of what it means
to possess the character of a Muslim faman
zalika quduqan faqad zalika tasawwufan one who has
increased you in good character has increased you
in tasawwuf la ilaha illallah but you look
at the Sufis particularly and you look at
the Muslims generally are we distinguished as a
community and as a subset of that community
from the generality of people out there many
of our students on the college campuses aren't
they're fornicating just as much as the others
drinking alcohol smoking weed just as much as
the others someone might say oh you're going
to make our youngsters depressed we could talk
about the old folks and the issues we
shouldn't hesitate to hold ourselves to a higher
standard it's easy to lower the bar I
can't jump over the bar it's easy to
lower the bar to make someone feel good
but as I said this is a serious
matter it's not about feeling good we do
feel good if we're doing the right thing
even then we might question ourselves it's not
about feeling good and pleasing ourselves it's about
feeling good and pleasing Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala it's about feeling good because we're pleasing
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so we don't
want to lower the bar so people can
feel good because you could feel good everyone
who's involved or has been involved is involved
in athletics if your coach eases up to
make you feel good and you get out
on the field or out on the court
or out on the track and you get
humiliated you're mad at your coach so why
didn't you push me you knew what the
competition was like you knew what the competition
was like why didn't you push me and
we don't want a single Muslim yawm al
qiyamah to say to the ulama or to
the scholars or to the callers and preachers
why didn't you push me you knew what
it took to get into jannah why didn't
you push me why did you just concern
yourself with making me feel good we don't
want to lower the bar we want to
strengthen the believer's legs so they can jump
over the high bar don't lower the bar
for yourselves brothers and sisters don't lower your
standards strengthen your legs so if your coach
said get in the gym you have to
do more reps of this more laps of
this more this, more that and you go
out there and you win even though practice
was painful practice was difficult practice was challenging
you're gonna feel good and yawm al qiyamah
when we stand before Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala and we've succeeded by his grace not
by anything we possess, by his mercy we're
gonna thank Allah for that quote unquote coach
who made us get in the gym do
those pushups do those squats run those laps
run those extra laps put in the extra
work because it's work and we're gonna feel
so good bi-idhnillahi ta'ala so my
dear brothers and sisters as much as you
strive to pray and to fast make sure
you're paying your zakat accurately and on time
we have to strive to purify our character,
to elevate our character, to try to raise
up to the sterling example set by our
prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and it's not always
going to be easy it's not always going
to lack challenges, it's not going to always
be something that doesn't demand that we push
ourselves and look deep inside of our souls
and examine ourselves and question our intentions and
humiliate our nafs a'da a'da a'da a'dai al
-nafsu lati bayna jambayk the most dangerous enemy
you have is that soul between your two
flanks because it knows you better than anyone
other than your lord it knows how to
trip you up it knows how to deceive
you it knows how to make you feel
good when you should be questioning yourself may
Allah give us tawfiq may Allah give us
taisir qabool, may Allah ta'ala bless us
to do our best to purify ourselves, do
our best to raise ourselves to the standard
set by our prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, whom
Allah ta'ala has made us the example
for laqad kana lakum fi rasulillahi uswatun hasana,
you have a most excellent example in the
messenger of Allah aqoolu qawli hadha wa astaghfiru
alihi wa laqad wa li sa'ili al
mu'minin ya qawmi astaghfirullah alhamdulillahi
rabbil alamin wassalam ala sayyidil mursalin sayyidina muhammad
wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wasalam tasliman kathira
inna allaha wa malaikatahu yusaluna ala an-nabi
ya ayyuha alladhina amanu salu alaihi wasalam tasliman
Allahumma sali wasalam wa barik ala sayyidina wa
habibina wa qurri a'yunina muhammad wa alihi
wa sahbihi wasalam tasliman kathira Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala has blessed us to experience these
days surrounding the anniversary of our Prophet salallahu
alayhi wasalam coming into this physical world alhamdulillah
these are great days because they commemorate a
great occasion and we'll hear over the course
of the coming days starting tomorrow in this
beautiful community the praise of the Prophet salallahu
alayhi wasalam the attributes of the Prophet salallahu
alayhi wasalam I'll leave you with one which
is basic fundamental when Allah ta'ala Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala He said ya ayyuhan
nabi inna arsalnaka shahidan wa mubashshiran wa nathira
wa da'ian ilallah bi iznihi wa sirajan
munira O Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam verily we
have sent you inna arsalnaka shahidan as a
witness as a witness ask ourselves are we
witnesses for the truth of the Muhammadic message
are we witness to our character that's the
best witness sometimes we'll talk about something very
very beautiful and where I come grew up
the time and place I grew up in
a lot of times people would say man
talk is cheap talk is cheap or they
say put your money where your mouth is
which didn't literally mean stuff your money in
your mouth it meant charity is a proof
charity is a proof if it's all that
what are you spending for it it meant
what are you doing that reflects what you're
talking about put your money where your mouth
is they say things like that but if
they saw it in you you didn't have
to say a word they would say actions
speak louder than words ya ayyuha n-nabi
inna arsalnaka inna arsalnaka shahidan wa mubashshiran a
giver of glad tidings ask ourselves are we
as a community giving the glad tidings of
Islam to our neighbors in this nation at
a time when many of them are being
destroyed by the things that Islam has come
to cure Islam has come to cure racism
look at this congregation where people of all
backgrounds, ethnicity so called races skin colors, complexion
hair textures there is no force in human
history that has brought people together in the
way that Islam has brought people together from
the very beginning it brought the Arabs the
Prophet ﷺ Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali Khadija,
Aisha, Um Salama Um Habiba, Juwayriya radiallahu anhum
ajma'een it brought them the Arabs together
with Salman al-Farisi with Salman the Persian
the Asian, with Suhaiba Rumi, Suhaiba the European
with Bilal al-Habashi, Baraka Um Ayman, al
-Habashiya the Africans, the Asians the Europeans, the
Arabs brought together from the very beginning, and
this has been a role that Islam has
played throughout its history are we bringing that
to this country as it's on the verge
of being torn apart by demagogues playing the
race card not even acknowledging the progress that
the nation has made in that regard Islam
as Arnold Toynbee testifies to one of our
greatest historical minds Islam can solve the alcohol
the intoxicant problem are we bringing that tiding
probably no one here is an alcoholic probably
no one here even drinks at all you
saw the United Nations did a study of
alcoholism and alcohol consumption, the Muslim nations despite
their struggles were on the bottom they're all
on the bottom, 1%, 2%, 3% of
the people at a time when our people
are being record levels of alcohol consumption and
alcohol related deaths record numbers of opioid deaths
there would be over 2 million people dying
every year in this country from opioid and
opium overdose doses, heroin and fake heroin, fentanyl
and the rest, if it weren't for Narcan
as it is 200,000, 300,000 dying
and the numbers would be exponentially higher if
they didn't have a drug to revive people
the diseases of despair depression even amongst the
Muslims skyrocketing, suicide skyrocketing these are called the
diseases of despair are we bringing this message
to our people only a disbelieving
people despair of Allah's mercy are we bringing
that mercy the prophet we celebrate was described
we've only sent you as a mercy to
all the worlds are we sharing that mercy
are we giving glad tidings of that mercy
مبشراً ونذيراً and a warner are we warning
our people from the very beginning the prophet
ﷺ what was he told يَا أَيُّهَا الْمُدَّفِّرُ
قُوم فَأَنذِرُ oh you unwrapped up rise up
and warn your people rise up and warn
your people oh are we warning our people
that Allah ﷺ is just and his justice
will come to bear on the crimes of
our nation the hypocrisy we told the Israelis
to be careful with civilians and then we
supply the bombs to kill the civilians not
just there all over the world the war
the drug wars in Mexico, all those cartels
are supplied with American weapons knowingly smuggled across
the border school shootings as we had last
week AR-15s made in the USA and
the same political forces that will not stop
the sale of the weapons that we murder
each other with here in our schools, in
our streets in our hoods, our ghettos our
burials and via suicide in our suburbs those
same forces won't stop the flow of weapons
into Latin America and the flow of weapons
into Africa and they're the same forces that
won't stop the flow of the bombs that
are used in Gaza and increasingly in the
West Bank and in Somalia and Afghanistan and
Iraq we have a
responsibility when at the Iraq how long can
this go on how long can these extreme
economic inequalities, how long can they go on
how long can the big pharma jacking up
the prices of drugs 100 times 200 times
what it should be sold for pricing poor
people out of the market how long can
it go on before Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala says enough is enough and we're going
to add to the list of Aad, Thamud
Qawmilut Quraysh we're going to add to that
list the United States of America someone here
in this cell, these Muslims they're not patriots
this is the epitome of patriotism we rise
up and warn our nation it's the epitome
of patriotism because we're arguing and pleading for
the salvation and the perpetuation of this nation
may Allah give us Tawfiq I'm a convert
someone called me to Islam someone took the
time to reach out to myself and a
whole lot of other lost souls to say
there's a better way to live there's a
purpose for your life there's a mission that
you can rise up and work towards someone
took the time to do that are we
taking the time to reach out to our
fellow citizens Alhamdulillah this community is a light
from the light of the Habaib Habaib Dua
they're callers to the Deen who brought Islam
to all these nations in the Indian Ocean
basin to East Africa to the lands of
the Suwail Suwail the Indian
to the Malay Archipelago who traveled the seas
who went into the jungles who crossed the
deserts to bring Islam to the people there
the Habaib did if we're walking in their
footsteps why aren't we in the ghettos in
the barrios the suburbs the ex-burbs Appalachia
calling people to salvation calling people to guidance
calling people to Islam May Allah give us
Tawfiq May Allah give us courage we talk
about May Allah give us wisdom devise plans
that appeal to people that's Husnul Khuluk Shaja,
Courage, Hikmah Wisdom Adl, Justice Iffah, Restraint Da
'ianil Allahi bi-idhnihi Wasiraja Munira and as
a shining light Wasiraja Munira a luminous light
Fakhruddin Ar-Razi, you mentioned the Habaib are
shining lights but they're shining lights that were
lit from the lamp of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam and each and every one of us
should be a shining light that is lit
from the lamp of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
Fakhruddin Ar-Razi when he discusses this phrase
Wasiraja Munira he said it's a light it's
a lamp or a candle and no matter
how many candles you dip and light from
that light it never decreases the intensity of
the original light my dear brothers and sisters
don't see yourself as someone floundering with no
purpose struggling to get by just trying to
make sure the family stays afloat make sure
the bills get paid look at yourself as
a light that's been lit from the light
of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam look at yourself
as one who has a responsibility to shine
that light on the darkness of our society
look at yourself as a light that reflects
the light of our prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
just as he reflected the light of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala it's a continuum of
light Talaa al-Badr alayna the better no
object in our physical world reflects the light
of the sun as fully as the full
moon our prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam as he
was described is the full moon shining to
the greatest extent humanly possible the light of
Allah and when the full moon is out
you can see everything clearly we are the
stars or the planets that are reflecting the
light of that full moon if the analogy
holds if it doesn't you know what I'm
talking about may Allah give us Tawfiq may
Allah give us strength may Allah give us
wisdom may Allah give us courage may Allah
give us make us lovers of justice not
just social justice but total justice not just
justice with people but total justice with Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala when we talk about
oppression many of the young people talk about
oppression don't forget shirk is the greatest oppression
when we talk about oppression don't forget the
oppression right here whoever doesn't repent they
are the oppressors may Allah bless us to
be penitent and of course justice with the
people may Allah give us Tawfiq and justice
with the people and we'll conclude on this
note because we're way over time may Allah
give us feda justice with the people is
also a function of good character وَخَالِكَ
النَّاسَ بِخُدُكَنْ حَسَنٌ be mindful of Allah wherever
you are in any misdeed you do, follow
it up with a good deed being waiter
it will efface it and treat people, deal
with people on the basis of good character
وَخَالِكَ النَّاسَ بِخُدُكَنْ حَسَنٌ وَمِنْ هَذِهِ الْأَخْلَاقِ الْعَظِيمَةِ
عظيمة في المعاملات مع الناس العدل العدل
justice اللهم اغفر المسلمين والمسلمات والمؤمنين والمؤمنات الاحياء
منهم ولا مات رَبَّنَا نَا تُزِيدْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ
إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْلَنَا بِاللَّذُونْ كَرَحْمَةً إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْوَحَّابُ
رَبَّنَا فِرْغْ عَلَيْنَا الصَّبْرًا وَثَّبِّتْ أَقَدَامَنَا وَأُنْصُرْنَا
لَلْقُوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ رَبَّنَا أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا الصَّبْرًا وَثَّبِّتْ
أَقَدَامَنَا وَتَوَثَّنَا مُسْلِمِينَ وَاعْفُ عَنَّا وَغْفِي لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا
أَنتَ مَوْلَانَا فَأَنْصُرْنَا لَلْقُوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ اللهم إنا نعوذ
بك من الحم والحزن اللهم إنا نعوذ بك
من الحم والحزن ونعوذ بك من العجز والكسل
ونعوذ بك من الجبن والبخل ونعوذ بك من
غالب الدين وقهر الرجال ونعوذ بك من غالب
الدين وقهر الرجال اللهم اقسم لنا من خشاتك
اللهم اقسم لنا من خشاتك ما تحول به
بيننا وبين معصيك ومن طعتك ما تبلغنا بها
جنتك ومن طعتك ما تبلغنا بها جنتك ومن
اليقين ما يحون علينا به مصائب الدنيا ومتعنا
بأسمائنا وأبصارنا وقوتنا ما أحييتنا ومتعنا بأسمائنا وأبصارنا
وقوتنا ما أحييتنا واجعله الوارث منا واجعله الوارث
منا واجعل ثأرًا على من ظلمانا وانصرنا على
من عدانا ولا
تجعل الدنيا أكبر همنا ولا تجعل الدنيا أكبر
همنا ولا
مجاهد إلا نصرت ولا داعية إلا أظهرت ولا
طاغية إلا أهلكت ولا حاجة لك في هذه
الدنيا ولا في الآخرة illa qadaytaha lana ya
rabbal alameen wa'afu anna wa'ufi lana
warhamna anta mawlana fa'ansurna lilqawmil kafireen Allahumma
ansurul muslimeena fi kulli makan Allahumma ansurul muslimeena
fi Falestine ya Allah fi ghaza ya Allah
fi diffatil gharbiya ya Allah fi sumal ya
Allah fi lhind ya Allah fi kashmir ya
Allah fi shreelanka ya Allah fi Fristine ya
Allah ikhwanina fi Turkmenistan sharqiyya ya Allah Allahumma
ansurhum ya Allah khaffif anhum ya Allah farrij
anhum ya Allah wa fi Afriqiya ya Allah
al ikhwan fi Sudan ya Allah ya Allah
khudbi aidi aidi al zalama khudbi aidi aidi
adai al islami wal muslimeen ya Allah khudbi
aidi al muddammum wal muqatileen ya Allah ya
Allah wal qatileen ya Allah ya Allah li
Allah khudbi aidihim ya Allah Allah ya Allah
man arada khairan li hadhi al ummatil muhammadiya
wathq ila qula khair wa man arada sharra
laha walil muslimeen fa khufu akhda azizil muqtadi
fa ja'al tadbirahum tadmirahum ya Allah alayki
bi a'da al islam wa la tad'alala
ya Allah aynan la tadma'a wa na
'udh bika ya Allah wa
min nafsin la tashma'a wa min nafsin
la tashma'a wa min nafsin la tashma
'a ya Allah wa na'udh bika ya
Allah min du'a'in la yusma'a
min du'a'in la yusma'a wa
yurfa'a min du'a'in la yusma
'a wa la yurfa'a ya Allah anta
mawlana fa ansurna lil qawmil kafireen subhana rabbika
rabbil izzati amma yasifoon wa salamun ala al
mursaleen walhamdulillahi rabbil alameen aqimul salat yurhamni yurhamukumu
Allah