Our relationship with ourselves, with others, and our destination in the next life all come down to one thing, the heart. The Companions, all took it within themselves to submit to the path of the Prophet (SAW) and we must all do the hard work, looking into our hearts.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:00Assalamualaikum everybody. Welcome home. Alhamdulillah. It's good to see everybody here.
00:09We ask Allah Ta'ala to benefit us by this gathering and to make us beneficial to others.
00:14Insha'Allah we ask Allah Ta'ala to write our names amongst the people that enter this gathering.
00:21Maybe with some sins that we leave forgiven of those sins, we ask Allah Ta'ala to allow us to be those people
00:27that the angels mention their names as those who have gathered here in a gathering of remembrance of Allah Ta'ala.
00:34We ask Allah Ta'ala to make us amongst those who love him and who are loved by those who love him
00:39and who will be greeted by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam on the Day of Judgment.
00:44The day when we will be rushing to find comfort that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam will be the first to take us by the hand.
00:50So I apologize for the dramatics of my crutch. I had ACL surgery two weeks ago.
00:59So I'm from Chicago, born and raised. So out of my love for Derrick Rose, I had to follow exactly.
01:07I tore my left ACL eight years ago and now I did my right ACL in December and I had surgery a couple weeks back.
01:14So make dua that Allah Ta'ala makes it easy for me. Make dua for my wife who's taking care of me.
01:19Crazy how much you depend on people. Allah takes away like a three inch or four inch ligament.
01:26It's not even really, there's one of four and he takes it away from your knee and all of a sudden now you're helpless.
01:32And it's a reality subhanAllah.
01:36My topic tonight inshallah is to open up our discussion on quite possibly the most important conversation in our tradition.
01:47This is something that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam spoke about very clearly many times.
01:55Tonight we're talking about Gardens of the Righteous and it's referencing the Sahaba,
02:00the greatest generation of people who were gifted to be the companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
02:07but were also gifted to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
02:10Meaning that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was given these wonderful people to help him and to support him
02:15and to be his followers and his students during this time of his life, alayhi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
02:20And those people, the Sahaba, were from a variety of different life circumstances.
02:27You had some companions that were like Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiAllahu anhu.
02:32You had Abu Huraira. You had others like Khadijah radiAllahu anhu.
02:36You had many individuals that didn't really have what we would consider to be like a checkered past.
02:43They had a pretty relatively moral straight past.
02:47And when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was given the message by Jibreel alayhi wa sallam,
02:51he came and these individuals, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he described Abu Bakr as not even thinking twice.
02:56He didn't even take a minute to hesitate or commiserate.
02:59No, he said, I believe that you are the messenger of Allah.
03:02We know the story of Khadijah, our mother radiAllahu anhu.
03:05May Allah be pleased with her.
03:06How quickly and beautifully she embraced a very difficult moment in the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
03:11and supported him.
03:13And these are people that had hearts that were already arranged for and prepped for this goodness.
03:18But then you also had some other companions that their path to Islam was not so simple and was not so easy.
03:24You had the likes of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari radiAllahu anhu, who was from the tribe of the Ghifar tribe.
03:31And they were known, their reputation was being people that were like highway robbers.
03:36So if you were driving, they would hold you up driving.
03:39If you were riding your camel and you had your caravan with your materials, they would hold you up.
03:44And this is what he grew up as.
03:46And his harshness from that was something that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had to work on.
03:51You had other individuals like Khalid ibn al-Walid.
03:54You had Amr ibn al-As.
03:55You had Wahshi.
03:57You had Abu Sufyan.
03:58You had Hind radiAllahu anhum.
04:00May Allah be pleased with all of them.
04:02That at one point in their life, all identified themselves as people that were enemies of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
04:09And fought very, very tooth and nail against the messenger, against the believers.
04:14And even some of them took away people that were so beloved to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
04:19The battle of Uhud.
04:20If you've ever visited Umrah, Mecca, Medina, may Allah ta'ala invite us again and again.
04:24You stand on the ground hollowed by history of a piece of land that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says,
04:32We love Uhud.
04:33But it caused him so much pain that moment in that day.
04:37Losing Hamza radiAllahu anhum.
04:39Losing Mus'ab ibn Umair radiAllahu anhum.
04:41So all of these people had different stories.
04:44All of these people had different hearts.
04:47And they all had to go through this one path.
04:51The path of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
04:53The singular way of adopting and submitting to Islam.
04:57And adopting their teacher.
04:59And their mentor.
05:00And the person who was going to purify them.
05:03The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
05:05And this is how Allah described him in the Quran.
05:07When he said that,
05:13That the job of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was to recite the verses of the book to the people.
05:18Because you just saw, jazakAllah khairan to our Shaykh.
05:21The power of even just listening to the recitation of the Quran.
05:25And we know Ramadan is very soon.
05:26May Allah ta'ala grant us the ability to reach that month.
05:29To experience just immersing ourselves in the beauty that is Quran.
05:33And then after that,
05:37And as a means or as using of that Quranic message.
05:40And that beautiful powerful message that we heard.
05:42A means of purification.
05:44To cleanse ourselves.
05:46Because only once a person is cleansed,
05:51Only through the cleansing of an engagement with the book of Allah.
05:54Can a person really adopt and inculcate knowledge and wisdom.
06:00Understanding of this faith.
06:02Many of us, we know things, but we don't practice those things.
06:06Knowledge alone, as Imam Al-Ghazali writes about extensively.
06:10Knowledge alone is not sufficient.
06:12Right?
06:13Let me ask you a question.
06:14How many of us know what a good healthy diet looks like?
06:19Raise your hand.
06:20How many of us know that we should avoid sugar?
06:23How many of us know that we should avoid soda?
06:26How many of us know that we should avoid,
06:28I could just name all the delicious foods basically.
06:32How many of us know that samosas are not the greatest thing?
06:35French fries, fried chicken.
06:37I'm not trying to get any restaurant owners here in trouble.
06:39Right?
06:40Everyone's gonna go from here to Whole Foods.
06:41And spend their entire paycheck on three things.
06:45The point I'm trying to make is that we know these things.
06:48We know these things.
06:49We know that we should avoid these things.
06:51But there's a disconnect between knowing and acting.
06:54And that's the challenge.
06:56That's what, on a greater level,
06:58that's what the Prophet ﷺ was sent to tell us.
07:00And to address with us.
07:02That you might know something, but you're not doing it.
07:04You're not acting upon it.
07:06لِمَا تَكُولُونَ مَا لَتَفْعَلُونَ
07:08Why are you saying that which you don't do?
07:10يَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ مَا لَيْسَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ
07:13Allah mentions this in the Quran a lot.
07:15They say with their tongues what's not in their hearts.
07:18Right?
07:19That's why the solution to this,
07:21Allah Ta'ala has given it to us beautifully in the Quran.
07:24But He outlined the problem very well for us.
07:27In Surah Al-A'raf,
07:28I don't have too much time,
07:29but I want to give you something to take home.
07:31Besides me talking about delicious food.
07:33Now I want chocolate cake.
07:36Allah Ta'ala says,
07:37Allah Ta'ala says,
07:38أَعُذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ
07:39وَلَقَدْ ذَرَأْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثِيرًا مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنسِ
07:42لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لَا يَفْقَهُنَ بِهَا
07:45وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُونٌ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا
07:47وَلَهُمْ آذَانٌ لَا يَسْمِعُنَ بِهَا
07:49وَلَقَدْ ذَرَأْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثِيرًا مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُونٌ لَا يَسْمِعُنَ بِهَا
07:50أُولَّئِكَ كَلَا نْعَامِ بَلْهُمْ أَضَلُ
07:52أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْغَافِلُونَ
07:54This verse is one of the most astounding verses.
07:58It's so incredible.
08:00You know, sometimes Allah Ta'ala
08:02in His presentation of an idea,
08:04سبحانه,
08:05He gives us like an outline
08:07that is perfectly done.
08:09You don't have to, you know,
08:11the study guide is already done for you.
08:13You don't have to do a lot of research.
08:15So Allah Ta'ala says,
08:16وَلَقَدْ ذَرَأْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَا
08:18That Allah Ta'ala created,
08:20or there are some people
08:21that will be destined for the hellfire.
08:22كَثِيرًا مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنسِ
08:24There are individuals from jinkind and mankind
08:27that will go to hellfire.
08:28May Allah protect us.
08:29You hear that and you naturally say,
08:31how do I protect myself from that?
08:33I don't want to be that person.
08:34So what's the plan
08:36to remove myself from that group?
08:38Immediately following that description,
08:41it's almost like a colon.
08:42Allah Ta'ala says,
08:43لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لَا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا
08:46The primary issue with these people
08:49that led them down the path
08:51of eternal damnation,
08:53may Allah protect us,
08:54was that they had hearts.
08:56لَا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا
08:58That the hearts were unable
09:00to process information for them.
09:02They could not think with it.
09:04They could not think.
09:05لَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا
09:08These people, they had eyes
09:09with which they could not see.
09:11لَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا
09:13And these people had ears
09:14with which they could not hear.
09:15The tafsir on this verse is beautiful.
09:17We don't have time to go over too many.
09:19But in short, in summary,
09:21the heart, as Ali radiallahu anhu said,
09:24is the ameer, is the leader,
09:27the one in charge of the entire body,
09:30ameerul badin.
09:31The heart is there.
09:33The Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam said,
09:34إِنَّ فِي الْجَسَدِ مُطْغَةٌ إِذَا صَلَحَتْ
09:37صَلَحَتْ جَسَدُ كُلُّ
09:39That in the body there is this organ,
09:41this piece.
09:42If it's good, then everything will be good.
09:46So it's interesting that we think so much
09:49about every other aspect of our existence.
09:52We think so much about what we wear
09:54and how we appear and how we look.
09:56إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَنظُرُ إِلَىٰ أَجْسَادِكُمْ وَلَا صُورِكُمْ
09:59وَلَكِن يَنظُرُ إِلَىٰ قُرُوبِكُمْ
10:02The hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
10:04Allah will not look at the things that you wear on your body.
10:07He won't look at the shape of your body,
10:08your figure, your image.
10:10وَلَكِن يَنظُرُ إِلَىٰ قُرُوبِكُمْ
10:12What does Allah care about?
10:14What does Allah judge you by and assess you by?
10:17He assesses you by your hearts.
10:19And in another narration,
10:20وَلَكِن يَنظُرُ إِلَىٰ أَعْمَالِكُمْ
10:23By your deeds.
10:25So the Quran is very clear.
10:27And this is the difficult part.
10:29Are you guys ready for this?
10:30I know I've just been kind of ranting.
10:31But let me tell you, this is the difficult part.
10:33The difficult part is that nobody can do this for you.
10:37Nobody can do this for you.
10:39This job of purifying your heart,
10:42of getting all of your faculties in line,
10:44your eyes working properly.
10:47By the way, he's not talking about blindness.
10:49He's not talking about the inability to see
10:52or the inability to hear a person
10:54who has these ailments or has these conditions.
10:58He's not talking about physical blindness
11:01or physical deafness.
11:02No.
11:03Allah Ta'ala is saying that
11:04the heart will be unable to recognize Allah.
11:08When you're driving in a beautiful place
11:11and you witness a beautiful sunset.
11:13This is the only thing that Dallas, Texas has, by the way.
11:16Dallas, Texas, everyone's like,
11:17what kind of nature do you have there?
11:19I'm like, we have a lot of gas stations.
11:21But we do have incredible sunsets
11:24because the land is so flat, there's no hills.
11:27So you can see this.
11:28You can see Houston from Dallas, right?
11:31So the sunsets are remarkable.
11:34And I remember I was a youth director in Tennessee
11:36and we used to go hiking in the Smoky Mountains.
11:39We used to go hiking
11:40and we used to look at the waterfalls.
11:41It was beautiful.
11:42If you've ever been, you know.
11:44And I remember taking some people there
11:46and their reaction to the waterfall was like,
11:48oh, I could have searched this on Google.
11:52After hiking for three hours,
11:54they're like, this is it.
11:56And this waterfall is like incredible.
11:58I mean, to witness something like that in person,
12:00it changes you.
12:01Because you realize how small you are.
12:03If you slipped and fell, you're done.
12:05Your life is over
12:06because the power of this natural phenomenon
12:09that Allah created is undeniable.
12:12And then a person says,
12:13I could have seen this on YouTube.
12:16I scrolled past this on TikTok this morning.
12:18I didn't have to waste all my time coming here.
12:20لَهُمْ أَعْيُنُوا لَا يُبْسِرُونَ بِهَا
12:22They don't see what you see.
12:25They don't see what you see.
12:27A person whose heart is full of iman,
12:29they see the world differently.
12:31My mom always taught us this.
12:34My mom would, in the smallest ways,
12:36you catch a green light
12:38that normally is yellow or red.
12:40Chicago drivers, you know how it is.
12:42You catch a green light
12:44and we'd say, you know,
12:46we'd say something like, wow, we caught a green light.
12:48And my mom would say, this is from Allah.
12:50Remembering that,
12:52bringing even the most simple of realities.
12:56Whatever you see with your eyes is from Allah.
12:59What do we say after we eat?
13:02الحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَطْعَمَنَا وَسَخَانَا
13:04وَجَعَلَنَا مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
13:06All praise be to the one who fed us
13:08and gave us drink and made us Muslims.
13:10What's that last part about?
13:12We're thanking Allah for food and drink.
13:14Why are we adding that last part?
13:16And He made us believers.
13:17Well, because the believer understands
13:19where the food and drink came from.
13:21The person who doesn't believe in Allah,
13:23they think the food and drink came from the kitchen.
13:25They think it came from the farmer.
13:27They think it came from the supplier.
13:29They think it came from the animal.
13:31And even if they're really smart,
13:33they think it came from the earth.
13:35But the believer knows that food and drink
13:37came from Allah.
13:39Allah Ta'ala gave us this as rizq.
13:42So, the heart controls your ability
13:45to witness anything
13:47as being from Allah.
13:49That's great news.
13:51But what's the danger now?
13:53Is the science of
13:55or the existence of
13:57diseases of the heart.
13:59And much like when a person is ailing,
14:01like right now,
14:03I was gonna say I have one ACL,
14:05but technically I have two. He put it back.
14:07But it's very weak.
14:09When a person is ailing,
14:11they are incapacitated.
14:13They can't do what they normally do.
14:15I have to walk with a crutch or a cane.
14:19Right?
14:20Two weeks ago, sorry.
14:22Four weeks ago, sorry.
14:24Also ACL does math for you apparently.
14:26Six weeks ago,
14:28I did umrah.
14:30I walked miles and miles.
14:34And now six weeks later,
14:36it's hurting to stand right now.
14:38I'm leaning on my left leg.
14:43You see how amazing it is that
14:45when Allah Ta'ala takes away something,
14:47everything changes.
14:49So the heart that can recognize
14:51Allah's blessing around you,
14:53conquering any crisis or
14:55faith question you have,
14:57when that heart is obscured
14:59by addictions
15:01and sins and desires
15:03that are done with no repentance,
15:05then the heart is unable to
15:07recognize Allah.
15:09أُولَٰئِكَ كَلَنْعَامُ
15:11Thus you become like an animal.
15:14What's the job of an animal?
15:16To wake up, eat,
15:18use the bathroom, eat some more,
15:20walk around, use the bathroom,
15:22eat and sleep.
15:24Yes or no?
15:25That's a good animal, right?
15:27You don't expect the animal to pray tahajjud.
15:29You don't expect the animal to build something.
15:31You don't expect these things from the animal.
15:33أُولَٰئِكَ كَلَنْعَامُ
15:35Allah says the cattle,
15:37the cattle, this is what they do.
15:39But you know what's amazing?
15:40Allah then says,
15:41بَلْ
15:42بَلْ means what?
15:43بَلْ means no.
15:44But Allah doesn't make mistakes.
15:46We make mistakes, we correct ourselves.
15:47We say, actually...
15:49But Allah doesn't do that.
15:51بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلْ
15:53Actually the people whose hearts are so
15:56removed from recognizing Allah,
15:58Allah doesn't even want to insult the cows
16:01by comparing these people to animals.
16:04He says, بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلْ
16:05Why?
16:06Because when a cow eats,
16:08sleeps, goes to bed and repeats,
16:10they're doing their job.
16:11But when humans do that,
16:12we're failing.
16:15If we perform like a cow,
16:18we are failing but the cow is succeeding.
16:20Allah says, we are designed,
16:21we are created,
16:22وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ
16:24إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونَ
16:25You are created for so much more
16:27than just consuming and taking in
16:30and following your desires.
16:31You have such high aspirations
16:34and potential and capacity,
16:35way above this.
16:37But if the heart is sick,
16:38you will never know what you can accomplish.
16:41And so we ask Allah Ta'ala
16:42to give us purification of our hearts.
16:45What are some of the things
16:46that we can focus on?
16:47I only have a few minutes left.
16:49What are some of the things
16:50that we can focus on?
16:53Number one is gratitude.
16:56Shukr.
16:57This is by all means
17:00shaytan's primary vehicle
17:03or language
17:04at trying to take away
17:06our focus from our hearts
17:08on Allah SWT.
17:09When he was telling Allah,
17:12divulging his plan,
17:14he completed his rant
17:16by saying to Allah,
17:18وَلَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرُهُمْ شَاكِرِينَ
17:20He told Allah that
17:22my promise and my pledge
17:25to destroy and divert people's attention
17:28from worshiping and recognizing You,
17:30O Allah,
17:32is that I will make them not grateful.
17:35Gratitude is the solution
17:37to so many of the diseases of the heart.
17:40All of the diseases of the heart,
17:42they focus on other people
17:44and away from Allah.
17:45They are obstacles.
17:47So for example,
17:48hasad.
17:49You guys ever heard of hasad before?
17:51What's hasad?
17:52What's nazar?
17:54What's ayin?
17:55What's envy?
17:56Nazar, I just saw some people shake.
17:58Alright.
17:59My mom always used to tell us
18:00when we get scared of that,
18:01she's like Allah is more powerful
18:02than any hasad.
18:03Alright, seek refuge with Allah.
18:05Don't let it control your life.
18:06It's real, but don't let it control your life.
18:08Okay.
18:09I know some people that don't leave their house.
18:10Why?
18:11Because hasad.
18:12You didn't see the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam
18:13living life like this.
18:14He read his adhkar,
18:15he made his dua,
18:16he took protection,
18:17he didn't post on Instagram
18:20every good outfit, right?
18:21Some people are inviting this stuff.
18:23Stop advertising your blessings, right?
18:25وَأَمَّا بِنْيَأْمِتِ رَبِّكَ فَحَدِّثْ
18:27But not on Instagram, okay?
18:29So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam
18:31taught us how to live in hasad.
18:32What is hasad?
18:33Hasad is when a person envies
18:35something that somebody else has.
18:37Imam Al-Ghazali says,
18:38in so much that if you could remove it, you would.
18:41So if I like something someone else has
18:43and if I was in control,
18:44I would take it away from them.
18:46The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said,
18:48that hasad destroys your good deeds
18:51just like fire destroys dry wood.
18:54Can you imagine?
18:55Can you imagine praying all your prayers,
18:57fasting all of your fasts,
18:59going on hajj,
19:00giving sadaqah,
19:02and you show up on the day of judgment
19:04and nothing's there?
19:06And you say,
19:07Ya Allah!
19:08I promise I did everything.
19:10I tried.
19:11I wasn't perfect.
19:12And the angels tell you,
19:13Yeah, but you had an uncontrollable envy
19:16in your heart for people.
19:18All you did was look at things that people had
19:20and say,
19:21Why not me?
19:22Why not me?
19:23Why did they have...
19:24Why are they getting married?
19:25Why did they get that job?
19:27Why did they get that house?
19:28Why did they...
19:30So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam says,
19:31for this person,
19:32all of their good deeds become annihilated,
19:35destroyed,
19:36just like fire consumes dry wood.
19:39Imam al-Ghazali talks about this.
19:42And he says,
19:43with all due respect,
19:45it seems like a very harsh punishment.
19:48Someone has envy
19:50and now they have no good deeds?
19:52Like there are other sins that are really bad.
19:54Murder,
19:55zina,
19:56oppression,
19:57stealing.
19:58These are all really bad sins.
19:59But we don't find a similar...
20:01Why is the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam
20:02focusing on this one deed
20:05that is really...
20:06It's from the heart.
20:07It's not like a person is going...
20:09Because...
20:10And this is Imam al-Ghazali.
20:11He's a genius.
20:12He said,
20:13because this disease is not between you and a person.
20:16This disease you are disagreeing with Allah.
20:20When Allah gave somebody something
20:23and then you said,
20:24Why?
20:25Why does he have that?
20:26Why did she get that?
20:28Who are you speaking to?
20:30You're not speaking to the person.
20:32You're speaking to Allah.
20:34And how destructive is it for a person
20:37to disagree
20:38with the one who gave them everything they had.
20:40Just because he didn't give them that one thing
20:42and maybe he'll give it to them later
20:44and they're just complaining because of the delay
20:46or the timing.
20:48So shukr
20:50conquers hasad.
20:52So,
20:53some scholars say
20:54that one of the ways that a person can train their heart
20:57to defeat all of these diseases
20:59is by having shukr.
21:00Number two.
21:01Okay, number one is shukr.
21:02Number two is humility.
21:05Humility.
21:07When a person has humility before Allah
21:09and gratitude leads to humility.
21:11You sit there and wonder,
21:12Why?
21:13Why do I have everything?
21:14You know, we need to ask the question,
21:15Why me?
21:16We need to ask that question.
21:17I'm a big fan of that question, by the way.
21:19Everyone asks,
21:20Why me?
21:21Why me, God? Why me?
21:22But we need to change it.
21:23It's not,
21:24God, why did you not give this to me?
21:26You should say,
21:27Oh Allah, why do you keep giving me this?
21:29You wake up and you should say,
21:30Oh Allah, why me?
21:32I miss my prayer
21:34and you still let me wake up.
21:36Oh Allah, why me?
21:38We need to be honest.
21:40We can't only become upset
21:43when we don't get the things we want.
21:46But then when we get everything we want
21:48and we take it for granted,
21:49now all of a sudden we don't have any,
21:51Why me?
21:52When you get in your car today,
21:53you drive home and you reach safely,
21:55say, Why me?
21:56Oh Allah.
21:57And you know what's gonna happen to your heart
21:58when you ask that question enough times?
22:00You're gonna have a never-ending list of scenarios
22:03that you didn't even realize you took for granted.
22:05And you will never complain to Allah again.
22:07My wife's grandfather,
22:09may Allah have mercy on him.
22:10One time his wife asked him,
22:13Why are you always in such a good mood?
22:15He was a very happy guy.
22:17He's a Sheikh Abdul Wahid.
22:19Always in a good mood.
22:21And so his wife kind of,
22:22one time she was upset
22:23and he was like,
22:25It's fine, right?
22:26And she said,
22:27Why are you so happy all the time?
22:29He said,
22:30If I spent every second of my day
22:32thanking Allah for things He gave me,
22:34I would run out of time
22:35before I ran out of things to thank Him for.
22:39What is there for me to complain about?
22:41And if I complain,
22:42let me quietly, privately, respectfully
22:45do it to who?
22:46Allah.
22:47Not to other people.
22:49So have humility.
22:51Let your shukr make you more humble.
22:53Number three,
22:54and this is where I'll finish,
22:55is turn back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
22:57Repent to Allah.
22:59A person's damnation into hellfire,
23:03a person's failure in this life and the next
23:06is not because they made mistakes.
23:08It's not.
23:10Everyone makes mistakes.
23:12The Prophet SAW told us this.
23:14Every son and daughter of Adam will make mistakes.
23:17If you made mistakes,
23:19you are already halfway
23:21to the point of getting closer to Allah.
23:24Your mistake brought you closer to Allah.
23:26I'll share a narration that blows my mind
23:28every time I read it.
23:29What you have to do then is repent
23:31and try to come back to Allah.
23:34Allah SAW said that He can forgive everybody.
23:38وَيَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًۭا
23:40إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًۭا
23:42لَا تَقْنَتُ مِن رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ
23:45There's a laam of nahi here in the Quran.
23:48A laam of nahi.
23:49Allah forbids losing hope in Allah.
23:51And then He says, why?
23:52إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعًۭا
23:54Allah can forgive everybody.
23:56One time Umar was asked.
23:58This is in the tafsir of Surah Al-Hujurat.
24:00It's found in the narration of Imam Ahmed,
24:02the Muslim of Imam Ahmed.
24:04Umar was asked by somebody.
24:06And this person was kind of short sighted.
24:08They asked Umar, they said, who's better?
24:11The one who never committed the mistake,
24:13they were perfect.
24:15Or the one who made mistakes,
24:18they stumbled and then they came back to Allah.
24:20Like they tried their best.
24:22And Umar said,
24:24and he was like, without a doubt,
24:27it was the person who stumbled and made mistakes
24:30and then came back to Allah.
24:31He said, without a doubt.
24:33The person became confused.
24:35They said,
24:36يَأْمِنُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
24:38What are you talking about?
24:39I mean both are good,
24:40but how can a person who never made mistakes
24:43be equal to the one who made mistakes?
24:46Even if the person repented.
24:48Umar said,
24:49you're not understanding the psychology of tawbah.
24:52He said, do you know how hard it is to come back
24:54once you've made a mistake?
24:56Do you know how difficult it is?
24:58He said, the person that comes back to Allah
25:00has displayed through their tawbah,
25:03a level of repentance.
25:05That is, it's what people dream about.
25:09Those people that are quote-unquote perfect,
25:12they dream about tasting the sweetness of repentance.
25:15Umar is saying, and who is he?
25:16Umar is speaking from experience.
25:18He's saying, you have no idea.
25:20If you've never had a night of repenting to Allah
25:22for the mistakes you've made,
25:24you don't know what you're missing.
25:26You don't know what you're missing.
25:28Repentance is the key that will bring you closer to Allah.
25:31And it's interesting because even amongst human beings,
25:34and I'll finish with this.
25:36When a person repents,
25:38when a person fixes their relationship,
25:40let's say that Mufti Kamani and I got into an argument.
25:43It's not possible.
25:45Right? It's not possible.
25:47That's what we'll say.
25:48Mufti Kamani and I got into an argument.
25:50Okay?
25:52And let's say that we fought very, very harsh with each other.
25:56And we didn't talk to each other for the rest of the day.
25:59And the next day we woke up.
26:02I'm not gonna act like this is a hypothetical.
26:04This happens at Hajj every year.
26:07He finished the Um Ali.
26:09He didn't leave me any Um Ali.
26:11And I got upset.
26:13So, we wake up the next day,
26:15and we look at each other,
26:17and we hug it out.
26:18You guys know what it means to hug it out?
26:19No words, just hugs.
26:21Right?
26:23Subhanallah,
26:25when you repair from an argument with somebody,
26:27when you fix it, when you make islah,
26:29you're actually closer than you were
26:31before you had the fight in the first place.
26:34Because you guys have climbed that mountain together.
26:37You thought you weren't gonna make it,
26:39and you made it.
26:40And now you got your arm around each other,
26:41and you say, look at us.
26:43We did it.
26:45Right?
26:46It happens in all kinds of relationship.
26:47Parents and kids, spouses, etc.
26:49Then what about with Allah?
26:52When you distance yourself from Allah,
26:54and then you come back.
26:56And you ask Allah to accept you,
26:58and to accept your repentance.
27:00Will it not be the case,
27:01that if you're closer with your friend,
27:03or your spouse, or whoever,
27:05after you come back to them and apologize,
27:07and Allah Ta'ala is the most forgiving,
27:09more than your friend.
27:10Is it not the case,
27:11that Allah will bring you closer to Him,
27:13even than you were before you committed the sin?
27:16See, sin is only half of the experiment.
27:18Repentance is the solution.
27:20And we ask Allah Ta'ala to grant us these few traits.
27:23There are many more.
27:24Unfortunately, I already took up too much time from Sheikh Haifa.
27:26So I don't want to take up any more time from the program.
27:28We ask Allah Ta'ala to accept from us,
27:30and to purify our hearts,
27:32and to allow our hearts to be clean.
27:34And as a result of our hearts being clean,
27:36our minds, our bodies, and our souls,
27:38all recognize the beauty, and the greatness,
27:41and the majesty of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
27:43Jazakum Allah Khayran.
27:44Subhanaka Allahumma bihamdika nashadu an la ilaha illa ant.
27:46Nasta'afiruka wa atubu ilayka.
27:47Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.