Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center

--- *This transcript was automatically generated by AI and may contain errors. * --- My friend here, he asked me a question with regard to hijab. And whether hijab is farad or not farad, whether the head should be covered or not covered, whether the face should be covered or not, is it only covering the chest and so forth. So my answer to him and to reminder to all of us is that whether it is hijab, whether it is praying five times a day, whether it is paying zakat, you take any principle of Islam. So really our problem is we start from the wrong end of it, which is we look at the modality of it, the details of the rule itself. Is it this, is it that? Then we get involved in the discussion of the fiqh. And for especially for those who don't understand Arabic, classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic, you are talking about something which you don't even know the language. And most common people have no training in the usurafiq. And usurafiq need training like anything else. It's like trying to discuss medical symptoms and problems, which also people do with equally disastrous results. Because you're talking about something you don't have the faintest clue of it. You're not a doctor, you're not a physician, you're not a scientist, you don't understand, you're head from your own tail. And you want to talk about medical issues of what should be done, should not be done and so on and so on, which happens quite a lot. I mean, this is a very common thing. People take it upon themselves to talk about medical problems and they have no clue, no training, nothing. So I want to focus on this and say that what is the right way of doing it? I mean, the question is there. We're not saying like the medical problem. Problem is there. We're not saying problem doesn't exist. It exists. But you're talking to the wrong people. And you're talking in the wrong way because you are talking to people who don't have any knowledge or you yourself have no knowledge. You're trying to speculate. Why? First question to say is why are you doing this? Because there are people who have knowledge. Go ask them. There are usur, there are principles which are established in the case of the hijab and any usur of the Sharia. It's established by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Himself. So where is the need for you to speculate? So the first and foremost thing to understand is that the first question, whenever we have this kind of a doubt of, you know, should I do this or the first question to ask yourself is, am I going to die? Will I die? This might sound like a dumb question. Of course, no, no, no, not of course. Go stand in front of a mirror. Literally do this as a physical exercise. Go stand in front of a mirror. Look at yourself in the face and say, will I die? Ask yourself, will I die? And convince yourself that you will die. Convince yourself. This requires convincing. Right? I'm saying this is something, it sounds stupid. Why should I be convinced that I should, believe me, you will have to convince yourself because the reason why we are doing a lot of stuff and we do as Muslims, we do a lot of stuff, disobedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is because we don't really believe that we will die. We have to question our fundamental foundational belief in the akhirah, which begins with death. Will I die? Will I be resurrected before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Will I have to answer for my actions? This is a fundamental basic question that we have to settle for ourselves. And this is what I remind myself and you, settle this. Don't live your life like this in limbo, you know, because then you will have constantly problems. It's not only a matter of hijab. Every single thing in the sharia will become a musibat on you, will become a problem for you, will confuse you, will take you all over the place because you have not dealt with a fundamental issue, which is to convince yourself that you will die. And remember, I'm not even going to where Nabi Salah said you can die any minute. First of all, we are so far from that. When Nabi Salah said you can die any minute and he said, if you put food in your mouth, don't believe that you can swallow it and die before that. If you're making salaam and salaa to the right, don't believe that you will be able to bring the salaam to the left, you will die before that. Insha'Allah if you die, Alhamdulillah, you will be in salaa and die. We are not even there because we don't think we will die, period. So whether you, the fact that I might die between salaam on the left to the right, it doesn't even occur to me, I'm not going to die. I will not die. I am immortal. Everyone else will die. It sounds stupid, right? But that's our way, the way we are living life. If you are watching it from somewhere else, that person you ask him, this guy you're watching, does

https://youtu.be/tiQtb7eDd7A ---*This transcript was automatically generated by AI and may contain errors. *--- Right, I have a question here that if a person has is graduating from university and they have obviously several choices. Yeah, no, it's a map here, okay. Looked like a bed. There are several choices of which career to pursue. Now you might say, well, how come they have several choices because in the university they didn't go and study several things, they studied one thing. So how do they have several choices? They have several choices because though they studied one thing, they would have been thinking about something else as well and pursuing some study on the side in that discipline Which is one of the good things that students are allowed to do in American universities is take side courses and credit courses and stuff. So for example, you can be studying a particular subject, say for example, computer science, but you would also be taking courses and studying healthcare, say for them at the same time. Obviously it was more study load and so on and you put that on the day. So now at the end of this term in the university, when you're graduating you're faced with a couple of choices. So the question I was asked was, can you tell me now, can you tell me two things? I'll give you two pieces of advice, not three, two, two, okay. In the thing of course is also to remember and remind myself that you that one of the reasons for obviously choosing or the reason why it's something the choice is because choice A or choice B seems to have better financial prospects going ahead. And then those financial prospects can be broken down into short term and long term. Something good looks good in the long term, something good looks good in the short term and so forth. So all of these choices and elements of choosing, they make the choice more complex and complicated. But complexity is the source of profit for everyone except the one who's giving advice to friends because they don't pay you anything but it doesn't matter. Your payoff is in seeing themselves safe. So the point I want to make here is that two pieces of advice, what would you give to somebody who is just coming out of adversity and says I've got multiple choices, maybe they even tell you I'm looking at this, I'm looking at that, so two or three options. Now how do I choose, what do I do? As I mentioned financial potential of financial impact or financial gain is obviously one of the very big deciding factors or criteria for decision making. So let me leave that with you for a couple of seconds. I... before you listen to this further, I will of course tell you what I think but I I want you to stop at this point and reflect for yourself and say, take a piece of paper and sit down and say well, if a young person comes to me, young person, old person, any person comes to me and says ask this question, how will I answer? Now how I answer this is very simple. Two pieces and remember he doesn't want a third piece of advice, he wants only two. So number one thing and in this case I'm talking to MashaAllah a good Muslim who is practicing, who tries his best to be as close to Allah as possible, he fulfills his Faraid, he is very careful with Haram and Halal, he does not eat Haram, he does not do Haram, he doesn't want to do Haram. So we're talking about that. I'm putting this into context, not because the guy is... not making him feel happy but because this is the reality and therefore the context has to be there to understand. So we're talking to somebody like this. So the first piece of advice I would say is factor Allah into the equation because he is in it anyway. Factor Allah into the equation because he is in it anyway. Now part of the same number one is when you say factor Allah into the equation, what does that mean? It means two things. Number one it means that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told us that the quantum of our rizq, the quantum of our sustenance and the money that you make from a job or from business is one part of that sustenance. Your sustenance also includes your spouse, your children, your... every single thing that a human being needs in this life. It includes knowledge, it includes health, wealth, name, fame, everything. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said that he has fixed this. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala declared and he said say to them, O Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam, that it is your Rabb, it is Allah who... When you say that the rizq is in your sustenance, it expands rizq, the quantum he increases it or he restricts it, as he wishes. But most people do not understand this. So the first part, first piece of advice, to remember Allah, factor Allah into the equation, which means that never ever do anything that puts you on the wrong side with Allah. Never ever do something which has the potential of angering Allah subhanahu wa

https://youtu.be/LZKqEtxtbLY ---*This transcript was automatically generated by AI and may contain errors. *--- In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful. So Omar asked me another question. Does it seem, has it ever seemed to you that life is unreal? He said it seems to me sometimes life is unreal. Like what we are doing now, you walk here and it doesn't seem real, it seems unreal. It's one of these, really think about it. It's absolutely clean, pure air. The phone can't capture it, capture it. Just now what I'm seeing flights of geese and duck. I know they are my lads because I've seen them before. If you can catch them, I'll show you to them, show them to you. No, they are gone. Okay. So there are lots of them up in the distance there. Geese, ducks, and as I said they are mallrads. I know that because I've seen them before. And if you look through there, there's a picture. Can't be very good with this distance, but all those dots that you're seeing, lots of dots. These are all ducks and geese. So, very beautiful. This water is clean and pure. This is actually drinking water for the city of Holyoke. So it's clean, clean, pure water. Unpolluted, unpolluted air. When we are getting information about the pollution index in Delhi, for example, which I don't even know how anyone in Delhi does not have respiratory problems. Most likely they have. And then somebody sent me something from Pakistan that's more than double that. Which is in the sense because of farm fires, they burn the stubble of the crop. So they plant wheat and after harvesting the dry stalks and crop are there. So they set it on fire to clean the fields. And that creates this huge phenomenal amount of smog and smoke in the air, which is the killer. So none of that. Here we are walking through this park, which is four lakes surrounded by forest and different kinds of trees in the forest. You saw my, I did remind us my khatiras from before, which showed the same forest in fall. All those colors, of course, are gone now. We just have the greens and browns and of course the dry trees. I'm coming up here to some mallards, which I will show you closer about Pinchada. So does it look unreal? Of course it looks unreal. And so my response to Omar was, yes, it looks unreal. And what if you look at it from not so much philosophy, but from the lens of Islam, the religion, the Quran. The Quran tells us that this life is unreal. Because Allah swt said, And that's it. Weirdly, the life of this world is nothing but deception. It is deceiving, it's deception. What looks positive is not positive. What looks negative is not negative. The one who looks strong is not strong. The one who looks weak is not weak. The one who looks as if he or she is immensely successful and powerful, they are not. They are hugely unsuccessful. They are just waiting to be punished, to get to the place where they will be punished. And there is no doubt that this punishment will come, because that is the promise of Allah. Allah does not leave anybody unrewarded for what they do, whether that reward is good or bad, depends on the individual. And so it is deceptive, very deceptive. And this is what deceives us. This is the whole reason why. I'm just thinking Allah, I'm saying that, for example, why would a Muslim, who knows that Allah swt has declared war on the one who deals with interests, any form of interest, why would a Muslim still take an interest-based loan? Why would a Muslim not just take an interest-based loan, but try to justify it for himself and for others by giving all kinds of ridiculous explanations and arguments about it and saying how it was prohibited then, it's not prohibited now, and how these times are different, those times are different, as if Allah swt is subject to any of this stuff that we talk about. Why would you do that? Because you are deceived. Because you are deceived. Why would we say, look at somebody, I don't know how to take names, but look at somebody who does something good in one area, something clever, something smart. But if you look at their life, their life is like a cesspit. Literally, it's like standing on top of a cesspit, a pit in which the refuse from latrines is poured in. I mean, and you say this is the person. This person is a cesspit. This person is the, because in a cesspit, the biggest lumps rise to the top. And that's what we have made of society. So we say we are the most advanced, the most educated, we are the most prosperous, and blah, blah, blah, all the superlatives that ever existed on the face of the planet. We don't read any history. Just the stupidity of that statement doesn't strike us. All we need to do is to read some history. And we don't need to read ancient history. Go back a few decades and you find how stupid this statement was because there were others who made exactly a s

--- *This transcript was automatically generated by AI and may contain errors. * --- My brothers and sisters, Allah SWT created the universe and He made the laws that govern, the universe. We call them the laws of physics, call them natural laws, whether it is gravity, whether it's aerodynamics, whether it is thermodynamics, and whatever it might be, all of these are natural laws, physical laws of physics, which Allah SWT created to run the universe. The world operates according to these laws. Similarly, Allah SWT created laws for human success. And these laws that Allah created for human success are also the creation of Allah, and they are also as unchangeable, unimitable as the laws of physics. And they affect whoever is in the purview of that law equally. It doesn't matter whether you are Muslim, non-Muslim, whether you believe in Allah, don't believe in Allah, makes no difference. These laws will operate on you just like they operate on anybody else. If you jump out of a plane at 20,000 feet in a skydiving session, if you don't pull your parachute at the right point, you will die. There is no other thing that will happen. You can say I'm Hafiz Khor-An, I'm Mufti Azam, I have memorized all the siasitta, all the books of hadith, seven books of hadith, right? I am the imam of the haram. You can be anybody. If you don't pull the rip card of the parachute, you are a dead man. As simple as that. The law of Allah does not change because you know the Quran. The same principle applies to the laws of success in life. The benefit is that when those laws of success in life are applied, are worked on by a Muslim and he adds on to that with the ibadah of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, with zikr, with shukr, then they give him barakah, right? But without operating within the law, if he only does ibadah and zikr and shukr, nothing will happen. That's the reason why Sayyidina Avar, Khattab-Rat-E-Ilahan came into the masjid one day at a time and it was not time for any salah and there were some young men sitting there and he said who are you? Why are you here at this time? They said nahanum mutawak kilun. They said we are the people who make tawhakhrun Allah. Sayyidina Avar whacked them with the dhurah and he said get out, go and work. He said dinah and dhira don't fall from the sky like rain. And he said the bird leaves the nest and goes out in search of food and comes back with a full belly. Allah feeds the bird but not in the nest. You have to get out, you have to go and do some work. So the first and foremost law of human success is that we must make an effort. We have to stop talking and start walking. Right? You have to make effort. Second law of human success is that to influence you must be involved. To influence you must be involved. You cannot influence from the outside. If you want to win the game, where should you be? On the field. You should be playing the game. Then you can decide can I win the game, how can I win the game. If you are standing outside in the stands, you can want anything, that doesn't matter. The players decide whether the game is won or lost. It is by their effort. It's not by the screaming of the spectators. So if you want to win the game you must be involved in it. So if you want to influence, you must be involved. The more involved you are, the more influence you will have. The less involved you are, the less influence you will have. So get involved. Volunteer, show what you can do, contribute and then people will listen to you. When you say something, they will listen to you. Show what you can do, contribute and then people will listen to you. When you say something, people will listen because you are there. They are seeing you as a helper, they are seeing you as somebody who was with them in good and bad times. So then they will listen to you. Second point. Third point is in order to influence you must be able to speak in the language which makes sense to the people. And by language I don't mean Arabic or English. I mean how you present your case. And for that I have a formula. My formula is W-I-I-F-M. W-I-I-F-M. What's in it for me? What is in it for me? If I want you to do something for me, I must show you how it will help you. Straight forward way is of course to say, well do this for me, I will pay you ten thousand dollars. Okay. But not everything can be done that way. Not everyone has a price. Right? You can't go to somebody and say do this because I'll pay you. Oh wait, I don't need your money. Show how doing, going by your recommendation, show how doing what you are advising them to do will help them. What's in it for me? It's not a matter of deceiving anybody. We are not deceiving anyone. It is the truth but not everyone sees the truth the way you want them to see it. So show it to them. They say this is how it works. You can't do it. You can't do it. You can't do it. You

https://youtu.be/C_Ih3UIdSeA --- *This transcript was automatically generated by AI and may contain errors. * --- Alhamdulillah wa'ala alamin wa salatu wa salam ala ala ashrafil al-anbiya'i wa'al mursalin Muhammadur Rasoolulahi salallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam Tasliman, kasiran, tasiran I am walking here in the Ashdir Zawahir with another dear friend of mine whose name is also Omar So I think all these Omars ask good questions so he is asking me questions He said I guess a years of time comes in your lives where your contemporaries, your elders and so on they would have passed on and you are kind of left alone so what does that feel like? So I said to him that I am getting there, I am getting there myself because alhamdulillah May Allah grant them genital fructose without his help, both my parents have passed away and my wife's parents and of course several of my teachers have passed away and also now for a while now actually some of my contemporaries which is people I went to school with and some people who are younger than me, Ms. Wulfi for example who was in his forties and Afzal who was my student and alhamdulillah went up to the level of ADG assistant director general of police in Bhopas and that is the sound of jet blast of phantoms because you are in the flight path of an air base So that was the jet blast of a phantom because you are in the flight path of an air base because you are in the flight path of an air base So Saeed Zafar Waiq, school friend who passed away Seven years ago, around 2010 or something, Bertie Swaros, very very dear friend of mine, one of my dearest friends, she passed away and many others So I am trying to see what is the best way to answer the most questions and I think the best way, at least that I can think of right now is to draw parallel from what we are seeing here which is a scene of passing away which can and should be a reminder for us The scene of fall, of autumn, the Americans have a way of saying things very directly They don't say autumn and where you are left to kind of now guess what is the meaning of autumn What does what happens in autumn? So if you are in America they don't call it autumn, they call it fall So no need to guess, fall is fall, and fall is only one way which is downwards So the thing to therefore remind myself is that how does it feel? Well, I think it's a combination of two things One is that whenever I think about these people I have beautiful memories and I associate with them and my time with them and some of them are not, I mean not every single memory is beautiful Some memories are beautiful, there are some memories which are difficult Maybe in the case of some people he would say, well I wish I did not have that memory To a great extent that depends on what I would have given importance to in my life, in my relationship, in my interactions Because we only remember what we give importance to So if you have in a relationship, if you are focusing on being critical and finding fault and all that kind of stuff Which happens a lot more than we would like it to happen because we allow it to happen We allow it to happen, it's a tragic human tendency to remember and recall the negative more than the positive Because in any relationship there will be a negative and positive because Moolas Rahim Tala created it like that And he gave us the choice of what to do with it So what we should do with the negatives is to learn the lesson And then forget the data, forget the incident, learn the lesson, take the lesson and forget the incident And forget the incident because the incident is obviously up to the edge And if you are super critical and you want to remember every little thing that happened to you Well guess what, the time will come when you will be left with your memories and all those memories will be negative Now that is not something that I would want to wish on anyway So, rice is ours Here is one goose who had the same issue with her feather, this one feather sticking out Now this goose is waiting for a man who comes here in the morning and feeds her It's strictly illegal, they are not supposed to do it But people do these things, but the goose is waiting for him, that's the reason why she is here alone And that's a beautiful reflection of the sun So this is the story, the thing is what do you choose to remember So how does it feel to be without your friends and so on? I would say that I'm not without my friends, I'm just with them in a different way They are there, they are with me Every time I go into the wild, in the bush, in the forest, I remember three people as if they are walking with me Narmad Aziz, Uncle Rama and Bertie's Forest Literally as if they were walking with me and I guess in a way they are in terms of my memories They are not walking with me literally obviously In terms of the time we lived together, what we did, what we liked In the case

--- *This transcript was automatically generated by AI and may contain errors. * --- In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful. All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon you, the most honored of the prophets, Muhammad and the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him and upon his family and companions. And many blessings. Now brothers and sisters, somebody asked me to speak to some college students about so-called secrets of success in life. I say so-called because nothing is secret, everything is public. It's just that some people just don't get it. Like some people don't get what's in the face. Right? Not because it's secret. Because most of the time you don't want to see it. So for those of you who want to know this secret of success, let me share it with you. It's very simple. I want you to remember three letters. Three letters. I, A and D. I, A, D. I stands for investment. A stands for abundance. And D stands for discipline. Investment mindset. A mindset of abundance. And A, the ability to discipline yourself. I, A, D. In the words of Vincent Lombardi, who is the director of the University of New York, in the words of Vincent Lombardi, who is a great coach of the Chicago Green Bay Packers, the team. He is a wonderful coach, wonderful coach for him. One of his quotes which I love the most, he says, the only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary. And that's the truest word ever spoken. So three things. Investment mindset. Just think in terms of your life, think in terms of anything. If you want to get something, you have to give something. This is the rule Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mailed. If you want to get something, you have to give something. If you want a good harvest, you have to plant the seed. Without planting the seed, and before planting the seed, tilling the field, cleaning it of all kinds of toxic substances and insects and pathogens, right? Making the soil friable and smooth, then making arrangements for irrigation and so on and so on and so on, all that is required for agriculture, and then planting the seed. If you don't do all of this, you will not get a harvest. You will not get a harvest. You say, no, no, no, I am going to go and on this field I will pray tahajjud every day. You can pray tahajjud until where you make sajda become the hole in the ground, nothing will happen. In la mashaAllah Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can bring water out of a rock. Allah told us He brought water out of a rock. But that is the will of Allah. That happens when Allah wants to show the world something. It won't happen because of you and me. If you want a good harvest, you have to plant. If you want a good marriage, you have to first find the right person and then invest in that. Part of that investment is to take, I am trying to think of something which has more than four letters to describe what you have to take. What you have to take, right? From that spouse, you have to take something which as I said, try to find something which has more than four letters in it. There is no other way. Believe me, there is no other way. If you have in this mind of yours that you are going to marry this man or this woman who is complete, you know, absolute essence of goodness, then think of Rasool Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam. The wives of Rasool Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam not only had problems with him, but Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam revealed Quran. In surah al-ahzab, Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, if you don't like to be the wives of my nabi, I will tell him to let you go. And I will give him better than you. Something as serious as that. Rasool Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam kept himself away for a month from all his wives. So if you think that because you are such a wonderful human being, I agree with you, but I am not married to you, so it doesn't matter to me. And he said, why does my wife have a problem? Then he asked me, let me answer for me the question, why did the wife of the Rasool have a problem with him? Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam, Allah told us this, this is not my imagination, Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam told us, this happened. Investment mentality. If you want to do well at your work, you have to go and spend time and money and energy in that work. If you want your shop to do well, you have to go in the morning and open the shop at the correct time. You can't say today I am feeling lazy, I will open at 10 o'clock, tomorrow something else happens, I open one day, I don't open one day. Huh? People like to talk about China and why Chinese businesses are successful. I will tell you a true story, because I have clients. One of my clients makes air turbines, you know, the big windmills. So they build air turbines. So where do they source

The election is over, and America has decided who gets the most powerful job in the country. That is why I thought it is important to put it in perspective. قُلِ ٱللَّهُمَّ مَـٰلِكَ ٱلْمُلْكِ تُؤْتِى ٱلْمُلْكَ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتَنزِعُ ٱلْمُلْكَ مِمَّن تَشَآءُ وَتُعِزُّ مَن تَشَآءُ وَتُذِلُّ مَن تَشَآءُ بِيَدِكَ ٱلْخَيْرُ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ A’al Imraan 3: 26 Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “O Allahﷻ! Lord over all authorities! You give authority to whoever You please and remove it from who You please; You honor whoever You please and disgrace who You please—all good is in Your Hands. Surely You ˹alone˺ are Most Capable of everything. The earth belongs to the One who created the earth and everything it contains, the One who owns the heavens and everything that is in them and everything between the two, the One who created and sustains all that we know and all that we don’t know, the One to Whom is our return – He is Allahﷻ and He is the Only One we worship. وهو الذي يملك الأرض وما فيها، وله ما في السماوات وما بينهما وما في العالمين. الذي خلق ويدبر كل ما نعلم وما لا نعلم، الواحد الأحد. فهو الذي إليه مرجعنا - هو الله - الذي لا نعبده إلا هو. He introduced Himself and reminded us: Ayatul Kursi/Hashr/Ikhlaas. Someone sent me a TikTok interview where the interviewer asked a senior priest for advice to young priests. He said, ‘Tell them to forget seminary and all their seminary degrees. Tell them to read the Bible and pray a lot. Tell them that unless they develop closeness to God they can’t achieve anything. And the only way to get close to anyone is to spend time with them. So, pray a lot.’ Now, tell me if this applies to us or not in the same away? So, let us remember the reality and the reality is that Allahﷻ is our Rabb and to Him is our return. As far as we are concerned, only what Allahﷻ wants will happen and if we have Allahﷻ's pleasure on our side, Allahﷻ will keep us safe. This is an opportunity to realign our focus and to repair our Aqeeda and remember that it’s only and only Allahﷻ who can do anything. Our real test is not this or any election. Our real test is when we meet Malakul Mawth. That’s what we need to prepare for. So, we say Alhamdulillah and we turn to Allahﷻ. Allahﷻ told us the stories of His Anbiya to prove this point that only what Allahﷻ wants to happen, can happen. And that Allahﷻ protects His people wherever they may be in whatever condition, provided they behave like His people. Allahﷻ told us the story of Ibrahim (AS) and all that led to his being thrown into the fire. As he sat in the cup of the trebuchet about to be thrown into the fire, Jibreel (AS) comes to him and asks if he needs any help from him. I can see the smile on his face as he says, ‘Thank you, nothing from you.’ Jibreel (AS) goes to Allahﷻ and reports his conversation (which Allahﷻ already knows) and begs for His help. Allahﷻ says, ‘Tell him that I sent you and that I want to know what he wants from me.’ Ibrahim (AS) replies, ‘My Rabb doesn’t need to ask. I want whatever He wants.’ This conversation is my imagination based on the Hadith, but it shows the essence of the state of the Muslim. Ibrahim (AS) said this because he had said before this something that His Rabb told us about. إِذْ قَالَ لَهُۥ رَبُّهُۥٓ أَسْلِمْ قَالَ أَسْلَمْتُ لِرَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ Baqara 2: 131 When his Rabb ordered him, “Submit ˹to My Will˺,” he responded, “I submit to the Rabb of all worlds.” This is the position, the stance, the status of the Muslim. I have submitted. Not I will submit. I have submitted. When the Muslim submits, Allahﷻ takes direct charge of his affairs. Allahﷻ ordered: قُلْنَا يَـٰنَارُ كُونِى بَرْدًا وَسَلَـٰمًا عَلَىٰٓ إِبْرَٰهِيمَ Anbiya 21: 69 We ordered, “O fire! Be cool and safe for Ibrahim!” No intermediaries. No Jibreel (AS). Nobody. Allahﷻ orders, ‘O fire! Become cool and safe for Ibrahim.’ To be Muslim is to recognize the reality that it is only and only Allahﷻ who commands and does. Nothing else has any power. To be Muslim is therefore to submit to Allahﷻ in everything we believe, say or do. Total congruence between soul, heart, speech and actions. Incongruence is Nifaaq, hypocrisy. If I say that I have submitted – أَسْلَمْتُ – then there can’t be any deliberate disobedience in my life. Mistakes will happen for which I turn to Allahﷻ immediately in repentance. But I will never disobey Allahﷻ deliberately and knowingly. Are we there? If not, what is the plan? Allahﷻ told us about another of his great prophets, Musa (AS). We all know the story so I won’t go into the details here but will request you to reflect on what Allahﷻ did when He decided to save Musa (AS) from the Firawn. Reflect on how strange this sounds in today’s context. وَأَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَىٰٓ أُمِّ مُوسَىٰٓ أَنْ أَرْضِعِيهِ فَإِذَا خِفْتِ عَلَيْهِ فَأَلْقِيهِ فِى ٱلْيَمِّ وَلَا تَخَافِى وَلَا تَحْزَنِىٓ إِنَّا رَآدُّوهُ إِلَيْكِ وَجَاعِلُوهُ مِنَ ٱلْمُرْسَلِينَ Al Qasas 28: 7 We inspired the mother of Moses: “Nurse him, but when you fear for

--- *This transcript was automatically generated by AI and may contain errors. * --- My brothers and sisters, how many of you like to have fun? Everybody ready? What is fun? Can you define what is fun? Good time? Okay, what else? So give me some examples. Example of fun or fun activity. Basketball. Basketball. Horse riding. Horse riding. Swimming. How many of you actually do swimming and horse riding? I don't think everybody does. What you do, I'm talking about. Swimming you do, okay. Okay. Water. Okay. Soccer. Okay. Anything else? Gym. Gym. Okay. YouTube. Now you're getting some truthful answers. TikTok, right? I thought we got a few people who never see YouTube, never see TikTok. When you say basketball and soccer, are you professional basketball players? Do you intend to be one? No. Point I'm making is very simple. My point is all of us have a defined number of hours, minutes and seconds on this earth. Everyone, right? We don't know the exact number. How many I have I don't know. But I know I have. So many breaths. And when I take my last breath, whether it's coming in or going out, that's it. So in this time, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not subtract all the time that goes into something which is not really getting me any real benefit. Right? So the things that you described, for example, tell me what is the real benefit of watching basketball for somebody who is not a professional basketball player? Enjoyment. Enjoyment. So what is enjoyment? To be happy. Right? Do you think Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam enjoyed life? Do you think he had fun? Do you think the sahaba had fun? They enjoyed life? So how can they enjoy life when they are standing in sala the whole night? Here we have a situation where the qari in Ramadan, I'm not exaggerating, I am witness to this, you all. When the sheikh, no matter how beautiful the qaraat, if the sala is three minutes more, four minutes more, five minutes more, we complain. Sheikh, please tell him to recite longer. Please tell him to recite faster. That's why I give up. I go and sit in that corner. I said, don't talk to me. Yes or no? Am I exaggerating? Am I lying? So how was Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam getting fun out of this thing? Strange, no? Same qaraat. Did the qaraat change? What Sheikh Abdullah is reciting, is it different from what came to us? Same thing. So how come he got fun out of this? How come the sahaba got fun out of this? They would stand behind the wisa sallam. There is a beautiful hadith where Abdullah was called and then the sahib was called. They came and they decided one day to pray behind the wisa sallam. So they came and stood and he, in that sala, in the whole of that sala, he recited only one ayah. Which ayah is that? Anybody remember that hadith? Which ayah did he recite? Only one ayah. He repeated and repeated and repeated and repeated. So the next day, between them they said, we should ask. He said, no, you ask, you ask, you ask. So then the sahib said to him, Abdullah was very much, he loves you more than himself, so you ask him. So he asked him, he said, ya Rasulullah, we came and prayed behind you and you recited only one ayah. Why did you recite that? Rasulullah said, I was making dua for my ummah. This was my dua for my ummah. The ayah itself, as you know, is isali salam. This is what isali salam means to Allah. Jalla jalalu wa thadey ajmaat. If you want to punish them, they are your slaves. But if you want to forgive them, innaka anthal azeez ul hake. You are the all powerful and you are the all knowledgeable and the all wise. And Rasulullah said, I was reciting it as my dua for my ummah. The point I want to make for you and me is that we live in a world where we have made society, we have made life itself so hard and harsh and toxic that we need time out to go and do something else to forget this life, to detoxify ourselves. People say work life balance. I've always found these statements to be, these terms to be ridiculous. When people ask me what about work, I say what is work life balance? What is work life balance? Have you heard this term, work life balance? What is that? I love my work. So what is work life balance? The point I want to make is we have a specific number of hours, minutes and days, days, hours, minutes, seconds. Not one second more, not one less. Whatever we use that resource for, it is from the same, there is no extra thing for it. You can't say, Allah, I am not a basketball player. I will never be a basketball player, but I'm going to spend one hour watching basketball. Don't add, don't take it out my life. Give me some from somewhere else. Have you ever heard, have you ever seen a team win because there were people sitting in the stands and screaming? Does a team win because of that reason? Yes or no? I'll tell you how basketball teams win. I was watching an interview of Kobe Bryant. They asked him w

https://youtu.be/bK-3MVoSKi0 ---*This transcript was automatically generated by AI and may contain errors. *--- Bismillah, Wa Alhamdulillah, Wasalatu wasalamu Alaa Sharifil Anbiyaa Muhammadun Rasulullahi Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Alaa Alihi Wa Sahbihi Wa Sallam, Tasleeman Kaseeran Kaseeraa My brothers and sisters, look at the view here. Look at my view of Metinu Park in this forest. Look at the colors of the leaves and the truth of the trees. Look at the trees. Look at how they were dead, but inside them there is life. Life from Allah Almighty. Look at this beautiful scene in Metinu Park. You have seen this park and you have seen these scenes in the different videos that I keep posting of this place in different seasons. You would have seen this place completely green, where you can't even look into the forest for a few feet. But now it's open because of fall, coming into winter. See the different colors of the leaves, how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala causes these leaves to have different colors. We know the scientific explanations for all of these things, but the key thing is not to get stuck in the scientific explanation, or neither to use that to, within quotes, prove the authenticity and the veracity of the color of Allah, but to use that scientific explanation to help us to understand the Kitab of Allah and to help us to understand what we are seeing. So the question is not that how did these sumac leaves become this color. We know that they are genetically programmed to do that, but the question is, we need to look at our language. So instead of saying they are genetically programmed, we should say Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala programmed them to look like this. Because that is the actual truth. When you say they are genetically programmed, somebody did the programming, right? They didn't program themselves. The plant didn't decide that I'm going to be pink, and the other one didn't decide it's going to be yellow. Somebody did that decision making for them, and that decider was Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chaliji lagu. And that is something that we need to keep in our mind constantly and constantly keep reminding ourselves. And then we have the evergreens, as you can see here, the pines, the coniferous trees, fuzz, casuarinas. We don't have casuarinas here, but I'm just saying these are all those trees which retain their leaf color. They retain their leaves. They don't lose their leaves and they don't change color either. They remain the way they are throughout the year. Which to me is a big lesson that external circumstances do not decide how I'm going to behave. External circumstances do not decide what I will do with my life. Winter can come, summer can come, spring can come, fall can come. Spring can come, fall can come. But if I choose to remain constant with my identity, then none of those things will change me or affect me. They will affect others. Those who were next to me are not green anymore, but I remain green. Because that is my reality, that is my identity which I will not lose just because somebody else has lost their identity. Another lesson is if you look at the praise that is given, the popularity that is there, nobody says go look at the green trees. Nobody says go look at the fall colors. Look at the colors of fall. I want to interpret that linguistically. Fall is to fall. Fall is to collapse. Fall is to lose. Fall is to fall. Fall is to collapse. Fall is to lose. Fall in a fortune. Fall in prestige. Fall in virtue. All of these are fall. And people are saying go look at the color of the fall. Meaning look at the many ways in which fall comes. To some it comes in one way, to some others it comes in another way. Yes, it is very pretty. We don't doubt, we don't deny that. Sin always looks very enjoyable, right? It seems to be very enjoyable. And it is enjoyable. If it wasn't enjoyable there would be no need to resist temptation. Temptation is temptation because it is so nice and it's so easy to fall into it. But it is fall. It is collapse. It is collapse. It is the precursor, the announcement of death, the announcement of the end. And that is what we are seeing here. What do the... I did a short reminder, I remember on this earlier, when my friend Omar asked me, what are the trees telling you? And I said to him, they are telling me that look at us and take heed. Look at us and learn the real lessons. And the real lesson is that this is fall. This is the precursor of death. We are announcing to the world that we are ending, that these leaves are dying. And they are showing their color and then they are going to die. Remember myself and you, let us not get fooled by the images of the world. The world will show us many images. The world will show us many images. Let us not be fooled by them. Let us remember that... An-nasru in the Allah, meaning in the Allah. In-nasru meaning in the Allah. That victory is o

---*This transcript was automatically generated by AI and may contain errors. *--- In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful. All praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the honorable prophets and the righteous. Muhammad Rasulullah, peace be upon him, peace be upon him, and upon his family and his family. Brothers and sisters, we are looking at action points. We are looking at what is it that we do and what is the value of that. I mentioned to you the importance of starting with the Quran, with memorizing the Quran, with understanding the meaning of the Quran and then going further into the details of the tafsir of the Quran, with the intention of applying it and living by it. Next step was to read and study the life of Rasulullah, peace be upon him, and also with the same intention, which is how can I apply that in my life. Third one is look at what skills do you have? What can you do? It doesn't matter what the skill is. As long as you are learning a skill and you are doing this continuously throughout your life. Believe me, the neurons in the brain, which is what gives us intelligence, the growth of which and the development of which and the preservation of which keeps you and me away from alzheimer's. These are dependent on the exercise for the neurons is in learning new things. And believe it or not, the more difficult the thing is to learn, the more the neurons are exercised. It is painful like all exercise, but it exercises the neurons and builds them. One of the most difficult things to do is to learn the Arabic language. But that's also one of the most beneficial things to do, both in terms of what it does for the neurons, as well as, and even more importantly, the fact that you are learning the language of the Quran and the language of Rasulullah. So therefore, that is one thing. So put a metric on it and say what skill, what language, what is it that I am learning? Number one. Number two, what was your investment in it? What are you investigating? Time, money, energy, whatever. What is my investment in it? And to motivate yourself, ask yourself what is the potential gain of this? When I'm learning this, what is the gain of this? I'm learning carpentry. What is the benefit of learning carpentry? I'm learning to be an electrician. What's the benefit of that? And so on. As I told you, the skill doesn't matter. No matter what the skill, learning any skill is beneficial. And the more difficult the skill is, the more the benefit of learning that skill. So make sure that you are learning some skill or the other the whole time, as much as possible. Some skill or the other the whole time. Very, very important for us to do that. And put a metric, as I keep saying all the time, unless we are measuring, we don't know what is happening. We don't know what is happening. Unless we measure, we don't know. So make sure that you measure that. Third thing is, or third thing or fourth thing, I forgot which number, but anyway, evaluate the value of whatever you are spending time on. Say, what did I get out of this that will benefit me? So some ways of thinking about that, what did I get out of this that I can sell? Or what is it? What did I get out of this? Which gives me a skill or knowledge that is marketable. In which way does it benefit me? Now, that is a very important thing to keep in mind, because all of these are ways in which you motivate yourself and say, Well, you know, I am getting something out of this. Now, the answer is, I didn't get anything like that, but I enjoyed myself. That did yourself that you just gave up that much of your life to someone else to get rich. If you did that deliberately because you love that person, no problem. But if not, forgive me for saying that you are a sucker. Forgive me for saying that you are a sucker. So all those who sit around and watch soccer matches, basketball matches, I wonder if you are not a professional soccer or basketball player or whichever game. If you are not a player who is watching that match for the sake of learning something from it, which you will apply the next time you are on the court or you are on the field one hour from then or whenever, then that time is a waste of your life. Please remind yourself from my mind, myself, that time is not a disembodied entity. It is not a intellectual commodity. It is not just a thought. Time has actual value and the value of time is the value of our life. I remind myself and you that the way to check how much time, what the value of time is. Imagine at the time you spend looking at the TV screen, watching that match, right? One hour, two hours, whatever it is. If Malachor Maut, when he meets you and he will meet you as he will meet me, there is not a modicum of doubt about that. When Malachor Maut meets us, if he says, and he is not going to say that, but I'm just to help you understand the value

Books mentioned in the reminder: The Life of Muhammadﷺ from the earliest sources by Martin Lings Sealed Nectar (Ar-Raheequl Makhtoum) by Safiur Rahman Mubarakpuri Seeratun Nabi by Syed Sulaiman Nadvi Leadership Lessons from the Life of Rasoolullahﷺ by Mirza Yawar Baig ---Auto generated transcript--- The seerah of Rasulullah S.A.S. is the tafsir of the Quran And this is not my opinion This is what our mother Sayyidina Aisha Siddiqua R.A. told us about this She said that They asked her Can you tell us something about the life of Rasulullah A.S. And she said to the person, don't you read the Quran? And the person said, yes, I read the Quran She said that is the life of Rasulullah A.S. So the life of Rasulullah A.S. is the tafsir of the Quran There are many ayahs in the Quran When you want to ask the question, you read the ayah, you know the meaning And then you say, how must I apply this in my life? You look for that answer in the seerah, in the life of Rasulullah A.S. The seerah therefore is a required reading It is a part of the education of the Muslim Unfortunately, it is highly neglected and that is something that we need to change So next question, next benchmark for yourself is what do I know about the seerah? I will also post some links to books of the seerah that you can start with, inshallah So read those books, inshallah, it will give you an idea about the life of Rasulullah A.S. Now, when you're reading the book, key thing to understand is you are not reading it for information You're not reading it to get some names or mention or remember some dates You're reading it only with one purpose And that is to say, how can I practice this in my life? Inshallah, Allah SWT will put barakah in our lives if we do that And therefore we must read and study When I say read, that's only the first part, just reading But the key thing is to Not just to read, but to study it in detail and then to implement it in our lives So this is a very important thing to do Second thing is also take this into the family Get the children, get your spouses, everyone involved in that And practice it in the smallest ways You sit down to eat, you say, are we eating in the way that Rasulullah A.S. used to eat? And then have a little like a quiz And say, well, how did he eat? So he ate with his right hand He said, Bismillah, before he ate And he did this and he did that and he did that Whatever he used to do, we do that And Make sure that we remember those things and we practice it So what is the learning from the Now in the course of this same discussion and thinking about the Seerah Is which will come automatically, it will happen If you are studying the Seerah, this is something which will just bound to happen Which is talk about the Akhirah Because this is the reality which not only the Seerah, but also the Seerah And the Seerah is the reality which is the reality of the Akhirah Because this is the reality which nobody denies People deny even Allah SWT, they deny the Nabi A.S. They deny everything, but nobody denies death because we know one day we will die We have seen others dying, we have seen others dead We have attended Janazahs, we have gone to the To the Khabaristan, we have buried people and so on, so we know this So what is our preparation for that? So have these discussions, talk about it Because the fact is, the reason I am saying this is because the reality is that In life you will find whatever you talk about Remains, what you don't talk about disappears Right? Just a very simple test If I ask you, tell me the name of your maternal great grandmother That is your mother's grandmother Your mother's grandmother I can bet you that most of you will not even know the name Because the name is never spoken Right? At the most somebody will say Nani Jaan, Nani Maan, some such thing You know, Jadda, but nobody, usually the name is not there So it disappears, it is as if she never existed She existed, that is why you exist You have got her genes in your blood, you have got her blood in your veins But you do not even know the name So that is a very important, so therefore as far as the consciousness of the Akhira is concerned The same rule applies, if you mention it, if you talk about it, the consciousness will remain And the consciousness is only the first step It's not simply enough to say I am conscious of it, I am conscious means what? So therefore I need to run my life in a way where on the day of judgment I will not be humiliated before Allah SWT The Sahaba used to discuss this, talk to the Prophet, many hadiths where they asked the Prophet Ya Rasulullah, how is Jannah? What is the water like? What is the size of the power granite fruit? What is the size of the grape? What is this, what is that? I mean they used to ask many, many questions The Prophet said there will be people in Jannah who will have palaces which are floating Floating in the air Imagine you are sitting on the grou

My brothers and sisters words are always original. I always thank Allah SWT a great deal for the fact that there is a lot of interest, especially among the younger generation, among the youth in Islam. And that is something which I hugely appreciate and I thank Allah for. There was a time when this was not the case and Alhamdulillah, we seem to have broken that. So lots of discussions and questions and halaqas and people teaching and learning. That's the upside. The downside of this is that in this eagerness to learn and eagerness to be doing something, very often the people involved, they lose track of the methodology of learning. They lose track of their actual goals of learning. And as a result, they fall into the term of shaitan and these discussions and halaqas and so on end up with people getting irritated with each other and fighting each other and so on. And the chief reason for that is because there is this, quite understandable, but there is this fascination for fiqh, for different masailah fiqh. So now this is a terrible thing because it's something that fiqh is a, it's something that is dangerous because fiqh is a specialty and it is a specialty that even to get there you have to have a whole lot of other things that you should know before you approach fiqh. And then you have to study the usul and the rules of fiqh. And only then can you get into understanding fiqh. So fiqh is not something that you just pick up a book and you, you know, read through it and you find one hadith and you say, well, this is what the ruling is. This is what happens, unfortunately. And that's why I want to talk about that. So many times, you know, people will write to me, send messages or call and they will say, I was discussing this matter and what is the ruling on it, you know, which is halal or hara. And many times or almost all the time, the matters that they are talking about are what we call in the stella of the sharia, the language of the law, furu-i-masail, which is tertiary, things which are, I won't say unimportant because, you know, they are important, but they are like secondary importance, tertiary importance. They are not things that will send you to Jahannam or Jannah. Thanks to the internet, may Allah have mercy on us and on the internet, the fact of making things easy also opens the door for falling into problems because things become so easy that you lose the vaqar of that thing, you lose the greatness of the thing, you lose the respect for the thing. On a side note, that's why Rasulullah said don't make umrah again and again and again. You know, let that, let that, the magnificence and the nobility, the holiness of the experience enjoy that and let that be with you. Don't make it into a routine thing that okay, you know, and I normally pray asr in Masjid al-Haram, so I go there, I make umrah, I just pray Masjid al-Haram in asr. Please go and pray asr every day, no problem. But don't make umrah every day, don't make umrah again and again and again because it can take away the awe of the experience, which is such a beautiful thing. To come back to my subject here, so when people get into this issue of just referring from here and there and the internet and whatnot, they get a lot of material, no doubt about that, but most people who are not trained in the Islamic sharia, in the Islamic methodology of teaching and learning, do not know what to do with the material that they see. So when they see something, they say, well, okay, this is what should be done, and many of them get very rigid about it, and they say, no, this has to be done. This is something which is compulsory, or they get into that kind of a sort of mental framework with that. Whereas it might not be, it might be something in which there is a lot of flexibility. Yes, there is a rolling, but it is not necessarily something which is so strong, or vice versa. It may seem to be something which is not so serious, but it might be very serious. Now, if you understand the methodology of it, then you will not be, it won't be received, you will not be confused, but if you don't know that, then there is a chance. So what I tell people is be clear about your goals of learning and have benchmarks for them. So the first thing is learn about Allah's Rehman, that's the first and foremost thing, because our religion is based on the worship of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala alone, and therefore you cannot worship somebody you don't know, so learn about Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Memorize Quran. Ask yourself, how much Quran do I know? How many Surahs? Then benchmark yourself and say, how much did I know same date last year? Is there a difference between how much I knew same date last year and how much I know today? If there is no difference, then there is a problem. So say, how can I increase my knowledge of memorization? Knowledge is a correct, I'm talking about just memor

Auto-generated transcript: Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. Alhamdulillah, Rabbil Alameen. Wasalaatuhu wa Salamu ala ashrafil anbiya'i wa al mursaleen. Muhammadun Rasulullah, yaksumlullah alayhi wa ala alihi wa ala alihi wa sallam, tasliman kathirun qirdra. Wa ma ba'du. My brothers and sisters, let me ask you a question. I was looking for our gardeners who are very fond of gardening, but I don't see any of them here today. But anyway, I think most of us know enough to answer this question. And the question is that if you have, for example, an apple tree in your house, and you find that the apples are not good, there's something wrong with the apple. What will you treat, the tree or the apple? This is the problem. No, but he's right. This is the problem. This is the problem. The problem is when the apple is sick, when there is something wrong with the apple, people are trying to treat the apple. You can treat the apple, then you die, nothing will happen. Because the problem is with the tree. The problem is with the tree. If the tree is healthy, the apple is healthy. If the tree is sick, the apple will be sick. Right? As I tell people all the time, I don't make the laws. Allah made the laws. And Allah made the laws for our benefit, not for His benefit. Because he is Samad. Allah is free from all needs. The laws of Allah are for us. They are for our benefit. We follow the laws, we benefit. We don't follow the laws, we get hurt. Today we live in a world, especially in this country, because this is where this entire philosophy was born here. And has gone global now. But it's there everywhere. And that philosophy is the philosophy of the philosophy of the not of Allah. The worship of the self. The worship of desires. We are told to spend our life in pursuit of happiness. Yes? Pursuit of happiness. Good test. Now if you ask people, where is this happiness? I should pursue happiness where? In the park, in the market, in the house. What is happiness? Go a step before that and say, what is happiness? What is happiness? For example, if somebody is a drug addict, being addicted is happiness. If somebody is an alcoholic, being drunk is happiness. Yes or no? So people can be happy doing some things which are themselves completely toxic and completely terrible. Right? So is that happiness? So if you ask the guy, why do you drink so much? You're drinking, you're destroying your life, your life of your family and so on. I'm in pursuit of happiness. I'm supposed to be happy. I'm being happy. I'm very happy. He'll argue with you. What's your problem? You got a problem? What's your problem? I bought the alcohol with my money. I'm drinking. It's going into my body. What's your problem? I can make a long list of people doing things. That's not the purpose. Point being, what is happiness? Now, what does Islam tell us? Islam also tells us to live our life in pursuit of happiness. First of all, understand this. Islam is not the opposite of this. Islam also says, live your life in pursuit of happiness. But Islam tells us where this happiness is to be found. It doesn't leave you to decide because in the worldly sense, pursuit of happiness leaves you to decide. So anyone can decide, this makes me happy, I do that, that makes me happy, I do that. Islam says, no, no. Pursuit of happiness and we'll tell you where is it to be found. For example, if I have a problem with my plumbing in my house and I'm looking for a power drill and somebody says, go to CVS, you'll get it. Or go to Friendly's. They make nice ice cream. Excuse me, I don't want ice cream. I need a power drill. Go to Friendly's. How will you get power drills in Friendly's? You get power drills in Home Depot or you go to power drills in a place which sells power tools. So, I mean, this is it. So my question is, if you don't know where to find happiness, how will you find it? I'll give you another example. You all listen to the Quran. May Allah SWT bless the Sheikh. It's a beautiful recitation. I come, my main aim is this, to listen to the recitation. Did it make you feel happy? Seriously. Don't give me a Sunday school answer. Did it really make you feel happy? Yes or no? Where is the happiness? Happy in your ear or happy in your stock? Or happy in your left hand? Where? In the heart? You mean the pump? Which pumping blood? Happiness in the heart but not the pumping blood heart, the Qalb. And the soul. Right? You listen to the Kalam of Allah, it gives you happiness in the soul. Now, suppose you are hungry. You are very, very hungry. You have not eaten for two days, three days. Very hungry. And I tell you, okay, I have a chemistry chair. And then on that TV screen, I project for you pictures, 3D images of your favorite food, whatever your favorite food is. Beautiful food. And I have an aroma machine and I also have the a

We must define ourselves in life because all our attitudes and actions, what gives us meaning, depends on who we are. Allahﷻ made the laws that run this universe, including our world. They include the laws of physics which we call natural laws, but those are not the only ones. There are others, equally powerful, non-negotiable and inescapable, that govern and determine the success, influence, and happiness of human life. Those who learn those laws and operate according to them, can have as much success, influence and happiness as they wish. Are we Spectators or Players? The difference is skin in the game. Spectators can watch, scream encouragement or abuse, wear T-shirts and caps, and discuss the game, but they have no impact on the outcome. They don’t decide who wins or loses the game, because they have no skin in the game. They don’t bleed for the cause. They don’t invest time, money, sweat and tears to help their side win. They just scream from the stands. That is our situation today. We don’t want to invest. We don’t want to bear inconvenience. We don’t want to stand in the street in rain or sunshine to make our voices heard. We want someone else to do it for us. We want someone else to lose their job, get doxed, get brutalized by the police, even go to jail for our cause. But we don’t even want to be seen with them. Yet we want our cause to win. Well, all I can say to you is, ‘Good luck’. Because you are going to need a lot of it. Allahﷻ created a world of cause and effect. Those who benefit from a rise in share price are shareholders in that firm. Not those who read the Financial Times but have no money in the firm. Invest in yourself, in your family and in your society if you want influence. If you want power, start contributing. It is like a tweet by someone against BDS and the boycott campaign. It said, “I want to boycott everything made by Muslims. Can someone please send out a list?” Remember, we came to give. Not to take. Our teacher taught us, and we were supposed to teach the world. But we forgot the teacher and his teachings and started learning from others. We didn’t even have the sense to ask, ‘Who am I learning from? What is his interest in me? Why would he teach me anything to benefit me?’ In the life of every man and woman comes a time when a window opens, and they have a unique opportunity to make an impact and influence others. To succeed we need to anticipate, prepare for the opening and act with courage when our window opens. Our window is open now. Once the window is shut, our life is over, even if we remain alive. To live is not merely to draw breath. That’s to survive. To live is to create a legacy of honor. We hear two statements from well-meaning but confused people regarding politics. ‘I am not interested in politics’ and ‘Politics is dirty.’ Well, guess what? As someone said, ‘You may not be interested in politics, but politics is interested in you.’ It is like a deer saying, ‘I am not interested in the wolf.’ If the deer wants to survive and thrive, there is only one way; get interested in the wolf to influence him in its favor. That is what we must do with politics. Become interested, contribute, participate and become influential. As for politics being dirty, that is true as a description of the current state. But that doesn't mean that it must necessarily remain that way. Anything dirty remains dirty for one reason only and that is because those affected by the dirt choose to remain with the dirt. If those affected by dirty politics do what they do when they encounter dirt in anything else, the dirt will go the same way. So, let us complete that statement, ‘Politics is dirty’ and add, ‘but we are going to clean it.’ Believe me, it will happen. It is waiting to be cleaned. That cleaning can’t happen without us getting our hands dirty. But once we start washing, both the fabric of politics and our hands, will become clean. Politics is the art of influencing. Allahﷻ sent us to influence. كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ A’al Imraan 3: 110 You are the best community ever raised for humanity—you encourage good, forbid evil, and believe in Allahﷻ. Allahﷻ did not tell us to sit still and get used to corruption and suffer oppression in silence. It is not a sign of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly corrupt society. Allahﷻ told us that our job is to clean society from all kinds of evil and to promote all kinds of good. Good governance comes at the top of that list. Society can only be cleaned by insiders. By citizens. Participating in society does not mean only living in the place and buying and selling things. To participate is to be interested in the welfare of the place. That means investing time, energy, money, talent, and all kinds of resources to help to do whatever is necessary to ensure good governance. It means to cooperate and collaborate with others to make this happen

Video mentioned in the reminder: https://www.facebook.com/reel/914209860630191

https://youtu.be/HGhL_P877_0

We are living through difficult times. Some of us are directly in difficulty. Others are watching difficult things happen to those they love. To truly understand hardship and relief, we must understand the source of both and that is Allahﷻ. Who is Allahﷻ and what does He want for us? Nobody can introduce Allahﷻ better than He introduced Himself. He said: Baqara 2: 255 Allah! There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Him, the Ever-Living, All-Sustaining. Neither drowsiness nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belong whatever is in the heavens and whatever is the earth. Who could possibly intercede with Him without His permission? He ˹fully˺ knows what is ahead of them and what is behind them, but no one can grasp any of His knowledge—except what He wills ˹to reveal˺. His Seat encompasses the heavens and the earth, and the preservation of both does not tire Him. For He is the Most High, the Greatest. Hashr 59: 22-24 He is Allah—there is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Him: Knower of the seen and unseen. He is the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful. He is Allah—there is no god except Him: the King, the Most Holy, the All-Perfect, the Source of Serenity, the Watcher ˹of all˺, the Almighty, the Supreme in Might, the Majestic. Glorified is Allah far above what they associate with Him ˹in worship˺! He is Allah: the Creator, the Inventor, the Shaper. He ˹alone˺ has the Most Beautiful Names. Whatever is in the heavens and the earth ˹constantly˺ glorifies Him. And He is the Almighty, All-Wise. Ikhlaas 112: 1-4 Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “He is Allah—One ˹and Indivisible˺; Allah—the Sustainer ˹needed by all˺. He has never had offspring, nor was He born. (And there is none comparable to Him.”) About what He wants for us, He said in the Ayaat related to fasting: يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ بِكُمُ ٱلْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ ٱلْعُسْرَ Baqara 2:185 Allah intends ease for you, not hardship, So, why then are there trails and hardships in life? To understand this, we must understand that in life, appearance is deceptive. Many times, behind the apparently negative, great positivity is hidden. We know that one of the most severe if not the most severe pain that a human being can suffer is the pain of childbirth. Why then do women have children? Not only have them, but want them, pray to have them and go to all sorts of lengths for children? Because when the mother holds her baby in her arms, she forgets the pain. The Qur’an tell us story after story of the Anbiya (Prophets) who faced not just hardships but each apparently total and terminal yet were victorious. Only when you know the whole story can you see the pattern and sequence, where the hardship and danger were signs that Allahﷻ was in control and that whatever was happening was according to His plan. Allahﷻ told us the story of Yusuf (AS) in the well and slavery and jail. Ibrahim (AS) in the catapult, Rasoolullahﷺ in Ta'aif, Musa (AS) between the sea and Pharaoh's army and others. And we know how each of those stories ended. The Qur’an tells us stories not for entertainment or history lessons, but as a means of interpreting the events of our own lives. So, let us see today's scenes of apparent difficulties and disasters in this light. We're influenced by the apparent and the immediate and don't remember that it's part of a sequence. It's like the electrician cleaning the copper wire and rubbing it and scraping it so that current can flow through it properly. It's the pain of weightlifting, or hard aerobic exercise but without that a good looking and functioning body is impossible. The lesson is that no matter what the difficulty, no matter what the apparent loss, if it takes me to Jannah, it is worth it without doubt. Because loss in this life is inevitable. But Jannah must be earned. It is not inevitable. If I give up something that I would have lost anyway, to get Jannah which is mine forever that is a bargain, and I welcome it. Allahﷻ told us that no calamity happens without His Will and Permission but that through it, Allahﷻ supports and protects the hearts and minds of those afflicted, so that they see the reality behind it and don’t lose hope. They remain firm on their faith, while others look at them astonished. This is the real help of Allahﷻ, which comes to those who have faith and trust in Him. مَآ أَصَابَ مِن مُّصِيبَةٍ إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ وَمَن يُؤْمِنۢ بِٱللَّهِ يَهْدِ قَلْبَهُۥ وَٱللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَىْءٍ عَلِيمٌ Taghabun 64:11 No calamity befalls ˹anyone˺ except by Allah’s Will. And whoever has faith in Allah, He will ˹rightly˺ guide their hearts ˹through adversity˺. And Allah has ˹perfect˺ knowledge of all things. Life is a collection of incidents. Some of those are trials. Trials are the means of getting into Jannah. We ask Allahﷻ to give us Jannah without trials. Allahﷻ told us that Jannah is not something that is so easy to attain that all that we need to do is to simply profess faith. Allahﷻ told us that people of faith have alway

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Living is about making choices- the choice to be a ‘victim’ of circumstances or to do something about circumstances and be their ‘master’. We are free to choose – to be ‘victims’ or ‘masters’ – but the choices have different payoffs. Both stances are subject to the same givens of society, environment, organization etc. But have very different implications in terms of our development and happiness. ‘Victims’ complain about adversity, think of excuses, blame others, lose hope and perish. ‘Victims’ can be individuals, groups, communities or nations. The ‘victim stance’ is the same – complain and blame others. ‘Victims’ search for scapegoats; for someone to blame. They invent conspiracy theories. They have a ‘siege’ mentality, complaining that the only reason they are in a mess is because everyone in the world is out to get them. They don’t stop to think that no matter who they blame, their problems still exist and that it is they and not whoever they blame, that is suffering. Problems need solutions. Not scapegoats. These are the chains in the mind, which must be broken if we want to progress. ‘Masters’ on the other hand are people who when faced with difficulty and adversity, first look at themselves to see how and why they came to be in that situation, own their responsibility and then look for solutions to resolve that situation. They have the courage to try new ways and so they win even if they fail. “Masters’ recognize that whatever happens to them is at least in part, if not wholly, a result of the choices that they made, consciously or unconsciously. The result of what they chose to do or chose not to do. Consequently, if we recognize that we created the problem, then it follows logically that we can also create its solution. A ‘master’ never says, ‘I can’t’. She/he says, ‘I haven’t found a solution yet!’ – and in that, is a world of difference. The key question to ask therefore is, ‘What do I need to do to be a ‘Master’? What is the investment that I need to succeed? Free fall and flight feel the same in the beginning. But it is the end which spells the difference between life and death. One lands safely. The other crashes and burns. Ignoring the law of aerodynamics does not change the law or its result. Take the story of Yusuf (AS) which has a political angle to it which is almost never mentioned. Let me delve into that for a bit. His story is about how to live in a society with norms and values totally foreign and even antagonistic to your own, but to become hugely influential without changing your own ethics and values in any way. Yusuf (AS) went from being a slave and a prisoner, to becoming the Prime Minister in the government of the Pharoah Sesostris I of Egypt. Sesostris I, was the ruler of Egypt when Yusuf (AS) was sold as a slave in about 1681 B.C. He decided to appoint Yusuf (AS) as the vizier to superintend the gathering of the grain during the seven years of plenty and gave him extraordinary powers to do it. ‘You shall be over my house, and all my people shall be ruled according to your word; only in regard to the throne will I be greater than you.’ (Gen. 41:40). The point that I want to make is that when Yusuf (AS) gained his freedom, he didn’t leave Egypt and return to Shaam, where he had come from but offered his services to the king of Egypt despite the differences in their beliefs. As a result he was able to change the lives of his family and his people who came to live in Egypt. He could do this for one reason alone: contribution. He showed the Pharaoh how he could be critically useful to Egypt. The result was massive power. Power comes with territory. Contribution defines territory. You want power, contribute. As much as you contribute, will you become powerful. As of the last data available, Muslim representation in the USA is less than 2%. This small percentage means that, currently and in the foreseeable future, the Muslim voting bloc is likely to have minimal influence on policy matters. Despite this, the fairness of the system ensures that Muslims, like any other community, can become part of the governing structure—from schools and towns to state and federal levels. The most effective way to amplify the Muslim voice and viewpoint in the broader public space is to serve in public offices. If the goal of the Muslim community is to make its perspective heard, then the primary aim should be to elect more Muslims at all levels of governance. Given that it is not common for us to take this route, we must encourage those who do and go out of our way to support them both morally, and more importantly, materially. In one word, PARTICIPATE. Do you want to be Winners or Losers? Winning and losing is about making choices. All choices have consequences. Not acting is also a choice and has consequences. It is not only about doing something. It is about doing the right thing at the right time. For that we need to anticipate, plan, prepare, and act. We must deal with uncertainty and be prepare

When you study the Seerah, ask yourself what the fundamental nature of the message of Rasoolullahﷺ was, which resulted in such overwhelming opposition to begin with and then total transformation of society. In my study of the Seerah, and I have written two books on this, the reason for the extent and severity of opposition was that the Quraysh realized what would happen if people accepted his message. The opposition was not to the theological content of the message but to the political change that it would create. The message of Islam is and was a call to total societal change. A change of the bases of social and political action and norms. Therefore, a change of social and political hierarchies and power structures. Islam is about action. Not about talking. Power comes with territory. Contribution defines territory. The world respects and listens to contributors and uses consumers. When Muslims slipped from being net contributors to consumers, they became a commodity to be used. Which brings us to our present state, where despite being one in four, we are like foam on the flood. Without weight or value, to be ignored, exploited, and discarded at will. Allahﷻ said that He sent us for the benefit of people to teach them how to live a life of virtue and goodness, compassion, and justice. Allahﷻ’s book is witness. Allahﷻ declared: كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِٱلْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ ٱلْمُنكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱللَّهِ A’al Imraan 3: 110 You are the best community ever raised for humanity—you encourage good, forbid evil, and believe in Allah. Remember you can only change what you own. You can live in a rented house and complain until you die about all that is wrong with that house and what needs to be done. You will be totally right but totally helpless because you don’t own the house. Same thing with the society you live in. Until you start thinking of it as your society, you can’t change anything. Here’s a self-test. Ask, how many people complain about the political system in this country? Then ask how many of them register and go to vote? Ask, how many complain about schools? Then ask how many stand for elections to school boards? Ask, how many complain about local administration? Then ask how many volunteer on committees? How many volunteer to work in the Fire Service and the Police? Ask, how many complain about Muslim refugee children coming here through Christian and Jewish Refugee Assistance programs which are State funded and then going into non-Muslim foster homes? Then ask why there is no Muslim Family Service organization and why Muslims don’t volunteer as foster parents? Those who seriously want change, don’t blame others, but ask themselves, ‘What can I do?’ That is what Islam teaches us. To do something. Not to simply complain. Problems need solutions, not complaints. In the life of every man and woman comes a time when a window opens, and they have a unique opportunity to make an impact. To succeed we need to anticipate, prepare and act with courage. Our window is open now. When the window shuts, our life is over, even if we remain alive. Because to live is not merely to draw breath but to leave behind a legacy of honor. For Muslim society, to use TA terminology, the Parent-Child Ego state was (and is) the preferred state of being and all attempts to develop the Adult Ego state are repressed. It creates in us a tendency to blame others for our situation, be it local or global. Listen to our conversations and you will almost never hear statements owning responsibility for our problems. The rule of life is that only owners can change what they own. If you don’t own it, you can’t change it. So, if we don’t take ownership of our problems, we condemn ourselves to living with them in perpetuity, until we decide to accept responsibility. This is our single biggest problem and the biggest cause of our dismal and very painful state as a nation. We must not allow what is not in our control to prevent us from doing what is in our control. Solutions: There is no example better than that of Rasoolullahﷺ. Deriving lessons from it, here are four things we must do urgently. Unity: It is time to stop paying lip service to unity and actively work to promote it. Stop preaching or supporting those who preach divisions and sectarian politics. Reject anyone who tells you to hate anyone, especially another Muslim. Remember that whatever be our Aqeeda, we have critical, even existential problems that are common to all Muslims. I am not talking about reconciling different ideologies or converting anyone. That is impossible and unnecessary. I am talking about working with people with a different ideology. That is possible and critical. Leave the Aqeeda to Allahﷻ. We must work with others here, or we will perish. Central Fund: No long-term strategic planning can be done without an assured source of funding. Sporadic charity is not sufficient. In Islam we have Zakat, but the use of Zakat f

Zabiha Halal, what's that? Zabiha is the process by which the meat of an animal or bird which is permissible to eat, becomes Halal. "Non-Zabiha Halal" is an oxymoronic term. There's no such thing. If it is not Zabiha it is dead meat and it is Haraam. Zabiha happens when I Muslim slaughters an animal or bird that's permitted to eat, by cutting its throat including the carotid arteries and jugular vein and esophagus using a sharp knife, in one continuous stroke saying, "Bismillahi Allahu Akbar." Anything else is Haraam. Stabbing the animal in the heart to drain the blood is Haraam. Machine slaughter is Haraam. No matter how many Halal stamps it carries. Rasoolullahﷺ told us that when you eat Haraam your Ibaadah and dua is not accepted and the body that's nourished by eating even one morsel of Haraam will burn in the Hellfire. It truly is that serious. If you think that's hard, remember vegans who don't eat meat or any animal product. Or Hindu Brahmins who don't eat any meat lifelong. As a Muslim, ask yourself why you can't take the trouble to eat Halal to please Allahﷻ‎ when you know that the rule is made for our benefit. إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلْمَيْتَةَ وَٱلدَّمَ وَلَحْمَ ٱلْخِنزِيرِ وَمَآ أُهِلَّ بِهِۦ لِغَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ فَمَنِ ٱضْطُرَّ غَيْرَ بَاغٍ وَلَا عَادٍ فَلَآ إِثْمَ عَلَيْهِ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ Baqara 2: 173 He has forbidden you only the Maytatah (dead animals), and blood, and the flesh of swine, and that which is slaughtered as a scrifice for others than Allah (or has been slaughtered for idols, etc., on which Allah's Name has not been mentioned while slaughtering). But if one is forced by necessity without wilful disobedience nor transgressing due limits, then there is no sin on him. Truly, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. https://hmsusa.org/know-your-halal.html https://hmsusa.org/zabiha-halal.html Lives on the line - https://www.oxfamamerica.org/livesontheline/#:~:text=On%20the%20line%20itself%2C%20depending,than%2014%2C000%20chickens%20per%20day

Charity is a zero-sum game because we see charity as giving. All giving is to lose something. When you give, you are saying that you didn’t receive anything in return. That is why if you give $1000 in charity, you say, “I gave $1000.” But when you buy Tesla shares for $1000 you don’t say, “I gave Elon Musk or Wall Street or NASDAC or whatever, $1000.” You say, “I invested $1000 in Tesla.” That’s because you expect a return on your investment. You didn’t GIVE. You INVESTED. Anything that you expect a return on is an investment, not charity. Therefore, what do we say about spending in the path of Allahﷻ? Ask, because this is real retirement planning. Allahﷻ created us for a purpose and told us what that purpose is. He said: وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِمَآ أُرِيدُ مِنْهُم مِّن رِّزْقٍ وَمَآ أُرِيدُ أَن يُطْعِمُونِإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلرَّزَّاقُ ذُو ٱلْقُوَّةِ ٱلْمَتِينُ Zariyaat 51: 58 I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me. I seek no provision from them, nor do I need them to feed Me. Indeed, Allah ˹alone˺ is the Supreme Provider—Owner of all Power, Ever Mighty. Allahﷻ commanded us to rush to the prayer and leave our work for this. After the prayer, He permitted us to search for sustenance. Not before. Not instead of. But AFTER completing the prayer. Command to leave everything and rush to pray. And after that, permission to search. Permission implies that what we have been permitted to search for is already there. يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا نُودِىَ لِلصَّلَوٰةِ مِن يَوْمِ ٱلْجُمُعَةِ فَٱسْعَوْا۟ إِلَىٰ ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ وَذَرُوا۟ ٱلْبَيْعَ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَفَإِذَا قُضِيَتِ ٱلصَّلَوٰةُ فَٱنتَشِرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَٱبْتَغُوا۟ مِن فَضْلِ ٱللَّهِ وَٱذْكُرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ كَثِيرًا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ Jumu'a 62:9-10 O believers! When the call to prayer is made on Friday, then proceed ˹diligently˺ to the remembrance of Allah and leave ˹your˺ business. That is best for you, if only you knew. Once the prayer is over, disperse throughout the land and seek the bounty of Allah. And remember Allah often so you may be successful. The command to leave ٱلْبَيْعَ - selling (where you see profit) is not restricted to the Friday prayer but applies to all prayers. Allahﷻ did not use the word شراء (buying) which is also part of business but (sale) باع and ordered us to leave that for prayer - the implication is to leave something which is profitable for something else in which there is much more profit. Allahﷻ told us to search for sustenance, not to create it. If we are alive our sustenance has already been created but we have the choice of getting it from a Halal source or a Haraam source, which is an open book test because we have also been told the consequences of getting it from either of the sources. If we pick the right source, not only will our investment be protected but we will be rewarded for making that choice. But if we fall into the trap of Shaytaan and choose from the wrong place, then not only will we lose everything, but we may also be punished for choosing the wrong way when the correct way had already been shown to us. That is why the example of the bird in the nest which searches for its sustenance. It doesn't make its food. It searches for what Allahﷻ has already provided and finds it. Allahﷻ ordered us to spend in charity more than 66 times in the Qur’an but did not ask us to accumulate wealth or to save for a 'rainy day', even once. That is because He is the Provider and we trust Him and rely on Him, and not on our effort, our smarts or accumulated wealth. This is not a prohibition on saving or earning. It is a correction of focus of Tawakkul (reliance). From Tawakkul ala-al Maal to Tawakkul ala-Allahﷻ. The proof of this Tawakkul on Allahﷻ is to see what we do with our Maal (wealth) when we have a chance to 'give' it to Allahﷻ. Because when we give in charity, we are really investing our wealth with Allahﷻ. That is the secret of charity. It is really investment with Allahﷻ. The Sahaba understood this and so we have these amazing stories about people who seem very strange if we use our current day standards, in the way they spent in the path of Allahﷻ. They spent like there was no tomorrow. The truth is that they spent that way because they understood the real meaning of ‘tomorrow’. A smart businessperson is one who invests in the place that gives them the maximum ROI. Therefore, for the one who has Emaan, when he is presented with a choice of investing in a place which not only promises a minimum ROI of 1000% (10 times) and that return is guaranteed by the One who controls everything, the choice is a no-brainer. The real question is not the ROI but whether we believe in the Hereafter or not. In business, to evaluate ROI we use two parameters. Percentage of return and Risk factor. We have high risk – high return and low risk – low return investments. That is why government bonds, real estate a

Advice to a friend going off to university: https://yawarbaig.com/advice-to-a-friend-going-off-to-university/