Give me two options not three

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 ta'ala. If you make a mistake, immediately make a sefaru tawwah and remember and be completely content with this bit of knowledge that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has already decided the quantum, how much you will earn, how much money your family, your spouse, your children, all of this Allah has already decided. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has decided what is best for you because biyati il khayr, in His hand is only goodness. Allah loves you, Allah loves me and Allah does for us what is best for us, whether we always understand that, we don't understand that, it doesn't matter, this is the reality as declared by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Himself. So will I get more if I go in this area or will I get less if I go in that area? Redundant question, you will get what has been written for you. No matter which area you go in or don't go in, you will only get what has been written for you. So then of course, corollary, why should I work? Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told you to work and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told you that, and He showed us how to work to please Him. You work because you want to establish the law of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on the earth starting from yourself and your business and your family and so on and so forth. So that's the reason why you work. But you don't work to make more money or less money, you work to please Allah. So first piece of advice, factor Allah into the equation. Ensure that you never do anything to disobey Allah and be completely content in your heart that you will get what Allah has written for you irrespective. Second piece of advice, therefore if I am now faced with multiple choices, what should I do? Which is a good choice. So now when you are looking at those multiple choices, you have removed one of the big criteria for choosing something, which is how much money will I make? That is done. Resolved, you remove it out of the list of criteria because you are not going to look at it in that context because Allah said He decides, you don't decide. So no matter what choice you make, if Allah wants you to earn a million dollars, you will earn a million dollars. If Allah wants you to earn less or more, you will earn less or more. Your choice is where you want to take it from. Do you want to earn the million in a halal way or a haram way? That's your choice. Whether it is to be one million, half a million or ten million, it's not your choice. So that whole issue of making a career decision based on how much money I can make from this career is out of the equation. It simplifies your decision making and this is the beauty of Islam. It simplifies decision making. It makes it so easy to decide. So I have now removed the issue of how much. On a side note, let me show you something else. Look at this. These are the little berries, this little fruit which is produced by these plants, which does not fall in the winter. It stays here all winter long, waiting for the birds, the migratory birds which have migrated gone south, waiting for them to return. And when they return, they will still come to a place which is early spring, which will still have a lot of snow on the ground. It will not have, obviously trees have not yet started coming alive. Trees have not yet started producing flowers, much less fruit. And this fruit is waiting for those birds to fill their bellies and to sustain themselves until fresh fruit is ready for them. Allah is the one who decides. the birds. And when the bird comes back, when the bird returns, the bird knows that the food is there and waiting. And for those who are here, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala teaches what to do and how to preserve their food and how to keep them. So we come now therefore to the second part, which is now that the food equation is out of it, what is left? And what is left is what am I, or let me go a step further. How do I want to be in that work? So if I choose X, Y or Z, if I choose carpentry, because I'm very interested in carpentry, and now I'm not worrying about how much money can I make out of carpentry, but I love carpentry. Question to ask yourself is, how passionate are you about this choice? How passionate are you about choice one or choice two? Now the key word there is passion. The key word there is not are you interested in it, it sounds nice, it looks like a good thing to do, right? No, passion. Now passion is something that keeps you awake in the night. You don't have to get up and become passionate. Passion does not let you sleep. Passion is something that drives you. Passion is something where there will be times in your life where you are badly beaten up by life and you are right down in the dumps. You are in depression. You are almost on the point of despair. You don't despair because you are Muslim, Alhamdulillah, and there's no despair for Muslims because we believe in Allah, but you can get close to it. You are as close to it as you can get. You are in pain, you are suffering, you are in fear.