ISWM Last Lecture #2: Thankfulness and Togetherness

Auto-generated transcript:The second thing I want to remind myself and you is to thank Allah in good and as well as in difficult times. And therefore I advise you and myself to be grateful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Grateful for what he gives us and even more grateful sometimes for what he takes away. Because the one who takes away does that for one reason only. Because he wants to give you something better. My Sheikh used to say that if you go, if somebody has this what we call da'at-e-aam. So this is you know feeding the poor. You got a whole Sufra Dastur Khan there and everybody in the whole village, the whole town is there. Hundreds of people and you also go there and you sit down there along with the people on the floor. And suddenly your host sees you. What will he do? He will come and grab you by the arm and pull you up. Now when that happens, what do you say? Do you cry and say, oh my God, he's depriving me of my meal? Or do you feel proud and say, alhamdulillah, I have been recognized. My host knows who I am. And he lifted me from this place only because he wants me to sit at the head table to give me honor. He's not depriving me of the food. He wants to give me that food in a much more honorable place. And therefore, we thank Allah for what he gives us and for not giving sometimes what we ask. And for what he takes away from us. In the hadith in Musnad Imam Ahmad, Abu Sayyid al-Khudri reported that Rasool Allah said, there is no Muslim who calls upon Allah who makes dua. And in this dua, there is no sin. He's not asking for something haram. Nor is there cutting of family ties. But that Allah will give him one of three answers. He says, Allah will give him one of three answers. He will quickly fulfill his supplication. He will give him what he asked. Or he will store it with him. He will store it for this person in the hereafter. Or he will divert an evil from him similar to what he asked. So the Sahaba said, Ya Rasool Allah, in that case, we will make more and more dua. We will ask more and more. And Rasool Allah said, no matter how much you ask, Allah has more. Allah reminded us of the way to increase His blessings, which He has given us. And He said, He said, He said, And remember when your Rabb proclaimed and announced, if you are grateful, I will certainly give you more. But if you are ungrateful, surely my punishment, is severe. See the mercy of Allah. Allah did not say, I will punish you. Allah said, beware, the punishment is real. All the promises of Allah are for the muttaqun. Not simply the Muslimun. When we accept Islam, we enter the gate, the boundary of the palace. You are not on the street, you are in the fort. You are in the boundary of the palace. But from inside the gate, to the palace, and through the door, then inside that, to the throne room, to the treasury, is a journey. But real rewards are there. If you are only standing on the outside, if you are running around in the periphery, you haven't even entered the palace, this is not a great idea. And therefore it reminds, it is for us to constantly remind ourselves, about Allah . And that is why Salah is made farad on us five times a day. That is why Allah sends Ramadan, to instill Taqwa in us. And that is why we have so many opportunities to worship Allah in so many ways. And at so many times. Let us not wait for a blessing to end, before waking up to the fact that it is gone. The last thing, I remind myself and you, is to maintain unity. And not allow divisions. For any reason. Any reason. Allah said, Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic Arabic and he saved you from it. This is how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes his revelations clear to you so that you may be rightly guided. I advise myself and you to be together and not allow anyone to divide us. Please note Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala did not say la taqtalifu. He did not say don't have a disagreement. Do not disagree. He said la tafarraqu. Do not allow that disagreement to separate your hearts. You can have a difference of opinion. There is no problem. Alhamdulillah. But don't allow that difference of opinion to separate you from your brother or sister. Don't allow that difference of opinion to make you slander people. Don't allow the difference of opinion to form a new sect, to form a new group. Never do that. We can and we will have difference of opinions or matters. But I advise you and myself not to allow them to become walls between you. But to allow them to become walls between each other. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's protection is with the jama'ah and shaitan is with those who separate themselves from it. The only time when it is permitted to separate ourselves from others is when it is a matter of halal and haram. This is where we must respect Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's boundaries at any cost. It's a simple rule that when we have an opinion and are faced with a text, the Quran or the Sunnah, we follow the text and not our opinion. So, please remember this. Otherwise, there is flexibility in our deen and we must make building bridges and reconciling differences the topmost priority. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala commanded us to do this. And He said, إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَسْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ Allah said the believers are but one brotherhood. So, make peace between your brothers. And be mindful of Allah. Have Taqwa of Allah. So that you may be shown mercy. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala called us one Ummah. And He associated His own Jalal with us. And His own Jamal and Karam with us. And He said, إِنَّ هَذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدًا وَأَنَا رَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُونَ He said indeed, this Ummah of yours, this Islamic community of yours is one community. And I am your Rabb, so worship me alone. And He said in Surah Al-Muminun, وَإِنَّ هَذِهِ أُمَّتُكُمْ أُمَّةً وَاحِدًا وَأَنَا رَبُّكُمْ فَاعْبُدُونَ And indeed, this community of yours is one community and I am your Rabb, so have My Taqwa. About the harm of divisions, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala warned us in many places. One of which is, He said, وَعْطِعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَلَا تَنَازَعُوا فَتَفْشَلُوا وَتَذْهَبَ رِيحُكُمْ وَاصْبِرُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, Obey Allah and His Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and do not dispute with one another or you will become discouraged and weakened. In Urdu we say, حَوَى خَتَمُّ جَيِّي We say your rob and your reputation will go. And Allah said, Have sabr, وَاصْبِرُوا Persevere, have courage, surely Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is with those who persevere. Numa ibn Bashir رضي الله عنه He reported that Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, The Muslims are like a single person, are like one body. If the eye is afflicted, the whole body is afflicted. If the head is afflicted, the whole body is afflicted. And this is a Sahih Muslim. Abu Hurairah r.a reported, another hadith says, A Muslim, where Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, Verily Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is pleased with you by three things and displeased by three things. He is pleased for you to worship Him without associating partners or anything with Him. He is pleased for you to hold fast to the rope of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala together. And He is pleased for you not to be divided. And He is displeased for you to gossip among yourselves, to gossip about each other, to ask unnecessary questions and to waste your wealth. Gossip is like termites. It eats the structure from inside. It destroys the heart. If you have something against a person, go to that person face to face, talk to the person in a good, polite way and sort out the difference. Do not talk about that to anybody else. Nobody else. Because nobody can do anything about that. The only person who can do that is that individual. Go talk to them. But if you talk to others about that person, first of all, the problem won't go away because that person will still do whatever he is doing. And secondly, your good deeds go to that person. So stay away from gossip for any reason. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala jalla jalaluhu to bless you all and to bless me and to bless all of us. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to keep us from gossiping. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to keep us in His protection from sin, from shaitan, from ourselves and our own nafs. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to keep our hearts together, especially at the end of Ramadan and on the 10th or 9th of Gul Hijjah. You know the reason, right? Moon fighting and moon sighting. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala jalla jalaluhu to keep our hearts together always as one. We are one. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to help us, to protect our future generations. That is the most important thing that you can do. So support the Maktab in this masjid, in Baitul Salam or wherever. Support the education of children because that is the only thing that will save you and me from facing a situation where we find Islam has disappeared from our families and lives. Put your money there. Put your time there. Offer your resources. Go and volunteer. Do whatever it takes to make sure that your children get an Islamic education. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make this primary and uppermost in our minds. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us among people who will participate in the community, in interfaith work, in standing for elections, in supporting good candidates because we are a part of this community. We cannot and must not live like we are some isolated piece. peace. We must participate because participation is what gives us power. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to always, always keep us on the path that is pleasing to Him and to save us that which does not please Him. Alhamdulillah.