Perspective defines reality

https://youtu.be/H6-JI6ot5_8 Auto-generated transcript: Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. Wa salatu wassalamu ala ashrafil anbiya wal mursaleen. Muhammadur Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. Tasliman kassiran kassiran. Fama baadu. My brothers and sisters, I'm sitting here in Tadowa National Park, Tiger Reserve. Yesterday we went out in the evening, in the afternoon for a safari. Beautiful. Saw some very good sightings of a young juvenile tiger, one of three cubs, who seems to have got separated from his mother, but he is capable of looking after himself, wandering around on his own beautiful sight. And today then, it's about 4.30 a.m. And in front of me is this bamboo thicket. And beyond this is the fence, and then there's the Tadowa National Park starts there. So we are right at the boundary of the park. There's this resort called Sosara, which is, our experience of it since yesterday is very positive. Seems to be a very nice resort, nice people, nice food. And so on and so forth. So it's, that's what the resort looks like. I remind myself anew that I'm sitting here. I just heard the alarm call of Cheetal, spotted deer. If you go on YouTube and type alarm call of spotted deer, you can listen to that. People have done some nice recordings. So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, The thing that I remind myself anew is for me sitting here in location. Everything seems so beautiful and peaceful. I'm hearing an owl just now. Sounds like a big barn owl. It seems so beautiful, peaceful. The alarm call of the chital, I hear it with anticipation that this means that a tiger is on the move and the chital are sounding their calls. I remind myself and you however that the reality is very different. The reality depends on who is looking at it. And in this case, it is I who is looking at the reality from my perspective. And my perspective is that of a tourist who is safely ensconced in his resort and who is going to in the next hour or so be up in a safari vehicle looking for tigers, looking for leopards, trying to get some nice photographs and so on. But the same reality, exactly the same reality of whatever is happening there from the perspective of the tiger. The tiger is different. The tiger is not interested in me. And I must say that's a jolly good thing. The tiger is interested in his meal. And his meal is the chital, is the spotted deer which sounded the alarm call. And anything else which moves, any form of protein on four or three or two legs. And that's a different reality. And then there's a third reality from another perspective. Now the reality itself, which is the data, is the same. There's a forest, there is a tiger, there's a spotted deer, there's a man and so on and so forth. What changes that reality is the perspective from which it comes. And the perspective of the spotted deer is that of danger, of lethal danger. Especially at this time where it's dark. Spotted deer are blind in the dark. They can't see. But the tiger is very much aware. The tiger can see as clearly in the dark as we see in daylight. One of the guides here, one of the naturalists here was telling me yesterday and I've seen this myself, is the behavior of tigers. And this is true of all predators, whether it's lions, birds, leopards. Their behavior changes dramatically between the day and the night. The same animal you see in the day, he's calm, he's almost to the point of being lethargic. In the summer you see tigers sitting in water. Tigers love water unlike most cats. Leopards don't like water. Jaguars, of course, in South America, you see them jumping in and out to the rivers. But normally leopards don't and jaguars are not leopards, they're jaguars. Leopards don't like water. Lions don't like water. But tigers, they love water. And you see them sitting in the water in the summer. Literally half in, half out. Partially submerged. Cooling off because summer here is extremely, extremely hot. So you see them sitting in the water. Very lethargic, sleeving. They won't move. Especially in places like this where they're used to safari vehicles and people and so on. You find them walking around between. It's like a bad joke sometimes. You see why? You know, 10, 15 gypsy vehicles, jeeps, crowded, almost blocking the path and the tiger sort of threading his way between the vehicles, completely ignoring the chattering of the monkeys who are in the vehicles. Amazing. It's to see how kahaam and so on. The same animal. If you go on a night safari sometimes, if you're going in, I've had the opportunity, of literally walking in the forest in the night, in moonlight. I never used spotlights or torches even because it disturbs the whole environment, takes away your night sight. So just moonlight. I used to walk, me and my good friend, Shivaya. And if you see tigers in that situation where you are in the dark, the entire behavior of the animal changes. You find a different tiger, the same tiger, you see him in the daytime and see him in the night, it's two different animals. Now imagine that tiger, it's completely alive. It's all its senses at its peak. It's a true apex predator. And imagine yourself as a spotted deer, part of a herd, looking around as much as you can, trying to spot the tiger before it comes within striking distance, sounding your alarm. Very different perspective. The reason I'm mentioning all of this is because this is also the reality of life. Perspective depends on what you're looking at. The temptation to sin, this temptation to go against the ahkam of Allah . The temptation to do things which Allah has prohibited is strong. It is very strong. People sin because sin is fun. Sin gives pleasure. If sin did not give pleasure, if sin caused pain, nobody would do it. Why do you need to encourage people to go to the gym? You don't need to encourage them to go to the bar, to go to a disco, or whatever. You don't need to encourage them to go to a disco, or to go to a pub. They go happily. Because in the gym, they feel pain. Especially those who have not exercised for a while. When they go, and especially if they're doing weights, your whole body aches after that. The work is repetitive. It is boring. It's not fun. Whereas the rest of it, I mean, I don't have to, I'm not going to sit here describing the joys of being a person. I'm not going to sit here describing the joys of being a person. I'm not going to sit here describing the joys of being in a disco or in a pub or whatnot. The fact that people go there, people indulge in sin, people indulge in interest-based banking, for example. I mean, they don't do it for fun, but they do it because they perceive benefit in it, and they perceive harm or non-benefit in not doing that, in living within their means, in saying, well, I mean, if I cannot get halal financing, I will not buy a house, I will live in a rented house. All of this is painful. People don't like that. But the reality is different. As I said, the perspective is different. And the perspective is, what do you want to see when you meet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? That is the perspective. How do I want to meet Allah? In what state? That is the perspective. And when we look at it from that perspective, that is only when we can see the reality of the thing. So the reality of this beautiful, peaceful, lovely environment is not the reality. Because my perspective is not the true perspective of the forest. The true perspective of the forest is that of the deer, the spotted deer, is to say, how do I stay alive? How do I save myself today? And that is the perspective we need to see. How do I stay alive? How do I save myself from the disobedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? Because shaitan is like that tiger. He's waiting. He's lying in wait. He's waiting for you and me. And if we give him a chance, he will get us just like the tiger gets the deer. And that is not nice. So I remind myself a new letter, get our perspective right. And our perspective is, how will I face Allah? How will I face Allah? to help me and you to face him in a way where he's pleased with us, where he welcomes us, where he has what he said about people who wake up in the night and pray tahajjud. He said, if they knew that Allah said, they are the people who get up in the night from their sides, get up from their beds and stand before Allah SWT between hope and fear. And if they knew what, and they spend from what we have given them in the path of Allah SWT, Allah says, if they knew what we have prepared for them of joy, of greatness, of beautiful things, it would be a coolness to their eyes. We ask Allah SWT to help us to retain and keep our perspective single-mindedly focused on that and not let it deviate until we meet him. Jalla Jalaluhu. Wa Salamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuhu.