—
*This transcript was automatically generated by AI and may contain errors. *
—
My brothers and sisters, the way I propose to deal with our session this evening is, I want to speak to you a few minutes about the purpose, why do we exist, why are we there in this world, what are we here to do? And then some advice and the advice is titled, Advice to Students, but it’s not necessarily restricted to students. It’s advice to anyone who wants good advice. And then we’ll open the floor to questions and you are welcome to ask me anything you like and I will answer anything I like. I remind myself and you that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala created us for two reasons, two purposes. One, He mentioned that as an individual purpose for each individual human being, man or woman. And the second one, He mentioned it as a collective purpose for the Muslim Ummah. The individual purpose, which is a purpose for every single man or woman, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala said, وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْوُدُونَ Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala said, I have not created the jinn or the insan, the human beings, for anything other than my worship. He told us, Jalla Jalaluhu, that He created us only and only to worship Him. Now worship is the formal worship, Salatul Isha for example, like what we did. And worship also is in the meaning of obedience. So when we say our purpose is only to worship Allah, it does not mean that we have to spend twenty-four hours in the masjid, in salah. It means that we spend twenty-four hours of our life in obeying Allah, in every aspect of our life. So just like I worship Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala in the salah, how do you worship? How do I worship in the salah? Why did we pray four rakats of salah in Isha? Why not three? Why not twenty? Why? Why four? Why did we pray three rakats in Nahr? Yes. Because Allah wanted us to pray four, how do you know that? Yes. Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, this is called a virtual handshake, shake my hand. Say that, say that, like this. Correct, okay. From the sunnah of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, Rasulullah sallahu alaihi wa sallam said, sallu kamara ayatumun i’usalli, he said, pray as you have seen me pray. These four rakat of Isha we prayed just like Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam prayed. Now please understand that this prayer and this methodology and this philosophy of following Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam exactly as he did it is not restricted to the prayer. The prayer is the example which shows us what we must do in every aspect of our lives. So just like I prayed Isha the way Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam prayed Isha, how must I eat my food, the way Rasulullah sallalahu alaihi wa sallam ate his food, how must treat my parents the way Rasulullah sallaw office treated his parents and his elders, how must I treat my children the way Rasulullah sallaw house treated his children, How must I treat my friends and my brothers and sisters? How must I do business? If I’m the ruler of a country, how must I rule the country? If I’m the commander of an army, how must I command the army? If I’m working for somebody as an employee, how should I work? And that is the reason Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala gave the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam A life which is so comprehensive that it covers every aspect of human life So whatever is in your life, if I want to search for an answer, look in the life of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam So individual purpose, Allah said I have not created the human beings and the jinn for any purpose other than to obey me, other than to worship me Then Allah gave us a collective purpose And the collective purpose Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, Why? Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, You are the best of people Not because you are Hyderabadi or you are Sudanese or you are Somali or you are Masri or something, no You are the best of people because you have been selected for the benefit of people You are the best of people because you benefit people You are not the best of people because you oppress people You not the best of people because you trouble people You are not the best of people because you rob people, no You are the best of people because you benefit people You have been extracted.. Allah did not say ukhuri jet minan naas ukhrijat li n-nas you have been selected for the people to do what? ta’muroona bil ma’roof, amr bil ma’roof to enjoin and enforce and recommend and promote everything which is al ma’roof, which is beneficial and which is good wa tanha’una anil munkar, ya buddha of that and you prohibit and you prevent and you stand against and you fight against everything which is evil and the result of these two things, the result of amr bil ma’roof anil munkar is wa tu’minoona billah and you have iman on Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala in surah al-kaf Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala tells us the first story in surah al-kaf is about is which story? first story in surah al-kaf, you read surah al-kaf today right? in juma you should read, this is the sunnah of the messiah he says read surah al-kaf every friday what is the first story in surah al-kaf? it has four stories, which is the first one? people of the cave asaf ul kaaf what is the story? these young men, young people they stood against evil they refused to give up their religion either for worldly benefit or in fear because of fearing harm they said no, it doesn’t matter we will not give up our religion when they stood up, then the help of Allah came when they stood up, the help of Allah came Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala then led them and they went into the cave Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala caused them to sleep for 309 nights Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala caused the sun to rise and set in a way which did not disturb their sleep and so on and so on right? but what is the first step? they stood when they stood, when they took the step of standing for the sunnah of standing for the truth, the help of Allah came so amma wil maroof and naheer al munkar the enjoining of good and the prevention of harm, of evil this is the collective purpose of the Muslim Ummah of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam and that’s where I want to begin with so my first piece of advice to students or to whoever wants the advice is remember who you are remember who you are you and I don’t simply exist to fulfill our desires just to eat, drink and feel happy and have fun, no we are here for a serious purpose when you remember that serious purpose then you can’t go wrong and that’s why I say that the most important thing in life is integrity and integrity is not the only path, there are many paths in life but integrity is the only path on which you will not be lost, you will never get lost we must all suffer from one of two pains everyone, without exception we must suffer from one of two pains the pain of discipline or the pain of regret discipline is to wake up every morning and make your bed discipline is to ensure that you shine your shoes discipline is to ensure that your room is kept in order discipline is to clean your car discipline is to park your car correctly and properly within whatever markings are there in the parking place discipline is to make sure that if you, that every day you get a certain amount of exercise no matter if you’re feeling tired, no matter if it’s cold, no matter if there is snow and ice, it doesn’t matter effectively, discipline is to do what needs to be done, whether you like it or not that is the key to discipline discipline is not doing whatever I like doing discipline is to do what must be done, whether I like it or not, yes well how much we can’t pray because we have school you can’t pray because you have school? yeah, your school is strict how does your school interfere with your prayer? because we’re not allowed to, like we can’t that is illegal in this country, you know that? really? aha in the United States of America it is illegal for people to prevent you from praying if you tell them that you need to pray go tell your teacher, seriously, I’m not joking they will ask you to get a letter from the mosque to say that you are required to pray the imam will give you a letter they cannot stop you, nobody can stop you okay, yes I’ll go to Islamic school, sure but even if you don’t go to Islamic school the regular school in this country by law they cannot prevent you from worshipping right? yes my teacher allows me to pray in the corner of the classroom fantastic his teacher allows him to pray in the corner of the classroom fantastic his teacher allows him to pray in the corner of the classroom, yes? understand this, do you understand what is discipline? everyone? sure? the thing I want to say to you is discipline is sometimes painful but regret is far more painful because if you do something which you have to regret then it means that you had the opportunity and it did not make use of that if you feel the pain of discipline it’s for a short time but the pain of regret is for a very long time so we have to feel one of two the pain of discipline or the pain of regret I remind myself and you to factor Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala into the equation because He is in it anyway what equation is that? that equation is anything that I want to do in life whatever it is the question to ask is will Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala be pleased with me or not if I do this? will Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala be pleased with me or not if I do this? somebody asked me a question today about investing in stocks and he said can I invest in stocks? can I invest in stocks of companies which have debt financing? he asked me can I get a house, can I get a mortgage on a house? and then he said can I get an Islamic mortgage? and he said but the Islamic mortgages looks very much like the other mortgages except that they are changing some words so I told him this I said to him that we have the hadiths of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam narrated by Hasan ibn Ali radiallahu anhuwa who said that I heard my grandfather say who is the grandfather of Hasan ibn Ali radiallahu anhuwa? who? Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam he said I heard my grandfather say leave the doubtful for that which is not doubtful so the moment you have a doubt in your heart about doing something I say to you respect that doubt that doubt is hidaya min Allah ita’ala Allah put the doubt in your mind because you have a good heart and you have a good mind you have a heart which has taqwa in it Alhamdulillah because there are so many people who are doing all that stuff factor Allah into the equation because he is in it anyway Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala took responsibility for our sustenance we must work in a way not because we have to work to make money we must work to establish the hukum of Allah on the earth we must work to demonstrate the beauty of Islam in our work we must work to establish and show people what is the meaning of excellence in work those are the reasons you work I am not saying don’t work I am not saying don’t work of course you should work but the reason you work is that you don’t work to make money Allah gives you the money Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said Inna qul inna rabbi yabusutu risqa liman yasha’u wa yaqdir wa lakin aqthara an nasi la ya’lamu Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said say to them ya muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam it is surely my rab yabusutu risqa liman yasha’u wa yaqdir who expands your sustenance as he wishes or constricts it but most people don’t know Allah expands not you and me so make sure that every decision that we make in life that we have this thought if I do this will Allah be pleased and if the answer is yes Allah will be pleased then do it if the answer is no Allah will not be pleased don’t do it if the answer is I don’t know whether Allah will be pleased or not then don’t do it until you find out go and ask the scholars ask somebody who knows and they will tell you and then if they say yes it is halal do it if they say no don’t do it don’t do it So make it I submit to you that Islam is the name of a practice Islam is not the name of a falsafah it is not the name of a philosophy it is not the name of an ideology it is not the name of a theory it is not the name of a technology Islam is the name of a practice just like Judo is the name of a practice Aikido is the name of a practice Karate is the name of a practice Who do you call a black belt in Judo? Somebody who knows a lot about Judo, who has memorized all the books of Judo, he has written 25 books of Judo, is that a Judo black belt? Or is it someone who knows how to do Judo? Which one? Do, right? I can say I know everything about Judo, I have written 20 books on Judo, when I go on the street and somebody grabs me, I am flat on the ground, I am gone. So what happened? Where is the Judo you know? Knowing about Judo does not make you a Judo expert, so how does knowing about Islam make you a Muslim? No. We have to do Islam. The Judo expert is the one who does Judo. The Karate expert is the one who does Karate. The boxer is the one who does boxing. The Muslim is the one who does Islam. Islam is the name of a practice and that is why I say in the end we will not be asked what happened, we will be asked what did you do. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will not ask you what happened in philosophy, Allah will ask what did you do. Yallah I made dua, Yallah I prayed tahajjud, Yallah I cried before you, you are my witness, Yallah I had some money to donate, I donated money. I could raise my voice, I raised my voice, Alhamdulillah. Allah will not ask was it successful? No. That is not in our control. Successful, not successful is Allah the one who decides that. What did you do? And the same thing applies to everything else. I am giving you the philosophy only because that is a right in the face example that we have here. I submit to you, please understand this. I asked one of the scholars, one of my teachers to give me advice. And I thought he will tell me, make sure you pray tahajjud every day, make sure you read so much of Quran every day, make sure you do all these wadaif and these afqar and make sure you fast. He told me make sure that you do not commit any sins. He didn’t say any of this. He said make sure that you do not commit a sin. So I was surprised, I said sheikh, I agree with you, I mean I am not saying I want to commit sin, but the point is I thought you were going to tell me to read this and do that and fasting and charities. He said no. He gave a beautiful example. He said it is like a bucket, take this bottle for example, right? If there are holes in this bottle and water is leaking out, so this water level is falling because it is leaking out. Now if I don’t want this water level to fall and somebody says, you know the simplest thing is take it outside, put a hose, turn on the pressure, force water into the bottle, level will rise. Will that happen? What will really happen? Yes? The water will come out even more, right? Because it is already leaking and if I force water in, the leak will increase. So what is the first thing to do? Plug the leaks. If I plug the leaks, then the water will remain where it is and even if I am now pouring in a little bit of water, every drop will stay in there. Yes? Done? Okay. So that is the point we have to understand this. Doing good matters, but sinning matters even more. Make sure that we do not commit anything, any sin knowingly. Make sure our eyes do not look at anything which Allah has made haram. Make sure your ears, my ears do not listen to anything which Allah has prohibited us from listening to. Make sure that our tongue which is used for the recitation of the Quran is not used somewhere else for foul language, encroaching people. Make sure that our hands and feet which inshallah on the Day of Judgment will shine because of the wudu we used to do. Make sure that they don’t go to the wrong place, right? Do not commit sin. I sometimes say to people, when I am saying to people, I am saying to myself that today, Alhamdulillah, the amount of knowledge of Islam that the average person has is so much that it is enough to get them into Jannah even if they do not learn one single word more from today. Supposing you say from today, I am not learning even one word more till I die. Will I still go to Jannah? I will guarantee you will go to Jannah with the knowledge you have. Let me prove that to you. Rasoola salallahu alaihi wa sallam said, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says, this is hadith He said, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says that if my slave prays the five prayers that I have made compulsory on him at their time, then on the Day of Judgment, I take upon myself the responsibility to forgive him and enter him into Jannah. And if he does not pray those five prayers on time, then this responsibility, I don’t take that responsibility. I may do it, I may not do it. Now tell me, how many Muslims are there who do not know that they should pray five times a day on time? Is there any Muslim like this? Even the non-Muslims know this. When we do interfaith work, the non-Muslims, they know Muslims pray five times a day. How can every Muslim know this? I must pray five times a day. So even if I learn nothing more, as long as I am praying five times a day at the right time, insha’Allah, Jannah is by. So if I don’t get into Jannah, who’s fault is it? So let us be very clear about that.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:05 — 17.2MB) | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | Email | Youtube Music | RSS