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Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil’alameen. Wassalatu wassalamu ala ishrafil anbiya wal mursaleen. Muhammadur Rasoolullah. Sallallahu alaihi wa ala alihi wa sahibu sallam. Taslimun kathir al-kathira. Fama ba’du.
My brother and sister, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said in Surah Al-Anbiya: “Wa izta’azzana rabbukum la in shakartum la azidannakum wa la in kafartum inna azabila shadid.” Allah said, which means, your Lord has announced that the one who is grateful for My blessings, I will increase those for him. And the one who is ungrateful, let him beware of My punishment, which is severe.
Imam Jalaluddin Rumi, rahmatullah alayhi, he said that there is an action that attracts rizq, that attracts provision, like a magnet attracts iron filings. And he said that action is the sajda of shukr. The interesting and beautiful thing about the sajda of shukr is that this is the only sajda which does not require wudu. Which does not require that you should do it in any particular place, meaning in the masjid or in the musalla or something. Obviously, the place has to be clean, but… And it does not require that it should be done in the direction of the qibla. It can be done in any direction. And it does not require to be done in a particular time. It can be done at any time of the day or night. So, the sajda of shukr. Just a sajda to thank Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala for whatever it is that is in your heart at that time.
And Ma’a Ar-Rum said that just do the sajda, thank Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, get up and do your work. No song and dance and no drama. Just go, make a sajda. Alhamdulillah. Say Alhamdulillah. This is something that we, I remind myself and you, this is something that we should very seriously consider. Sit down and thank. An attitude of gratitude is the source and the fundamental reason for gratitude. For all happiness. When Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, that I will increase the blessings. Of course, Allah knows the meaning of what He said. The very first increase in blessing happens when you are thankful for something because you then really enjoy it. Until then, you take it for granted. Right? Supposing you buy a new car. You sit in the car, you just enjoy it. The smell of the new car. Right? You start it, it starts, it runs beautifully. Say Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah. Allah Ta’ala gave me this car. You look at your spouse, you look at your children, you look at your parents and say Alhamdulillah, Allah Ta’ala gave me these people, these connections and these individuals in my life who are a source of such blessing for me. Just think about that. Just think about it. Just imagine.
I always remind myself and you, how many of us thank Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la that He gave us specifically the parents that He gave us. Not simply saying, “Oh Allah gave me this.” No, no, no. This man. The fact that this man is my father, not somebody else. The fact that this lady is my mother. How many of us thank Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta’ala for our children that He gave us. This child is my child. Not some other child. This child. Our spouses. This lady is my wife. This man is my husband. How many of us call this man as my husband? Consciously, sincerely, thank Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta’ala. Alhamdulillah, Allah who gave this. Because I know people who have all the money in the world. They have children and the only thing they can do when they look at their children is to cry. Because those children are a source of so much pain for them. And vice versa, I know the opposite also. I know children who are born into very wealthy families. There’s a kind of wealth that may Allah have mercy on all of us here and may Allah give you. I don’t even make this dua for you. Because I know people who have it. It’s wealth you can’t even imagine. Forget about it. But those children… they look at their parents, they don’t get one minute of peace and one minute of khair from their parents. The parents are a source of continuous problem for them.
I know people who have a lot of wealth but health issues. And all the money in the world, I mean they have access to the best of the best medical treatments. Mayo Clinic, this, that you name it. Absolutely top of the line. Because Shifa is in the hand of Allahﷻ. Shifa is not in Mayo Clinic or this or that. Shifa is in the hand of Allahﷻ. On the other hand, our cook, her husband had a stroke, got paralyzed; they took him to Uswaniya Hospital and the doctors said we have to do a surgery, spinal surgery, and after that he’ll be insha’Allah he’ll be okay. People thought he died yesterday, he died today. That’s all they said. Uswaniya Hospital: what will happen to him? He would have died tomorrow instead of that, he will die today. The man walked out of that hospital completely cured, fine, absolutely. And the whole thing got done for free. Because Shifa is in the hands of Allahﷻ.
A man came to Sayyidina Umar ibn al-Khattab and he said, “You keep saying make dua, make dua, what do I have to make dua for? I have nothing.” I have no money, I’ve got no house, I’ve got nothing property, job. So what should I thank Allah for? Sayyidina Umar ibn al-Khattab said to him, “Can you urinate without burning? Without any burning sensation? Can you urinate?” He said, “Yeah.” He said, “Thank Allah for this. Thank Allah that you can urinate without any pain.” If you think about it, today people who have UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) actually have kidney failure because they will not drink water out of dehydration; they get other problems because they are afraid to urinate. It is so painful. So Alhamdulillah, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala does not give us this. As they say, you have a thousand problems until you have a health problem then you have only one problem. Subhan Allah Aajib. May Allah have mercy on us. You’ve got all this… this is how it is: that property, that mother with her kids, that mother… everything goes, only that health problem remains. We thank Allah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah.
The issue with many of the Stoic philosophers and also with human beings is we tend to live either in the past or we live in the future. So, we are either thinking about the past—this fellow did this to me, that happened to me, I lost this, this loss happened to me, you know, I should have done that, if he had done this deal, he would have got it. This is what is going on in our mind, in the past. Or, in the future: now tomorrow what will happen? This Iran and US deal looks like it will fall through, then what will happen? Then what will happen to the economy? Then what will happen again? The state of Hormuz Strait closes; that means there will be a gas shortage; that means there will be a diesel shortage, petrol shortage; then the prices of food will go up; then after that my roti will cost… Because while he is doing all this mental calculation, he is sitting in his house, in peace and harmony, nobody is bothering him, there is no bomb falling on his head, right? He is eating a good meal, mashallah. Which has been cooked for him, nice, good food, hot food. He wants to go somewhere, he has got a nice car, he has got a tank full of gas, he can drive and go somewhere, he can come back. All of this he does not notice. He will eat his food, he will drive his car, he will come back, but his mind is still: “What will happen in the Hormuz Strait? What will happen here?” This is like buying trouble.
They said, the past is history. The future is a mystery. What we have today is a gift. And that is why it is called a present. It is a nice little quote. Very nice. The past is history. Whether it was good or bad or whatever, but it is finished, khalas, gone. It is not coming back.
The future, we do not know what is going to happen. Allah knows. Only and only Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala knows what is going to happen in the future.
What should you be concerned about today? So, alhamdulillah, Allah has kept me safe. Allah has kept me, given me a good family. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has given me enough wealth. I do not have to ask anybody. We are not. We do not need anything.
The beautiful hadith of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, you know, I keep on repeating this again and again. They are so beautiful, these things. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, if you wake up in the morning and your body is functioning in good health, if you wake up in the morning and your body is functioning, you have a roof over your head, which means you are living in aman. There is nobody threatening your life. And you have food enough for that day, which means one meal.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said, if this is your condition, it is as if the whole world has been collected for you. One meal. Our fridge is being made, there is so much shit in it. Think about it. Full, full. But still, what will happen tomorrow? Tomorrow you will die. Which is a definite thing. What will happen tomorrow? Tomorrow you will die. I will die. You will be in your khabar. Then it won’t matter whether there is a Hormuz threat or whether Trump is signing deals or not. What will matter is what happens six feet down in your grave.
So let us worry about that. I have a very dear friend of mine in America called Tariq Bandur. Make dua for him. Allah Ta’ala give him perfect health, inshallah. Tariq bhai is about 75, 76. His mother was… an Alzheimer’s patient for I think maybe at least 20 years. She died a few years ago at the age of some 90 plus. So she was… He had kept her, she was in a facility because keeping her home was impossible because she would do anything, go anywhere, he had to go to work. But every single day for all those years he would cook food for her and take the food for her. He would keep that there and feed her himself. Every single day.
He never took a holiday, never did anything. He served his mother like this. I have never seen things like this. Served his mother like that. Alhamdulillah she passed away. Now he has arthritis. So, you know, joint pains, this, that. So he says when I get up in the morning, it’s like I have one bone. One dry bone. I can’t move, can’t bend, can’t do this. But he tells me, yaar bhai, uska faida ye hai. Ki Allah yadata hai. You imagine. The man is in pain. He is saying, uska faida ye hai ki Allah yadata hai. He says the benefit of that is that I remember Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. He says kuch padh lete hai, tilawat kar lete hai, nafil padh lete hai, kuch karte hai, zikar karte hai. So he says, you know, at least I make tilawat, I pray nafil, I do some zikar and so on. So Alhamdulillah, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, I remember Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala because of the pain. You imagine how, what beautiful, what a beautiful thought this is, even though there is pain.
And that’s why this is the beauty of Islam. Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, if a thorn pricks the foot of a believer, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala will forgive a sin because of that. That’s what thorn pricks. Of course, we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to forgive our sins without any pain and without any suffering and without any disease and without any illness because Allah is not compelled to give pain in order to forgive. Allah forgives. And Allah, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala can forgive and we ask Allah to forgive us without anything. But if in our qadar, for example, whatever it is, if it is our destiny that there is something, we ask Allah to remove that and to give us complete and total cure. But while it is there, even that is a source of benefit. Even that is a source of rahmah. And we say Alhamdulillah.
And that’s why Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam used to say, Alhamdulillahi ala kulli hal. Praise be to Allah in every condition. Ala kulli hal. Whether the aal is good or not good, ala haq kulli hal. May Allah have mercy on us and may Allah Ta’ala all praise and thanks to Allah in every condition that we find ourselves in. So I remind myself when you let us be thankful, let us always be thankful without any reservation and without any hesitation for all that Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah Allah Ta’ala gave us and let us live in the presence of Allah. It’s Alhamdulillah. Allah has kept me well. Let me enjoy my life. Let me thank Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la and live with it. Live the past is gone. The future is in the hands of Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la. What more do you want? Allah Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la So my future is in the hands of So Allah Ta’ala has not brought us to ruin the world. Think about it. Allah Ta’ala has not created us to become a waste. He has not made us to be like this. He has not created us to be like this. ko paitha kare, taklip dene ko paitha kare, toh phir, so really, I mean, this is something we need to really sit down and reflect and think and say, Allah did not create me and send me into this world to destroy me, Allah didn’t send me into this world to trouble me, to give me pain, no, so Allah will look after me, Alhamdulillah, we thank Allahﷻ, and in that process, if there is some test, Alhamdulillah, we say, Allah, this is also from you, please help me to get through this, relieve me from this, and make this a means of khair and barakah for me, Alhamdulillah, so we ask Allah to make us among the shakireen, to make us among those who are thankful, we ask Allah to completely and totally cure all our brothers and sisters who are in any, who have any ailment, we ask them to give them shifa kamil wa ajla, we make special dua for our brother and our elder, Mahfuz Bhai, who is, Allah knows, in a, not in a good state, physically, we ask Allahﷻ to completely cure him, we ask Allah if it is, his last time, we ask Allah to grant him khatimul khair and janatul firdausul ala wa ghair hisab, wa sallallahu ala nabiyyil kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma’in wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh, Ya Rahman wa Rahim.