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My brothers and sisters, this is a follow-up on my previous khatira, that happiness is a choice. Happiness, you don’t become happy because of the possessions you have or the circumstances you find yourself in or because of what somebody else does for you or does not do for you and so on. Happiness is not a factor of external things that happen to you in life and definitely not of any material possessions. Happiness is a choice. You become happy when you want to become happy. And that’s a very powerful and very empowering thought to keep in mind because you will find people in the best of situations who are constantly complaining. I have a friend of mine who, I even joke with him, but that’s his life. He’s had the best of jobs. He’s risen to the maximum height possible in his career.
He has wealth. He has properties. He has, you know, all kinds of stuff. But anytime you talk to him, you always say, yeah, you know, this is a but, yeah, but. I mean, this but is the root cause. The but is the biggest and the most clear symptom of this disease of ingratitude, of being ungrateful to Allah. Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest Quest
and in that he had all his experiments and so on and so forth. And his whole life’s work, so it was, you know, God knows, a few thousand experiments maybe. And one day there was a fire in the night. It was a huge fire, completely uncontrollable.
And Thomas Edison’s son says that the minute I discovered and I realized there was a fire, I went looking for my dad. I thought he must be going completely crazy because that’s his whole life’s work. And it’s just, you know, going up in flames and nothing can be done to stop it. And he said, I saw him standing there with his hands clasped behind his back, watching this fire. So he said, I went to him, I said, Dad, are you okay? Is it, you know, this terrible thing has happened? He said, go call your mom, tell her she’ll never see a fire this big again. Now imagine, this is the attitude of the man. His whole life’s work is going up in flames before his eyes. And he tells his son, go call your mom because she’s never going to see a fire like this again in her life. So the son says to his father, he said, he says, that’s okay. But I mean, you know, this is your whole life’s work. I mean, what do you have to say about that? He said, look, how many people get a chance to have all their mistakes wiped out and to start afresh? Yes. How many people get a chance to have all their mistakes wiped away, wiped off and to start afresh?
Now, the same thing. It is a fire. All your life’s work, all your experiments, everything is going up in flames.
The question is, do you go into despair? Do you commit suicide?
Do you say my life is over? Or do you say this is a fresh beginning? Who makes that choice? It’s as simple as that. Who makes that choice? And the answer is very simple. You know, I don’t need to tell you the answer, right? But do we make that choice? This is our challenge.
Allah SWT did not promise us ease. Allah SWT promised us growth. And growth comes with pain.
No pain. No gain. Growth comes with pain. The question is, how do you see that?
I used to do Aikido at one point in time when I was in Bangalore. And we were sparring in the dojo. My partner and I using Bokken, which is wooden swords. Basically wooden sticks, slightly shaped like the, like the katana, the Japanese samurai sword. But obviously they have no sharp edges and so on. So my partner, obviously we are all friends. So he was, you know, sparring with me. So he’s attacking me and I’m blocking and so on.
Our sensei, Julius Abe, he came up to us and he said, you know what? The best, the best partner, your dearest and closest friend, is the one who, when he’s sparring with you, fights you like, as if he’s your worst enemy.
Right? He’s your best friend. He’s the one who in the dojo, when he’s sparring with you, he fights you as if you are his worst enemy.
So I said, he said, he said, he said, I know what you’re saying. But, you know, could you explain that a bit more? So he said, what do you want to happen if your partner actually meets an enemy out in the world? Do you want him to win or you want him to die? I said, of course I want him to win. He said, then fight him like his worst enemy. Because only when you put your life and soul into that fight, is that friend of yours, he’s going to learn how to survive that. But instead of that, if you just, you know, the moment he touches you, you fall down to make him feel good. He’s learning nothing. He’s building nothing.
So obviously, you will not deliver a killing stroke. But at the same time, you will fight him to the best of your ability because you love him. Because he’s your friend. You will not give him an easy time. You will give him a hard time. You will point out his mistakes. You will push back.
Everyone else around him might say, oh, wow, fantastic, great job. But you will say, yeah, that’s a great job. However, but, and this time the but is a good but.
You could have done better because I know you. This is not your standard.
Alhamdulillah, you know, this has happened to me. And I’m blessed. You know, one of the, these two guys, Umair and Azhar,
my right hand and my left hand, and depending on who I love the most at that point, they become the right hand, the other one becomes the left hand. But the best thing I like about them is that they will not allow me to do anything which does not come up to the standard that, Alhamdulillah, we have learned to live, to live, to live, to set for ourselves. I was just, I’ve just finished doing my intro video for my consulting business.
And Azhar made me do that video, I don’t know, maybe seven, eight times. The same thing. But he says, no, it’s not good enough. Not good enough. Too fast, too slow, do this, do that. And I am thrilled when this happens. I’m thrilled when this happens. I’m thrilled when Umair tells me that this particular lecture, the quality of the sound or the, you know, what you have said, the way you said it or what not, should be done again. I am very happy when this happens.
Because when somebody is pushing back and somebody is telling, pointing out a mistake, never take it negatively. This is a wonderful thing. This is, imagine you are in the dojo. You are in, the boxing ring and you are with your boxing partner, you are with your Aikido partner and you, you, you know, you think of it any way you want. And this person is, this person loves you, this person wants you to succeed and therefore, he is giving you a hard time. Because he is building your muscle for you. You build muscles by working against resistance. By lifting heavy weights. Not by lifting, fountain pens. That’s also a way technically, right? But that doesn’t help you. You, you, you build muscle strength by working against resistance. By lifting heavy weights. Now when you lift heavy weights, what is the first thing that happens? It pains. The whole body becomes stiff. But no, you push through that pain. You push through that pain.
I walk five miles a day. I walk five miles a day. I walk five miles a day. And believe me, it’s not easy. It is not easy. Especially when you come to the halfway point. When I come to 6,000 steps or 7,000 steps, I still have to do another 3,000 or 4,000. Because I do over 10,000, 11,000 steps. So, you know, now believe me, it’s very easy to say, well, you know, where the hell did we get these numbers from? And, you know, were people counting steps before step counters were there? And I can make any, any number of excuses. But the fact is, I have not done my 10,000 steps for today. And if that is the case, then I am harming myself.
I say no.
Sometimes I’m very tired. Sometimes I even have, you know, I feel sort of constricted in my chest. Alhamdulillah, my heart is absolutely fine. There’s no problem with that. And I know all of this is just, you know, the body playing games. I say, no, I will complete those 10,000 steps, even if it kills me. It doesn’t kill me. It actually makes me stronger. But you have to do it.
It will be boring. It will be, you know, so find something to do. So what I do is, I listen to all my podcasts when I do these walks. I usually walk alone. I don’t walk with anybody. If I walk with somebody, I walk with someone who can keep his mouth shut. So just the companionship is, alhamdulillah, nice. If it’s there, if it’s not there, that’s fine. I mean, I don’t need it. I listen to my podcasts. So I get my education. And I am, you know, also getting my physical effort and physical strength.
It is how you choose to see what comes at you.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala sends things at you.
And remember, there is no one who loves you more than Allah because He created you.
The mother who gave you birth, only gave you birth, she didn’t create you. And she loves you more than any other human being on the face of the earth.
And what about the one who created you? Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala jalla jalaluhu.
There’s no one who loves me and no one who loves you more than Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. So when Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala sends something at you, at you and me, whether it is financial difficulty, whether it’s health, whether it is wealth, whether it’s children, whether it’s spouse, whatever, political, external,
look at them, all of them, as,
and ta’ala la wal amsal, I’m not giving the example of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala, but look at it as your coach, your mentor, your sensei is giving you graduation, graduated exercises, graduated tasks, graduated difficulties in the dojo, in the gym, in the boxing ring or whatever you want to call it.
All of whom, all of which have only one aim and that aim is to make you stronger.
So do not resent it. Welcome it. Alhamdulillah.
My Rabb, his tawajjo is on me.
My Rabb’s tawajjo is on me. The famous story of Ayub Ali Salam who was, you know, he went through this whole test of loss of wealth and loss of his family and and all kinds of things and then physical loss of his own strength and disease and you know.
And when he, the story goes on, it goes that when he, Alhamdulillah, Allah SWT removed everything and restored him and made him stronger, better and everything else than he was and somebody asked him, he said, which was, what was the best time of your life? And he says, the best time of my life was when I was in the middle of all this sickness. I was in the middle of all the loss and my Rabb, Jalla Jaladhu, every day used to ask me, yeah, Ayub, how are you feeling? Allah doesn’t need to ask. He said, just an inquiry that my Rabb used to ask me, yeah, Ayub, how are you feeling? And he said, that doesn’t happen now because I’m, you know, I’m all good.
So I remind myself and you that when Allah SWT gives us some difficulty, this is, inshallah, in order to make us better, to forgive our sins. Allah does not need to give difficulty to forgive sins. But this is the normal course of things.
Allah SWT brought out a pregnant she-camel from a rock.
Allah SWT created Isa AS without a father. Allah SWT created Adam AS without a father or mother.
So it is, we are not talking about the khudrat of Allah, what he can do. He can do anything. The khudrat of Allah SWT is that he can do anything. He has no boundaries. But the sunnat of Allah, the system that Allah SWT has created in the world, what Allah SWT normally does, this follows a pattern. And that pattern is what Allah SWT told us in the Quran. وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْسٍ مِنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ أُبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَسَابَتُمْ مُصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَهِ رَاجِعُونَ أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُحْتَدُونَ Allah SWT said in the Quran, truly and surely we will test you.
وَلنَا الْخَوْفِ with fear, with insecurity,
وَالْجُوعِ with hunger, which is loss of wealth.
وَنَقْسِي مِنْ الْأَمْوَالِ and by loss in your material possessions.
وَلَنْفُسِ وَثَمَرَتْ and loss within yourself, which means disease, accidents. وَثَمَرَتْ in your children, in your family.
And then Allah says, and Allah says, we will test you, definitely. I will test you with all of these. Maybe all of them, maybe some of them. May Allah protect us from all tests. And then Allah SWT said, وَبَشِّرِ السَّابِرِينَ Allah said, give the glad tidings, good news for those who have sabr.
Those who have patience. What is that sabr? الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتُمْ مُسِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ غَاجِعُونَ These are the people who when they are faced with this musiba, when they are faced with these difficulties, trials, tribulations, loss, bereavement, do they moan and groan? Do they complain? Do they, you know, run around, you know, saying all kinds of improper things? No. What do they do? They say, قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ غَاجِعُونَ We belong to Allah and to Allah is our return.
Whatever I have, was not mine. It was Allah’s. Allah took it away. Allah’s was His right.
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ غَاجِعُونَ And then Allah said, what about such people? أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ These are the people on whom there is blessing and salawat and salam from their Rabb. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is saying, I am sending salam on these people.
وَرَحْمَةٌ And the mercy of Allah. وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُخْتَدُونَ And these are the people who are rightly guided. Who is giving this certificate? Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala Himself.
Now imagine, if somebody asked, a person of Iman, if somebody asked a Mumin, what are you willing to pay? What are you willing to give? In order to get a salam from Allah. In order to get a guarantee of the mercy of Allah. In order to get a salam from Allah. In order to get a salam from Allah. In order to get a salam from Allah. In order to get a salam from Allah. In order to get a certificate to say that you are rightly guided. What are you willing to do for that? Any person of Iman will say, take everything I have. Every single thing I have. Including my life. But give me this one thing. Because this is guarantee for Janah. This is guarantee for success in the hereafter. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is not asking us to give everything. Normal course of life. Difficulties we get. We meet difficult people. We meet people who, we meet people who, can do good but they won’t do good. We meet people who will betray us. We meet people who will lie to us and cheat us.
Right? We meet people who are needlessly difficult or needlessly unpleasant or whatever.
Or we have difficulties in other ways. Difficulties of health and wealth and accidents and so on and so on.
All of these are geared to put us in a position where when we see them, when this happens and we say, Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillahi ala kulli halal. All praise to my Rabb Jalla Jalaluhu. To Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala in every situation and my being. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajoon. I am for Allah. I belong to Allah. Everything I have belongs to Allah. And to Allah is my return.
Allah is putting us in this position. Where we have an opportunity, when we are faced with a difficulty, with a loss, to look at it like this. And the benefit of that is, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says, Salawatun min Rabbihim wa rahmah. Alaihim salawatun min Rabbihim wa rahmah. And these people are the blessings and the salam from Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. And His mercy. Faulaika hum wal muhtadhoon. Allahumma ahdinaa fiman hadhayth wa aafinaa fiman aafayth wa tawallanaa fiman tawalayth wa barik lanaa fiman aatayth. wa qinaa wasrifannaa sharramaa qadayth. Fa’innaka taqdihi wa la yuqda’ alayk. Fa’innahu la yazillu mawaalayt. wa la ya’izu man aadayt. Tabarakta Rabbana wa ta’alayt. Nastaghfiruka Allahumma wa natubu ilayk. Wa sallallahu ala nabiyyil kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma’in. Bi rahmatika Allahumma wa rahmatullah.