Late Night Talks (2024)
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Do Not Cut Allah Off | Late Night Talks
In the last 10 nights of Ramadan, Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Yaser Birjas reflect on the book “The Disease and Its Cure” by Imam Ibn al-Qayyim.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Waalaikumussalam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Mubaraka anabiyayna Muhammadin wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. Tasliman kathira thimma ma baad. We welcome you back to those beautiful late night khatiras and heart softeners from Valley Ranch Islamic Center on this very blessed, hopefully inshallah, wa ta'ala by the grace of Allah azza wa jal, the 28th night of the month of Ramadan. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us among those who will witness layatul qadr, ya rabbil alameen. May Allah give the full reward for layatul qadr and the last ten nights of Ramadan and the entire month of Ramadan, ya rabbil alameen. Brothers and sisters, last night we discussed together with Sheikh Omar Suleiman the subject of how sins, they remove the sense of protectiveness, the sense of haya. We said that when it comes to protectiveness, this is basically is the barrier. These are the shields. These are the fences by which you protect your heart from falling into the traps of the sins and so forth. When you have that sense of jealousy for the deen of Allah azza wa jal, sense of protectiveness for that which is right and wrong based on what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Quran and the sunnah of the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam. Like having a disciplined life as a Muslim, that is very powerful. That will help you stay away from that which is wrong because we have a high standard of character because of that. Now, in order for you to fuel that, you need that sense of haya. You need the sense of modesty. We said that haya is an inner thing that translates into an act of modesty, how you act with people, how you act with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, with the opposite gender and so on. And obviously, we differentiate between haya which is a positive energy to make you do that which is right and stay away from that which is wrong versus khajal which is a misunderstanding of haya. Many people, they think khajal is okay. Meaning, no, don't pray in front of everybody because I feel shy from doing my religious duty to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. No, you shouldn't. That is considered khajal and it's not acceptable. Al-haya is a different story.
Shaykh, now we talked about a very important topic and I want to hear inshallah from you and your point on that. Bismillah wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu. As-salamu alaykum warahmatullahi wa barakatu. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala have mercy on the author, Imam al-Qayyim rahimahullah and accept from him. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gather us all in al-Firdaws al-a'ala with our Imam Muhammad, Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, on the highest level. Subhan Allah, this is really an interesting idea here because it ties a different consequence, a major consequence that has probably the least immediate material effect in your life to this concept of sinning. And that is the greatest thing that you can gain in trial is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The worst thing you can lose in sin is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala himself. And so when you're talking about losing out on a ni'm, on blessings, on wealth, on prosperity, on authority, when you're talking about the way that sin can corrupt your family life, it can corrupt your home. The worst thing as Imam al-Qayyim rahimahullah mentions here is that it would cause you to lose Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And here's the thing, if you lose Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, it's not something that will be as immediately apparent as some of those other consequences. But it is going to be the worst effect of that sin. And so it's kind of like haya is your protection, right? Between you and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, this concept of being in awe of the sight of Allah. And a person who has gone from shame to shamelessness has deliberately calculated in a way that does not include the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in their daily equation. And so as a result of that, there is not just the loss of barakah, there's this concept now of abandonment. And I'm going to say from the outset, because we are trying to balance out, obviously, hope and fear, hope and fear.
So if you've noticed over the last few nights, we always kind of start with the consequence. Then how do we kind of deal with that consequence? Abandonment is not the same thing as being banned. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, so long as you are alive, he has not shut the door on you, even if you left the house, right? So even if you've been kicked out of the house, you still have a phone and you still have a way back. Whereas Iblis is the only one who is banned, kicked out, rajim, right? Whereas the rest of us have a way back to the house. But this is where the chapter now ties into that, this notion of abandonment. JazakAllah khair, subhanAllah. I remember what he also said, what he said last time, in regards to how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, with all these boundaries, with all these rules that he sets for you, he says, he says, no one loves to give excuses. No one loves to give grace and grace period more than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So even though the boundaries are still there, and Allah is saying this is for your own good. But if you violate these rules, and if you break some of these rules, and you fall short from holding to these principles, Allah still opens the door of grace and tawbah and repentance for you to come back to him. So being righteous, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're flawless, you have no sins, no mistakes. Being righteous that you take about accountability of what you do. And whenever you do something wrong, you find your way back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And even if the door was closed, you keep knocking, because Allah promised, he will eventually open the door. And that's one of the beautiful things Ibn Qayyim rahimallah, he says, قال إن الله تعالى إذا أغلق بابا بحكمته فتح بابا برحمته. And when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala closes a door out of wisdom, he will open another out of mercy. Like you will never find all the doors to be closed in front of you. So matter of fact, one of our mistakes is when people keep knocking on the same door over and over again forever,
because they want to go through this door particularly. But Allah has opened for them tons of doors behind them. So this is what brings us here to the very important notion of the next chapter inshallah wa ta'ala. Would you mind actually if I kind of elaborate on this analogy for a bit? Because it's one that actually resonates in a very profound way for anyone who had a deep fear of disappointing their parents. If anyone hates to disappoint their parents. And so Allah belongs to the greatest example. The house is not all the same. You've got the bedroom, you've got the living room, you've got the courtyard. I want you to actually kind of, you know, not embellish the analogy but take it a step further. Okay. There is an owner of the house clearly and that owner is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sets boundaries and gives you rules. And you hate to disappoint Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who is Maliki yawm al-deen, the master of all things. You hate to disappoint him. And if you think about a parent who calls you back, probably one of the worst things that could happen to you is when your parents gives up on you. When the person that has constantly been trying to set boundaries and restrictions all of these years or trying to call you back just says, you know what, just go. It's not out of a lack of love for you but that can be one of the worst feelings like, man, I disappointed to that level, right? There are different ways that the ulama conceived of this idea of coming near to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so I want to give you an analogy in this regard. I want you to think about those that are outside the house and those that are inside the house but that want to be in close proximity to the Lord of the worlds. Think of the outside as sinning and the inside as ihsan, pursuing ihsan. I don't want to just be in the living room. I want to enjoy closeness, qurb, closeness to my Lord.
And this is when you start to see that one sentence, Sufiyan al-Thawri rahimahullah actually mentions this of the genius of the way that this religion is given to us. Is that the same sentence can appeal to you based upon your circumstances. So for example, wabil as'arihum yastaghfiroon. They're seeking forgiveness in the last part of the night. And he says rahimahullah ta'ala that some people are seeking forgiveness in the last part of the night because they feel like their qiyam wasn't sufficient. So you got people that have been praying all night and they're like wabil as'arihum yastaghfiroon. And you're experiencing that now. You're experiencing that in these last ten nights. You prayed but you feel like you didn't pray enough. Maybe you feel like some moment slipped you. So you're asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for forgiveness at the end of the night because you feel deficient. Whereas he says for some people it's waking up to say istighfar, to seek forgiveness because they have sinned and they're trying to come back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Faja'alallahu waqtas sahar. Allah made that time of the night the best time for both the sinner to come back and the worshipper to draw nearer. So here's the example I want you to think about. One of the salaf and it was one of the most powerful things I ever read. He said that he had a dream and in that he perceived that he was in conversation with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So he said, ya rab kayfa tariqo ilayk? Like oh my lord how do I get to you? Imagine if you just like have Allah in front of you and now you know you're in dialogue with the Lord. Ya rab kayfa tariqo ilayk? How do I get to you? How do I come to you? And Allah azawajal responded and said utruk nafsak wa ta'al. Leave yourself and come. Leave yourself and come. Put yourself at the door, your nafs, the lowly self at the door and approach me. I don't shut the door on anybody. And so if you're outside the house trying to get in, utruk shaytanak wa ta'al. Put the devil out and at least get inside the house so that you're safe.
And then if you are looking to be in a state of ihsan, in a state of true closeness to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, utruk nafsak wa ta'al. Put your lowly self aside and approach the Lord of the worlds with these beloved deeds that we have. And the same sentences, the same ayat, the same notions apply to us no matter where we are on that journey back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. May Allah give us not just the place in the house, but a place in close proximity to Him in these last ten nights and beyond. Allahumma ameen. Ameen. And that brings us to the chapter that we're having today, subhanAllah. المعاصي سبب نسيان الله لعبده. Sins can cause Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to abandon a person and forsake them completely, to leave them for themselves and for the shaytan. Here we're talking about you desiring to be with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You want to have that proximity to Allah azza wa jal. But then eventually because you're not going in the direction of those doors, you're going somewhere else. Obviously if you turn your back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you're not going to find your way. You're going to find some way, but not the way that we're supposed to be. And that's what he says, rahimahullah, qal aw min aqab wa min aqobatiha. Some of these punishments that people receive because of their sinful life. أنها تستدعي نسيان الله لعبده وتركه. That it is really, it causes Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to abandon this person and forsake him completely. وتخليته بينه وبين نفسه وشيطانه. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forsaken you and leave you to yourself and to shaytan. So shaytan starts devising all these plans for you and you just follow the shaytan. Your nafs obviously feels attracted to the shaytan's whispers and suggestions because it's the lowly nafs that you talked about. And eventually it becomes easy for them to follow that path. He says, qal wahadha ahlakul halak alladhi la yurja minhu najan. He goes, this is the worst form of destruction. That is, you can't find salvation from this. Because if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has abandoned an individual
and you forget about Allah azza wa jal, Allah will make you forget about yourself. So what does that exactly mean? That means basically is when Allah causes you to forget about yourself, then you start forgetting about achieving, because of these sins, what is good for you. What is for your own welfare, your own protection, your own growth, your own... You know when someone is obsessed with a particular sin, you guys tell me, how many opportunities a person will abandon, will skip, would turn down because their obsession with fulfilling that desire, that particular sin, is taking over their mind, their heart, their way of thinking at all. Can you imagine that? So you're supposed to be, let's say, the smartest person on planet. You're supposed to be the greatest engineer, or the most successful business person. We talk about dunya goals, right? You're supposed to be the one and for all, the most devoted worshipper of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Lofty goals for the akhira. But eventually, if you start committing these sins, the desire to fulfill the pleasure, the temporary pleasure that comes with that sin, is going to take you far away from fulfilling all the obligations to get you there. Even in matters of dunya, how are you going to advance if you're always busy just satisfying yourself, your ego, your desire? I mean, you're not going to find the way that takes you to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's success. But if someone has the fear of Allah in their heart, and they know Allah azza wa jal, and they're walking their way to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, they will find it easy, easy for them inshallah azza wa jal, to turn away from all these temptations, because I'm focused, I'm disciplined. How is that going to happen? With a sense of protectiveness. I have haya. I have the glorification of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in my heart. I have honor that I need to protect.
All these sins come from that, and that's how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala helped them reach that good point in life. But if they decide, if they decide to turn away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's sins, Allah will cause them to forget about the path, the journey that they're on, and they get lost. And Shaykh, this in particular, Al-Qayyim rahimahullah, refers to al-mubiqat, right? The destructive sins, the major sins. This is where that distinction becomes super important. There's a difference between someone who's trying and slipping, and someone who's sinning and trying to sin. And when the Prophet ﷺ says, إِنَّ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ شِرَّ وَلِكُلِّ شِرَّةٍ فَتْرَةٍ That everything has an upper limit and a lower limit, right? You got your peak and you got your low course. The scholars mentioned that the shirrah, which is what you're in right now, this is your peak. Your peak performance is when you're doing the obligations and more. You're doing the obligations and more. Your fatrah is when you're low faith, when you're really not feeling like it, right? You hit a low point and you're not feeling like worshipping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And at that point, you don't do al-kabair, you don't do the major sins, and you don't leave off your obligations. So I want you to understand this concept again. The Prophet ﷺ is saying, here's the spectrum of the believer. Shirrah, your peak, which is when everything is firing on all cylinders. You got your salah, your qiyam, your Qur'an, your siyam, all of it going all together. Fasting, charity, everything. Your low point, all of us have a low point. The Prophet ﷺ says, everyone has a low point. Your low point, even then, you don't give off your obligations and you don't commit the major sins. And the Prophet ﷺ said, لَا يَزْنِي الزَّانِ حِينَ يَزْنِي وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ وَلَا يَسْرِقْ حِينَ يَسْرِقْ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ A believer does not commit adultery while he is committing adultery, or a person. I'm sorry, an adulterer does not commit adultery while he is committing adultery, and he's a believer. وَلَا يَسْرِقْ حِينَ يَسْرِقْ And he doesn't steal while he is stealing, and he is a believer.
And in one narration, وَلَا يَقْتُلْ حِينَ يَقْتُلْ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ And he doesn't kill while he is killing, and he is a believer. What does that mean? The Prophet ﷺ described, in one narration, it's like Allah removes the roof of Iman, the roof of faith from you while you are committing those major sins. Ibn Abbas ﷺ describes it as, he says, this is your faith in the believer. So belief in the believer. When you are committing those major sins, it's like this. And then once you finish committing those major sins, it comes back. Whatever is left of it. Whatever is left of it. And it's not going to be the same. Because you unhook, hook, unhook, hook. It's going to be a looser hold every time, right? So Ibn Abbas ﷺ is saying, look, it's like this. When you are committing those major sins, you in belief go like this. Then when you finish, you go like this. Are you sure you are not going to die when you are here? And even if it comes back, is it going to be steady and firm? So the believer does not go into the major sins. Because once you go into that territory, you are a person who intentionally forgets Allah ﷻ. You tried, you can't do those things unless you try to forget Allah ﷻ while you are doing them. And that's when Allah says, fine. You've forgotten Allah. I've forgotten you. Not that Allah does not know you or that Allah doesn't know who you are. But Allah cuts you off until you are done. Go pursue what you are going to pursue. Once you realize that it's not what it's been made out to be and you want to come back, you know how to get back to Allah ﷻ. But don't be so sure that you won't die while you are in that state of pursuing that particular path. Which leads to the next paragraph that he talked about, alluding to the hadith that you mentioned. Sorry Sheikh, I jumped the gun with the hadith. No, Prophet ﷺ actually talks about the subject of iman here. But before this, he says, وَمِنْ عُقُوبَاتِهَا As a result of that, what happens when someone turns away from Allah ﷻ and starts living that sinful lifestyle and so forth,
فَإِنَّهَا تُخْرِجُ الْعَبْدَ مِنْ دَائِرَةِ الْإِحْسَانِ It removes you out from the circle of ihsan or from the realm of ihsan. Like imagine, the whole creation was made with ihsan and for ihsan. As Allah ﷻ, He says in Surah Tabaraka, الَّذِي بِيَدِيُ الْمُلْقَالِ الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَّلًا He created life and death in order to try you. Who amongst you will be? أَحْسَنُ عَمَّلًا Which means what? They do everything with ihsan. And ihsan here means excellence in the most perfect way, which is what we consider to be the human perfection, the relative human perfection. Not the angelic perfection, but the human perfection. And even when you make a mistake, you fix it. But the point is, when someone keeps going on that path, it takes him out of that, out of that realm of ihsan, trying to do everything perfectly, with excellence, and goodness, and so on. And he mentions, فَإِنَّ الْإِحْسَانَ وَتَمْنَعْهُ ثَوَابَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ And you will lose the reward that Allah has put for those who do things with ihsan. فَإِنَّ الْإِحْسَانَ إِذَا بَاشَرَ الْقَلْبَ مَنَعَهُمْ مِنَ الْمَعَاصِيِ He goes, ihsan, if it strikes the heart, and if it exists in the heart, it will prevent the heart from pursuing the path of sins. Why? Because ihsan is there. And doing sin is considered what? Deficiency. It's considered a failure. And your heart is looking for what? For perfection, for ihsan. But sins, it's failure. So as a result, if you don't, if you keep going after ma'as and after sins, you are losing, you are losing your moments of ihsan and leaving the realm of ihsan to the next one. قال, he said after that, it's not just a matter of, you know, leaving the realm of ihsan. He goes, if the person continues to do that, what happens? You guys, you remember Islam, as the Prophet ﷺ described in the hadith,
Jibreel and Umar ibn Khattab ﷺ, قال, Islam has three categories, right? Or three, let's say, degrees. The base degree is called what? Islam. Which means submission to the rule of Allah ﷻ. That's basically what you need to practice. The salah, the siyam, the du'a, the dhikr, and so on. Many, many people do that. But how many people do this with conviction in the heart? Or at least with conscience in the heart? Those who do so, go to the next level, al-iman. So now you have it in your heart. You're spiritual right now. And the more you do of this, the more you practice with your heart, not just with your body and with your limbs, that leads us to the highest level of Islam called what? Ihsan. In which the Prophet ﷺ described by saying, فَإِن لَّمْ تَكُنْ تَرَاهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَرَاكُ That you worship Allah ﷻ as if you see Him. That's the certainty of sight. He's talking about the sight of the heart, not the sight of the mind, not the sight of the eyes, obviously. قال فَإِن لَّمْ تَكُنْ تَرَاهُ فَإِنَّهُ يَرَاكُ If you could not get that level of certainty that you see Him, then at least you're absolutely certain that He sees you. Sheikh, I have to throw something in here that just dawned upon me as you're saying that. نعم. If the true sweetness of worship is found in knowing that Allah is watching you, what possible sweetness would you have in sin if you know that Allah is watching you while you're committing that sin? Like how bitter and like unbecoming is a sin at that point when you're thinking أنْ تَعْبُدُ اللَّهَ كَانَكَ تَرَىٰ The sweetest worship is when you're worshiping, you're not even thinking about, I mean look, it's good to think about the rewards in Jannah, but the sweetest point of worship is when you hit that moment and you know that you're talking to Him, you feel Him watching you, and your heart is observing Him, and that's the best form of worship. Can I add a little bit more to it? You know that He's watching you while He's pleased with you.
Like imagine, for example, if you have a child, right? The child comes to you with something, with a work that they've done, and you praise them for it. Then they go to continue, and they see that you're looking at them. And while you're looking at them, they know that you're happy with them, you're pleased with them, and you do that thing right now. How excited they are to do more of this. How excited, how happy they feel, that mom, dad, you know, they're looking at me, and they're excited to do more of this, because that brings the pleasure of my parents, and brings their attention to me. And that's what kids usually, they fight for in their life, the parents' attention, subhanAllah. وَلِلَّهِ الْمَثَلِ عَلَىٰ اللَّهَ هَا هَذَا الْبَسْتَ اِقْزَامٌ So you become like a show-off with your parents, right? Very much. Ibn al-Qayyim says, you know it's interesting, Ibn al-Qayyim says like every human being loves to be seen. Of course. Everyone, so riyah is a natural, look, there are sins that prey upon natural inclinations, but you're fulfilling them in a way that's displeasing to Allah. And then there are sins that are unnatural, and you have to almost cultivate something that's unnatural and perverted, and then act upon it, and those are even worse than the ones that are based on something natural. So obviously, why do people drink? They enjoy escape from their problems. Why do people commit zina? I mean, it's pretty obvious why someone would commit adultery or would fornicate because they enjoy that type of interaction. They enjoy that type of intimacy. When it comes to riyah, when it comes to wanting to be seen, everyone wants to be seen. But Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullah is saying the believer does two things. Number one, you want to be seen by Allah. Like, you know, you talk about that kid that like is like looking to their parent, like to see if their parent is looking and always seeking that approval. You want so bad to be seen by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, to the point that Fudayl rahimahullah said, you start getting protective over your good deeds to where you start hiding your good deeds the way that you'd hide your sins.
Because like, man, like, I only want Allah to see this because I only want to, I want this to be between bayni wa baynahu. I want it to be between me and him. The second thing is you delay that craving to be seen to the day of judgment. Everyone wants to show off. But you know what you do? You're waiting for the moment that you get that book in the right hand. You're going to be such a show off. If you get your book in your right hand, may Allah make us from the ahl al-yameen, from the people on the right hand. If we're, may Allah make us from the people that receive our books in our right hand. I'm going to run to you and say, Sheikh Yasir, there it is. Here's that good deed that you did not know about. Like leaving that night that I came, I left it for the sake of Allah, you know. Actually, you know, but subhanAllah, like we're going to be running to people in the majlis, like, hey, remember me? I prayed at night, you didn't know about it. Hey, I gave some charity, you were not aware of it. Check it out. We read it tonight in Surat al-Haqqa very beautifully, by the way. Here it is, here it is, here it is. So you're delaying it because at that point, Allah is the one who handed you the book and said, I'm proud of you. Now go on. Because you've secured that pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at that point. That's interesting because I want to elaborate on the child's actual example, subhanAllah, what's an interesting thing. I mean, I've seen these videos that go viral, how kids will be on the stage to perform in a school, let's say play or something. Kindergarten kids, right? They're standing all there and they have maybe 200, 300 parents sitting in front of them. And there's this young child that is looking through all the crowd. Everybody's happy, except for this child that's going to keep like worrying and anxious, they're looking around until they spot their parents. SubhanAllah, when they spot their parents and their parents wave at them, it means the whole world for them. Their smile becomes, mashAllah, they're shining. This is the exact same thing when you deal with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I don't care about people looking at me.
I'm looking for the one and only in this whole crowd that I want to please them. I want to have their pleasure because those are the, he is the one who it means to me the whole thing, obviously. So imagine this, that all this crowd and my performance and my ibadah is not for these people. I'm doing it only for the one and only because I want him to look at me. I want his attention. I want his pleasure subhanAllah wa ta'ala. And that is why he says that al-maasi would deprive you from that feeling. You will stop desiring this. You will stop looking for that moment of validation and attention and recognition. Why would you want that anyway? You feel ashamed to begin with because I know I'm not worthy of it anymore. Just like we said, that path takes you away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and goes unfortunately to destruction. And as a result, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, if you forget about me, I'm fine. I'll let you go. He will forget about you as well too. And here's the thing, Imam Ibn Qayyim says, look, that's not just it. There's more even danger, more than this. Like what? He goes, look, this has taken you out of the circle and the realm of Ihsan. But then when you go out of the realm of Ihsan, where would you go? Hopefully, the realm of Iman is still a higher degree than Islam. But then that's when he brings hadith in Nabi salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Qal salallahu alayhi wa sallam. He says, qal fain aradallahu bihi khaira. If Allah still wills good for this person, aqarrahu fee da'irati umumil mu'mineen. Still, he will keep you within the realm of the believers. Still, overall, not the muhsineen anymore, but the believers. Qal fain asahu bil maasi. But if this person continues, continues to commit sins, even though you're still in the realm of the believers, but if you continue to commit these sins, qal allati tukhrijuhum min da'irati al-iman. Then this person will continue until they leave the realm of Iman. So now they only do salah, siyam, and it has absolutely no flavor, no taste, no... You don't savor the sweetness of Iman anymore. You're only doing it out of duty,
out of obligation, and it becomes hard to do. Abstinence from the muharramat, staying away from alcohol, staying away from zina, staying away from watching something haram online and so on, it's painful. Why is it painful? Because you're reminding yourself, like, why can't I do this? Why is this haram for me, for example? You're not seeking the pleasure of Allah anymore, because you're out of the circle of Iman right now. You're barely on the boundaries of Islam. And that's what he called in the hadith, la yazniz zani hina yazni wa hu mu'min. A believer, he says, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, this person is not a true believer at the moment when they commit fornication. Until they're done from it, then whatever is left of their Iman comes back to them. So he says, look, it's dangerous. If you continue this path, you're going to leave the realm of Ihsan to the realm of Iman. Continue on that same path, you're going to get out of the realm of Iman to the realm of Islam. You're barely holding the narrowest string to the deen. Anything can shake you. Because right now it's all about satisfying your lowly nafs and satisfying your pleasure and your desire. Sheikh, can I just comment here? Just to re-emphasize really powerfully, and you can give some practical examples. Look, wherever you're aiming, you should anticipate that there's a possibility you're going to fall short. So if you're aiming for 100%, there's a likelihood that you're going to fall short of 100%. If you're aiming for 50%, you're going to fall short. Aiming for Ihsan, aiming for excellence, would make it so that missing out on a voluntary deed would make you more upset than a person who aims low when they miss an obligatory deed. That person, for example, that comes to Fajr every day. May Allah make us people of Fajr. Allahumma ameen. The best thing, let's all kind of make this intention together inshaAllah that we're going to try to be people of Fajr after Ramadan. Alright? If you can make this your intention for Ramadan, it's a beautiful intention that we're going to be people of Fajr. A person of Fajr, if they're aiming to pray Fajr in the masjid every single day,
they miss Fajr once? In the masjid? It's the most miserable thing in the world for them. It's not fard for them to pray every single Fajr in the masjid, according to the majority of the scholars. But, meaning Fajr, of course, is fard. That person that says, you know what, yeah, I aim to pray the five prayers. I'm a Jum'ah guy. Show up at Jum'ah. You know? They miss Fajr itself two, three times a week. That two, three times slowly becomes four times, becomes five times. Then it bleeds in. Right? So, you want to consider these layers, like those three circles that you're talking about, so profound. If you aim for Ihsan and you fall to Iman, Alhamdulillah. If you aim for Iman and sometimes fall to Islam, Alhamdulillah, you're still safe. But if you're merely aiming for Islam, then when you fall, where are you going to fall? Sheikh, that's what the Prophet ﷺ says in the hadith, If you're going to be asking Allah ﷻ for something, then ask Him for what? For the highest place in Jannah. Don't say, well, I'm not deserving of it. I feel so shy and ashamed of even asking for it to begin with. Right? So, therefore, you would say, Ya Allah, just allow me to be in Jannah. If this is your highest aspiration, you're not going to do anything much, really. Because for you, it's just like, I want to do something that will qualify me just to cross over the bridge from Jahannam. That's it. And if that's your biggest goal, then there's a big chance this person is going to fall short. And if they fall short from crossing the bridge, where are they going to end up, O Jama'at? They're going to end up in Jahannam, Allah al-Musta'an. Like, I asked, honestly, I met somebody. I don't know, I hope he was joking about it. But when we were talking about this issue, he said, Sheikh, he goes, Look, Sheikh, I don't care. As long as I get out of Jahannam eventually, I'm good. وَقَالُوا لَن تَمَسَّنَ نَارُ إِلَّا إِيَامًا مَعْدُودَاتًۭا That's what Allah said, Bani Israel did. Exactly. Can you imagine how low our way of thinking has become, unfortunately? Like, people know that some believers, yeah.
Because the Prophet ﷺ mentioned in the hadith, when the believers cross over the bridge, the bridge over Jahannam, and they meet on the other side, they start looking at each other, just, hey, we're missing this person and that person. And they ask Allah ﷻ, Allah ﷻ will allow them by the shafa'ah, by the intercession, to go and collect them out of Jahannam. One after the other one. Until no one else is left in Jahannam except for those who are detained by the shirk. That's it. So there comes this guy, and he says, Well, as long as I can actually get out of Jahannam, I'm okay. Like, subhanAllah, if this is this person's aim, then what is left for him if he's going to do something haram? It's going to be probably maybe kufr or shirk. Here's another analogy, Sheikh. The Prophet ﷺ is described as what? The moon. The sahaba are the stars. Aim for the moon, you'll fall amongst the stars, inshaAllah. So just try to set that as your standard. Don't set these low. Bani Israel's behavior, literally, and you might hear, and you're like, that's audacious. وَقَالُوا لَن تَمَسَّنَا نَارُ إِلَّا إِيَامًا مَعْدُودًا He said, listen, we go to hell, it'll just be a few days. We go to hell, it'll just be a few days. Very few people would say it that way. But here's something that you'll say that means practically, functionally, the same thing. Yeah, I'm a Muslim, but I'm not all that Muslim right now. I'm a non-practicing Muslim. That's the most contradictory statement. I'm a non-practicing Muslim. Muslim means submitting yourself. I'm a non-practicing submitter. So it's the same thing that's being implied, functionally, practically. You're saying the exact same thing as the guy who says, لَن تَمَسَّنَا نَارُ إِلَّا إِيَامًا مَعْدُودًا We only go to hell for a few days. Because you're saying, yeah, I'm not the best Muslim. Just like we said, embrace the identity of a repenter, not a sinner. Stop this whole nonsense like, I'm a flawed Muslim. No, no, you're a Muslim. Allah says, call yourself a Muslim. يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا آمِنُوا O you who believe, believe.
You aspire to be a believer. You aspire to be a muhsin, to be a person of ihsan. And call yourself by that in the aspirational sense, not in the arrival sense. And yeah, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِدْخُلُوا فِي السِّلْمِ كَافَةً Which is, you enter Islam wholeheartedly. And as Allah described Bani Israel, قَالَ أَتُؤْمِنُوا لِبَعْضِ الْكِتَابِ وَتَكْفُرُنَا بِبَعْضٍ Are you going to believe in some and leave some? And that's unfortunately what's happening in our time these days. People are becoming selective Muslims, really. You go to the menu of Islam and you become selective. Like, you know what, I'm, like you said, I'm a Jum'ah guy. Alhamdulillah. Some of us comes and says, look, I'm an Eid guy. Alright? And that's why they park in our parking spots on Eid. Alright. Because they don't come here. Take our parking spots, man. Wallahi, Sheikh, worse than this one. Someone says, look, I'm over the bridge guy. Like, just as long as I can cross over the bridge in any way, in any capacity, I'm happy with that. I've never met him personally. Wallahi, Allah musta'an. I mean, I hope they're joking when they mention these things. And it's just like, their perception of themselves, how much they're willing to offer of their time, their energy, themselves to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, is as this low. This is their threshold. It's just like, I heard that point because we were discussing hadith, the last person who will exit Jahannam. It's a very long hadith in which the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam mentioned that the person who will be the last to leave Jahannam. And the condition of this person was just horrible. The way it was described in the hadith. Eventually, he enters Jannah. And then someone comes and says, if I can be this person, I'm happy. Like, Allahu Akbar, they're willing to go through Jahannam, Audhu Billah, and suffer the punishment that God knows what type of punishment it is going to be because Jahannam, astaghfirullah. You can't, you can't just mess with it. You can't really just joke about it. It's a serious matter, ya jama'a. Wa ma qadrullah haqqa qadri. They haven't given Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
the right estimate of His greatness, subhanahu wa ta'ala. Marjullah wa akhafu dhanbi shaykh. And that's the thing, Allah will spare you from what you fear. But do you even fear it? Allah will spare you from what you fear if you have hope in Allah and you fear your sin. But do you even fear it? So you just have to, you have to say, look, your Lord is so beautiful, subhanallah. You're saying, Allahumma innaka'afoon tuhibbu al'afwa fa'afu anni. I can tell you, by the way, you know, like, one of the most beautiful du'as, one of my teachers, he used to say, he basically combined Sayyidina Umar radiyallahu anhu's du'a. And he used to say, Allahumma atkhidh liljannata bi ghayri a'dawi bi ghayri hisab. Oh Allah, enter me into paradise without any form of questioning and without any form of punishment. Wa amitni wa ana shaheedan fi baladi nabiyyika sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And grant me shahada in the city of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. He just put it in one sentence. And I'm like, that's such an audacious ask. Let me die and not be asked or be punished for a moment. Let me not be asked about a single sin or punished for a single sin. And let me die not just as a believer but as a martyr in the city of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. You're calling upon a Lord who's generous. And you got it. So you got to have that hope and you got to have that fear. But if you're not even meeting Allah with the hope and the fear, what, I mean, what are you meeting Allah with at the end of the day? So there's got to be something to that content. And I do have a question for you, Sheikh. Maybe we leave a question and answer and I can ask you now. It's up to you. I just want to mention something important before we go to the question, inshallah ta'ala. He says, as a result of that, when the person is out of the realm of ihsan, out of the realm of iman, then they will be basically the biggest losers. And he mentions what opportunity they're losing when they're out of these circles. He says, وَمَنْ فَاتَهُ رُفْقَةُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ If you are out of the companionship or the company of the believers, because now you're out of the circle, out of the realm of belief and iman, قَالَ وَحُسْنُ دِفَاعِ اللَّهِ عَنْهُمْ
And you're out of the circle of the people who Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala vowed to defend and care for and protect. فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يُدَافِعُ عَنِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا Because Allah says, Allah defends those who believe, subhanahu wa ta'ala. قَالَ فَاتَهُ كُلُّ خَيْرٌ رَتَّبَهُ اللَّهُ فِي كِتَابِ عَلْ إِمَانٍ You will lose every single opportunity of goodness that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has qualified for the people of iman. And he mentioned a list of them. I'll mention a few of them quickly inshallah for you here. قَالَ فَمِنْهَا الْأَجْرُ الْعَظِيمُ One of them is the greatest reward. And if you're talking about the most generous, you can imagine the reward you get from the most generous subhanahu wa ta'ala. قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى وَسَوْفَ يُؤْتِ اللَّهُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمًا Allah shall give the believers a great reward. قَالَ وَمِنْهَا الْدَفْعُ عَنْهُمْ شُرُورَ الدُّنْيَا قَالَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُدَافِعُ عَنَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا Allah defends those who believe. قَالَ وَمِنْهَا You lose also the istighfar of the angels, الملائكة وحملة العرش and the carriers of the throne. Because Allah mentioned in the ayah الَّذِينَ يَحْمِيُوا الْعَرْشَ وَمَنْ حَوْلَهُ Those who carry the throne, of the angels of the thrones. They praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And they say alhamdulillah to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They glorify Allah. The Prophet believed in Allah. وَإِسْتَغْفِرُونَ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا Seeking forgiveness for the believers. And he mentioned a long list. But 15 different items, that Allah in the Quran, He said, He will do this for those who believe. Do this for those who believe. Because if you're out of that realm of belief, out of the circle of mu'mineen, you're only in the circle of Islam. Barely a Muslim. If you're out of the circle of iman, you're losing all these privileges. All of those privileges, you can't see. So it goes back to the vision of the heart. So you are relegated to the immediate material pleasure. It's right in front of me.
Like the wine bottle, the drug, that adultery, the temptation. It's also physical, material, immediate, right in front of me. It's instantaneous. I know it's real. But like, to the believer, those angels that are carrying the throne, that could be seeking forgiveness for me, are just as real as the people that I can see right in front of me. And I don't want them to be like not seeking forgiveness for me, or cursing me instead of seeking forgiveness for me. So it once again is the ability to transcend the immediate, the physical, the material. And to connect yourself to the unseen to the point that it is what drives you. The unseen becomes the driver over the seen. And the greatest part of the ghayb is the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The greatest of the unseen is Allah himself. Greater than the angels, greater than Jannah, greater than all of that is Allah himself. So the pleasure of his sight, the unseen Lord driving you, overwhelms everything of the seen and just makes all of that not just consequential to man. Like if I commit the sin, I'm gonna lose barakah in my car, I'm gonna lose barakah in my family, I'm gonna lose out on this job, bad things are gonna start happening to me, my du'as are not gonna be answered. I don't wanna lose Allah. I don't wanna lose Allah. Like that's the biggest thing at stake here. Is the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala while he's pleased with me. I wanna meet Allah on the day of judgment and have that reunion, that celebration. You know I told you all this last year and I don't, you know it's something subhanAllah that I know we all forget a year after year but I remember this, just saying this and some of the brothers saying you know I kept that with me for the year. Look have a secret between you and Allah that is so private that when you think of your meeting with Allah on the day of judgment it's like let's talk about that secret ya Allah. Have this good deed between you and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that no one else knows about. It's like a good secret. You know let's forget about just exhuming, you know getting the skeletons out of the closet.
You know? Just think about like the secret so when you meet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala it's like if you've got a secret with someone else and you and that person are in the room and both of you know about it and no one else knows about it, right? Meeting Allah on the day of judgment and I'm looking forward to this part coming out. The reunion, the reunion. Go back to your Lord as a Rabb that you can't wait to be reunited with not as a master who brings back his rebellious slave on the day of judgment his prisoner and says stand in front of me now. You have nowhere to run this day on the day of judgment when you stand in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. May Allah azza wa jal protect us from being in that state. May Allah azza wa jal make us of those that are reunited with him on the day of judgment. Shaykh Imam Ibn Qayyim comes to this now final paragraph we're going to talk about inshallah ta'ala he goes as a natural consequences of that obviously when you are out of the realm of Ihsan you become out of the realm of Iman right now what happens to this heart? These sins what they do what they do to you, it will weaken the heart. It will weaken the heart's journey to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and to the hereafter like that journey right now it becomes you know troublesome heavy I don't want to I don't want to go there anymore you know I'm not so excited as I was before to be on that on that on that path it's not the same anymore. It might hinder the journey or the path and so it's basically kind of like slowing it down eventually or it might actually cause this person to cease being on that journey altogether and we have seen people do that what we call them we call them drop out really and I remember growing up in a time subhanallah 1980s when we see mashallah there was a revival of Islamic spirit really and the people coming to the masajid and mashallah
find this a new way to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala but obviously a lot of people they come excited about the path but then when they start walking or through that path it's very actually difficult and hard a lot of requirements a lot of you know discipline all that kind of stuff so what happened they leave it because people yeah that's because like other people are so annoying right it's like you know and that's actually the point الذي يخالت الناس ويصبر على أذاههم خير من الذي لا يخالت الناس ولا يصبر على أذاههم the one who mixes with the people and tolerates the hardship of that is better than the one who doesn't mix with the people and tolerate the harm you know subhanallah nothing's gonna make you put up with people for the sake of Allah except that your love of Allah and wanting his pleasure is far more than the annoyances of the people because people can't stop me from pursuing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala right so when you say I give up I'm not doing this masjid stuff anymore or how many of the MSA burnout folks do we have right like man this MSA stuff is terrible how many people get involved with the Muslim community or get involved with an organization like you know what that was a terrible experience and then they just kind of disappear show up at Tarawih every once in a while show up at Eid and take our parking spots right the burnout hits you and then it's like all right now you're trying but look when you're saying what you're saying is I didn't get the appreciation and validation from people and therefore the struggles no longer worth it again in effect that's what you're really saying if you gave it up for the people then were you ever really doing it for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that doesn't mean don't find another masjid or find another effort because indeed some organizations some places do become too toxic for you to operate in that's understandable but when you just give it all up because of the people then were you really ever doing it fee Sabir Allah so if it was for the sweetness of that reward you anticipate from Allah
working with Muslims is painful it's so hard welcome to the club yeah like you know and then and then you add social media to this as well like what a headache right like Muslims can be such a headache we can hurt each other so much like we take we rob the sweetness we take the spirit out of the room we take it out like we're it's it's all self-inflicted wounds it's like Islam would be so beautiful our institutions would be so beautiful you'd work so beautifully together if we didn't let our egos get in and start like trashing each other and and you know undermining one another and beating up on each other and making it so rough for each other what if we were all to also but how could what I was able to solve it right pursuing a lot together so it's self-inflicted wounds but you know what that's how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala turns out the real ones those that are gonna stay the course like that one I put that person through a lot we talked about this man will be allowed and who yesterday or all the aloha on earth man you know an interesting fact about him sheikh he's the only one of khalifa Rashid in that didn't die at the age of what 63 the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Abu Bakr Omar and Ali may Allah be pleased with them all they all died at 63 it's not as the exception lived into his 80s right late 80s Roddy allahu ta'ala on home and subhanallah the sadaqa the risk like the older you get Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that's personal interpretation really why would Allah allow us man to be the third Khalifa and to live that long actually to serve the ummah longer than probably any other the Sahabah de la
Because Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiyallahu anhu he established the state. Omar bin Khattab radiyallahu ta'ala he expanded the state. But now you need a businessman to sustain that state. And Uthman was a brilliant businessman. He was a businessman. The state at that time needed someone of his genius to make that system actually work very well. Businessman because I mean how clever was he radiyallahu anhu when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says who can support you know the Jaysh al Usra the entire army of al Usra a hundred camel completely full supplies for the journey a hundred camel just without any supplies that's a 1 million dollar you could say. Now supplied with everything you probably talk about millions of dollars in today's currency obviously. And Uthman says I'll take care of it Ya Rasulallah. And then who can buy the water well of Rumah. He goes I'll take care of it Ya Rasulallah. When the people left the Juma Salah to go and catch that caravan and business people they're fighting right now to buy it from the owner Uthman radiyallahu anhu he goes someone paid me more than that. We're going to pay you double, triple, four times, five times, ten times. He said someone is paying me more than that. They said look we're the merchants we're the guild of Madinah we're the whole merchant people of Madinah and business people of Madinah. No one can pay more than this. He goes Allah. And he says this is all free. Now I keep wondering honestly where is this money coming from. He has a whole mashallah a pipeline of wealth that keeps coming through and coming in no matter what he gives mashallah still coming in. Until now.
Look at him. He steals the money. He's favoring this he's favoring that. It's all about economics again. Although he was the one behind subhanaka in that great system. Radiyallahu ta'ala an Uthman. That's how Allah tests your sincerity. What did Maryam alayhi salam value more than her chastity? And that's what she's going to be accused of. What did Uthman radiyallahu anhu value more than sadaqah? And the accusation from these little fools and we can curse them I mean really like these little idiots. What did they accuse Uthman of? They said he's stealing money from the treasury. Are you people out of your minds? The man gave everything in the most difficult moments for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Now he's going to turn around. Does he care about money in that moment? Favoritism of his relatives. So the worst Allah will test you so that you're accused in the thing that is most precious to you. And how did Maryam respond? Ibadah. How did Uthman respond? Ibadah. So the point is is that that's how Allah is going to really really put you to the test like is this really about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for you? Or is it about the sweetness of that here? Because guess what? Good behavior has good consequence here too. Everyone loves a generous person. Everyone loves a generous person.
But when people and by the way I say this subhanAllah like it was a conversation I was having with a brother. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless him. His brother gave money to the masjid. Lots of money. Anonymous. The same brother was accused of some sort of financial mishandling. He did an investigation subhanAllah. All the financial investigation by the way this isn't here. All the financial investigation showed was actually that he gave even more sadaqah than they thought. And like people were like man we're so sorry. Like this the shame that overcame them. Like we how dare we right? And you know what subhanAllah? He persisted. That was Allah azza wa jal making sure this is only for him alone. This wasn't for the people. This was only for him alone because sometimes Allah will let the people give you a headache to make sure that your heart is about him and not about them. Shaykh you touched the point that is very scary wallahi is how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala could sometimes test you with the thing that you love the most. Not just Maryam. Not just Uthman. Ibrahim alayhis salam. What was the thing Ibrahim was looking for all his entire life? What was he desiring to have? What was he loving to have? Just a child. Just have a child. Allah says I'll give you one. And he gave him Ismail. The moment Ismail was born what happened? Ibrahim was excited. Was happy with that child. But then what came to Ibrahim alayhis salam as a test? That child that you love the most I want you to go and send him all the way in the desert. Now if you were in the place of Ibrahim alayhis salam what would you say? I was waiting for this moment right? And he goes to send his family down in the desert. As he was leaving his wife is telling him Ibrahim where are you leaving us? Is that what Allah is asking you to do? He goes Allahumma naam. Yes from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. She said just go ahead. Allah will take care of us.
And then as he was going back and forth to check on his child subhanallah. Then the moment came when he reached that age and to be pleased with his child subhanallah. And they both raised the foundation of the Kaaba as a reward for their service. What did Allah ask Ibrahim to do? Sacrifice that child that you love the most. And Ibrahim says my son look I'm seeing this in my dream what do I do? Father if this is from Allah do it. You'll find me a patient one inshallah ta'ala. What kind of household is this Sheikh? That is all based on truly submission to the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The father, the mother, the child, generation of submission, ummah of submission built on Ibrahim alayhis salam. And that's why we're called Muslimin. Those who submit themselves to the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that's my advice to my dear brothers and sisters. The sooner, the faster you really let go and start gliding in Allah's grace subhanahu wa ta'ala and Allah's kingdom. The easier life gets on you. But if the more you try to control the things that you're not meant to get in this dunya, the harder it gets on you. So therefore just enjoy it. Enjoy being in the rahmah and the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You only need to do your part. And be careful what you love the most. Be careful what you wish for. As the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, When you love someone or love something, love it moderately. Because one day this might be the thing that you hate the most. When you hate somebody, hate them moderately because you never know. One day they might become the most beloved person to you. Everything with moderation is great. What's your final thoughts? I want to give another analogy. Are you sick of my analogy? May Allah forgive you.
Who took my spot? Is that your cousin? Alright, here's the analogy that I was thinking of. Not about romance, right? No, no, no. Actually, you're throwing me off. We had the main, Hassan, who's the main actor from Why Me? I think we killed him. I broke his heart telling him romance is risk. Poor guy went through misery and now we're burying him. It's a skill. Sheikh Yasir is going to talk to you and make you feel better. He'll explain life to you. Because clearly I couldn't give you the right advice. Here's the analogy I just can't stop thinking about. The disease and the cure, the medicine. Every medicine has what on it? What's on the label? Side effects. Side effects. It's funny now when you watch a commercial because they have to, by law, tell you the side effects. They use this really enthusiastic voice. It's like how the shaitan tells you about the side effects. Really enthusiastic voice. You do this, you're going to be great. You're playing golf. For some reason, these guys are always playing golf. Family life is great. Everything is so amazing and big smiles. Then it's side effects included. Then it's all these dark, quick... You're going to die, basically. You were trying to cure one thing, but you're going to have a heart attack, get cancer, liver disease. And die within five days. But they say it really quietly, right? Now, side effects. Sin is sold to you as medicine. Shaitan gives it to you as medicine. Because he's telling you this will help you with your pain. This will help you with your desire. This will make you feel better. But he hides the side effects. Right? And those side effects are catastrophic.
And the medicine isn't as effective as he's made it out to be. Right? So what do the side effects include? Loss of barakah. Loss of wealth. Loss of prestige. Loss of honor. Loss of self-worth. Loss of, loss of, loss of, loss of Allah. The most catastrophic. Loss of Jannah. Loss of Allah. So it's not that a sin is always followed by regrets. Right? Or it's always followed by consequences. Right? So, you know, Ibn Qayyim mentioned a sin is a temporary moment of pleasure followed by an eternity of regret. Whereas a good deed is a temporary moment of pain followed by an eternity of pleasure. Right? Because everything you think about. The good deed that's given to you from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is also medicine. But it has side effects. أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَن يُتْرَكُوا أَن يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لَا يُفْتَنُونَ Do people think that they will say, we believe. That's it. And they're not going to be tested. They're not going to be tried. وَلَقَدْ فَتَنَّا الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ We have tested those who came before. Right? Who are those that came before? إِبْرَاهِيمِ فَلَيَعْلَمَنَّ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ صَدَقُوا We will know the truthful ones. When you think truthful, إِبْرَاهِيمِ الصَّدِيقُ is right up there. And from this Ummah Abu Bakr, We will know who is truthful and we will know who the hypocrites are. We'll know who's not telling the truth. So the label of your good deed, the medicine that's given to you of your good deed. The only thing that you need to know, the side effects. The guarantee, what it will give you, it will give you the pleasure of Allah, it will give you paradise, it will give you everything that you're seeking. Because medicine doesn't taste good, right? It's bitter in its initial part. The only side effect that you need to realize, is you will be tested. There will be fitna that comes to you
as a result of what? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala making sure that you're sincere for his sake. That fitna will come usually through people, usually through people, or through other things. But you will be put to test. And that's, you know, sort of like the initial injection. The body has to go through a process to receive it. The soul has to go through a process to receive it. Then once you taste it, you'll never want to go back. Because here's the thing, we are beings that seek pleasure. And the only way to replace the pursuit of the pleasure that comes to you through sin is to enjoy the pleasure that comes to you of good deeds. And it's like, man, why would I ever go back to that when I've experienced this? See how you feel right now? Do you feel like this any other time of the year anywhere else than you do in the last 10 nights of Ramadan in the masjid? Do you get that pleasure anywhere else? And what are the side effects of being here? A little bit of sleep issues? Subhanallah, it's beautiful. So think of the two bottles Allah azza wa jal gave you, the medicine, his pleasure, his paradise. The side effect, fitna. The bottle from shaitan, the side effects are catastrophic It just is wrapped in a really, really good label and has a really, really good marketing agency behind it. That's it. But at the end of the day, it's not going to do you any good. We have a lot of questions over here. But somebody is very excited and actually keeps saying that multiple times. I didn't want to mention it, but this time I have to. So here there's a comment and there's actually 16 votes on this comment that says 16 people have abused me. 16 people are fitna for me. But it's okay, sheikh. Everyone knows the truth. I forgive you. Let's go serious inshallah
on this discussion. It's a very serious matter here. Many, many people, subhanallah, they feel they are touched by this subject. They feel they are touched by this topic. Subhanallah, they feel they are touched by this subject knowing that if this is the case, somebody is saying, look, if I'm out of that circle of ihsan and maybe, I don't know if I'm even in the circle of iman anymore, is there hope in returning back to that circle? So honestly speaking, I really, subhanallah, I'm not just saying this for the work that was put into it, but the second episode we had of Why Me was episode 10. Are you really a Muslim? Because you've got to ask yourself that question. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gave you a cure for all of your falling away from Islam. So shifa al a'il, maybe you have questions. Get your questions answered. Go seek the answer to them. Or maybe there's personal trauma that is inducing an intellectual crisis. Maybe the lure of sin is just really, really, really strong for you. And you're trying to convince yourself that that sin is not as bad as it actually is, because right now, it's giving you what you feel like you need. So learn about the sin and disconnect yourself from it. But is there hope for you? Yes. Wallahi, there's hope for you. The fact that you're alive, the fact that you're even asking is there hope for me is a sign that there's hope for you. You've just got to want it. That's actually, at the end of the day, who is Allah talking about in the Quran? Like, who does Allah just say, you know what? Go. Go. It's a person who's falling and doesn't even care that they're falling anymore. Not a person who's trying to get back up. A person who's trying to get back up is not abandoned by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Because Allah says,
والذين جاهدوا فينا لنهدي أنهم سبولنا Those who strive in our way, we will guide them to our paths. The ulema say about this verse, again, how the genius of our religion, that the same verse can apply to people in opposite circumstances. They say it means one of two things, or two of the benefits of it. It actually opens up many, many doors, subhanAllah. One of them is that when a person is pursuing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in ihsan, in excellence, Allah opens the doors of ihsan for them. So, you're pursuing salah, Allah lets you taste the sweetness of salah, and then Allah lets you taste the sweetness of the Quran. Now, when you're tasting the sweetness of the Quran, that necessitates as you're striving to understand the Quran and taste the sweetness, how can you then read the verses about sadaqa and not taste the sweetness of sadaqa? So, now you're tasting the sweetness of sadaqa. So, the doors of good open for you. Another benefit of this is a person who is seeking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, jahadu fina, they're striving in Allah, that could be in tawbah. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will send you a Prophet. a bunch of lifelines to welcome you back to him so whether you're seeking Allah from down here when ladina jahado fina la nahdi annahum subulana Allah's gonna throw you a bunch of ropes that'll give you a way back to him an opportunity back to him or whether you're on the rope or whether you're in that pursuit of Ihsan Allah Azawajal unlocks the next door of Ihsan the next door of Ihsan the next door of Ihsan but Allah will always unlock for the striving person it's as simple as that the one who's striving Allah will unlock will unlock will unlock will open will open will open may Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala allow us to respond to his call in the last third of every night not just in the last third of the night tonight may Allah allow us to be amongst those that respond to his call frequently I want to clarify something here on this question someone is asking about the people who are cross over the bridge and fall into Jahannam and then the believers go and collect them out from Jahannam the question is
that do they go into Jahannam literally we had it in the visa last time says yes they do and Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala will shield these believers from Jahannam for being touched by the flames of Jahannam and they go how Allah one we don't know how exactly specifically in the details but we know that Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala will allow them to go in there and collect these people from there are they gonna have the fear and then anxiety the worries the pain at the sight of what they see there perhaps no because Allah subhanahu protect the people of Jannah from them from going through that so how we don't know but Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala allow them to pull these people out from Jahannam may Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala protect us from being there I love the righteous even though I don't count myself amongst them so that perhaps I may benefit from their intercession this is one of the ways the Ilmah mentioned that look if you have righteous friends and you're trying to put yourself in the company of righteous people then even when you fall short those righteous people will pull you up will pull you up will pull you up in this dunya and in the after and hereafter as well and the most righteous person that you can love is who Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam someone is asking sheikh he says the example of secret about that secret worships you said charity what else can people do when come to you by that and consider the secret between Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala first of all charity is not just with money could be that you help someone out and no one knows that you help that person out it could be that you visited how long I was sharing with sheikh Yasir like the beauty of this program that we just instituted at we are what do we call sheikh VRC VRC value visits or visits of value visits of value we just started a program with the masjid to visit the sick and I hope many of you enlist in that program inshallah so you go visit someone in the hospital and no one knows that you went to visit that person in the hospital and you brought something to them that's a secret between you and Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala your secret Quran habit your secret Qiyam habit some secret fasting that you do where no one knows about it subhanAllah some of the
Salaf would hide their fasting even from their families you know there's one of the Salaf I remember subhanAllah reading from Imam Ghazali rahimahullah in his ahya that this this man would his wife would prepare his food for him in the morning and he'd go out and he'd give it to someone on the way and he'd come home at the time of iftar and he just pretended was his dinner and she she didn't reveal it for like 40 years you know subhanAllah that this is what you were doing this whole time you take the food in the morning give it so you want to hide something between you and Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala you you spared someone you you help someone out you forgave someone for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala you could have taken revenge on someone and he said you know what no I'm not gonna do that you know sure if I want to add more isn't it doesn't have to be something great that requires a lot of resources all right just do I having having a moment of the eye that is regular between you and Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala maintaining the morning and evening liquor for example being generous to people you have a neighbor that you always help them out with something for instance whatever that is something little something little that you use constantly and continuously and it is very dear to you because you're doing this only for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala it doesn't have to be something with big resources really anything a little that you do but you have you have it in your heart you're doing it for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala could be the one that will give you Allahi the ticket to Al-Firdaws Al-A'la so doesn't have to be something of big magnitude but something with great sincerity in the heart inshallah so sheikh love the righteous and love the ways of the righteous no why do you love the righteous what makes you love us Salihin do you love them because of something like some allure around them or do you love them because of their righteousness and so you love their ways and so you want to adapt their ways in your life as well so you know there's very important question someone says you know this discussion make me think right now to get at that level to get at that level I have to go through a lot of challenges in order for
me to to feel that I'm gonna earn that level and they bring the example says the people who has them Ella make it easy for them you know I mean so they're going through so much like they say that I think I need to go through the same in order to exercise that patience that will get me that status with Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala is that the way a good way of thinking Allah knows how much to test you now and Allah knows what to test you with and Allah knows our capacity and sometimes out of the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala he doesn't give us what we want sometimes as a test confident that we will pass that test as well that the test many many people when they think of testing they always think of what adversities they don't think of prosperity as being a test you know may Allah make it easy again for the people of Gaza I mean they've been tested for being to be patient we've been tested for being compassionate and being generous and being actually grateful are we doing our part I mean if Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala may Allah protect us all you know but I mean if we were subjugated to the same test that they're going through probably will fail miserably their circumstances subhanAllah they're much rather doing well with their test may Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala make it easier than again but for us here what are we doing don't think that you're not tested being tested probably your test is severe in your own condition or circumstances because you've been given so much and you're not using this in the right way so that's another way of thinking about it absolutely Sheikh one example that that I gave recently you know because if you look at the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he passed the test of bribery and the test of pain the test of prosperity the test of persecution what does that look like you know you you break someone down and then you offer them terms that's what that's what Horatio's psychological warfare on the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was break him down make him
desperate then offer him a way out right after you've taken everything from him tell him we'll give you everything if you give up your religion and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam kept passing that test over and over and over again you have the people of Gaza that can be beaten on in ways that no human being should ever be beaten on and we cannot fathom as people on the outside of Gaza may Allah grant them the full reward may Allah reward them and grant them shahada and may Allah compensate them generously for every single moment of struggle that they have and then you have the owner of the bakery in Jerusalem well by the way when we were in Turkey if you remember when we were in half as Mustafa by the way we went on a secret trip to Turkey we didn't tell you guys true story by the way so when we were in Turkey a secret right no but a group of us obviously a group of Messiah had gone we'd spent some this was in the wake of the death of Sheikh Mohammed Sharif Rahim Allah we decided to come together and obviously just kind of grief together over his death and share that perspective and when I was in half as Mustafa in Turkey no I ran into the owner so I got held up you guys are waiting for me downstairs I got held up because I ran into the owner of this bakery in Jerusalem Hanabal Khadija no so this guy was offered 40 million dollars to give up his bakery in Jerusalem why because the Zionists employ multiple strategies they beat some people down they persecute some people right they go in the settlers just abuse and take pieces of land the dual strategy is what they sent an Arab an Arab buyer to these people right that own land and the Arab buyer just seems like a simple Muslim who's purchasing land so he offers you an enormous amount of money for your small piece of land so it's settlement expansion and it's also bribery right now if you're a person
you're a Palestinian you're in desperation it's like hey this guy looks like a Muslim right he's he's he's an Arab he looks like a Muslim he's speaking my language and he's offering me just this you I don't know why he's offering me this amount of money for but sure what does that guy do he goes around he turns and he gives it to the Israelis it's happened to multiple people by the way even in my family in my family it has happened to us we're humbly a lot of I mean no one in my family actually did it but we've you know our family back home has been offered lots of money by buyers from a particular Muslim country right that act as agents on behalf of the Israelis this guy Hannibal Khadija the owner of that bakery 40 million dollars he can justify it he could say hey you know like I just sold the bakery and how did I made my business it's precious but he knows exactly what's gonna happen that that will cause the further destruction of Jerusalem he is also more obvious he's also holding it down like these people are holding it down so the driver is one it's a loss of Hannah Tala I'm not gonna be deluded by the money and I'm not gonna be deluded by the bombs because I'm pursuing a loss of Hannah Tala well and a blue one that can be shaken in El Coffey well you're oh now blue come Bill Haley was shot we test you with good and we test you with bad fitna as a fitna for you so we're all being tested you are being tested right now in your comfort they're being tested in their hardship may Allah allow us all to pass our test and see his pleasure at the end of it Allah Ma'ameen Allah Ma'ameen Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala protect us all from the evil of this fitna Ya Rabbil Alameen we ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to protect our brothers and sisters in Gaza Ya Allah we ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to show them with his mercy with his rahma Ya Rabbil Alameen and to deliver the victory that he promised Ya Rabbil Alameen we ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala in this blessed night to send his rahma upon us all Ya Rabbil Alameen we ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to bring the angels upon us Ya Rabbil Alameen to fill our hearts with love and mercy for another we ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to bring sakinah and tranquility in our lives in this dunya and in the akhira Ya Rabbil
Alameen and the way we all gather in this place I ask Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to bring us together in Jannatul Firdaus Al-A'la ala surur mutaqabileen with the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam salihin wa alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh you
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