# Ep. 10: Move Beyond the Catalyst | The Faith Revival **Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman **Series:** The Faith Revival **Published:** 2017-06-05 **YouTube:** https://youtu.be/qO8tV--A11Q **URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-10-move-beyond-the-catalyst **Topics:** Allah, Faith ## Description Allah sends you reminders night and day, and sometimes those reminders are major wake up calls. What happens if you don’t make use of that wake up call right away? ## Transcript **[0:31]** Everyone starts to make a du'a basically in their own way. They all start to pray, people start freaking out except for those that are used to being in turbulence. And as soon as the seat belt sign goes back off and the plane stabilizes, then the movies go back on, people kind of relax **[0:48]** again, and everyone feels safe and secure once again. And subhanAllah, that reminded me of what Allah says in the Qur'an. Even the worst disbelievers, those who have no faith in God, **[1:04]** when they are drowning in the ocean, if they find themselves in that darkness, they will call upon Allah sincerely. Allah says in surah al-qiyamah, When a person is dying and they start to scream for help, **[1:19]** God help me, right? Anyone in that state of desperation can call Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala. The worst human being to ever walk the face of the earth, Firaun, called upon Allah when he was drowning. **[1:34]** So anyone can repent and call upon Allah when Allah sends them those moments. Now, here's the thing, those moments are catalysts. Think about all the times that you almost got in a car accident or maybe you did. Think about all those close calls and sometimes those **[1:52]** times where you could have very well died or something very bad could have happened to you, but Allah saved you, right? And it was just a moment of a second. All of those are catalysts. Think about that time that you came to a realization about your sins and your state before Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala, **[2:08]** and you felt like you really need to make a change in your life, or you were listening to a khutbah, or you were hearing, you know, some sort of lecture online and you felt like now is the time. All of those are catalysts. Here's what Allah says about them. أَلَمْ يَأْنِي لَلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَن تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَمَا نَزْرَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ **[2:26]** Isn't it time for those who believe to soften their hearts to the remembrance of Allah and the truth which he has revealed? And Allah says, وَلَا يَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلٍ فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَمَدِ فَقَصَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ Don't be like the people of the book who came before you, **[2:45]** where a time passed between that catalyst, that moment that Allah sent them, a time passed, a prolonged period went by and their hearts went back to once again being hard. قَصَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَكَثِيرٌ مِّنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ And they resorted to, or they returned **[3:03]** to their disobedience. What happens many times is that a major shake-up, a major moment comes in our lives where Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala invites us to wake up. And when we don't heed those calls or when we only heed them temporarily until we once again feel like we're back in the **[3:20]** normal flow of things, we are not capitalizing on those opportunities. Imagine if Umar bin Al-Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, when he went to his sister's house and he found that she was reciting the Quran, imagine if Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhu after reading the Quran and **[3:38]** being touched by Surah Taha said, let me go home and think about this for a few days, then I'll see what I'm going to do. The shaitan would have got the best of him, but instead he went straight to the house of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam and committed himself to him. There was a time before when he saw the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam in front of the Ka'bah and he heard the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam **[3:55]** reciting Quran and he was touched by it, but he didn't act right away, so instead he allowed the shaitan to capture his thoughts and in his situation, instead of going and believing in the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, he decided to go kill the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. The difference between the first time and the second time is the **[4:11]** way Umar utilized the catalyst, the way he utilized the moment and immediately committed himself to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam. Meaning what? When those moments come where Allah invites you to shake up your iman, to actually, you know, reestablish that connection **[4:30]** with him, to step into that next realm, to kick it into the next gear, when Allah invites you to that, if you don't act with immediacy, time will pass, you'll go back into your ghafla, you'll go back into your heedlessness and your heart will once **[4:47]** again become harder and not only will become harder, but it'll become more difficult for the next moment to penetrate because every single time you're missing out on those opportunities, the next opportunity has to be that much more dramatic. So think about the wake-up calls Allah sends you, don't wait **[5:04]** for the next one, capitalize on the one that has currently been sent to you or that you've recently been given by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and change your life and reestablish that connection with Allah. Do not let time pass from that original moment to where your **[5:20]** heart once again can harden and iman finds itself outside of the heart. May Allah protect us and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keep our heart soft and not allow us to miss out on his wake-up calls and allow us to draw close to him at all times and to always **[5:36]** have that connection with him. Allahumma ameen, Jazakumullahu khayran, see you next time. InshaAllah, Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu. ## Other Episodes in "The Faith Revival" - [Ep. 30: The End of the Journey of Faith | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-30-the-end-of-the-journey-of-faith.md) - [Ep. 29: Yaqeen is Full Faith | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-29-yaqeen-is-full-faith.md) - [Ep. 28: The Ultimate Gift | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-28-the-ultimate-gift.md) - [Ep. 27 Bend Don't Break | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-27-bend-dont-break.md) - [Ep. 26: Friends of Faith | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-26-friends-of-faith.md) - [Ep. 25: Fortress of Faith| The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-25-fortress-of-faith.md) - [Ep. 24: Quran: The Guardian of Faith | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-24-quran-the-guardian-of-faith.md) - [Ep. 23: Unreasonable Goals | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-23-unreasonable-goals.md) - [Ep. 22: Why Do People Leave Faith? | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-22-why-do-people-leave-faith.md) - [Ep 21: They Don't Believe Until... | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-21they-dont-believe-until.md) - [Ep. 20: Sweetness of Faith | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-20-sweetness-of-faith.md) - [Ep. 19: Faith in Hardship | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-19-faith-in-hardship.md) - [Ep. 18: Envy and Faith | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-18-envy-and-faith.md) - [Ep. 17: Poverty Leads to Disbelief | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-17-poverty-leads-to-disbelief.md) - [Ep. 16: Two Hungry Wolves | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-16-two-hungry-wolves.md) - [Ep. 15: The Faith of the Prophets Before | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-15-the-faith-of-the-prophets-before.md) - [Ep. 14: Allah Rewards You for Your Doubts If... | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-14-allah-rewards-you-for-your-doubts-if.md) - [Ep. 13: Guidance After Iman | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-13-guidance-after-iman.md) - [Ep. 12: Omar Was Always In The Zone | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-12-omar-was-always-in-the-zone.md) - [Ep. 11: Remembers His Place in Front of Allah | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-11-remembers-his-place-in-front-of-allah.md) - [Ep. 9: Ammar's Heart and Omar's Shirt | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-9-ammars-heart-and-omars-shirt.md) - [Ep. 8: Two Supplications of the Prophet | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-8-two-supplications-of-the-prophet.md) - [Ep. 7: You're No Angel | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-7-youre-no-angel.md) - [Ep. 6: Healthy Fluctuations | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-6-healthy-fluctuations.md) - [Ep. 5: Even If Abu Dharr Doesn’t Like It | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-5-even-if-abu-dharr-doesnt-like-it.md) - [Ep. 4: He is Not a Believer When... | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-4-he-is-not-a-believer-when.md) - [Ep. 3: Shaky Foundations | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-3-shaky-foundations.md) - [Ep.2: Your Faith Wears Out | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-2-your-faith-wears-out.md) - [Ep. 1: Faith is Refuge | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-1-faith-is-refuge.md)