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How Allah Himself is Grateful and Patient | Late Night Talk
Ibn Al Qayyim (ra) lists 20 techniques to exercise patience. Join Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Yaser Birjas as they talk about how Allah Himself is grateful and patient, and reflect on other lessons and gems from Ibn Al-Qayyim’s The Excellence of Patience and Gratitude.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. I need one of the brothers up here who speaks Somali well. Dr. Mustafa, over here. All right. You ready? All right, you're going to be the judge. I'm going to need silenced crowd reactions to see how this goes. Sheikh, you can judge as well, all right? Thank you very much. I appreciate that. You ready? All right. Do you have any idea what I said? What's that? Yeah. You got it. Yeah. You got it. He understands. He's the original man. Like Jibreel. You said the truth. I'm going to go ahead also. All right. The translation is, misfortune can only be caught from the front. It cannot be caught from behind. One can avert misfortune, but cannot control it if it has already happened. Sheikh Abdur Rahman Carrier in Minnesota. So, one to ten. How do you guys rate that? Come on, just put your hand down. I'll try again. If it's anything less than a five, then I'll have to try again. I think my Urdu was at four.
So, tonight is our final session, inshallah ta'ala, for this Ramadan. This beautiful Ramadan, alhamdulillah, that as always comes to an end. And by the blessing of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah gave us the opportunity and the ability to live through this entire month of Ramadan until this evening. Now, still, we have, alhamdulillah, a few hours until this blessed night comes to an end. And then you still have the day to catch up on whatever you want to catch up with the ibadah for the month of Ramadan until sundown. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us among those who witness it. And grant us full forgiveness towards the end of this month, ya Allah. One of the things we were talking about here, before we go again to the subject itself of the book of al-Qayyim, taking notes for the sake of seeking knowledge. And I want to repeat that again because the importance of seeking knowledge comes at the core of this discussion over here. We're talking about patience and gratitude. And we said for a person to be patient at the moment of a calamity or in the face of temptation, you need what? Not just knowledge, you need the strength of iman. The strong iman will help you, inshallah, stand against the temptation, against the trials. Okay, strength of iman comes from what? From a constant practice. Practice of what? Practice of the knowledge. So if you have, alhamdulillah, an amount of knowledge and you're not practicing that, you create a gap. That gap makes you feel hypocritical. And the more you create, the more the gap actually gets bigger and bigger, the more hypocritical we start feeling. Because I know it's wrong, I'm still doing it. I know I'm supposed to be doing that, but I'm not doing it. So this gap, as it increases, we feel hypocritical, so we try to bridge that gap by practicing a lot. And in order for you to practice more, you need to have more knowledge.
And that knowledge is not going to last long if you don't tie it down with writing and taking notes and so forth. We spoke about this, and I hope that you guys are taking serious notes so you can practice this, inshallah ta'ala. Actually, I told you the story about the phone booth notebook. You guys remember that story, if you've been here with us? Remember what happened when I lost that one? And I cried, subhanallah, my eyes out for that, for the loss of knowledge. Then I made another one. So here's, you could call this a manuscript that's actually 30 years old. Literally a handmade tiny notebook, and it's full with information that is unique, because it's my personal experience as I was learning from teachers and ulema as well. I'm going to share with you something random, actually, from here. What I was actually collecting from them, because some of these statements, you can't find them in any books. Are you auctioning it for BRIC, Sheikh? Bismillah. Who wants to pay a million dollars for this? And I still pass. I'm not going to give it to you. Okay, so we've learned from some of our mashayikh. Subhanallah, Sheikh Atiyah Salim from Medina, al-Mazin al-Nabawi. He used to be one of the teachers in al-Mazin al-Nabawi. And one of the people that, subhanallah, I love really attending his classes. There in al-Mazin al-Nabawi, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So here's one of those beautiful, unique moments that you can't find in any book, because I was there and attended it, and I copied what he said, rahmatullahi ta'ala. He was speaking about the permissibility, out of all these moments that I wanted to capture, he was asked about the permissibility of wearing ties. What's the permissibility of wearing ties? For us here right now, are you kidding me? What are you talking about? Thirty years ago, it was an issue in the circles of knowledge.
Among conservative circles, they were talking about, is it permissible for a Muslim to wear ties? Obviously that's in a culture where all the dresses were like this. So ties was not something common. It became more popular in these cultures after the Gulf War in 1991-92. So eventually he was asked about that, and the Sheikh, he said that, look, if this has become, he mentions over here, he goes, if this has become common practice in the Muslim world that is no longer unique to non-Muslims, then it's okay. Then he was asked about the bow tie. That's his word. He says, now that is not permissible. Because it looks like a cross. Now that was his opinion thirty years ago, rahmatullahi ta'ala. Today, does that opinion still stand? No. Because once again, these things are cultural and circumstantial opinions. They're not like solid from a Qur'an or Sunnah hadith. And because this has become so much practice in the Muslim society as well too, that is no longer unique, and no one really even correlates that to the shape of a cross, so it's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. Subhanallah, interestingly, I went to Umrah in Ramadan, and there Sheikh Salih al-Haydan was asked the exact same question. In Mecca and Medina, everybody was asking that question back then. It's okay to wear a tie? Alright. So the Sheikh, he gave the exact same situation. He said, no, there's nothing wrong with that. It's nothing, it's not unique to any particular culture anymore. It's becoming common with the Muslim community, so it's okay to do so. These things, you can't find them in books because they were Q&As actually in the open. So you collect something like this thirty years later, you come to read that to your students in the future, inshallah, tabaraka wa ta'ala. Just as an example, really, how valuable it can be. When you write these things down, that you might think, oh, I will never forget it. Because it was so powerful in that moment, I will never forget it. You will forget it. If you don't practice, if you don't write it down to keep reviewing every now and then, you will forget it.
So I'm telling you right now, before the end of the month of Ramadan, if you would like to remain steadfast, inshallah wa ta'ala, on whatever beautiful practice that you establish in this month of Ramadan, you're going to have to learn to continue to do that. And the way to do it is to learn more, because that extensive knowledge will help you practice, hopefully. And with that practice, you'll strengthen your iman, inshallah wa ta'ala. With that being said, let's start, inshallah, with our final chapter. Imam Ibn Qayyim, rahimahullah, he speaks on Chapter 26. Chapter 26, which is the last chapter of the book of Imam Ibn Qayyim, rahimahullah. Uddat al-sabir wa dakhirat al-shakireen. The excellence of patience and gratitude. So what kind of topic do you think he will choose for the last chapter? He chose something very interesting and very unique. He says, He goes, this is a chapter on explaining, or basically kind of like explaining, that sabr and shukr, patience and gratitude, are part of the beautiful attributes of the Lord Himself, subhanahu wa ta'ala. And some of His names, His beautiful names of Allah azza wa jal, as-sabur and as-shakur. In summary of that chapter, he says, Look, if your Lord, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, He Himself, subhanahu wa ta'ala, of His names as-sabur and as-shakur, which includes patience and gratitude, what about you? Why don't you try? Why don't you try to acquire these attributes? Of course, in a manner that's suitable to you as a human being, because you can never reach Allah's attributes. But at least if your Lord has those attributes, what about you? Why can't you acquire these two qualities? I think, Sheikh, that also the idea that, in general, when you approach the names and attributes of Allah, the greatest way to honor a name or an attribute of Allah
that has a human manifestation at the human level is to be that manifestation. The most merciful shows mercy to those people of mercy. And so when you can emanate in your way, when there is a human degree, you obviously, for example, al-khaliq, you can't create, right? So there's no create. But you can show mercy if you want to come close to the most merciful. You can show karam, generosity, if you want to come close to al-karim, the most generous. And for example, al-shakur here, this is, you know, just one example of how you manifest this in a hadith. You've all heard the hadith of the woman who was an adulteress, who gave water to a thirsty dog, and Allah forgave her for all of her sins, right? In one narration, it's a man, and the language of the hadith, shakar Allah, fa shakar Allah lah. He was grateful to Allah, so Allah was grateful to him. Or she was grateful to Allah, so Allah was grateful to her. Meaning, it was an act of shukr to bring that water and to give it to that thirsty dog. Therefore, Allah out-shukur their shukr, if that makes sense. Because Allah will never let you out-do him in one of his names or attributes. Ibn al-Qayyim rahimullah is saying, if this is the only virtue of patience and gratitude that Allah chose for himself, al-shakur, al-shakur, that's enough to try to want to embody these attributes as much as possible. And now he explains this concept, he says, SubhanAllah, la ilaha illallah. He says, ask for patience,
the most knowledgeable person about Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, being our messenger, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and the one who glorified him the most. He described Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, with this quality of patience, in al-mubalighah, in the exaggerated form, meaning in an extreme form. When he says in the hadith that's narrated by Abu Musa radiyallahu ta'ala anhu, and this is by the way hadith al-sahihain, in the two sahihs, no one is more patient upon hearing an insult than Allah. No one is more patient upon hearing an insult than Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. People claim that he has a son, yet Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, provides for them, and he keeps them in good state. So, subhanAllah, I mean, if you think about this, right, when the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, was admiring the Prophets before, Musa alayhi wa sallam, رحم الله أخي موسى, may Allah have mercy on my brother Moses, لقد أوذي بأكثر من هذا فصبر, he was hurt with more than this, but he was patient. You know, when you think about the stories of the Prophets and the patience they give you, the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, is saying, who's more patient than Allah? People, subhanAllah, disbelieve in him, they curse him, they insult him, and Allah, subhanAllah, spares them, and Allah, subhanAllah, still provides them their means by which they live, and has hope in their tawbah to him and their repentance back to him, subhanAllah. When people nowadays, obviously, why they're very impatient, because they take everything personal. That's the problem. And they take it as a fact. And once you take it as a fact, like if someone criticizes you, for example, if someone says that, you know what, you didn't do this well, that was wrong, that was bad. You take it personal, you take it as a fact, and you get upset because someone is trying to call you, for example, you know, imperfect in that regard. As a result, you defend yourself. The reason why Allah, subhanAllah, is very saboor with them, patient with his creation, because he's perfect. None of what they say hurt him, because it doesn't change the fact that he is perfect, subhanAllah.
So for that, Allah, azza wa jal, is not hurt by what they're saying. They only hurt themselves. And that's something extremely important. So for us as humans, in our understanding of this, you know, the only reason why we're hurt by people insulting, maybe people being rude to you, or this and that, because it hurts your ego. And as a result, it affects you, feeling that someone is telling you you're wrong, someone is telling you you're imperfect, and as a result, you try to go above that. That aspiration to always be right, and always be perfect, and never really called wrong, is what's causing a lot of people to become very impatient. And here now he explains, He says, وَمِنْهَا أَنَّهُ لَا يَلْحَقُهُ بِصَبْرِهِ أَلَمٌ وَلَا حُزَنٌ وَلَا نَقْصٌ بِوَجٍّ مِّمَّا So he's saying that amongst his beautiful names, As-Sabur, the most patient, he said this is the most exaggerated form of Sabr. So it's more than As-Sabr or As-Sabbar. They're different, obviously, derivatives of a word, of a name, in the Arabic language. So As-Sabur is the most exaggerated form, and it belongs to Allah SWT. But he's saying it's different and unlike the patience of man in various ways, some of which are mentioned below. So number one, it comes from a place of absolute power. Sometimes we're patient because we have to be patient because we're weak. Right? But Allah Azawajal is patient despite having absolute power. Meaning, you know, there is no fear on Him that if someone says something
that before they can even utter the statement, Allah SWT strikes them dead. Allah has full power, so it comes from a place of full power, full glory, full Izzah. Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Number two, Allah has no need for support. Whereas a man is driven by fear of losing support. Right? So Al-Ghawth, Allah does not need anyone to come to His aid. And sometimes we're patient and we're so because we fear the consequence that we need someone to come to our aid. Number three, what Shaykh Yasir already mentioned, Allah is not affected by pain or grief or any other defect in His patience. Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah says in the Hadith Qudsi, if the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you, were to be as righteous as the most righteous of you, you would not increase Allah's kingdom in any way. And if all of you, the first of you and the last of you, the human of you and the jinn of you were to be the most the most disobedient to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Imagine if every single human being became like a shaytan. It would not take from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's kingdom in any way. It's like taking a needle and putting it in the ocean. You would not decrease from Allah's glory or His majesty in any way. So His sabr is unique in that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has no need to be patient the way that sometimes we need to be patient or we're influenced by secondary factors. I want to add a linguistic tangent to this discussion over here in regards to the difference between saboor or sabr, saboor and sabbar. Like why saboor, the name saboor, which all comes from the meaning of patience and being patient. Saboor is the highest level of patience. It's more than sabr and sabbar. Just like ghafir, ghafoor and ghaffar. Same thing. Three names, they have the same meaning of being patient. What's the difference between that? In the Arabic language, when you say sabr,
this is ala wazni fa'il, the scale of fa'il, those who understand sarf, the Arabic morphology, actually the structure of the word. It comes in a triliteral root. So fa'il is the one who practices a specific action. So sabr is the one who practices what? Sabr, which means patience. So this is basically like an instance. Speaking about someone who is patient in an instant. Some situation happens, so this person was sabr. So it speaks about one incident of patience. Sabbar ala wazni fa'il, it comes on the scale fa'il, which basically speaks about frequency. Frequency, what does that mean? Every time there is an incident of difficulty or incident of insult, he's sabr. So next time was sabr, third time was sabr, third time was sabr. The frequency of being sabr makes the person what? Sabbar. Just like ghafir, he forgives once. Ghaffar, frequently forgiving. Every time you make a mistake, you come to him, he forgives you. Every time you make a mistake, you come to him, he forgives you. But then sabur and ghafur, this is now constantly, regardless of whether there is an instant that you need to be patient for or otherwise, he's always sabr. Always patient. Doesn't matter what circumstances are there. Whether something negative or positive, he's always sabr. Ghaffar, always ghaffar, whether there are people who come seeking forgiveness for him or otherwise, he is still ghaffar. Doesn't change the fact that he's ghaffar. No one always forgives subhanahu wa ta'ala. So just understand why he says sabr is the highest level of showing patience, because that says Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is always patient regardless of people's actions towards him. It doesn't matter whether you're being nice, being a true worshipper or disobedient, Allah will always be sabr, which is
why subhanahu wa ta'ala he forgives, and why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he gives even those who are most disobedient, he still provides for them because he is sabr. He's always patient, subhanahu wa ta'ala against all these insults. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us for our mistakes, ya rabbal alameen. Then he says, ... ... ... So the translation I'm just going to say is very awkward in this chapter, in particular if you're reading from the English, I'm going to change it up a bit. So he's saying the impact of this attribute of sabr is well known and it is as obvious to the world as his attribute of al-hilm. Hilm. The best translation of hilm, allahu alim, is forbearance. Forbearing. So he says the difference between patience and forbearance is that patience is a result of and an effect of forbearance. Hilm. Hilm. The patience of a person is in proportion to the degree of their hilm. Hilm, therefore, is an attribute of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and it's awsa, it has a wider scope than patience. That explains the reason why the name al-halim has been cited in the Qur'an in so many places because it's a wider scope. So Allah uses the name al-halim more than al-sabur in the Qur'an, and he mentions the ayat in that regard.
So halim is to be able to take in a lot. So think about having, you know, a capacity to absorb. You know, some of the scholars mentioned the description of Ibrahim a.s., which I actually wanted to bring up yesterday, subhanAllah, when we were talking about grief. Halimun awwahun munib. Like he's described with these three traits. Halim is like you can absorb a lot, but you got to have a valve if you absorb a lot, right? So he's awwah. Allah says he's grieving a lot too. Ibrahim a.s. absorbs a lot, but he grieves a lot, but he's munib. He's turned to Allah all the time. So the valve is his dua, is his being turned to Allah. Halim, awwah, munib. So when Allah is al-halim, the capacity to absorb the insults of the people, the kufr of the people, all of these things, your sins, and to give you chance after chance after chance after chance, and to not strike you in the moment, subhanAllah, subhanAllah. How halim is Allah? A person will insult Allah subhanAllah and disbelieve for 80, 85, 90 years, and then say la ilaha illallah for one moment, and Allah a.s. says you're forgiven. How halim, how forbearing is Allah subhanAllah? Now with that being said, that's where the saying in Arabic is, fear the anger of the forbearing, fear the anger of the forbearing. You know, when you think about a person who generally does not get angry, when that person gets angry, it's bad. So that's why, so Allah belongs the greatest example. Know that Allah is merciful, but when Allah punishes, his punishment is severe. And subhanAllah, when Ibrahim a.s. was speaking to his father, what does he say to him?
يَا أَبَتِي لَا تَعْبُدُ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ كَانَ لِلرَّحْمَٰنِ عَصِيًّا Oh my father, don't worship the shaytan, shaytan has been greatly disobedient to the most merciful. As if to say, he's not being disobedient to someone who deserves his disobedience, to someone who's been nothing but merciful to him. يَا أَبَتِي إِنِّي أَخَافُ أَن يَمَسَّكَ عَذَابٌ مِنَ الرَّحْمَنِ فَتَكُونَ لِلشَّيْطَانِ وَلِيًّا Then he says, oh my father, I'm afraid you're going to be punished by الرَّحْمَنِ. As if to, you know, he could have used another name of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that's not merciful, right? That has punishment implied. But he's saying, if you even reach the point where الرَّحْمَنِ has to punish you, that means you have truly exceeded all the bounds. Because Allah has given so many chances, and that's where he has عليم حليمة. Last thing, Shaykh, is the fact that he has علم حلم. Usually, you know, you say, I'd rather not know so I don't get mad. That's why, you know, it's haram to quote people's words to each other in a way that would cause dissension. Like I can be forgiving, I can be merciful to someone, but if you keep telling me, but you know he said this about you, and he said this about you, and he said this about you, and he said this about you, then my forgiveness is going to diminish. My capacity to see that person in a favorable light is going to diminish, right? Allah is that forbearing of you despite knowing everything about you. Despite his full knowledge of circumstances and of implications, Allah is still حليم in the process. He's still forbearing. Two things I want to add to this, Shaykh, number one, thinking about حليم and صبور. So حليم is, like Shaykh mentioned, forbearance. It's basically an intrinsic value, intrinsic attributes. الصبور is the manifestation of حليم. So when you are by nature حليم, you have that kind of level of forbearance. How does it come out?
It comes in the form of being patient. When Ashajab Abdul Qais, a man known as Ashad Abdul Qais, he was the leader of his tribe. He came to the Prophet ﷺ with his tribe to give his allegiance after the Hudaybiyah Treaty. So he came from afar. So by the time they arrived, the Prophet ﷺ, he received his delegation. And he came a little bit later. He took his time. And when he arrived, he arrived fresh. He took a shower, and he was dressed nicely, and he looked really fresh. And the Prophet ﷺ looked at that, he was so surprised and so pleased by that. Because his friends, they all came, you know, disheveled and dusty and greasy, whatever. But he, no, he took his time. He went a little bit farther away, took a shower, dressed nicely, and came to meet with the Prophet ﷺ. And the Prophet ﷺ smiled in his face. He goes, look, إِنَّا فِيكَ خَصْلَتَيْنَ There are two qualities that you have. يُحِبُّهُمَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُلُهُ Allah and His Messenger love these two qualities about you. قَالَ الْحِلْمُ وَالْأَنَا Patience and forbearance. And the man, he says, يُحِبُّهُمَ اللَّهَ وَرَسُلُهُ Something I acquired through practice or Allah ﷻ created me like that. He goes, no, no, no. Allah ﷻ gifted you that. Which some of the ulema, they say, some of these qualities are actually intrinsic. Basically, they are inherent. Gift from Allah ﷻ. So if Allah ﷻ gifted you being patient or being forbearant, then use it to the maximum, in the best way possible. So that's the first thing I want you to understand. That some people, by design, Allah made them patient. And if you don't use it properly, then you're missing out a lot. Other people, subhanAllah, they have to acquire it. They have to practice to be patient. And it's okay to do that. Because the Prophet ﷺ says in another hadith, قَالَ إِنَّمَا الْعِلْمُ بِالتَّعَلُّمُ وَإِنَّمَا الْحِلْمُ بِالتَّحَلُّمُ Knowledge comes through learning. And hilm, forbearance, comes through training. Which means you can still train yourself to be forbearant and patient.
But you need to practice that. So that's the first point I want to mention over here. The second point, Allah ﷻ combined between two of His beautiful names. Alim, the all-knowing, and Halim, the all-forbearing. What is that? Why is ilm and hilm very important over here? What would make you saboor or halim in the face of an atrocity or the face of an accusation or face of injustice and so on? What makes you actually stand firm there? The number one thing really is confidence. You know that is not true. You know that what they're talking about is nonsense. That gives you that sense of confidence by which you'll be patient because whatever they do, I don't care. So if someone comes and attacks you or accuses you, you go, you broke this. I know I didn't. That knowledge that I have is my ammunition, really, to help me with being patient. When you hear someone say, no, you did this, and they yell in your face, you can easily stand there with full confidence and just tell them in their face, no, I didn't do that. You can. Unfortunately, what causes people to start yelling back and try to fight back and push that injustice away, what is that? It is the fact that now you try to defend what you know about yourself that they are not accepting. And as a result, they keep pushing back at you, and you want to push back at them because you want them to believe and know what you know of yourself. Allah doesn't care about that because He knows Himself, the one and only. So therefore, when these people keep saying to Allah, He has a son, He has this, He has that, Allah doesn't need any endorsement or validation from them. So that's why He is just like whatever they say, He still provides for them. And He keeps giving them a chance after a chance. Sending them prophets, sending them books, sending them people to guide them. It's up to them to make that decision, that choice for themselves.
So for us here in this dunya, I want you to understand that. One of the ways you can be really truly patient and develop that forbearance is start becoming confident of yourself, of what you know. And if you are having the truth, it doesn't matter if people believe you or not. It doesn't matter. No, we insist that people need to know that it's not right, it's wrong, it's haram, it's this. You just need to deliver the message. You need to just give them what you know. And you can't force people to accept that. Guidance is in the hand of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This principle can help you a lot when it comes to confrontation, dealing with other people, whether it's on a personal level or professional level. Knowledge and patience. If you have those two things, alhamdulillah, you will have a wonderful life inshallah. He said, So this is actually a beautiful narration. I've mentioned this in some previous series and elaborated on it. But I'll elaborate it in this context. He's saying there's a narration that the four angels who bear the throne, two of them are praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by saying, To you belongs all praise for your forbearance despite your knowledge. Your forbearance despite knowing everything. And then the other two, they praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, For your forgiveness despite your power over them. You're pardoning them despite your power over them. So Allah, and this obviously works for us in these last ten nights. Oh Allah, you're the forgiving one. You love to forgive. So forgive me. Who bounds Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive?
No one. So the first thing is, despite knowing everything, you still are patient with them. You're still forbearing with them. And despite having the full power to punish them, you are still willing to forgive them. And you invite them to forgiveness. And subhanAllah, one other thing, sheikh, usually when you see someone who's very calm, patient, kind of cool, usually there's a quality of naivety. Usually they're a little naive, right? You're like, oh bless his heart, mashaAllah, so innocent. Like, you know, always assumes the best of everybody, very innocent, kind of like not paying attention to the facts and the details. And so they get taken advantage of. People say things about them, do things right in their presence. And because they're kind of naive, and it's a gift to them, subhanAllah, sometimes it's a gift that they're a little naive. So just, you know, that innocence allows them to not even see what's happening. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sees, knows everything that's implied. Yet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is still willing to be forbearing despite his knowledge. So to confirm this and affirm that point, Imam Ibn Qayyim, rahimAllah, he says, فَإِنَّ الْمَخْلُوقَ يَحْلُمُ عَنْ جَهْلٍ وَيَعْفُوا عَنْ عَجْزٍ وَالرَّبُّ تَعَالَى يَحْلُمُ مَعَ كَمَالِ عِلْمِهِ وَيَعْفُوا مَعَ تَمَامِ قُدْرَتِهِ وَمَا أُضِيفَ مِنْ شَيْءٍ إِلَى شَيْءٍ أَزْيَنُ مِنْ حِلْمٍ عَلَى عِلْمٍ وَمِنْ عَفْفٌ عَلَى اقْتِدَارٍ وَلِهَٰذَا كَانَ فِي دُعَاءِ الْكَرْبِ وَصْفَ سُبْحَانَهُ بِالْحِلْمِ مَعَ الْعَظَمَةِ وَكَوْنُهُ حَلِيمًا مِنْ لَوَازِمِ إِذَاتِهِ سُبْحَانًا So he says, compare this to human beings. Human beings, this is such a profound point. He says that the forbearance of human beings comes out of ignorance. Again, that kind of innocence and like, I don't know any better, so I'm just kind of, it passed over my head or whatever it is. And your forgiveness usually comes out of your inability to exact vengeance.
The only reason you usually forgive is because you can't get your right back. You can't exact vengeance. But he's saying, Allah, on the other hand, shows him, shows that forbearance despite his full knowledge and he shows that forgiveness despite having full power and there's no more beautiful addition of one quality to another and this is why the angels are saying it, then Hilm to Ilm, then forbearance to knowledge and forgiveness to power and that's why in the supplication to be said when in distress he's described with his Hilm, with his forbearance, along with his greatness because his forbearance is an inseparable attribute of his essence and by the way, even for us, what is the most rewardable forgiveness? The most rewardable forgiveness is when you are in a position of power to exact full vengeance and you choose mercy and pardon. Why? Why do you do that? Why would you do that? What would drive you to that? وَلْيَعْفُوا وَلْيَصْفَحُوا أَنَا تُحِبُّونَ يَغْفِرَ اللَّهَ لَكُمْ Forgive, have mercy, pardon, don't you want Allah to forgive you? So Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq radiyallahu anhu has at his mercy Mistah radiyallahu anhu, one of the veterans of Badr, who made a grave mistake in slandering our mother Aisha radiyallahu anha. Abu Bakr radiyallahu anhu has him at his full mercy. Not only can he exact punishment upon him, but he can also stop sponsoring him because imagine while this man was slandering his daughter, he was doing so while living off of the donations of her father Abu Bakr. Can you imagine how angry Abu Bakr radiyallahu anhu could have been and what he could have done? Like how dare you? At least pay me back all the donations I gave you while you went around saying this about my daughter. But the only thing Abu Bakr says is I'm not going to spend on him anymore.
And Allah still revealed because he holds Al-Siddiq to a higher standard. Allah still reveals, forgive and pardon because you know you want that from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Abu Bakr radiyallahu anhu said, I forgive. And it's said subhanAllah on the athar, the same day. What was that? Powerful statement. The same day, the same day that the slander was carried out, Abu Bakr radiyallahu anhu still went and he gave Mislah, his daily portion, out of his Helm radiyallahu anhu. Some people might ask in this moment right now, wait a minute. Does it mean that whatever people throw at me I have to accept? So what's the difference between being truly forbearant, patient and being naive or being just kind of like a pushover? How do you differentiate between that? I'm going to give an example from the Prophet ﷺ. You see the Prophet ﷺ, he has that knowledge that the people of Mecca didn't have. He knew. He knew Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He knew everything about the meaning of this life. He had the revelation from God himself subhanahu wa ta'ala. So he had that ilm, the knowledge, that gave him the ability to become even stronger in his patience. Because I know they're jihad, they're ignorant, they don't know what they're talking about. But there was a time when the Prophet ﷺ, which was this year, the Prophet ﷺ, one day he was doing tawaf around the Ka'bah in Mecca and the elite of Quraysh, the dignitaries of Quraysh and these people sitting around the Ka'bah in the Hijr, not too far away from him. So as the Prophet ﷺ was going around the Ka'bah, the first time he came by them, they started insulting him, mocking him and insulting him. And the Prophet ﷺ kept quiet and he kept going. Exercising what? Patience and forbearance. And then he went again to the second round. By the time he came back to them, they started insulting him and also started speaking bad about him.
The Prophet ﷺ, he kind of ignored him and went again, third time. The third time, as he was coming to the third round and they started insulting him again, he stopped his tawaf ﷺ. He stops his tawaf. And he goes straight to these people. He went straight to them. Imagine he was one person against all these people. So he comes to them and he stands in front of them and he goes, He said, listen to me. O people of Quraysh, listen to me. I can make a bloodbath over here if I want to. Look at this word, how powerful that statement was. From the Prophet ﷺ, he goes, what do you want me to do? Shall I use this? He said, I can make a bloodbath over here. I can make war. To that, the people of Quraysh was taken aback. Whoa. As-Sadiq al-Masduq, he's As-Sadiq al-Ameen Muhammad. If he says something, he makes it happen. So they got scared. And they withdrew. And those who are more sensible, now they paid attention to those who were insulting the Prophet ﷺ. He goes, These are just the foolish among the speaking like this. Sorry, we're very sorry. Idhab Rashidun, please keep going with your tawaf. And then the Prophet ﷺ went back again to his tawaf, finished it. Not even a word came out of their mouths. So the point is, being patient doesn't necessarily mean you cannot be decisive and being firm. But you do it, of course, obviously it depends on the circumstances, without causing any excessive damage unnecessarily. These words of the Prophet ﷺ were serious. Did he act upon these words in Mecca? No. He was forced to practice this when he went to Madinah ﷺ, and they started harassing him and attacking him. But again, I want to make sure that people understand. When you say you need to be patient and forbearant, it does not necessarily mean to push over and people take advantage of you.
You've been given the choice between retaliation or being patient. So choose for yourself. Should we go to Shukr, Shaykh? No. Next, right now, we talk about Ash-Shakur. Ash-Shakur, the name of Allah ﷻ. Allah ﷻ said, His name is also Shakur. Allah ﷻ said, Allah ﷻ said, So Allah ﷻ gathered for them between two things, that He ﷻ would be grateful for their effort and reward for it. Allah ﷻ is grateful to His servant when he does good to him, and He ﷻ forgives him when he repents to him. Allah ﷻ said, So the name of Allah, Ash-Shakur. The translation says the responsive, which doesn't really make sense. That would be Al-Muteeb. Ash-Shakur is the grateful one. Right? So the one who shows gratitude. And he says it's mentioned in the report of Abu Huraira ﷺ. The famous hadith in al-Tirmidhi with the names of Allah. And then he says the Qur'an has mentioned him, Ash-Shakir. Ash-Shakir. Shakir Alim. So he is grateful and all-knowing. And then Allah ﷻ mentioned his Shukur. Shukur Halim. So Allah ﷻ combined now His gratefulness with His forbearance. And that there is Jaza that Allah ﷻ has promised to reward for you. And your effort will be shown appreciation. So he's saying here Allah ﷻ combined two things for the people. Number one, He appreciates their efforts. So Allah's Shukur is that He appreciates your efforts. Even though Allah ﷻ created you and gave you the means
by which you do those things, Allah ﷻ still appreciates your efforts. And on top of that, the second thing is, He gives you Jaza, He gives you reward. Even though Allah ﷻ owes you nothing, He still gives you. Even though Allah ﷻ commands you, He still rewards you. So it's interesting. SubhanAllah, He gives you your existence, the means by which to thank Him and obey Him. And then He thanks you for doing what you should have done anyway and rewards you in ways that you cannot even imagine. So He's saying that Allah ﷻ appreciates and rewards His servant's efforts when He obeys Him sincerely and He forgives him when He returns to him in repentance. Thus Allah ﷻ combines His appreciation of the good and His forgiveness of the bad. So ghafoorun shakoor. Allah ﷻ combines appreciation for good, forgiveness of bad, and so you have the perfect Lord that you are calling upon despite your circumstance and whether you've fallen into bad or you are in the performance of good. We go back again to the same linguistic meaning of the word shakoor versus shakir if you guys remember. There is no Arabic name or verb shakkar. So there is shakoor and shakir over here. Shakir which means He is grateful one instant at a time. But then He's shakoor as one of the attributes of His essence. Meaning Allah ﷻ doesn't need your ihsan, doesn't need your goodness to be grateful. He is grateful regardless because that's one of the attributes of His essence, subhanahu wa ta'ala. Now just like combining khilm and sabr. Like we said khilm being haleem, forbearance is the attribute of the essence and being patient is the manifestation of that through actions. Similarly here, Allah ﷻ speaks about ghafoor and shakoor. Because He is grateful, subhanahu wa ta'ala, for those who do good, Allah ﷻ rewards them with forgiveness.
Again, because Allah ﷻ is always shakoor, He is always grateful, so Allah ﷻ grants them forgiveness. This is for you and I. If you believe and if you claim that you are a person who is always grateful, basically I have that quality, alhamdulillah, I appreciate people, I appreciate the thing that I have, I appreciate all the time, like I do have this as an intrinsic value, then show it. How do you show that? To other people? By being forgiving. Being forgiving. Why is that? Because they're not always bad to you. Sometimes they're good to you, especially those all around you. The Rasulullah ﷺ says in the hadith, لَا يَفْرِكُ مُؤْمِنٌ مُؤْمِنًا A true believing man would never detest and despise mu'minah, which means his spouse, his wife, basically. Why? He says, قَالَ إِن كَرِهَ مِنْهَا خُلُقًا أَعْجَبَهُ آخَرًا If he disliked something from her, he will like something else. Which means, if you're truly grateful to people, you will always find moments of forgiveness to forgive them. But just be positive and look at that which is good. Look at these beautiful qualities and attributes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Because he's haleem, forbearance, because he's saboor, always patient subhanahu wa ta'ala, it comes from where? From his ultimate ilm, haleem and alima, from his knowledge. He knows everything. So his sabr, his patience is not out of ignorance, or inability to act upon that knowledge. No. His patience is subhanahu wa ta'ala, it's one of his attributes. So as human beings, if you would like to exercise patience, be confident with what you know, and you don't have to have validation from people for that. Similarly, if you would like also to show that you're grateful to other people in your life inshallah wa ta'ala, show it through your forgiveness.
No matter who they are around you, there's always something good about them. And the Prophet ﷺ says in the hadith, لَا يَشْكُرُ اللَّهِ مَا لَا يَشْكُرُ النَّاسِ If you don't show gratitude, if you're not grateful to people, you can never be grateful to Allah ﷻ. Never. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this hadith from the Prophet ﷺ is like as if he's commanding us to display gratitude to him by showing gratitude to the people. Just like if you would like to receive Allah's mercy and rahmah and forgiveness, then show that gratitude to people so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can forgive you. And show forgiveness for the people so you can display and manifest your gratitude to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala through his creation. Should I just summarize in two minutes the rest of it, and then we can just do questions inshallah? So he concludes this chapter and he talks about how Allah's shukr manifests. So he talks about how Allah does not belittle the good deed that you do for him. لَا تَحْكِرَانَ مِنَ الْمَعْرُوفِ شَيْئًا Don't belittle a good deed. Allah does not belittle your good deeds. On top of that, Allah rewards your hasanah, your good deed, by the minimum of what? Ten. Tenfold is the minimum that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala rewards your hasanah. He says that if a person gives up the praise of the people for the sake of Allah, Allah gives them the praise of better people and the praise of the angels. And he says if a person abandons something for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala of wealth, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives him something better. And if a person spends for the sake of Allah, Allah spends on him. And then he goes to these beautiful examples. He said, you know, like the sahaba left their homes in hijrah, and they migrated from their homes in Mecca, and Allah gave them in return the kingdom of this world and granted them the power to conquer it. When Yusuf alayhi salam endured with patience prison,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave him the throne, the power of the throne after that. And he says when the shuhada sacrificed their bodies, their enemies tore them to pieces. Right? You know, you don't understand. The kuffar of Quraysh were aggressive. They used to mutilate. They used to do tamthir, right? They used to mutilate the people. So when they tore them to pieces, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala appreciated their sacrifice by putting them in the form of perfect green birds and then placing their souls into them. And he lets them drink and eat from the fruits and the rivers of al-jannah until the day of judgment to which Allah returns them to the most beautiful manifestation of their early form and the most beautiful of shapes that enters them into al-jannah. He says when the messengers of Allah, they sacrificed their honor, their pleasure, for his pleasure to their enemies who abused them and insulted them, Allah compensated them with the salawat of the mala'ika. Subhanallah, all the time they were saying what they said about the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, inna allaha wa mala'ikatahu yusalluna ala nabiyyin. Allah and the angels sent their peace and blessings on the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. So he gives all of these examples. Then he says, look how Allah appreciates these small good deeds. The adulterous woman who gave water to the dog. The man who removed something harmful from the road. All of these small things. A person who Allah azawajal raises on the day of judgment. And he says, what have you prepared? He said, the only thing I did good is that someone owed me money, and I granted him respite. I let him take his time. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, I am more worthy of showing you that type of respite than that person. Forgive him his sins. The debt of his sins, remove it. Subhanallah, so he just goes through all these beautiful examples of how Allah's shukr can never be outdone by a human being.
Subhanahu wa ta'ala walhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Can I add one more story to this? This, the point that Sheikh Omar mentioned at the end, no one can outdo Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when it comes to shukr. It extends even in the day of judgment. Into the day of judgment. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam mentioned in the hadith that a man on the day of judgment will come with his book of deeds balanced 50-50. He needed only one single hasana, one single merit, good deed to get him into Jannah. Just one single one. And he went to his dad, he went to his mom, he went to his sibling, he went to his spouse, he went to his children, he went to all his friends. Everybody, just one. Can I have one? Please. You have plenty, can I have one? And everybody on that day will tell him what? Nafsi, nafsi. Sorry, I don't know you. Not now, not today. I'm sorry, I don't know who you are. Everybody. So this man, he felt that he was doomed. So he started going to strangers. And he finds one guy standing there and he has only one hasana in his record. The rest of it is piles of bad deeds. Piles of bad deeds. Only has one hasana. He goes to this man, he goes, Hey man, what are you going to do with this one? Not in that language, obviously. But in the essence, he goes, I mean, you're doomed anyway. I only need one to pass. Could I take that hasana from you? Could you please give me that hasana? The man, he looks at him and he goes, You're right, I'm doomed anyway. Here you go, take it. Go, pass. So he comes back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala very joyful and very happy. Ya Rabbi, I got it. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, He knows. Allah knows exactly what happened. He says, Where did you get that from? He goes, From that man who had nothing but this hasana. So the Prophet ﷺ would say in that moment, That day, no one can do Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's rahma and gratitude. You go take him by hand and take him with you to Jannah.
Take him with you into Jannah. No one can outdo Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's mercy on that day. So that's Allah azzawajal arham al rahimeen, the most merciful. The one who has forbearance and patience. The most grateful, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Who are we? Who are we not to really come, even try to acquire Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's beautiful attributes and the manifestation of His attributes through our actions. And Allah azzawajal, when He said, وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةَ الْعَالَمِينَ We sent you but as a mercy to mankind, to the Prophet ﷺ. How would the manifestation of Allah's rahma happen in this creation? Except through you and I. Allah uses this man in the desert to show rahma to this dog that was licking moisture from the dirt around the water well. And the man, when he came out, he goes, وَاللَّهِ لَقَدْ أَخَذَ مِنْهُ الْجُهَدِ كَمَا أَخَذَ بِهِ This dog is so thirsty like I was thirsty. So he goes down back into the water well, fills his shoes with water, grabs it in his mouth. For what? For a dog. And he climbs up again and he gives that dog water. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, شَكَرَ لَهُ Allah was grateful for him to show this mercy to this animal and He forgave him his sins. So again, showing gratitude of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, شَكُورَ All these beautiful attributes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the manifestation of these attributes, can be in your practice. Because Allah azza is working through us. Allah is working through us. He invokes mercy into the population so we can have mercy upon each other, being patient with each other, being forgiven for another. All these amazing beautiful attributes are not going to happen unless we try, of course, to practice this. So my dear brothers and sisters, as Imam Ibn Qayyim rahimallah concludes in that chapter, he reminds us that, you know what, look, these are the beautiful attributes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Now you have that knowledge. What are you going to do with it? What is your action item? I highly recommend, after we're done from this session, if you look at the countdown over there,
we have 3 hours, 33 minutes, and 5 seconds to the end of the last night of the 10 nights of Ramadan. This is how much time you have for Laylatul Qadr, if it was Laylatul Qadr. What are you going to do with these 3 hours? Make sure to sit on the side, grab your notes, write down your action items as a result of all these beautiful nights. What did you learn from these nights? I didn't just come over here for the sake of having an emotional high or a spiritual high moment that makes me feel so great, alhamdulillah. I wish Ramadan never comes to an end. Well, the bad news is that it is going to come to an end. But the good news is that the spirit of Ramadan can stay forever with you. So make sure that you get the benefit of these nights, inshallah wa ta'ala, as we come to the conclusion of the month of Ramadan, by writing your own takeaways from this month. What did I learn? What are my action items? How am I going to change? And I mentioned that in the early sessions of these last nights. I said, look, if you come over here and you don't leave with an upgrade, you don't leave in a position or a feeling or a practice that is better than it was yesterday and the day before, then you're not benefiting much from this. This should always teach us to upgrade, inshallah wa ta'ala, to a better position and become a better person in my life, inshallah wa ta'ala. Just a take-home message, inshallah, on this last moment. حُسْنَ ظَنَّ اللَّهِ Have a good expectation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, a good assumption of Allah. Isn't this a Lord you want to work for? SubhanAllah, you hear that story of the Day of Judgment, gives you goosebumps. Isn't that a Rabb you want to work for? Isn't that a Rabb that you expect well from? Two things that have to go hand in hand. Number one, how could you despair in a Rabb like that? How could you despair from Allah? Knowing all these stories about Him subhanahu wa ta'ala, how could you despair from Him?
And now you see why Iblis is such a perished being. To despair from a Rabb like that, to despair from a Lord like that, I don't care what you brought to this Ramadan. I don't care how bad you think your Ramadan was. I don't care how bad you think you are. Are you really going to despair from a Rabb like that? That's one. On the other hand, don't you want to work for a Rabb like that? Don't you want to worship harder for a Rabb like that? Don't you want to push yourself to another level for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when He's willing to show you that much love and that much mercy and that much generosity? You should want to work for Allah. You should want to upgrade for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that's kind of the summary of this. There is no obedience like the obedience of a lover. There is no obedience like the obedience of a lover. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us amongst those that truly love Him. Allahumma ameen. InshaAllah we're going to take a few questions. We have 10 minutes inshaAllah for Q&A. You can scan the QR code on the screen. And again, if you're sending questions from out of state, just make sure to indicate where you're sending your question from inshaAllah. Sisters, make sure that your padlets are also colored so we recognize it's coming from the sister side inshaAllah so we can alternate between brothers and sisters. Now, make sure please to make your question as short as possible for the sake of time inshaAllah. So a question coming all the way from Minnesota, the land of the Somali community. No, but this is actually coming from a Palestinian sister. Sister Nadia actually from Minnesota.
She's saying, how does one take advantage of having the qualities of patience and forbearance? What does that look like exactly? How does it look like in action? How do you do that? So we mentioned the 20 techniques. Again, that chapter is important to go back to. But the second thing is forbearance is specifically practiced when there is someone annoying you. You know, the hardest type of patience is patience with people. Patience with disaster, patience like those are difficult. But when there is a person that's causing you that annoyance, that's the hardest type of patience and that's where learning the mechanisms in advance once again and seeking the higher reward from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I seek refuge in Allah. I seek Allah's reward. I seek the reward from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So it's patience with people to absorb, to grow your ability to absorb at the first strike. Another question, it's very specific but it's very important actually because there's a lot of misunderstanding regarding this subject. It says Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgives all sins except when you hurt or wrong another Muslim. I would say not just a Muslim, when you're wrong another human being. It doesn't matter if a Muslim or otherwise actually. So can I break off my engagement? That's the question. Like someone has engaged, I have no Islamic reason, but I've just changed my mind. Is this considered breaking an oath or promise? I don't want to be held accountable on the Day of Judgment. What should I do? Well, the answer, can you break an engagement? The answer is absolutely yes, you can. There is no obligation in staying in a relationship because subhanAllah even in Islam, even in the Qur'an Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about it, is that if you divorce them, like not just breaking an engagement,
divorce happened before the consummation of marriage. It's acceptable, it's permissible Islamically. Why? Because like I said, people change their minds. People change their minds and there is no obligation to live with a person, of course, without having full satisfaction with them. However, my comment on this issue is that unfortunately, and I think we spoke about this, if you guys remember the first few nights. So whoever asked the question, please go to the first maybe couple of sessions we had. We talked about this a lot. One of our biggest problems in our time, in our culture today, is what a jama'at. Unfortunately, the indecisiveness of our younger generations today. Because we have a culture of abundance, we have too many options. And because we have too many options, we get confused and we are never satisfied. It's just like because we have access to everything, we are never satisfied with anything. You have access to everything, you are never satisfied with anything. Why? Because you always think maybe the other one, maybe the next one, maybe this one, maybe this one. So you're never satisfied. These matters of marriage, by the way, you're going to have to be serious about these matters. You will never, ever find the perfect person. Never, ever find the perfect person for marriage, but you can find the right one. And if you find the right one, that is the best person for you. Many people are looking for an idealistic model. They have everything. Perfect in everything. You keep looking for that. You're going to get tired and exhausted. And probably you're going to start aging without even noticing that. So please, please, please, my dear brothers and sisters, when it comes to the subject of marriage, you have to understand, no matter how much you know about them before marriage, that will be completely irrelevant once you get married. Because at the end of the day, what sustains a relationship is your good manners, your akhlaq. Your manners, your akhlaq, your attitudes towards each other, that is the thing that's going to make this relationship work out.
It doesn't matter. Anything else is completely irrelevant. How beautiful they are, how smart they are, how this and that they are, it becomes irrelevant. Because if you don't have good akhlaq with each other, I don't care how beautiful you are. I don't care how rich you are. It becomes completely irrelevant. So please, make sure to make these serious decisions. I had to emphasize because I really deal with a lot of things, unfortunately, in regards to breaking engagements and going through a divorce and all that stuff and so forth, because of trivial reasons sometimes, unfortunately, trivial reasons. And some of them are just like, you know what, I'll pass, just that's it, for that. No legitimate reason really to decide on saying yes or no. Wallahi, I don't know if sheikh has any comment on this. Oh, look, it's the number one reason why marriages break, lack of patience. Patience is in two ways. Again, we snap at each other really quickly. Number two, patience with change. And then you also have like high expectations sometimes that are unreasonable and then patience to just see things through. So first challenge, I want out. I don't love you anymore. Like, what happened? SubhanAllah. So there's a permissibility thing, but then there's on an individual level, there's a collective fasad, a collective corruption that comes out of that. So permissibility, yes, the famous story we learn always in the fiqh of this, the story of Barira and Mughif, right, where Barira left Mughif and the Prophet ﷺ sees Mughif literally chasing Barira, asking her, please don't leave me, and the Prophet ﷺ is saying, isn't it amazing how much she despises him and how much he loves her. Like, it's amazing, subhanAllah, the way that these hearts are, right, and that it happened that way. So it's permissible, but collectively speaking, it's like when the product breaks,
when you no longer want to service anything, it's the same idea, right? We're not used to having the resilience and the commitment to actually repair things. We just quickly dispose of things and move on, and that leads to a collective type of fasad, a collective type of corruption in the process as well. MashaAllah, question comes from a brother from Japan. I think Ramadan is over there probably right now. I can speak Japanese next year, inshaAllah. So this brother, he says, how do we deal with a heart that doesn't love? Doesn't cry and doesn't have these, or doesn't feel emotions? May Allah protect us from eyes that don't shed tears and hearts that don't move and tremble from the fear of Allah subhanAllah. You know the dua, that part is not authentic in a hadith, but it's used in multiple scholars mention it as well as part of a dua, you seek refuge in Allah from eyes that don't shed tears because the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned the praise of eyes that shed tears, especially in private, out of fear of Allah subhanAllah. You know Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiAllahu ta'ala anhum, and he is who he is. When he saw some people come from Yemen and they heard the Quran being recited for the first time, and he started to cry, and Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhum looked at those men and he said, I remember when we were like that, before our hearts went hard. I remember when we used to cry, when the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam would recite the Quran to us, and we would cry right away, and these people came from Yemen and right away they started crying, saying subhanAllah, that's how we used to be before our hearts became hard. What he meant by that was the hearts became used to it, they became used to it. And so when the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam says, like you have to refresh, renew your faith, you've got to approach it over and over and over again, from a fresh perspective
and find those intimate moments with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And there's nothing that will squeeze a hard heart like a sincere du'a. Nothing that will squeeze a hard heart like a sincere du'a. So create the moments where you have those du'as with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But I'll say as well, I'll caution this, Shaykh and I'm not sure if you agree, I think sometimes people pursue the tears more than they pursue the substance itself behind the tears. There's a saying, that a person who truly fears Allah is not someone who cries and then wipes their tears. A person who truly fears Allah is someone who leaves that which causes them to cry out of fear of Allah in the first place. They abandon the sins in the first place. So don't pursue the high moment, pursue instead that true fear of Allah, of which tears are a natural consequence. This translates a lot in the lives of people with du'a particularly. So they said, I made du'a but I don't get anything that I'm looking for. So they stopped making that du'a. Because when they were making du'a, they were not really thinking about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, they were thinking about their need. Like I'm making a du'a because Allah said he will give. So I'm making du'a for that. Well you need to make du'a because it's actually first and foremost it's an act of worship itself. It's glorifying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Anything you need that you're asking for should be secondary because Allah said that I will respond to you no matter what. How? That's not to you. It's to him. He will respond to you in a way that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with his hikmah, infinite wisdom, he knows what is best for you. So even if you don't get what you're asking for, he still answered you in some way or another subhanahu wa ta'ala. Similarly when people they come to, for example, these nights of Ramadan because they want to transform themselves, they want to see change in their personal lives. So then they come, they feel so good, mashallah, they go home, like I said if you remember
we talked about that the other day, is that the shaitan will come attack your new conviction. Your new earned knowledge that this is it. From now on I'm going to be like that. Alhamdulillah this strong conviction is just like the magicians of Fir'aun. Changed immediately with that conviction, completely. They were willing to sacrifice their lives for it. So you come now with a new conviction, leave from here, the shaitan on the way out says wow that was amazing, oh my god, I wish Ramadan can be every year, or actually every day. But alas, it's coming to an end. And you start feeling like, yeah you're right, wallahi, right? Which means, khalas, you gave up, you said you know what, I know I'm going to go back to my old ways and eventually we're going to stop believing so strongly about this matter. So this is something very important to remember that inshallah. I have to share the story sheikh, of Sayyidina Umar radiyallahu anhu, you know that idea of being with the people of crime, being with the people of righteousness. When Umar radiyallahu anhu walked in on the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and Abu Bakr radiyallahu anhu after the battle of Badr, and they were crying, Umar radiyallahu anhu felt left out. It's like what did I walk into, he said tell me what you're crying about so I can try to make myself cry as well. Like I want to cry too, what are you guys crying about, I want to cry with you. Even if I don't have the same reason, I want to be included in this, right? So being in the places of righteousness, being in the gatherings where Allah is being remembered, where our messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is being described, those are gatherings that soften the heart. You know sheikh, when someone comes up to you, I'm sure it happens to you, someone comes up to you at a dars after a lecture, this is the first time I've ever cried in a lecture. I wasn't expecting it, it caught me off guard, Alhamdulillah, it's a gift for you. You're there, and inshallah it will come naturally for you, your heart will soften where Allah is being remembered and where the prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is being described.
So many questions, again it goes back to personal relationships, and I keep reminding people, please do not ask these very personal questions in a public platform, because really it's not going to be possible to answer in specifics, it's going to be a general answer, it might not really be the one that you're looking for in this situation. But a quick question for Sheikh Hussain, how can I differentiate between developing confidence in order for me to have forbearance, and not becoming arrogant as a result of that? Remember the analogy of the strong horse, from Hassan al-Basri, that you want to have a strong horse, but you want to keep your horse under control. So think of the horse like your nafs, like yourself. So strong qualities are good, so long as you're in charge of them. Arrogance is knowing where it comes from, and then using it in the right way. Arrogance is thinking you got it from yourself, and then using it for yourself. So confidence is, Allah Azawajal has given you something, be confident in that by knowing that it's from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, Alhamdulillah, and then use it for the sake of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. But it's always going to be a battle, because anytime you are at the refinement of a quality, shaytan will try to intercept that quality, and taint it so that it becomes a negative quality instead of a positive quality. So that's part of Mujahadat al-Nafs, it's part of constant striving against the self, and at the heart of that is the frequent renewal of intention, wallahu ta'ala alam. This question, even though it's not necessarily 100% relevant to the topic, but I think it's very important to address this issue, Shaykh, maybe it requires from you to learn a new language inshallah wa ta'ala. It says, Mexican women, sisters, converts from Mexico asking this actually. So inshallah from Mexico they're asking this question, saying, how can I as a woman deal with my leaders who are male in the community over there, when they tell me I cannot be a leader in an Islamic institution, nor give da'wah as a woman, like I cannot give da'wah as a woman. This is just men's business, basically.
How can one show compassion and patience to those who are leading us, but with a full of anger and imposing traditions over religion? What do we do in this situation? That's all new, Shaykh. I'm not trying to make anyone mad, I have enough people that hate me online, I don't need more haters than, you know, from, no, I'm good. Honestly, if I want to say something, I would like to say that this is their test, both of them. This is the test of the women with these men, and the test of these male leaders with these sisters within their community. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make it easy for them, ya rabbal alameen. Now obviously, I don't know the exact specific situation, but I would say there's always a way of giving da'wah regardless. I don't know what they mean by da'wah. If you mean by da'wah going on a platform, behind a fancy table, sitting on a fancy couch like Shaykh Omar, masha'Allah, da'wah— We're on the same couch. Okay, but the point is that you don't have to have a big platform to give da'wah. Da'wah can be speaking to your neighbor. You know, go to the market, to the business, to the store while you're buying something or selling something. You can still give da'wah to that individual. In any moment, in any position, you can still give da'wah. So to say that they're preventing us from giving da'wah, I think it's a broad concept over here. This organization needs to seek maybe professional counseling from leaders maybe in their communities and other local communities, insha'Allah ta'ala, because their circumstances are unique to them. We don't know what's going on. We live in a different situation here, so we cannot judge your situation. But what I can say is that you can still give da'wah even just by speaking a few words to your neighbor. The Prophet ﷺ says in the hadith, بَلِّغُوا عَنِّي وَلَوْا آيَةٌ Deliver even if it was one single ayah. You don't have to have a microphone for this, you don't have to have a camera for this. Simply you walk in with somebody, you can give da'wah to them. You sit with them, you can give da'wah to them.
Just speak to them a few words and that's it. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala might change the heart of these people. You're not responsible for guiding the people, you're only responsible to create the environment, open the door for them to find guidance. If I might close with this as a story, subhanAllah, to show that your job is to speak. Just to speak. Guidance comes from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So back when I first arrived in the country over here, more than, almost 25 years actually ago, subhanAllah, my English was horrible because I spoke Bosnian at the time. Seriously. I spoke Bosnian and that was easy for me. When I go in the Mimbar, I used to throw Bosnian words in the Mimbar. What do people think about that khutbah, I have no clue. Probably what they thought of my Somali, right? SubhanAllah, and then less than a year since my arrival, then September 11th happened. Was a very difficult time for everybody, for the community, but we decided bravely as a community with a small community in El Paso, hey, we need to go out and speak to the people. And suddenly, my community said, you're the imam, you're going to be the one who's speaking to the people. I said, are you kidding me? I don't even know how to speak English yet, man. He goes, it's okay, it's okay. They put me in front of the camera, TV, on stage, wallahi, I don't know if the recordings are available on YouTube right now. Alhamdulillah, there was no tube back then, probably, maybe. But I didn't even know how to speak English yet, but I was so brave to go out there and throw whatever I knew of language. On the stage in one of the largest high schools in the community over there, we spoke for three days. They were inviting me for three days to speak with different school grades. And every time, the Muslim community pushed me to go on the stage to talk about Islam. How did they understand what I said about Islam? I have no idea. But three years later, as I was giving a class in Sunday school in the masjid, my English became better, alhamdulillah. But then suddenly someone comes, hey, there's a sister in her office with her husband. She wants to give her shahadah.
I'm like, wow, that's very exciting, alhamdulillah, give me shahadah. So I finish my class, go to the office, she's still waiting with her husband. And I asked her, basically, what do you know about Islam? She goes, I know enough. I said, how come? She goes, I said, what did you learn about Islam? She goes, three years ago, you came to our school. I'm like, me? She goes, you came to our school, and you talked to us about Islam. And wallahi, in that moment, for me, just like, what she's talking about? It was gibberish. I don't even know if she understood what I was saying. But that is a message to all of you. Don't tell me I don't know how to talk about Islam, how to speak, you know, the language. If you know the language, you can, inshallah, learn something little, such as an ayah, as the Prophet ﷺ said, you can deliver that message to the people. And she said, three years ago, you came to our school, you talked about Islam. Since then, I've been searching and reading. And she was a history teacher. She goes, I've been searching and reading until I found out that there is no God but Allah, a worthy worshipper of Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. I said, congratulations, you're a Muslim already. Subhanallah, it was a moment, surreal moment. But again, you don't need to have a big platform to give da'wah. You can give da'wah in every aspect of your life. And the best way to give da'wah, wallahi, is sometimes your akhlaq and your manners. Don't even talk. Don't talk. Just be a good human being. And when they recognize that this is coming from you being a good Muslim, inshallah, hopefully it will be an incentive for them to give their shahadah. Wallahu anha. Sheikh, I just want to, I think we're done now, right? I just want to say, jazakallahu khair, manna yashkur al-nas la yashkur al-la, whoever does not thank the people does not thank Allah. How many of you remember the first time we did these late-night reflections at the old VRIC? It's been years. Some of you were not around the community at that time. SubhanAllah, Sheikh Yasir had this idea to do this at Valley Ranch years ago, and hopefully
not regrettably, he let me in, and he said, you know, why don't you come reflect with me? And we started doing these late-night sessions and reflecting, and subhanAllah, now you see these programs popping up around the country. Late-night reflections, people talking, reviewing texts. I credit it all to Sheikh Yasir, wallahu ta'ala. So please make du'a for him, may Allah Azza wa Jalla count it heavy on your scale, Sheikh. And jazakAllah khair for leading the way and having that vision, even when we were a small masjid and having a few people, and, you know, alhamdulillah, look what it's grown to. But the spirit, alhamdulillah, the spirit has remained the same. Like the barakah in these gatherings, the blessing in these gatherings has remained the same. I ask Allah to keep it that way, and to keep the blessing in our community, to keep our hearts united, and to reward Sheikh Yasir with the highest level of firdaws al-a'la. So on behalf of the Valley Ranch Islamic Center, once again jazakAllah khair, and everyone that's benefiting online, and everyone that took the example that you set by thinking of a program like this, and implemented it, may Allah put it all on your scale. And it wouldn't be perfect without you, Sheikh, no way. BarakAllah fiqh, seriously. Alhamdulillah, I mean, we started from somewhere, but mashaAllah Allah subhanAllah brought us together to make it inshaAllah better, alhamdulillah, become a model for many, many communities around the country, who, fardallahi tabaraka wa ta'ala, doing the same, and alhamdulillah benefiting their communities, you also take a lot of that credit as well, too, alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. Allahumma taqabbal minna inna kanta assamee'u al-aleem, wa tub'a alayna inna kanta at-tawwab ar-raheem. Allahumma taqabbal minna inna kanta assamee'u al-aleem, wa tub'a alayna inna kanta at-tawwab ar-raheem. Allahumma ghaful lana dhunubana wa israfana fi amrina. Allahumma ghaful lana dhunubana wa israfana fi amrina. Allahumma ghaful lana maa qadamna, wa maa akharna, wa maa asrarna, wa maa a'lanna, wa maa anta a'lam bihi minna. Anta al-muqaddimu, anta al-muakkhiru, anta ala kulli shay'in qadeer. Allahumma aj'ala ajtima'ana hadha ajtima'an marhooma, wa aj'ala tafarruqana min ba'di
tafarruqan ma'sooma, wa laa tadhar fina shaqiyan wa laa mahrooma. Allahumma allif baina qulubina, wa aslih dhata baynina. Allahumma anzil sakinataka alayna, ya rabbil alameen. Allahumma anzil sakinataka alayna, ya rahman, ya raheem. Ya Allah, we ask in this very precious moment, ya rabbil alameen, that you forgive us our sins. Forgive our sins, ya Allah, the major and the minor, the public and private, that which we know of and that which we don't know of, ya rabbil alameen. Ya Allah, we ask you to bless this gathering, ya rabbil alameen. Ya Allah, we ask you to bless this gathering, ya rahman, ya raheem. Ya Allah, we ask that you bring down the angels upon us, ya Allah. Ya Allah, we ask that you shower us with your mercy, ya rabbil alameen. Fill our lives and our hearts with tranquility and peace, ya rabbil alameen. Ya Allah, we ask you that you unify our hearts for your sake and only for your sake, ya Allah. We ask you to unify our hearts, ya rabbil alameen. Fill our hearts with love and mercy for one another, ya Allah, ya rabbil alemeen. We ask you that you accept from us this humble effort, ya Allah. We ask that you accept this humble effort from us, ya rabbil alameen. We ask you to keep it sincere and only for you, ya rabbil alameen. Keep our hearts pure, ya Allah, only to you, ya rahman, ya raheem. Ya rabbi, we ask that you bring khair to all of us in this dunya and the akhir, ya Allah. Ya rabbi, we ask that you make this knowledge hujjat lana la alayna. We ask that you make this knowledge a proof for us on the day of judgment, not against us, ya rabbil alameen. Make us among those who learn and follow the best of that knowledge, ya rabbil alameen. Show us the way, ya Allah, and keep us steadfast on it, ya rabbil alameen. We ask that you guide our hearts to that which is most pleasing to you, ya rabbil alameen. Ya Allah, we ask that you show us that which is right and make it easy for us to follow it. And that which is wrong and stay away from it. Ya rabbi, we ask that you remain steadfast at the end of the month of Ramadan, ya rabbil alameen. Ya Allah, we know that you are the Lord of Ramadan and after Ramadan and before Ramadan and forever, ya Allah. We admit to you our shortcomings, ya rabbil alameen. We ask that you keep us steadfast, ya Allah. Ya Allah, we ask that you give us the ability to worship you in a way that is most pleasing to you, ya rabbil alameen.
Show us the way to be grateful to you, ya rahman, ya raheem. Ya rabbi, show us the way to be grateful to you, ya rabbil alameen. Fill our heart with forbearance and patience, ya rabbil alameen. We ask, ya Allah, the way we gather in this place, that we gather together in Jannat al-Firdaws al-A'la, ala surur al-mutaqabileen, facing each other in Jannat al-Firdaws al-A'la, ya rabbil alameen, with the Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, wa s-salihin. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen, wa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, wa ala nabiyyil Muhammadin, wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. Jazakumullah khair, jama'at. Al Fatiha.
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