# Ep. 21: Going Against The Flow | Road to Return **Author:** Yahya Ibrahim **Series:** Road to Return | How to Come Back from Sin **Published:** 2021-08-17 **YouTube:** https://youtu.be/0KlVRuOhmg0 **URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-21-going-against-the-flow-road-to-return **Topics:** Acts of Worship, Sharia ## Description “Good news to the strangers.” Islam has often been seen as something that makes people different, providing a mode of action, dress, and priorities that often go against the flow. But those who may be seen as strange in their own times because of their devotion and beliefs are also those who will... ## Transcript **[0:00]** I'm just gonna go with the flow. I'm just gonna do what everybody else does. And if everybody else is doing it, surely it shouldn't be wrong. Surely it shouldn't be bad. If everybody voted for it, it's gotta be okay. And that for us as Muslims is not the test of suitability of right or wrong. **[0:18]** That which determines right or wrong is the divine guidance sent to us by Allah and the sunnah of his messenger Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. **[0:40]** We are not always the ones that go with the flow. Sometimes we have to battle upstream. Sometimes we have to go and stand in a direction and in a place that may not be flowing with what the rest of people's attitudes are. **[0:56]** Whether it's related to their sexual ethics, related to their permissibility and attire, related to the things they consume, to the intoxication that they may take, whether it's related to the financial irresponsibility and usury and interest and riba systems that **[1:13]** are performed, we don't just go with the flow. In fact, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam described you and I as being those who are distinct. He said that we're not different in that sense. We are strange with our distinction. **[1:30]** We are not strange because we seek to be in opposition. He says Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, how beautiful and what great good news awaits those who are gharib, those who will be estranged in their distinction from the majority of others. **[1:49]** Other people in their majority are going to be doing things, but this smaller group of my followers, my people, my ummah, they're going to be distinct. They're going to have a hallmark. They're going to seek the akhirah more than the dunya. They're going to seek prayers while other people seek lusts. **[2:05]** They're going to be people who are going to hold back from earning haram and from spending it in haram. They're going to be distinct from society. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said that this type of attitude and behavior **[2:21]** bada al-islamu gharib. Islam when it came, it entered into Mecca and it was distinct. It separated between people. People knew that this person is a Muslim from that because they were distinct. They did things in a different way, not in an opposing way, in a different distinct way **[2:39]** that ennobled them. They marked themselves with their clothing, with their prayer, with their wudu, with their cleanliness. They were distinct. Tuuba lilghuraba. How good is that reward for those who are distinct in that nature? Islam began as being distinct and it shall return to being distinct. **[2:58]** It will return to people, you know, even within our Muslim community that there will always be those zahireen ala alhaq, holding upon to the truth. La yadurruhum man khadhalahum. They won't be harmed by those who have let them down, even from their own people. **[3:14]** May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la give us the mark of distinction, make our salah more important than other things in our life, make our obedience to our parents and love for them more than other things in life. Make us from those who are honoring to the tradition in the sunnah of the Prophet Sallallahu **[3:30]** Alaihi Wasallam, lovers of Allah Azza wa Jal in the way that is complete as he is deserving, worshipping of him Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la more than we worship our own desires. We are not the ummah that simply goes with the flow. We are those who at times battle upstream, seeking the heights of al-jannah. **[3:51]** May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la make you and I from the people of al-Firdaus. Allahuma Ameen. ## Other Episodes in "Road to Return | How to Come Back from Sin" - [Ep. 40: Fake News | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-40-fake-news-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 39: It's Just a Joke | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-39-its-just-a-joke-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 38: Friday Prayer Is Not Practical | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-38-friday-prayer-is-not-practical-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 37: What Happens Online Stays Online | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-37-what-happens-online-stays-online-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 36: I'm Not A Racist, But... | Road To Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-36-im-not-a-racist-but-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 35: I Will Never Forgive Them | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-35-i-will-never-forgive-them-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 34: Isn't Zakat Like Sadaqah? | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-34-isnt-zakat-like-sadaqah-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 33: The Most Important Thing is Love | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-33-the-most-important-thing-is-love-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 32: Everyone is Doing It | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-32-everyone-is-doing-it-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 31: It’s Just a Video | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-31-its-just-a-video-road-to-return.md) - [Ep: 30 Always Put Yourself First | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-30-always-put-yourself-first-road-to-return.md) - [Ep 29: Marijuana is Not a Drug | Road To Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-29-marijuana-is-not-a-drug-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 28: God Knows my Intention | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-28-god-knows-my-intention-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 27: I Do Pray...Just Not Often | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-27-i-do-pray-just-not-often-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 26: Did You Hear? | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-26-did-you-hear-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 25: Does God Really Care? | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-25-does-god-really-care-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 24: Just say Bismillah | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-24-just-say-bismillah-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 23: Parents Just Don't Understand | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-23-parents-just-dont-understand-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 22: Why Do They Have It So Easy? | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-22-why-do-they-have-it-so-easy-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 20: Hoping For The Best Without Doing Your Best | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-20-hoping-for-the-best-without-doing-your-best-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 19: Good Intentions With Wrong Actions | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-19-good-intentions-with-wrong-actions-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 18: Good Actions With The Wrong Intention | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-18-good-actions-with-the-wrong-intention-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 17: Letting The Qur'an Slip | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-17-letting-the-quran-slip-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 16: Resisting the Teachings of Muhammad ﷺ | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-16-resisting-the-teachings-of-muhammad-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 15: Deprioritizing God | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-15-deprioritizing-god-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 14: Resistance & Resilience | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-14-resistance-resilience-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 13: Shaytan's 6-Step Plan | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-13-shaytans-6-step-plan-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 12: No Good Without Evil | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/no-good-without-evil-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 11: Mastering Self-Control | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-11-mastering-self-control-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 10: The World And Its Splendor | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-10-the-world-and-its-splendor-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 9: An Enemy Within | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-9-an-enemy-within-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 8: Your Inner Voice | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-8-your-inner-voice-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 7: Four Dangers: Causes of Sin | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-7-four-dangers-causes-of-sin-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 6: Different Types of Sin | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-6-different-types-of-sin-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 5: Are All Sins Equal? | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-5-are-all-sins-equal-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 4: What Are Sins? | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-4-what-are-sins-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 3: Content with God | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-3-content-with-god-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 2: Finding Peace | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-2-finding-peace-road-to-return.md) - [Ep. 1: Submitting to God | Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/ep-1-submitting-to-god-road-to-return.md) - [Trailer: Road to Return](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/road-to-return/road-to-return-trailer.md)