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Techniques to Learn Patience | Late Night Talk
Ibn Al Qayyim (ra) lists 20 techniques to exercise patience. Tonight we cover the first 2 of them. Join Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Yaser Birjas every night during the last 10 nights of Ramadan as they reflect on 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. We welcome you again for these late-night khatirahs from Balyaraj Islamic Center in which we discuss together with Sheikh Omar Suleiman the book of Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya, the excellence of patience and gratitude. And tonight, inshallah, we are going to be reading briefly from Chapter 11 and then Chapter 12 for those who would like to follow us with their books, inshallah wa ta'ala. And I highly recommend for you guys as we speak, inshallah, that you write down your gems or write down your own notes with your own words because you're going to read them after the end of this session, inshallah wa ta'ala. I know in the moment of listening to the talk, it's masha'Allah, it sounds amazing, and you think that you're not going to forget that because it was wow, that was really an eye-opener for me. But if you don't write it down, it's going to disappear. So I highly recommend for you to take notes, inshallah wa ta'ala, so that you would use them afterwards, biddenillahi azza wajal. Chapter 11, Imam Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya speaking about, fil farq li bayna, sabr al-kirami wa sabr al-li'am. He says the difference between the patience of the honorable ones and the dishonorable ones, the mean ones, basically. Like what's the difference between those who are honorable when it comes to patience? How can you tell that you are one of those people when they are reflected with a calamity, when they are tested, that you count among the honorable ones? Versus those who when they are tested, they just kind of like they lose it. What's the difference? So he mentioned a few things, rahimahullah wa ta'ala. Qal kullu ahad illa yabuddan yasbira ala ba'di ma yakra. Everybody has to be patient against things that they dislike. You're not going to always like what you go through. So you're going to have to be patient at some point for things that you dislike. Qal imma ikhtiyaran wa imma attiraran. Voluntarily or voluntarily. Whether you like it or otherwise, you are going to be tested with things that you will dislike. So, falkarim, the honorable one, yasbira ikhtiyaran. Will
be patient by choice, meaning voluntarily. Li'ilmihi bi husni aqibat al-sabr, because this person would recognize the outcome, would recognize the ramification of being patient. Like I know the result of being patient because I have the knowledge for that. And again we keep emphasizing about the importance of knowledge. That you practice to strengthen your iman that will keep you patient in moments of difficulty. So then he says, qal, wa annahu yuhmadu alayhi wa yudhammu alal jaza. Because as a being, of course, being an honorable person, you will be praised for being patient and you will be criticized and blamed for just panicking and losing. Wa annahu illam yasbira lam yarudhu aljaza alayhi fa'ita. And he knows, the honorable one, the knowledgeable one, knows that even if I panic and I start losing it, that is not going to change anything for me. It's not going to bring me what I lost, and it's not going to make me attain what I'm trying to get if it's gone completely. Then he moved to the other person, qal, as for the other one, qal, make a comparison. Al-aqil, and sheikh I want you to comment on this for us inshallah ta'ala, qal, al-aqil, inda luzulu al-musiba yaf'alu ma yaf'alahu al-ahmaku ba'da shahru. The sensible person, the reasonable person, he says he acts on the moment, on the strike of the calamity, what the foolish does after a month. You understand what does that mean? The sensible person, at the strike of a calamity, they're very well composed, they held themselves properly, that happens with the foolish one a month later. After they lose everything, and then they remember it's like, oh my god, we'll go patience right now. So what do you think about this, sheikh? Qawul Sayyidina Ali radiyallahu ta'ala anhu anil ghadab, qal awalahu junoon wa aakhiruhu nadam. Ali radiyallahu anhu has a very powerful statement about anger, people that have a
hot temper. He says that the beginning of it is madness, is insanity, and the end of it is regret. Awalahu junoon wa aakhiruhu nadam. So, in the beginning, you blow up, you act in a way that's completely unrecognizable even to yourself, and then once you calm down, then you're in a state of regret. So a person who is wise, who is aqil, who has, and notice here the idea of al-aql, once again, we talked about this yesterday, right? Qatad rahim Allah did not say, quloo bihim, that the difference between us and the animals is the heart. He said, irquo lihim, your intellect, and so you have to know at a time of that strike that the way that you act in that moment is not just going to be to your benefit or to your detriment in the sense of the hereafter, but it's also going to be, you know, largely governed by your ability to still maintain perspective. So perspective at the time of patience. What is your perspective in those moments? Other people come to the realization when it's too late, so they do all the damage in the world, and then afterwards, because they were unable to control themselves in the moment, they spend a much longer time trying to undo the damage that they caused in that moment of impatience. Can you mention another example of difference between an honorable person and a dishonorable person when it comes to the subject of patience? The wise person, the sensible person, the honorable person, he perseveres in patience in regards to his obedience to Allah. Like they hold themselves tight in these moments when it comes to waking up for fajr, fasting during the month of Ramadan, and dealing with hardships and difficulties for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, they stay patient. And the other person becomes so patient on
disobeying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and obeying the shaitan. And I give examples, because sometimes you find some of those disobedient to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, they exercise patience on fulfilling the ma'siyah and following their desires in a way that will make you astonished and surprised about the energy they put, the energy they put just to fulfill their desires, which is of course the obedience to a shaitan, disobedience to a Rahman. So that's one of the major differences between those who are honorable and otherwise. Shaykh, can I comment here? Please. One of the things about this is al-rujoo' ila Allahi ta'ala, going back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, with both your desires and your difficulties. One of the things about the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that he teaches us, arihna biha ya bilal, comfort us with it, oh bilal. If you were to walk into the masjid and you saw the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in sajdah crying, you could say that something really bad just happened to him or something really good just happened, and you might be right in both of those situations, because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would flee back to salah with both a ni'mah as well as a bala, with both a good thing that came to him as well as a hardship that came to him, it drove him back to that place of sajdah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, it drove him back to that salah. And so taking refuge in something familiar, that's why the ilmah mentioned, for example al-wudu', the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned to a person who is in anger, and I want you to think about this, the last time you got into an argument and you said let me go make wudu'. No seriously, like it's like all the things are there in the sunnah, but if you're already used to making wudu' at fajr, when it's very difficult, wa tuhsin al-wudu' and you're doing it right, then it's a familiar place for you. So when you start to see yourself getting a little bit heated over something, let me go make wudu' right now, because that's what your usual refuge is. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that if a
person starts to find themselves getting angry, what should they say? A'udhu billahi minash shaytanir rajim. What should you say as well? Itha massahum ta'ifu minash shaytan, imma yanzaghannaka minash shaytan, if shaytan pokes you with a desire. A'udhu billahi minash shaytanir rajim. What do you say when you start your salah? A'udhu billahi minash shaytanir rajim. So the outcome is ar-ruju' ilallah, is coming back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and if you don't have a familiarity with struggling to get yourself to come back to Allah on a regular basis, then you're not going to resort to the unfamiliar in the midst of a sudden desire or a sudden difficulty or something that suddenly stokes your impatience. So the summary of this chapter, chapter 11, which is a very short chapter as a matter of fact, the summary of this is saying, look, when it comes to being patient, there's nothing unique for the believer. It is not unique to those who are devotees, just the true worshippers of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Both the obedient and disobedient can be patient. However, for the wrong reason or the right reason. And as a believer, you're going to need to make sure that when you are exercising patience, you are doing it for the right reason. So whenever you're afflicted with a calamity or dealing with some temptations, anything like that, ask yourself the question, I'm trying to restrain myself, for what reason? Am I doing this to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala or to please somebody else? Am I doing this because it's going to draw me closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala or this is because you know what, it's going to give me name or fame or whatever that is? Ask yourself that question. So being patient is not just a virtue for the believer, unless it is of course done for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Otherwise, being patient can be done by anybody else. So that's the summary of this chapter that he's talking about. So now the next chapter insha'Allah we're going to be... Munkin taqra aakhir al-safha? Aakhir wahida? Yeah, in chapter 11. Qawla Allahi ta'ala yawmul qiyamah. The end of 11? The last lines? Oh, the last lines. So he says at the end of the chapter, in summary he says,
So subhanAllah, the end of this is a beautiful scene that he gives. And that's why I really wanted to put this before we get into the techniques of patience, where he mentions, rahimahullah ta'ala, that day when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala elevates certain people above the rest. And when people are on their knees, on the Day of Judgment, wa tara kulli ummatin jaafiyah, when every ummah, when every nation is on its knees, Allah azawajal says, where are the people who deserve to be honored now? And it's going to be the people that were patient in the face of fools, and the people that were patient in the face of tribulations. innama yuwaffa al-sabiroona ajruhum bi ghayri hisab. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, who has that compensation that's due upon me, that no one else could give them? All right, stand up, let me reward you now. And also those who forgave, imam Ahmad rahimahullah ta'ala, he mentions on that day, when every ummah is on, when every ummah is on its knees, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will call those people who forgave others for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to stand up so he can reward them in front of the gathering. So this is a beautiful way that he ends this chapter. If you want to be that person who's told to stand up on the day of judgment so that everyone in the assembly can know who ahlul karam are, who the noble people are, who the honorable people are, then strive to do the noble things that no one else will appreciate in this life. No one else is going to congratulate you, no one else is going to tell you great job,
no one else is going to pay you for that, but strive for that moment where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells you to rise above everybody else as a person of nobility for those noble manners. So now that we know that when it comes to patience, the righteous and the unrighteous can be patient, but for different reasons obviously. So how can I acquire the techniques, or what are the techniques I need to acquire in order for me to start becoming patient for the right reason? This is the next chapter, chapter number 12. Imam Ibn Qayyim rahimahu wa ta'ala qala fil asbab illati tu'ino alas sabr These are the techniques, these are the methods by which you can acquire patience inshallah wa ta'ala. If you are reading in Arabic, inshallah you can do it in English. So this is essentially, and I'm going to change the translation a bit so when you're reading it from a book it might be a little bit different. Ibn Qayyim rahimahu wa ta'ala actually has a book called Addah wa Dawah and that's, you know, the disease and its cure. And one of the things that Ibn Qayyim rahimahu wa ta'ala does beautifully is he says that this is not just physical diseases, but it's also spiritual diseases. Allah has not created a disease except that he created a cure. So when you have a spiritual disease, you have a spiritual cure for it that exists as well. So here he says, just as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has commanded his servants to be patient, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has also prescribed for them the means by which they can attain that patience. And this is the methodology of Allah. Allah never asks you to do something without giving you the means by which he can help you, without aiding you in seeking to achieve it, without setting up the methodology or the means by which you will be supported,
and without providing a way for you to carry it out with ease. Allah did not create an illness but except that he created a cure for it as well and ensured through its usage a cure. He continues by saying, So he says that while exercising patience is certainly difficult and unpleasant for us, it's still achievable. You're not going to get anything in life that is meaningful without having some level of sacrifice. So he's saying of course patience is difficult but it also is achievable. And he says patience has two elements. It has knowledge and it has practice. And these two are the essential ingredients of all medicines which aid in the treatment of both the heart as well as the body. And from these two ingredients is the medicine of patience prepared. And I just want to remind everyone yesterday, we mentioned the saying that Ibn al-Qayyim quotes from Imam Abdul Qadir that there are three levels of acceptance of patience. Number one, an obligation that Allah has commanded. So you accept it here. You submit yourself to it. You don't try to undermine the obligation. That's the first level of patience. Number two, a prohibition that Allah has commanded you to abstain from. Number three, a divine decree that Allah has commanded you to accept. So acceptance is the first level. And now you want to strive to a place where you submit yourself to it and you're patient with it as well. I want to just also remind ourselves from the past few nights we were talking about the importance of knowledge. Let's try that again so we can understand how we can really exercise patience.
And now Ibn al-Qayyim is going to explain that even furthermore, the importance of knowledge when it comes to being patient. He said that when it comes to the calamity, at the time of the calamity, people become completely heedless of that knowledge that they have. So what keeps people firm at time of calamity? Do you guys remember? What keeps people firm? The strength of their iman. The strength of their iman. Okay, how do you make your iman strong? What do you need for that? Practice. Practice of what? Of your knowledge. Okay, so then what does that mean when it comes to knowledge? How much knowledge do you need? The more the better. Because Allah says in the Qur'an, Those who truly fear Allah are conscious of Allah. Those who have the knowledge. So I need to become that person. So I can practice that knowledge to strengthen my iman. So when I deal with any difficulty, I know how to handle this. Because Ibn al-Qayyim says, Look, Allah made it very clear. You're going to be tested. And because he said you're going to be tested with hardships and difficulties and otherwise, he also says that I'm not testing you with something you cannot bear, you cannot handle. Just like I'm giving you what the test is going to look like, I'm also helping you with the means by which you can go through it. So my job and your job is to do what? To learn. What are the techniques that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has put for us out there by which I can handle any hardship, any difficulty I go through? May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect you, O Lord of the worlds. And protect your livelihood and protect your families, O Lord of the worlds. If someone loses a job, they start agonizing. There's a way they need to be patient in regard to this difficulty. Someone has trouble in their marriage, with their children, with their health, with their iman. All these things.
Everybody has a degree of hardship they're dealing with. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also has given us means by which we can acquire patience against all these trials. So instead of sitting out there just kind of whining and crying about why am I being tested, what do I need to do? Find that knowledge that will help you insha'Allah to strengthen your iman in a moment like this, you know how to handle it. And that's what he's going to be talking about right now. So he says, Remember, he said two major ingredients for that. Knowledge and practice. So he says, So these are hard terms, obviously, to translate. But knowledge includes, he says, knowing the benefits, the advantage, the pleasure, and the excellence that the ordained act carries within it. It also involves realizing the evil, the harm, and the good, and the reward. the advantage, the pleasure, and the excellence that the ordained act carries within it. It also involves realizing the evil, the harm, and the damage that are found within that haram. So basically knowing the benefits of the good deed and knowing the harm of the prohibited act. When a person understands these two things, when he has full knowledge of these two things, then he'll be able to have proper dedication, noble intention, human dignity, and a sense of honor. This idea of commitment here and ambition. What that really reflects is that you're not simply going to say to yourself that, okay, I know that this is what I need to do, but you're going to have a certain level of commitment to achieving that particular intention.
And he said, once you put all of these elements together, then you're going to be able to acquire the quality of patience, you will endure life's troubles with patience, you will bear its bitterness, and you will start to feel that its pain turns into pleasure. Sheikh, my comment on this issue is, we live in a time that the whole concept of the issue of dignity and the issue of honor and keeping yourself clear from any suspicion among the people, all of that used to be much more valuable in the past than it is today. In a culture that promotes self-expression and whatever you want to be, and be genuine to yourself and so on, sometimes what we consider to be dignity is no longer something that is dignified to many, many people. And that brings me to the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, which is used today as an example of how things shifted in terms of recognizing what evil is evil, and the consequence of doing that back in the day was something we were aware of. Today people just kind of forget it. So the hadith, when a young man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, O Messenger of Allah, I love everything about Islam, he said, Can you give me permission to fornicate? Like, I can't stop this. I can't live without that. So the Prophet ﷺ gently approached him, and he put his hand on his chest and he said, Do you like that for your mom? He goes, No. Do you like this for your sister? He goes, Of course not. He was asking about the female members of his family. And to each one of them, this young man, he would say, No. He's so dignified and so offended even that the thought might cross his mind that his wife, his mom, his sister could be used in that fashion. So the Prophet ﷺ then told him, Same thing, people don't like this to their own sisters and mothers and so on.
So the man eventually kind of like came to me to understand that this is bad, this is wrong, the consequence can be also detrimental to me and my family, and he quit that, and Allah ﷻ removed that from his heart. That same hadith, try to mention it today to somebody in our time. Someone you go to them says, Look, What would he tell you today? That's none of my business. They would say, She's an adult. She can do whatever she wants to do. And literally this is actually, it truly happened. It's not just a metaphor. It truly happened. When someone tried to use the same hadith to ask this person to be patient against the disobedience of Allah ﷻ, against these sins, it failed. Why? Because the concept of dignity, Shaykh, has changed in our time. What is considered honorable has also changed and shifted as well. And that is why knowledge is extremely important because what he said, when you recognize with that knowledge the value of this patience, the value, the consequence of staying patient against these matters, and also when you recognize the evil if you do that, but how do you recognize this is to be evil or otherwise? That's where knowledge comes in. Because I have to go back to the measuring stick that we talked about in the first night, which is what? The Qur'an and the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. That proper knowledge will help me recognize what's right, what's wrong, what's dignified, what's not. And based on that, I will develop that knowledge and that iman and understand from these matters. Now he's trying to give us some practical tips basically on how you can do that. So the idea, he says, look, you have knowledge and practice. Put them together with the human dignity and having that himmah and intention to do right. Put them together, you will be able to be patient inshallah. Then he gave some practical tips.
Now he's talking about if you're going to start using this medication or medicine and resist these shahawar and these sins and so on, then you need to weaken that disease with these matters. Number one. The first one. I think it's different here in the translation. Do you have a different translation? What I have here is the strength of that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is too high to be disobeyed when he is seeing and hearing. It's a different translation then. Let me explain this point in the film of Qur'an. So what he says over here, he said look at what really feeds that desire. What feeds that desire? Let's be real. For example, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us all, pornography for instance. Watching something haram. What feeds that desire? That's what he's saying. What is it exactly? Because if you keep feeding it, it gets stronger. It gets stronger and stronger and intense. Even more. You'll find that whatever you feed that desire will definitely move it and keep it active in your life. So watching things, for example. Putting yourself in the wrong company. Exposing yourself to music that is always praising these kind of behaviors and practices. All these things will definitely going to feed that desire and make it more intense and stronger. So people find it easy to fall for it and harder even to resist that. So what he's saying over here, you need to learn.
You need to practice fasting. Now we speak about fasting in two ways. The physical fasting which was the Prophet ﷺ recommending for us. And also the metaphoric expression of fasting. Which means to restrain yourself and control yourself from falling into any of these temptations. Like stay away from that. Fasting by abstaining from eating and drinking obviously would kind of like weaken that desire. And also fasting by staying away from these matters that feed the shahwa and make it strong for us. So that's the first thing he was talking about, Sheikh Nuh. So he has three that he mentions here. And then he has the 20 tips that he has. Yes. So this one, I found it actually in the translation as well. So I think this idea here of not exposing yourself. And this is actually something that the ulama of tazkiyah talk about quite a bit. Even if you think that you're immune to something, don't expose yourself to something that might cause you weakness. And especially if you have a weakness. And they also mention that even if something is not necessarily haram. It's not necessarily prohibited. If it's going to compound a vulnerability that you have, then try to keep yourself away from it. Even if it falls within the realm of that which is permissible. Number two, he says, So the first thing he says, look for the nutrition or the things that would strengthen your shahwa and stay away from it. The second thing, So this is actually a really important point because it especially relates to our time right now. He's saying that the second thing speaks to your gaze, your eyesight, what you look at.
And so a person should avoid the causes of desire, particularly what you look at. And you should rein in your eyes as much as possible. Because your desire is going to be stimulated by what you're looking at. So he says, And by the way, this is not just talking about looking at someone of the opposite gender. Or looking at immodesty and things of that sort. This is anything that stirs within you the possibility of leading you to a haram place. So let's say, for example, you're someone who gossips a lot. Don't stare at the things that are going to cause gossip to naturally be the next step for you. If you're someone that is very materialistic, don't stare at things that are of that same material that's going to drive within you something. If you're someone who becomes prone to envy and self-pity, don't look at the ni'm that other people have, the blessings that other people have. And stare at them too long because that's going to naturally provoke inside of you a means by which shaytan can put a feeling, a desire, that is not praiseworthy and take you away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. SubhanAllah, Imam Ibn Qayyim, afterwards, he explains the same principle in a beautiful way, in a very visual way. He goes, look, since he says that another looking is one of the errors of the shaytan that he throws at you. He says it means by that that shaytan throws that error at you. And if you're not paying attention and you're not having a shield, it will hit you. If you don't shield yourself with patience, it will hit you.
And he goes, he said, look, this protection, the shield that we're looking for here, the armor that you need to protect yourself, is lowering your gaze, turning away, and or even moving out of the situation. Three things. You lower your gaze, turn away completely, turn your body away, or actually run out of the situation altogether. He says these are the armors that you need to protect yourself from falling into the fitna of looking. He goes, his bow is the images. And those arrows he throws from that bow of imaging and, of course, seeing all these things. We are attracted to that sight. If you are not in the way of these arrows, then it's going to miss you. But if you expose yourself and put yourself on the way of these arrows, it's going to hit you. And I remind you, Shaykh, with the ayat in Surah Al-A'raf when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala spoke from the beginning of the creation of Adam. As shaytan, he made one of his goals, one of his goals, of course, to tempt the children of Adam with the manners of the eyes. When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala spoke to us about how Adam and Eve, they ate from the tree, right? What was the first thing that they had to deal with? The first was, Shaytan kept whispering to them, tempting them about eating from the tree, in order for him to cause them to see what was hidden from their eyes. And these are the awrat. And that's why the moment they ate from the tree, what happened? They found themselves exposed and they started taking from the leaves of the trees and trying to cover their shame. A few ayat later, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
O children of Adam, don't be like forefathers when your father Adam, when he tempted him and he took him out of Jannah. How? All his effort was about them to be exposed so they could look at each other. And frankly, in our time, Shaykh, I think one of the biggest fitna, the biggest trials, which doesn't sound like it's something heavy to many people, but in reality it's a soft fitna, but the impact, it's probably the heaviest on many, many young men and women today, the fitna of the images. Looking and falling into the haram, whether it's something in the streets, something on TV, on their phone, on social media, the fitna is so great. It gives some perspective to, when the Prophet ﷺ mentions that, he's telling the companions that there are days that will come after you that patience is going to be like holding on to a burning hot coal. Now, if you're really being honest with yourself, we're not tested like the companions when it comes to hardship. The companions were tested with bala in ways that none of us could ever imagine ourselves being tested with. Could any of us ever bear what the family of Ammar went through? Yasir and Sumayya, may Allah be pleased with them. Could any of us bear what the companions went through in Badr and Uhud and Khandaq? We couldn't bear those types of trials. The trial of having to literally make hijrah to escape persecution, escape death, the trial of the boycott. But the ulama mention in this hadith that the patience in those days is like holding on to a burning hot coal,
is referring to the sabr of shahwa, the sabr of desire, more so because the access to those desires becomes far more readily available. And subhanAllah, you think about that burning hot coal literally being your phone in your hand. You don't have to go far to see what is going to tempt you at this point. And again, temptation is not just looking at the indecency of other people. It's looking at things in general that stir in you something that will distract you from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. When the Prophet ﷺ talks about a person walking on the path towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and he says salallahu alayhi wasalam that there are doors on both sides of that path, and there's a curtain, that's the sitr, that's the curtain. And there's a shaitan on top of each one of those curtains that's telling you to come in, and there's another caller on top of that shaitan that's telling you don't come in. And so you're constantly battling the temptation to open the curtain. Once you open the curtain, at the bare minimum, your casualty is your time. You've wasted a lot of time, right? And that in and of itself is a cost, because you could have been generating something that is greater. And so that shield that Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullah is talking about, it's two things as the ulema mentioned. Number one, a dhikr. Number one is the remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, which the Prophet ﷺ speaks about as the fortress of the Muslim. Because shaitan can't enter a place where Allah is remembered. He can't enter a tongue where Allah is being remembered. He can't penetrate your thoughts if Allah is being remembered. He can't penetrate your heart if you have Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's remembrance in those moments. So to have a dhikr as a means of keeping the shaitan away. Number two are the practical means that you take to put barriers between you and those sins. Imposing self-restriction. Barriers between you and those sins. Barriers between you and those things that you know are going to stir certain elements inside of you
that are not praiseworthy and that could take you away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. After that, Ibn al-Qayyim, rahimahullah wa ta'ala, he speaks about number three. So he said, the first medicine is when you understand that you need to do abstinence. The second thing is when you remove yourself from the location of the fitna. The third one, qal, tasliyatun nafsi bil mubahil mu'awwud anil haram. Fa inna kulla ma yashtahihi attaba' fa fee ma abaha wa Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala ghuniyatun anhu. Wa hadha huwa ad-dawa'un naafi fi haqqi akthar an-naas kama arshidun an-nabiyyu wa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So he says that the third thing is that a person should try to fulfill their desires through permissible means instead of prohibited ways because the desirable things can be achieved through the means that are allowed by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and this is a useful cure for the majority of people as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam advised us. He mentioned then summary, basically like he's wrapping up right now these three things. Because for him, I believe, he maybe thought that, look, these are the three most important things. If you can comprehend these three things, you will save yourself a lot of troubles. What are these three things? Remember them. He says al-awwal, ad-dawa' al-awwal, the first medicine. yashbahu qata' al-alafi anil daabat al-jamuhi wa anil kalb al-tari lil'afi quwwatihima. He said it looks like when you prevent an animal from the harmful hay or food. Same thing when you restrain a dog from going wild in that regard. This is it exactly. So the first medicine that you guys need to try is abstinence. You know this is haram? Stay away from it. So abstinence, like I'm not going to do it. No matter how strong the call to do this, I'm going to restrain myself and abstain from doing that. So the first is abstinence. The second thing, qal wad-dawa' al-thani. yashbahu taghyib al-lahmi anil kalbi wa al-sha'iri anil bahimati lil'alla tataharaka quwwatahuma lahu andal mushahada.
He says removing yourself from the circumstances that will cause your shahwa, your desire, to become strong and pursue that sin. What does that mean? If you're going to always look at your phone and you have all these apps on your phone, chances to fall for it is easier than when you remove all these accounts and close all these accounts and so on. Because don't throw the meat in front of the dog and expect the dog not to try to fight you over it. He's the same thing. Don't give your nafs an access to the shahwa and then try to expect it to be honorable about it. The third thing he says, qal wad-dawa' al-thani. yashbahu i'ta'ahuma minal ghida'i ma yameelu ilayhi tab'uhuma bi hasbi al-haja. litabqa ma'ahu al-quwwah fatatba'u sahibahuma wa la taghyibu i'ta'ihima ziyarat ala dhalik. Because the third one is just like when you ration nutrition to your body. Just because something is halal does not necessarily mean I have to indulge to the maximum. Because if you do that, you might get sick. Too much of sweets, too much of carbs or whatever, still it's halal, but it might hurt you. He said the same thing over here. You know, you can eat this, you can eat that. You have to ration yourself in regard to the subject of halal as well. And that's something Shaykh Omar mentioned earlier. He says, look, I mean, just because something is halal doesn't mean that I have to always practice this to the maximum. Because if you get used to the halal, your nafs is going to start looking for something beyond that. Get used to it. That's why some of the ulema, they used to actually restrain themselves from some of the halal matters, so that the nafs always desires halal. Otherwise, if you go 100% with the halal, everything is halal, you just practice this, then your nafs is desiring something beyond the halal.
Do you want to get to the 20 tips? 20? Yes, the 20 techniques. Ta'ala ma'ma Allah a'zawajal. It's ba'eed in here. No, I don't have it here. InshaAllah, if you want to find the, I'll share some, if you want to find where this is, inshaAllah. SubhanAllah, one of the things that's mentioned here, and actually I was thinking about this last line, Ibn al-Qayyim gives 20 techniques in particular where a person can start to discipline. You have to think about two things according to Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullah ta'ala. Broadly, how do you conquer the initial moment? You conquer the initial moment with a greater motivation. And how do you conquer the constant pull? You conquer the constant pull with an instant mechanism. So the greater motivation, when they say give up what you want now for what you want more, you want something that other people don't want. You want something that other people don't want. So what is the greater motivation that you have? So you have to immediately be able to resort to that instant motivation, to that greater motivation. And then you have to have a mechanism that's automatic to govern it, to channel that. If you're trying to find a mechanism in that moment, then it's not going to work. So whether it is, a'udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim, when I get angry. The Prophet ﷺ, when he saw the person that was losing his mind and losing his temper and he was getting into this fight, the Prophet ﷺ did not walk up to him and say to him, say, a'udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim. He called other people forward and he said, listen, I know something that if he was to say it, it would do away with his anger. If he said, a'udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim. Why? Because if any of you tried saying to someone in the middle of an argument, Hey, say astaghfirullah, say a'udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim. How does that go for you? It never really goes well, right?
When you try to tell someone in the moment because they didn't have the mechanism already figured out on their own. You can't teach someone a mechanism in the middle of their impatience. They have to already have learned those mechanisms in advance. And what you'll notice from the Prophet ﷺ is that there's always a remembrance of Allah ﷻ to resort to, and then a greater motivation to keep in mind. So we have some of the techniques of Imam Ibn Qayyim ﷺ speaking about in order to strengthen your knowledge of the deen. That will help you shield yourself against his muharramat. But I just want to remind myself and my brothers and sisters over here that Ibn Qayyim ﷺ says, look, the solution is simple. Three things. Number one, abstinence. Stay away from the muharramat. Knowing that it is wrong, I need to stay away from it. Number two, remove yourself from the circumstances. That will strengthen the shahwa and cause you to fall into the haram. And number three, look for something halal as an alternative that you can, inshallah ta'ala, do, but also make sure to ration the use of it so that your nafs doesn't get bored too quickly with the halal. Three simple things. That should be now, inshallah ta'ala, our goal of how we do that. Now, how can I make it easy for me to follow this path? How can I make it easy for me? Ibn Qayyim says, Remember, he says the solution or the ingredients for the medicine are simple. Knowledge and practice. So how can I strengthen my knowledge in my deen that would help me build that shield to protect me from the haram? So he mentioned here 20 points, actually. Qal wa amma taqwiyatu ba'at al-deen fa'annahu ya'kunu bi'umur ahaduha ijlaalullahi tabaraka wa ta'ala an yu'sa wa huwa yara wa yasma' wa man qama biqalbihi mashhadu ijlaalihi lam yutabi'ahu qalbuhu lilalika albatta. So this is now, I think, subhanAllah, the cream of just this entire chapter. This is where you get to really the meat of it. And inshaAllah ta'ala, those of you that are taking notes,
I want you to consider each and every single one of these, inshaAllah ta'ala. Number one, realize that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is too great to be disobeyed. And he's looking at you and he is listening to you. And whoever has this reverence of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, this ijlaal of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, in their hearts, will never be willing to defy their orders. This is the hadith of the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam, istahi minAllah kama tastahi minal rajulus salih. I actually gave a khutbah about this recently. Be shy of Allah the way that you're shy of a righteous person. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is sight upon you. You know that he sees you. You know that he hears you. And Allah is too great in your heart to be disobeyed in the moment. Therefore, the pull and the attraction of that particular sin is not going to be significant anymore. Hence, you have the saying of Ibrahim adham rahimuhullah, where someone asked him for permission to disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He said, fine, if you're going to disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, disobey Allah in a place he can't see you. He said, but Allah always sees me. He said, okay, fine. If you're going to disobey Allah, disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in a place that doesn't belong to him. But it all belongs to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Well, fine, at least have the decency then if you're going to disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, don't use the blessings of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he's given to you to disobey him with. And you think about that and you're like, wow, like if I'm in someone's house and they're watching me in their home, I have the decency. There's a sense of decency that I'm not going to do the things that would upset the host in their own home, using their own blessings. So how is it when you are a servant of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, a slave of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in a place that he created, using the blessings that he created while he is watching you to disobey him? And so start with that, that ijlaal of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the heart. Ibn Qayyim rahimahullah wa ta'ala chose this
to be the first thing because it goes in line with what the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned in the hadith of Jibreel when he was asked about Islam, Iman and Ihsan. The journey that you go through from being a Muslim to being a mu'min to being a muhsin, he's basically like summarizing what Ihsan is in these few words. Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at the beginning of surah al-tabarak, alladhi biyadihul mulk wa huwa ala kulli shayin qadeer, what did he say? alladhi khalaqal mawta wal hayata liyabluwakum ayyukum ahsanu amala. The one who created death and life to try you, who's going to be best or most excellent in their deeds. It's all about being excellent in your deed. Okay, so how does that look like? The Prophet explained that. qal an ta'budallahu kannaka tara. That you worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as if you're absolutely certain that you see him. If not with the sight of your eyes, then the sight of your mind and your heart. That you absolutely see Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Then he says, fa illam yakun taraha fa innahu yaraq. If you couldn't get to that level of certainty, then you're absolutely certain that he sees you. fa innahu yaraq. Those two degrees of certainty, you're absolutely certain that you see him. And if you couldn't get to that level, then at least you're absolutely certain that he sees you. This is what Imam Ibn Qayyim rahimallah speak about over here. He goes, look, that's the level of ihsan. The first thing you need to keep in mind, how can I get with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to the level of ihsan? By ijdalallahi tabaraka wa ta'ala, you know, understanding your position with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that no matter how much you try to disobey Allah azza wa jal, Allah's watching you. And if you can't get to that level, you'll abstain. Number two, qal al-thani. mashhadu muhabbatihi subhanah. mashhadu muhabbatihi subhanah. fayaturku ma'asiyatahu muhabbatan lah. fa inna al-muhibba liman yuhibbu muti' wa afdalu attarki tarku al-muhibbeen. kama anna afdala atta'a. ta'atu al-muhibbeen.
fa bayna tarki al-muhib wa ta'atihi wa tarki man yakhafu al-adhaab wa ta'atihi bawnun ba'eed. bawnun ba'eed. SubhanAllah. This is the most beautiful of the 20, in my opinion. If you lose everything else that we've spoken about here, subhanAllah, this is such a beautiful and profound point. He says to look at the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and to allow that to be the means by which you shun disobedience. Your love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And he says that a lover surrenders in obedience to the beloved. And the best renouncement is that of the lover and the best obedience is the obedience of the lover. And he says there's a huge difference between the two, the one who renounces and obeys out of love and the one who renounces and obeys out of fear of punishment. SubhanAllah, this is the level of the sahabah of the Prophet salAllahu alaihi wa sallam. So Umar radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, he says about Suhayb al-Rumi, qala law la yakhafu Allah lam ya'asihi. I love this thing. He said even if he didn't fear Allah, he would never disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because he loves Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala too much. You're not going to be able to conquer the moment of patience without personalizing your relationship with Allah. You can't reduce Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to just another desire. wal-ladhina amanu ashaddu hubban lillah. Those who believe, love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so much more. You know, Abu Bakr al-Shibri rahimAllah ta'ala yaqul sumyat al-muhabba li anha tamhu min al-qalbi ma siwa al-mahboob. qala rahimAllah ta'ala that a person, it's called muhabba, love, because it removes from the heart everything except for the object of your love. You know, when they say a person who's a lover loses their mind, subhanAllah, when you love Allah too much to disobey Him,
the incentive becomes secondary to that love. And you don't want to compromise that love. So it's one thing, like I'm afraid he's gonna punish me because he's looking at me right now. It's another thing, I love you too much right now to do something that would cause me to fall in your sight. And so he's saying that's the best type of ta'ala, that's the best type of obedience. That's where you have to strive to. And that's where all this du'a and all this ibadah and all this salah and all this dhikr is supposed to get you to, to where you're considering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with the heart of a lover, not the heart of just one who is fearful, but the heart of a lover. Umar ibn Abdulaziz rahim Allah ta'ala was described by Salih al-Qaysan to his father, qala ma ra'aytu ahadan allahu a'zamu fi sadrihi min hadhil ghulam. I never met a man who Allah was greater in his heart than this young man. So loving Allah becomes the greatest incentive and not compromising. Like you're, imagine like, yeah, Allah, it's you and I right now. It's you and I right now. And you find yourself in a moment where you're tempted. ilahi gharat al-nujum wa namat al-ayum wa ghallqat al-muluk wa abwabuha wa babuka maftuh wa khala kullu habibin bi habibihi wa hadha maqami bayni yadayk. Oh my Lord, all the lovers are with their lovers now. The stars have appeared. The doors have shut. Every lover is with their lover. And here I am with you, oh Allah. I love you, oh Allah. I'm actively engaging your sight, even when I'm alone. So when I find those alone moments, I don't see myself as concealed from the creation so that now I can disobey the creator. I see myself as concealed from the creation so now I can engage that love with the creator. And that's the greatest form of patience. SubhanAllah, yeah, reflecting on how sometimes we see people do crazy things out of love, really. You see that online, you see that on social media. People do crazy things, crazy things
out of love for somebody. They're willing to do things that compromises their dignity, compromises their safety, even sometimes just to show their love. And they're willing to sacrifice so many things, so many things that they desire the most. And they're not willing to sacrifice these things for anybody unless they fall in love with someone. Whatever they ask them to do, they will do it. We've seen people quitting their jobs. We've seen people moving from one city to another, one country to another, moving from one situation to another in their lives, why? Just following and pursuing their love. Things that anyone else asks them to do, not even close to that, they would never actually do that. Now imagine that just with a human being, whether it's someone that you love as a lover, a parent, a child, someone that you respect, it doesn't matter. But you're doing it for a man, you're doing it for a human being. And then when you have that love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells you, I don't want you to do this, you say, out of love, definitely, Ya Rabbi. I mean, humans, they do that for humans. Can you imagine? And we find pleasure, we find pleasure, absolute pleasure abstaining from things for the sake of our lovers. Other people, they will tell you, are you serious, you're gonna quit this? Yeah. Are you out of your mind? Maybe, yes. But they're doing it for a human being. And imagine if you truly claim that you love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, how much sacrifices are you gonna willing to make for His sake subhanahu wa ta'ala? What's the sacrifice you're gonna make for the sake of Allah? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Quran, qul in kuntum tahibbuna Allah, fattabi'uni yahbibkumu Allah. You say you love Allah, prove it. As simple. He says, you say that you love Allah azazal, prove it to me. How? He says, by following the example of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. My dear brothers and sisters, the temptation in our time is crazy, wallahi,
especially with social media is giving people platforms to things that they would never do in normal situations. But now because we love ourselves, we love our fame and name, and we love our followers, and we create titles for ourselves, God knows where they came from, and we compromise many things because we love these things for the dunya. Imagine if you have that love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala embedded in your heart. Wouldn't leaving the ma'asiyah and the sin become easy? And as a matter of fact, becomes pleasurable. And I love to fight the sin. Not that I would like to expose myself to it, but no, it becomes pleasurable to fight the shaitan for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Waking up for tahajjud becomes pleasurable because I enjoy it. I fight the shaitan. I'm winning against him, alhamdulillah. It's pleasurable. Why? Because I wanna be with my Lord, with my love, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Imagine if you think of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in that fashion. And I always wanna be with my love, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Wallahi, obeying Allah become easy, and disobeying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala become so hard and difficult. So abstaining from the haram and the sins becomes so easy. So easy, like Imam bin Qayyim was speaking about before. Depends on how strong your iman is. Other people, they don't need much effort to abstain from the haram. Because for them, they reach that level of knowledge and practice to make them know, I don't need this. I don't wanna lose my connection with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And other people, they struggle with it. Just to stop swiping over their phone, it's just like moving mountains for them. So hard. And all we need is what? Put your phone away. That's it. But we still keep doing it, and doing it, and doing it, and scrolling for hours. And after that, what happens? We regret for days. And then we think, alhamdulillah, okay,
I'm not gonna do it again. But we do it again, and again, and again. It seems that our love for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is not where it's supposed to be. And Allah says very clearly, you claim that you love me? Then follow my messenger. Prove it to me. So I hope inshallah, that's a message that should resonate with each and every one of us tonight, inshallah. That before we leave this masjid, I wanna vacate everything in my heart, and put the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala first and foremost. And I hope if we get to that level, that I always see Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with the sight of my heart, and the sight of my mind. And I always watch this divine surveillance that would make me watchful of what I do, what I say. And I hope inshallah, we'll take you all to the level of muttaqeen, ya rabbal alameen. Wallahu anham. Subhanallah. Yeah, just, I was thinking of a statement from Ibn al-Qayyim, rahim Allah. Qala kama an laysaka mithlihi laysaka hubbihi shay. That there is nothing like him, and there is nothing like loving him. There is nothing like him, laysaka mithlihi shay. There is nothing like him, and there is nothing like loving him. So when you hear, waladhina amanu ashaddu hubban lillah, those who believe, love Allah, they love Allah more than anyone else loves anything else. And truly, subhanallah, the only way you're going to develop that relationship is through dua. You gotta start talking to him. If you start talking to him, you'll start perceiving him more and if you start perceiving him more, then you'll start loving him more. It's a natural, it's a natural sequence here. Talk to him more, personalize your dua. So when you're making dua, stop just reading a formula. Stop just reading a book. Get personal with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then eventually, the sweetness of that is going to overwhelm you the next time that you find yourself alone. You're gonna find refuge in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, rather than seeking refuge in whatever it is
that your desire is calling you to, or whatever it is that that hardship is driving you to. Inshallah, we're gonna take questions right now, but you're gonna see the QR code on the screen. Use your phone, please send your questions. And for the sisters, if you would like to make sure that your padlet is colored. We know it's coming from the sister side. Also, if anyone is watching with us, nationally or internationally, would like to send, inshallah, a question, make sure that you identify where exactly you're sending your question from, so at least we recognize you, inshallah wa ta'ala. And subhanallah, we had viewers watching these series, tabarakallah, from around the world. Last night, I received a request, and actually people were recognizing themselves from where they're coming from. Some people from Scandinavia, from Canada, from Africa, from Asia, from Philippines, and subhanallah, Middle East, from all over, masha'Allah, watching with us here. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward them for being here with us, ya rabb al-alameen, naam. And just so, inshallah, the next night, there are 20 tips here, 20 techniques. We only cover two, so inshallah ta'ala, tomorrow we'll try to get through as many as we can, hopefully get through all 20, but this is really a powerful section of the book, so for those of you that are not gonna be able to join us, chapter 12, if you can read these few pages, inshallah ta'ala, then do so and reflect on them deeply. Now, a question says over here, what is Ibn Qayyim's view, or yours, on enduring patience, but still making dua against the human, the human root of those trials, as in Musa alayhis salaam, and other prophets eventually, and does that diminish from the word of your beautiful sabr and make you of a dishonorable category? You know, subhanallah, in the sahaba, you have sometimes refuge, because you realize that there are things that they did that if you didn't know that they did, you would think that you're a lower human being, and that it's impermissible. It's like when Umar ibn Abdulaziz, rahimallah, talks about ikhtilaf, the idea of difference of opinion, he says, alhamdulillah, the companions
of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam had differences of opinion, because otherwise, we'd have no excuse. When it comes to making dua against the human root, ad-dua al-adhalimeen, first of all, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was not sent, he says, I was not sent as la'an, as someone who curses, but the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam made dua against people when they were in an active state of oppression, to stop them from their oppression. Likewise, you find from the companions, people that did make dua against them, those that hurt them. You find it from Sa'id ibn Zaid, radiallahu ta'ala anhu, ahad mubashshireen al-jannah, he's one of the 10 promised paradise, and there was a woman that claimed, I mean, this is, by the way, like one of the most real stories of the companions in this regard. There was a woman that accused him of stealing her land, and so she kept on taking her share of his land, and eventually, he made dua against her, and he said, allahumma a'mi basaraha wa qtulha fi ardiha. Oh Allah, blind her and let her die in her land, the land that she stole. And subhanAllah, she went blind, and she fell into a ditch in that land, and she died. I mean, this is the companion of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. They used to fear the dua of Sa'id ibn Abi Waqas. Taqi da'wat al-mazloom. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says, fear the dua of the oppressed, because there's no hijab between it and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So, when you make dua against someone who hurts you, or someone who oppresses you, that does not undermine your patience, because you're being patient with Allah's answer in regards to that person. So, just like with everything else, you're not hasty with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Oh Allah, I've been making dua for two months against this person. I've been making dua for six months against this person, a year against this person, because Musa al-Islam made dua against Firaun for decades before it came to pass. You're not hasty with that dua, with that person. And lastly, you can't let making dua against a person consume all of your dua.
Sometimes we can become so consumed by that dua against the human root of evil that we're forgetting to also find the means by which we drive ourselves towards the root of all good, as-salam subhanahu wa ta'ala, the source of all peace. So, if it's a part of your dua, it can't become all of your dua, or else it's going to overwhelm you, and it's going to serve as a hindrance between your getting close to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. If I may ask from the brothers and sisters who are sending the questions, inshallah, please make sure that the questions are relevant to the topic we discussed, because I have so many questions over here asking about jinn, asking about school, asking about... Jazakumullah khair. Just keep it to the topic that we're discussing here, inshallah, Azza wa jala. A question from Sister Shefna says here, in a world where we inhale vast amount of media and become numb to tragedy and imagery, how do we soften our hearts to be able to step back and no longer feel like another robot human, just living like a life of robotic steps, that's all? Well, you have to actually expose yourself at a deeper level to something. So, scrolling through the images of a hundred different people in devastation is not going to have the effect on your heart that actually sitting with someone who's in devastation is. There are people in your community that are in devastation. There are people sitting here right now that are in a lot of pain. You have friends, you know people that are sick, you know people that are going through hardship. To accompany the grieving is one of the greatest ways to soften your heart and to keep your heart from becoming numb, and especially to accompany al-masakeen, al-fuqaraa wal-masakeen, the poor and the downtrodden. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was asked about a man who had a hardened heart, awsahu an yamsah hara'as al-yateem. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, you need to go accompany an orphan. You need to actually go there. You need to be a part of it. I don't know if you guys know this. There are a lot of poor people in Daos, all right?
There are a lot of shelters in Daos. There are a lot of refugee areas in Daos. There's a lot here, and wherever you're watching from, there's a lot for you to actually take that step and to go expose yourself to. There are organizations to help instrumentalize that for you. Go accompany people, go be with people. And I'll tell you, subhanallah, the two most clarifying places in the world. You wanna know the two most clarifying places in the world? The graveyard and a hospital. The two most clarifying places in the world are the graveyard and a hospital. You visit those two places, you're gonna find automatically that your heart is. Is going to be softened and you're going to have a connection to something more immediate, a greater sense of urgency, a greater sense of dedication to the night. And inshallah, we're gonna be continuing with these techniques as we come to the night, bint Allah azzawajal, for us to know how we can acquire that, bint Allah azzawajal. Question from a brother, he says, with knowing that Allah is watching me, yet we make bad, we make bad things. Like we know Allah's watching. We still make bad things. How can I grow Allah's presence and watching in myself? Subhanallah, Allah azzawajal is commanding us to look around. Look within yourself. See the creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And he asked us, look into the horizons. See the creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I personally believe that one of the greatest loss or maybe damage that this civilization took on us, human beings really, is disconnecting us from the creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala almost permanently. Nowadays, if you want to watch the sunrise and sunset, what do you do? You go to YouTube. We stop really marveling over these beautiful, beautiful signs of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We always hear about the beautiful dome of the sky, right? And the stars and all these nice fancy things and so on.
But every single night, you go out, you look up, you see nothing. Because of the light pollution, unfortunately. One time, I took my kids and my family. We went somewhere far away from the light pollution. And it was an interesting thing when I saw my younger daughter at the time. She was looking up. She was fascinated by that sight. She's like, wow, Baba, look, look. And I'm in my mind just like, I know, I know. But unfortunately, one of these damages that this civilization caused us, as we disconnect with the creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, so everything has become manufactured by man. So we think everything is really man-made, including our culture, our lifestyle, our way of thinking, our philosophies. Everything is man right now. Man-made stuff. But if you would like to increase that, inshallah, I recommend that people maybe take some time out, go into nature, observe Allah's creation subhanahu wa ta'ala, reflect on that. Even if you do it at home, just sit down there, reflect on Allah's creation, on the ayat of the Qur'an. Hopefully, that will help you, inshallah, Tabarak Allah, sheikh. Yeah, there are a few other tips that will actually come that speak to this, actually, inshallah ta'ala. So if you'll notice, the 20 techniques are really about building greater barriers between you and acting in that impatience, on that lust, and building a stronger connection to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But I do want to actually make one point that I don't think shows up in these 20. Just because you commit a sin in private doesn't mean you don't love Allah. It means that your lust at the moment is stronger than your love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at the moment. And it's important for some people to hear that, because you might be thinking to yourself, like, man, what a terrible person I am. You know, I still find myself pulled to these desires, and I still commit this sin over and over again. Inshallah, I think about that companion of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, who was drunk, and the companions were cursing him, and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said, don't curse him, he loves Allah and His Messenger.
Can you imagine him hearing that? He loves Allah and His Messenger, and Allah and His Messenger love him? And the scholars mentioned that one of the reasons why the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam said that was not just to set a principle that, look, just because he fell doesn't mean he doesn't love Allah. But also, it's like when you're being aspirational, like when Allah says, يَأْيُّ أَلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا O you who believe, O you who want to be like a full-on believer, like you should have something, your ears should perk, O you who believe, that's me. O you who love Allah, that's me. O you who want to be amongst the truthful, that's me, that's me. Like you want to hear that and you want to be that person. So can you imagine the impact on that sahabi when he hears, in the midst of his drunkness, at the lowest point of his life, the companions, like, can you, I mean, how demoralizing would it be to be walking amongst the likes of Abu Bakr and Umar and Uthman and Ali and they're, you know, people are cursing you and putting you down, you're a drunk? Like really? You live amongst these people and you're a drunk? And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam says, نَهُ يُحِبُّ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهَ He loves Allah and His Messenger. He just has to build that love to where the love can overcome the lust. It's not that he doesn't love Allah. But the love has to be built to where it's stronger than the pull of the lust. And that's all that it is. JazakAllah khair, Sheikh. SubhanAllah, I want to add to this point as well. People, they expect or they think that amongst us, there will be some people who are completely flawless. They will never commit sins or make mistakes. So they look up to ulama and scholars and students of knowledge and so on. Thinking of them that, mashaAllah, these are, they're all models of the perfect people I would like to follow. Be careful what you wish for. They're human beings after all. They can make mistakes and they're possibly making mistakes already. However, sometimes it depends on who we are and what we do. Our perception of sins is different than one another. So some people, their sins are really in lowly things. Very kind of like cheap things. Other people, their sins are in subhanAllah, in other stuff.
And that's why the ulama, the ulama sins are just greater than what other people they do. So you need to make sure that you understand that, yes, just because I'm making mistakes, I'm trying my best, it doesn't mean Allah subhanAllah and His message and Allah subhanAllah doesn't love you. Allah azza wa jal, if He sees sincerity in the heart, He's willing to forgive. May Allah subhanAllah wa ta'ala give us the ability to remain steadfast. Sheikh, now quickly for the last question, inshaAllah, coming from a sister. She says, specifically a revert, she says, how to feel connection to Allah subhanAllah as a revert? Well, I think that one of the things that becomes daunting to someone, especially when they convert to Islam, is that I don't know Arabic yet. I'm still trying to figure out like all of these things. I haven't developed the tools of connection to Allah. And the reality is you might be closer to Allah subhanAllah than everybody else without the tools yet. All these mechanics that we have are meant to grow the love of Allah inside of our hearts and to develop a connection to Allah subhanAllah wa ta'ala. And that's why your supplication. Supplication is the rawest and most rewardable form of worship. It is, the Prophet ﷺ, he says, الدعاء هو العبادة Supplication is worship. It's the essence of worship. If you learn to call upon Allah when you're alone, if you learn to talk to Allah, you can talk to Him in your own language, you can talk to Him with the rawest expression, of course with adab, with the mannerisms that are befitting, then you can connect to Him. You don't have to make du'a in Arabic. You don't have to have anything particularly down, memorized. You just need, I mean, there are etiquettes of supplication. But supplication is the key to developing a connection to Allah subhanAllah wa ta'ala. It's the essence of worship. And so for the person that reverts to Islam, in particular a convert,
this is a deep means that should overtake all of the desire to learn, you know, these different tools, as if they are a prerequisite to having that meaningful connection with God. Jazakumullah khair. I hope inshaAllah ta'ala that you guys found a moment where you can really connect with this conversation that Imam Ibn Qayyim rahimullah was having with us in this book. And I highly recommend inshaAllah after we conclude that you take a moment alone, reflect on these words, try to write them down on your own phone with your own words. See what's your takeaway from this conversation here and what you can put into practice inshaAllah. Because as we said, it's all about knowledge and practice. These are two ingredients, he said, will be helpful for you inshaAllah to find the medicine for all these diseases. The knowledge that you practice, that will strengthen your iman, that will help you build that shield of patience against any atrocity or any calamity. May Allah protect us all from the sins of the world. We'll see you tomorrow inshaAllah wa ta'ala. Jazakumullah khair. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
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