# Ep. 27 Bend Don't Break | The Faith Revival **Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman **Series:** The Faith Revival **Published:** 2017-06-22 **YouTube:** https://youtu.be/IIwTcjJ8NG4 **URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-27-bend-dont-break **Topics:** Allah, Faith ## Description The “tree of faith” is like a palm tree – deep firm roots, branches high in the sky, and constantly producing fruit. ## Transcript **[0:01]** As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Welcome back to the Faith Revival. So much has been said about what iman looks like in a tree and in its branches and in its fruits. And if we summarize all of them we find some consistent themes. Number one, Allah subhanahu **[0:18]** wa ta'ala says, Alam tara kayfa dharaba allahu mathalan kalimatan tayyibatan kashajaratin tayyiba. Have you not seen how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has presented the example to you of a good beautiful word like a tree that is beautiful and pure. And he starts to describe **[0:35]** this tree of iman. So the word is la ilaha illallah. And what does la ilaha illallah look like in a tree form? The Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said that the tree of faith is like a palm tree. So now imagine this palm tree, this nakhla, being constructed. Asluha **[0:52]** thabit. Its roots are deep. Its roots are firm. You walk up to a palm tree next time you're in Medina inshaAllah and try to knock it over and see what happens to you. The roots of a palm tree are firm. It is deeply rooted. Asluha thabit wa far'uha fis samaa. And its **[1:10]** branches are high in the sky. So the roots are firm which means that the believer though at times they will bend, they will not break. The tree will not be uprooted. So you'll always have the roots in your heart even when your iman is not producing at its potential. Asluha **[1:26]** thabit. Its roots are firm. Wa far'uha fis samaa. And its branches are high in the sky. Its fruits are constantly in production. Meaning the tree of iman is not seasonal. So there are some times that the tree will produce maybe higher than others. So in Ramadan there **[1:45]** are more fruits. But that doesn't mean it stops producing fruits throughout the year. It just means that the output might not be as much. Now how do we describe this with all of the hadith? So the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam said, so now you have la ilaha illallah which is the root. Then he said sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam that iman **[2:03]** has 70 something branches. So iman has 70 something branches. He said a'la la ilaha illallah. The highest of them is la ilaha illallah. He says the lowest of them is imatatul adha an attariq. To remove something harmful from the road. Wal haya'u minal iman. And he said **[2:23]** shyness and modesty in the sight of Allah is from faith. What are the consistent trends we can take from this? Number one the scholars say that the fruits sometimes take time to become ripe and that's when you taste the sweetness of those good deeds. So sometimes **[2:40]** you don't taste the sweetness of the fruit right away. It's actually bitter at first. So your good deed as you first take it on it might be bitter. But then as you constantly produce you're going to taste its sweetness once it becomes ripe. So you insist on that good deed. The second thing they mention is that the branches are the akhlaq. The branches **[2:58]** are the good qualities. And good qualities constantly yield good deeds. So the goal in Islam is not just to establish good deeds, it's to establish good habits and good qualities. So for example from the good quality of kindness you have many fruits that will grow from that **[3:15]** branch. So you have to develop these akhlaq, these good qualities. And so when you talk about haya' for example the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam said that li kulli deen and khuluq, every religion has a characteristic, a quality to it. He says khuluqul Islam al **[3:32]** haya' the quality of Islam is haya'. The defining trait of Islam is shyness and modesty before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Now modesty in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, if you're not lost yet with the diagram as you're drawing it out, modesty which is the consistent **[3:50]** branch that the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam mentions. Modesty in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala means that you are too shy to disobey him even when he is watching you and you are alone. You're too shy. That's the first form of modesty. But then how do you take it beyond that? So that's the big branch that the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi **[4:08]** wa sallam keeps mentioning. The lowest branch is imatatul adha' an at-tariq, to remove something harmful from the road out of love for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. What is the Prophet sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam telling us? He said sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam, I saw a man strolling in paradise simply because he removed something harmful from the road. **[4:28]** What that means is you went beyond simply feeling shy to disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in private. You even brought yourself to do a good deed that maybe someone else didn't notice. So someone else saw that branch on the road or saw something on the road that was harmful. You did something that some others noticed but they didn't do anything about **[4:48]** and you did it purely for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You did it purely out of your love for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, purely seeking his sight. The smallest branch, the slightest fruit for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that's enough for Allah to look at you and to forgive you for all of your sins and to grant you entry into **[5:09]** paradise. So when you connect the dots, number one, la ilaha illallah has to be firm in your heart. That can never go even when you're at your lowest point in iman. Number two, the fruits always have to be in production even if there are times that they might produce **[5:24]** at a higher level. Number three, sometimes it takes a while to taste the sweetness of that fruit so the fruit has to become ripe. Number four, the consistent branch is always shyness in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Number five, if you can show Allah **[5:42]** one moment of a good deed, one moment of something small that your faith produces, that's enough for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive all of the crookedness of the tree outside of that. JazakumAllahu khayran. See you all next time inshaAllah. Asalaamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. ## Other Episodes in "The Faith Revival" - [Ep. 30: The End of the Journey of Faith | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-30-the-end-of-the-journey-of-faith.md) - [Ep. 29: Yaqeen is Full Faith | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-29-yaqeen-is-full-faith.md) - [Ep. 28: The Ultimate Gift | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-28-the-ultimate-gift.md) - [Ep. 26: Friends of Faith | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-26-friends-of-faith.md) - [Ep. 25: Fortress of Faith| The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-25-fortress-of-faith.md) - [Ep. 24: Quran: The Guardian of Faith | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-24-quran-the-guardian-of-faith.md) - [Ep. 23: Unreasonable Goals | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-23-unreasonable-goals.md) - [Ep. 22: Why Do People Leave Faith? | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-22-why-do-people-leave-faith.md) - [Ep 21: They Don't Believe Until... | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-21they-dont-believe-until.md) - [Ep. 20: Sweetness of Faith | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-20-sweetness-of-faith.md) - [Ep. 19: Faith in Hardship | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-19-faith-in-hardship.md) - [Ep. 18: Envy and Faith | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-18-envy-and-faith.md) - [Ep. 17: Poverty Leads to Disbelief | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-17-poverty-leads-to-disbelief.md) - [Ep. 16: Two Hungry Wolves | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-16-two-hungry-wolves.md) - [Ep. 15: The Faith of the Prophets Before | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-15-the-faith-of-the-prophets-before.md) - [Ep. 14: Allah Rewards You for Your Doubts If... | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-14-allah-rewards-you-for-your-doubts-if.md) - [Ep. 13: Guidance After Iman | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-13-guidance-after-iman.md) - [Ep. 12: Omar Was Always In The Zone | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-12-omar-was-always-in-the-zone.md) - [Ep. 11: Remembers His Place in Front of Allah | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-11-remembers-his-place-in-front-of-allah.md) - [Ep. 10: Move Beyond the Catalyst | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-10-move-beyond-the-catalyst.md) - [Ep. 9: Ammar's Heart and Omar's Shirt | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-9-ammars-heart-and-omars-shirt.md) - [Ep. 8: Two Supplications of the Prophet | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-8-two-supplications-of-the-prophet.md) - [Ep. 7: You're No Angel | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-7-youre-no-angel.md) - [Ep. 6: Healthy Fluctuations | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-6-healthy-fluctuations.md) - [Ep. 5: Even If Abu Dharr Doesn’t Like It | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-5-even-if-abu-dharr-doesnt-like-it.md) - [Ep. 4: He is Not a Believer When... | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-4-he-is-not-a-believer-when.md) - [Ep. 3: Shaky Foundations | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-3-shaky-foundations.md) - [Ep.2: Your Faith Wears Out | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-2-your-faith-wears-out.md) - [Ep. 1: Faith is Refuge | The Faith Revival](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/faith-revival/the-faith-revival-ep-1-faith-is-refuge.md)