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"What Have You Put Forth?" | Daily Reminders
"I stood in the mirror and asked myself, is this it?" Sh. Abdullah Oduro reflects on the aspect of accountability, self-accountability, and the need to look at oneself and ask, "what have you done for tomorrow?"
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you all. Amongst many of the people that I've talked to that have converted to Islam or those that were born Muslim but came around and trying to make the effort to show gratitude to their Lord, show gratitude to their mothers, their fathers, people that they realized finally that they deserve a lot more love and thanks from me. Amongst those people I talked to one person, you know, as the typical question is, as even I was asked is, what did it, what made you change, what was that catalyst that made you say, you know what, I got to do something. I'll never forget he said, you know, I stood in the mirror and I asked myself, is this it, is this what it's all about? Basically, what am I doing in life? I'm fulfilling my desires and having fun but when that time comes which I don't know, have I prepared for it? This reminds me of the hadith of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam when one of the companions asked him, when is the hour? And then he asked him, hal addatta laha? Really the question is, have you prepared for it? And that's what I want us to remember now is the aspect of accountability. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says in the Quran, ya ayyuhal lazeena aamilu taqool laaha wa latanzul nafsum ma qaddamat li ghad. O you who believe, fear Allah and will tanzul nafsum. And this self should look, you should look at yourself for what you have prepared for tomorrow. But al ghad here really means that day of judgment when you will stand in front of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and he calls it ghad as one of the tabi'een mentioned that he uses the term tomorrow to show the proximity of the event. So due to the fact that we are uncertain of when this will take place, what's most important is how we are preparing for that. One of the strongest means of preparation for that is accountability,
self-accountability, looking at yourself consistently. What are you putting forth? What have you done for tomorrow? When we look at right now, the situation that we are in, many of us look at it as a hindrance from going to work, from seeing our friends, from talking to our friends up close and personal offline, from just being stuck at home. But how do we really look at it? Because when it comes to Islam and it comes to the rizq of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, the provisions, those things that you have as Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions, thumma la tus'alunna yawma idhin AAanil na'een. And verily you will be asked about that time. You will be asked about the na'een, about the blissful things that you had in this life, the things that He has given you. And that's what I want to capitalize on here. Take a moment and just think about it. Everything that Allah has given you, from that which you're pleased of being given, are you using it in a manner that shows gratitude to the one that has given it to you? And I'm silent on purpose for a couple of minutes or moments for you just to think of that. In the midst of everything that's going on of what we've quote unquote lost, whether it's even a job, whether it's even a friend. But what you have now, are you using it in a manner that shows gratitude to the one that made the decision for all of this to happen? Because the object that you have can either be in Arabic what is called a hujjah, an argument for you or against you. The Prophet ﷺ even mentioned that al-Quran hujjatun laka aw alayka. With the coming of Ramadan, the event of Ramadan coming soon, the Quran is an establishment for us, an argument for us,
or against us. Your children, the ones that you see day in and day out because you're not leaving home, or the ones that you are not able to see because you are in a far off land, or for you that's in the university and you can't see your family. In particular, mothers, fathers, your children, will they be an establishment for an argument for you or against you? These questions will only come to the one that holds themselves accountable. Your time is in an establishment or an argument for you or against you. How are you using your time? Your health, which we are all in fear for right now, which we are all taking the means to protect ourselves, primarily to protect our health for ourselves and our loved ones. How are we using our health for our children? Are we telling them about the stories of Ayub ad-Din, sitting down with them and trying to pray one prayer at home, one prayer? Are we taking away, which is a form of advice, to fast from electronics, fast from your phone, and to sit with one another, or to see where you are from your electronics? What is your position in regards to all the electronics in your home? All these forms of distraction from what really matters. Appreciation of what Allah has given you and prioritizing those things what he has given you. You may appreciate the phone, but what about your son, your father, your mother? Showing levels of appreciation for them. Your health, eating right, drinking right, sleeping adequately, drinking water and eating vegetables for your immune system, and sleeping
at an adequate time, sleeping early and waking up early in order to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, to show gratitude towards him. With these blessings that you have, make sure that you hold yourself accountable. Make sure that before you go to sleep, look in the mirror and ask yourself what have you put forth? And let that question be a means of motivation to where when you wake up, you will wake up as someone that has a plan of gratitude to be more disciplined and be gratituous. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make you of those individuals that hold themselves accountable. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make you of those individuals that when they hold themselves accountable, they act in a consistent fashion to become better people in the midst of any calamity. Asalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh. Thank you.
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