# Heartwork: Guided Steps to the Path of Allah | Ustadh AbdelRahman Murphy | Class 11

An episode of [Heartwork | Ustadh AbdelRahman Murphy](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1747587869), 20 Aug 2024, 1 h 02 min.

Audio: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/m1ynrwflhagyhby8/yt_video_RYtobGMb_lw.mp3

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## Chapters

- 0:00 Intro
- 7:47 Draw near to Allah sincerely
- 13:34 Thanksgiving
- 14:24 Hypocrisy
- 15:34 Dont bring Islam into this
- 17:56 Engage with Islam
- 21:49 Pray as if its your final prayer
- 25:42 When you pray
- 28:39 How do we pray
- 31:05 Detach from emotionality
- 34:17 Multilayered perspective
- 35:45 Knowledge of the Unseen
- 38:50 Challenging Concepts
- 41:37 Speak the Truth
- 43:22 What is N
- 50:02 Religions before Islam
- 53:17 Closing your eyes

## Transcript

[0:28] e e
[1:17] okay Salam
[1:20] alayum
[1:28] alhamdulillah welcome home
[1:31] everybody it's good to see everybody
[1:33] here
[1:46] alhamdulillah so there's a um today
[1:49] Subhan Allah is the the hottest day
[1:53] apparently in the year for us uh this
[1:58] year and uh according to you know
[2:01] according to what they say of course
[2:02] Allah knows best but according to what
[2:04] they say it's only supposed to get
[2:06] cooler from here so I know there's
[2:08] somebody I know who moved here uh and
[2:10] she she moved here last night
[2:13] actually so this is like the first day
[2:15] in Texas for her and uh and her son her
[2:20] her son and her husband are here her
[2:21] husband moved uh a few weeks ago and uh
[2:24] she came after and she was like what on
[2:26] Earth is going on I said look that's one
[2:29] way to think about it uh I said another
[2:31] way is that it's only going to get
[2:32] colder from this point on cold is
[2:35] relative like tomorrow is 9900 right and
[2:37] then from there in sh but but I want I
[2:40] want everyone to keep this energy in
[2:42] January when uh Chicago and other places
[2:45] that we love right Chicago fourth
[2:47] holiest city in the world um when they
[2:50] are frozen over and when here on a
[2:54] random Tuesday in December we'll have
[2:56] like a 63 degree uh forecast in but you
[3:00] know it's interesting Subhan Allah
[3:02] there's there's a Hadith actually which
[3:03] talks about severe weather and the
[3:06] Hadith mentions the prophet he says that
[3:10] um in in the Unseen realm right the the
[3:13] Hellfire actually is a creation of Allah
[3:16] subh and the Hellfire actually has um
[3:19] almost like a sense of like sensient
[3:22] being and so the Hellfire actually
[3:25] speaks uh in the Quran actually there's
[3:27] like a there's a dialogue between the
[3:29] Hellfire
[3:30] and between
[3:33] Allah that the Hellfire will say or the
[3:37] Hellfire will be asked uh Are You full
[3:41] and it will respond by saying are there
[3:43] any more and that a is to demonstrate
[3:45] and describe just how large the capacity
[3:47] of the fire of hell is may Allah protect
[3:49] us from it and so the Hellfire has the
[3:53] ability Allah knows best how but it has
[3:55] the ability to sort of like process and
[3:57] communicate and so this had narrated
[4:00] about abuur very interestingly said that
[4:03] the prophet Alam said that on the very
[4:05] hot days of summer or of the of the year
[4:11] that a person should actually delay
[4:13] their prayer until the day cools down a
[4:17] little bit and this is because back then
[4:19] of course people would be operating
[4:20] there's no air conditioning and they'd
[4:22] be walking to the Masjid so if you walk
[4:24] to the Masid during like the the Zenith
[4:26] of where the sun is at its peak and it's
[4:29] just beating down on the earth and
[4:30] there's no Shadows there's no shade then
[4:33] what they would do is they would
[4:34] actually delay the prayer of the Masjid
[4:38] because of this extreme heat and you
[4:40] also see this on the other side the
[4:43] prophet Alam if there was an extreme
[4:45] rain if there was very heavy rain and
[4:47] heavy wind they would actually combine
[4:50] some prayers together if the weather was
[4:54] really bad they would combine the
[4:55] prayers at the Masid and it's really
[4:58] funny because in those times of course
[4:59] like there's it makes complete sense in
[5:02] our day and age like there's a little
[5:03] bit of a drizzle and you're at the Masid
[5:05] the uncles are like let's do it let's
[5:07] combine and you're like no no you'll be
[5:09] fine you have a windshield um and you
[5:11] know everyone's trying to apply this
[5:12] Hadith but the point that I think is
[5:14] beautiful is that in the religion itself
[5:18] built into our Dean is the awareness and
[5:21] the Consciousness that Allah shows us
[5:24] that he cares for our comfort to the
[5:26] point where something like Salah think
[5:28] of Salah prayer
[5:30] prayer doesn't move the Advan times
[5:33] don't move these things are fixed but
[5:36] for the comfort of the person performing
[5:38] prayer the prophet is told and tells us
[5:42] that when it's raining you can combine
[5:44] them because you don't want people to be
[5:45] in danger if they're out and it's
[5:47] raining really heavily and they're
[5:48] driving or they're walking you don't
[5:49] want them to be in danger or if it's
[5:51] very hot you don't want this person to
[5:53] be experiencing like the extreme heat
[5:56] and so the the prayer is delayed and the
[5:59] prophet is he actually says that the the
[6:02] intense heat that you feel on these days
[6:05] it's beyond normal heat it's not normal
[6:07] heat right it's like you go from being
[6:09] in like a a regular oven to like an air
[6:12] fryer you step outside and there's like
[6:14] a certain heat it just penetrates right
[6:17] so the prophet Alam said on these days
[6:21] this heat actually comes from the the
[6:23] Raging of the fire of
[6:26] Janam and
[6:29] it this fire calls out to Allah so
[6:33] interesting and makes Dua and says oh
[6:35] Allah my Flames are scorching hot so
[6:40] allow me to take some relief and so
[6:42] Allah allows the fire to take two
[6:45] breaths one in the summer and one in the
[6:48] winter and the one in the winter the
[6:50] scholars say is when it's like deep deep
[6:53] cold that frigid cold and the one in the
[6:57] summer Allah knows best but it's
[6:59] probably
[7:00] today so we ask Allah to allow this to
[7:03] be a reminder for us you know Muhammad
[7:06] Ali the famous boxer he used to hold a a
[7:09] you know a lighter and very famously The
[7:12] Story Goes that whenever he felt the
[7:13] desire to sin or disobey Allah he would
[7:16] just light and he would hold his hand
[7:18] over it very gently and in holding his
[7:21] hand over it he would obviously have to
[7:23] pull it away very quickly and so he
[7:25] would tell himself that if I can't
[7:27] handle just a few seconds of a little
[7:29] lighter then how can I handle eternity
[7:31] in the Hellfire and he would use that as
[7:33] a reminder to himself so take today as a
[7:36] reminder if you don't want to be outside
[7:38] today if you don't like it out there
[7:40] then remind yourselves and all of us can
[7:41] remind ourselves that we don't want to
[7:43] be anywhere near the Hellfire in the
[7:44] afterlife may Allah protect us okay
[7:47] today we're going to continue inshallah
[7:49] with
[7:50] the amazing text that Imam M has written
[7:53] for
[7:55] us and we talked a little bit last week
[7:58] about this idea of what it means to draw
[8:02] near to Allah sincerely and to draw near
[8:05] to him in a way that is uh in any moment
[8:09] whether it's good or bad is thinking of
[8:11] Allah subhana tala now we took a little
[8:13] bit of a poll like like very
[8:16] non-academic survey and we found that
[8:20] you know by raise of hands and we'll do
[8:21] it again how many of us find it easier
[8:23] to do things like pray make Dua Etc when
[8:26] times are not going well when things are
[8:28] bad raise your hand if you find it
[8:30] easier during those times to raise your
[8:31] hand to Allah okay and when times are
[8:34] good generally like we have almost like
[8:36] a low-level state of gratitude
[8:38] constantly but it's it's usually the
[8:41] case that people don't find deep deep
[8:43] inspiration to turn back to Allah in
[8:46] times of gratitude because the Gratitude
[8:48] is a is a thing that is it can it can
[8:51] confuse a person right the experience of
[8:54] being in a state of providence of
[8:56] privilege it doesn't instantly pinch a
[8:58] person in wake them up this is why when
[9:01] you want to wake somebody up you have to
[9:02] turn on the lights right if somebody's
[9:04] in a nice dark room it's cold they got
[9:07] the blanket on what do you do you pull
[9:09] the blanket off of them because that
[9:11] jolt that shock is what gets them up but
[9:15] if a person is comfortable it's very
[9:17] difficult for them to Rouse from the
[9:20] Slumber that they're in so if we're
[9:22] talking about dun and we're talking
[9:24] about our experience as long as things
[9:26] are going well we're sleeping we're
[9:29] laughing and it's only those moments
[9:31] where Allah pulls that nice comfortable
[9:34] blanket off of us with some difficulty
[9:37] in Dallas it's probably a flat
[9:39] tire with a nail right or it's some sort
[9:42] of sickness or financial difficult or
[9:44] something something didn't go your way
[9:46] that's the lights being turned on that's
[9:49] the blanket being pulled off and then
[9:50] you wake up and you realize oh man I
[9:53] overslept I have to go back to Allah so
[9:56] IM M he says and this is interesting
[9:59] trick I love this instead of focusing on
[10:02] just the the times of negativity he says
[10:05] that make sure that you don't forget
[10:08] Allah in the times of good make sure
[10:11] that you remember him in every time and
[10:13] last week we talked about like those
[10:15] little experiences those moments of
[10:16] mercy of Rah and we said that become a
[10:19] person that in every scenario you think
[10:22] of Allah the happiness that you feel
[10:25] when the waiter or the waitress comes
[10:27] out of the kitchen at the restaurant
[10:28] with your food the happiness that you
[10:31] feel when you get a promotion or you get
[10:34] an offer the happiness that you feel
[10:36] when something that you didn't want to
[10:38] do let's say you had plans and they get
[10:40] canceled alhamdulillah right you're like
[10:42] yes I get to sleep or I get to just
[10:45] scroll until it's too late and then
[10:47] still sleep late those moments where
[10:50] Allah gives you that little just burst
[10:54] of relief of rahma that's a time where
[10:57] you need to remember Allah why Imam
[10:59] muhas says because if you can remember
[11:02] Allah during times of good then you'll
[11:05] be able to call on that muscle during
[11:07] times of
[11:08] difficulty and he mentions here
[11:10] something very important and the
[11:13] commentator mentions this as well he
[11:15] says that and I'll read it and explain
[11:18] it he says that the cognitive frames
[11:20] which is basically just a fancy way of
[11:22] saying the mindset the mindset that a
[11:24] person has that allows them to engage
[11:27] with their religion comes from their
[11:30] everyday experiences you know how we say
[11:33] often times the phrase Dean and D you
[11:35] guys ever heard that before balancing
[11:37] Dean and Dunya right it's like every MSA
[11:39] conference in the last 20 years
[11:41] balancing Dean and dun there is actually
[11:43] no such
[11:44] dichotomy in in in traditional Islamic
[11:47] Studies the scholars don't talk about
[11:50] behave this way when it comes to
[11:52] religion and behave this way when it
[11:53] comes to your worldly life no for them
[11:56] it's just you're a Muslim this is it
[11:59] this this is the expectation and no
[12:01] one's perfect but this is your ideal
[12:03] this is what you strive towards so we
[12:05] don't operate under the framework of the
[12:08] the Dual world right and this is why a
[12:11] lot of us become slightly two-faced we
[12:13] operate one way in the Masjid and
[12:15] another way at work we operate one way
[12:17] at home and another way at school this
[12:20] this ability to switch faces to take off
[12:23] one mask and put on another depending on
[12:25] where we are is due to a fundamental
[12:28] misunderstanding of who Allah is Allah
[12:31] does not suddenly become unaware when
[12:33] you walk into work and suddenly does not
[12:36] become more aware when you walk into the
[12:38] Masid that's not how it works Allah
[12:41] subhah wa tala is equally aware of who
[12:44] you are what you're doing what you're
[12:45] thinking what you're feeling and
[12:46] everything you're experiencing at any
[12:48] given second whether you're in the
[12:51] depths of suud in Ramadan or whether you
[12:55] are trying to hide the thing that you're
[12:57] most embarrassed about Allah
[13:00] knows and so the commentator here says
[13:04] our mindset as a person how we think of
[13:06] ourselves our psyche is all built around
[13:10] how much we bring religion into our
[13:13] everyday
[13:14] lives and we're like averse to this we
[13:17] like to deal with religion when it's
[13:19] comfortable but the moment that religion
[13:21] tells us to do things you know it's kind
[13:22] of funny I'll never forget Thanksgiving
[13:25] time it's crazy to even say that right
[13:27] Thanksgiving in November when it gets to
[13:29] a little colder right today is like the
[13:31] oven that bakes the turkey is today okay
[13:34] Thanksgiving there's a big discussion
[13:36] about whether or not people it's
[13:38] permissible to celebrate Thanksgiving
[13:41] birthday for how many of you in this
[13:42] room it's Haram for birthdays you guys
[13:44] your birthdays are har okay well I'm
[13:46] sorry no happy birthday for you
[13:48] okay so there's a big discussion and
[13:51] this the discussion and I'm not going to
[13:52] make light of it the discussion goes you
[13:55] know is there such a thing as a
[13:57] celebration because the prophet I am
[13:59] said that for the Believers for the
[14:00] Muslims there's two celebrations and
[14:02] those are the two eids and So based off
[14:05] of this narration some people have said
[14:07] well any others any other annual
[14:10] regularly celebrated thing is
[14:12] impermissible so they've said birthdays
[14:14] Etc and this is usually what a lot of
[14:16] religious parents do until you have kids
[14:18] and then the grandchildren now all of a
[14:19] sudden birthdays are
[14:21] Hal you guys notice this okay no you
[14:24] guys don't have kids yet but you'll
[14:25] understand the hypocrisy becomes very
[14:26] clear anyways so point being is that
[14:30] these events right Thanksgiving
[14:32] Christmas all that well Christmas we
[14:34] know because a religious holiday but
[14:35] Thanksgiving birthdays all this kind of
[14:37] stuff there's a little bit of debate so
[14:39] the questions come up every year the
[14:42] questions come up every single year does
[14:44] a person have the ability to buy turkey
[14:47] is it okay if a person gets a turkey is
[14:49] it okay if they enjoy a meal on this day
[14:52] with their family with their friends is
[14:54] that okay so there was one time a
[14:56] brother who came to the Masjid and he
[14:57] was actually asking about this question
[15:00] and he asked the Imam he said oh Imam is
[15:03] it permissible for me to do this to have
[15:06] Thanksgiving meal with my friends and
[15:08] family and the Imam started
[15:11] to go through the different Islamic
[15:14] evidences and he said like yes this or
[15:17] no this and he was explaining and then
[15:19] he said a point and I thought this is so
[15:21] interesting he goes well you know if we
[15:23] look at it from the Islamic lens and
[15:26] then the brother turns to him the
[15:28] brother who asked him him and says whoa
[15:29] whoa whoa don't bring Islam into
[15:32] this you guys get me here he is it Halal
[15:35] to celebrate Thanksgiving and the Imam
[15:37] goes well if we do this this this and he
[15:39] goes if we bring in the Islamic and he
[15:40] goes whoa whoa whoa don't bring Islam
[15:41] into this I just want to know is it okay
[15:44] or not and it was almost like a riddle
[15:48] the Imam was
[15:49] like what do I do you know and but that
[15:54] statement don't bring Islam into this is
[15:57] like fundamentally problematic
[15:59] there's a deep problem with that
[16:00] statement don't bring Islam into it what
[16:02] do you mean what do you mean our entire
[16:05] life is predicated about upon whether or
[16:09] not Allah T loves or does not love
[16:12] something that we do that's that's the
[16:14] entire that's the fulcrum that's the
[16:16] Crux of our existence so to to say or
[16:19] feel something don't bring Islam into
[16:22] this no that's not how this operates in
[16:24] fact we as people should think deeply
[16:28] about this question before we engage
[16:29] with anything I'll give you another
[16:31] example there's
[16:32] a he's a very well respected scholar
[16:36] from the Middle East and people asked
[16:38] him about social media is it permissible
[16:41] is it not and you know what he said you
[16:44] guys
[16:45] ready okay he said I don't know that was
[16:50] his answer they said is it permissible
[16:51] to have Instagram he goes I don't know
[16:53] they said what about Facebook he goes I
[16:54] don't know and look at this he said
[16:58] something very powerful he said I can't
[17:00] legislate on this I can't give an answer
[17:03] because we don't know yet how it affects
[17:05] our
[17:06] religion we don't
[17:08] know and now you're seeing the
[17:11] FDA giving official recommendations to
[17:15] parents that if you have a child in high
[17:18] school that you need to limit their time
[17:21] on social media because it has adverse
[17:23] effects on their physical and mental and
[17:25] emotional wellbeing Subhan Allah and I
[17:27] remember back then
[17:29] you know people po put out that fatwa
[17:31] where he said I don't know and they're
[17:32] like oh my God Islam is so incapable
[17:35] with the modern world but look at subh
[17:37] Allah how smart he is he said I'm not
[17:39] going to give an answer because we
[17:40] actually don't know how this stuff works
[17:43] we don't know how it messes with
[17:44] people's brains we don't know whether or
[17:46] not right these filters are going to
[17:48] make us feel less about ourselves we
[17:50] don't know what decisions constant
[17:53] exposure will have on us Subhan Allah so
[17:58] going all the way back back the the
[17:59] author here says what he says the
[18:01] muslim's job is to try to engage with
[18:05] Islam in the mundane actions one
[18:08] question you should ask is that is this
[18:11] something that is pleasing to Allah
[18:12] subhana wa tala is this something that
[18:14] is displeasing to him if I'm doing this
[18:17] is it a problem you know the prophet
[18:18] Alam one time was asked by somebody
[18:21] what's the what should I do what's the
[18:22] ruling and he said a very interesting
[18:24] answer he
[18:26] said he said seek fat from your heart
[18:30] seek fatwa from your heart meaning what
[18:32] ask yourself what do you think now this
[18:34] guy wasn't like I think is halal Deuces
[18:36] right he just leaves and does whatever
[18:38] he wants no the prophet sallam was
[18:41] telling him that if your heart is in a
[18:44] good enough State you should really
[18:47] really every person who has a baseline
[18:50] understanding of virtue and
[18:52] vice dare I say like almost like a
[18:55] childlike understanding of it that
[18:57] person should be able to to you know
[18:59] deduce whether or not something is okay
[19:02] just based you don't have to we're not
[19:04] talking about legal stuff we're not
[19:05] saying you don't want to sign a I think
[19:07] this is Haram boom but the person should
[19:09] knowing themselves like you know what
[19:11] doing this wearing this watching this
[19:15] listening to this buying this behaving
[19:18] like this is either good or not good and
[19:21] every Muslim is empowered to ask
[19:23] themselves those questions everybody
[19:26] that's your relationship with Allah
[19:27] subhanahu went to Anna so then he says
[19:30] the moment that your everyday
[19:33] experiences start to tally up in give
[19:37] you constant remembrance of Allah in
[19:39] every moment he says that's when you
[19:42] start to feel Islam in your
[19:44] heart as long as Islam is a stranger in
[19:47] your life Islam will feel
[19:49] strange but the moment that you allow
[19:54] Iman to find a home in your existence
[19:58] then it's going to always feel
[20:01] familiar and the decisions that you make
[20:03] will match the familiarity that you have
[20:05] with your
[20:07] faith he says one thing that we can do
[20:10] in order to understand this point is
[20:13] that realize that every single person
[20:15] that's involved in our life was brought
[20:18] to us by the sake of Allah subhana wa
[20:19] tala every single person right those
[20:22] people that you love those people that
[20:23] you don't love and those people that are
[20:25] in between right the people that you
[20:28] deeply care about those people that you
[20:31] do not care oh man Lord forgive us those
[20:33] people that you just want to have some
[20:35] space from but you know what's crazy
[20:37] some of the best lessons in life can be
[20:39] learned from the people that you don't
[20:40] want to learn them from and this is why
[20:42] IM Al gazali he actually said like one
[20:44] of the tools that a person can really
[20:46] have they can work on is being able to
[20:49] extract lessons from somebody that you
[20:52] don't like because the person that
[20:54] doesn't like you will often times be the
[20:57] most honest with you
[20:59] your friends will hide your flaws
[21:01] because they love you and they don't
[21:02] want to ruin the relationship but your
[21:04] enemy will just call you out right
[21:07] you'll get into an argument and they're
[21:08] like yeah that shirt's ugly anyways and
[21:11] all your friends are like no it's not
[21:12] and you're like no no it must be that
[21:14] person would have no reason to lie
[21:16] you're all liars you love me that person
[21:18] is telling the truth Imam gazali said
[21:20] this so he said that realize that
[21:24] everyone is who is in your life was
[21:26] brought to you by Allah for some reason
[21:30] whether that person is adding something
[21:32] or testing you or giving you or taking
[21:35] from you every single moment was brought
[21:37] to you by Allah subh tala and when you
[21:40] realize that you will understand Allah
[21:42] T's Bounty and his grace in every single
[21:46] way in your life may Allah T give us
[21:48] this okay then last week we finished on
[21:51] this point the point we talked about
[21:53] well we kind of finished on this and
[21:54] then we started the next one we didn't
[21:56] make it too far but he says that when
[21:59] you pray one of the ways to make this
[22:01] something very very habitual is that
[22:03] when you pray always pray your prayer as
[22:06] if it's your final prayer and this
[22:08] sounds really difficult and dramatic but
[22:11] you don't have to make it that way when
[22:13] you stand up to pray all you have to do
[22:15] is just tell yourself in your head
[22:17] doesn't have to be a loud dramatic
[22:19] announcement hey where are you going
[22:21] Abdul I'm going to go pray this might be
[22:22] my last one don't say that before
[22:24] boarding a flight right just don't say
[22:27] that okay
[22:29] but you say it internally to yourself
[22:31] right you tell yourself like what if
[22:33] this is in fact my last Lord and again
[22:36] all of us are familiar enough all of us
[22:38] are connected enough with communities
[22:40] with families where we've experienced
[22:42] and we've seen the the the the the youth
[22:46] that we grew up with or that we are
[22:49] close to pass
[22:50] away many people in this room are
[22:53] connected to people that passed away at
[22:55] an age that is completely normatively
[22:57] unexpected
[22:59] but I don't say too early because
[23:01] nothing is too early Allah's decree is
[23:03] exactly what it's meant to be but we
[23:05] feel in our heart that that's so strange
[23:08] that I'm 36 and this person's 36 and
[23:11] they passed away and I didn't I don't
[23:13] expect to pass away 36 we still have
[23:16] hopes and aspirations and dreams we
[23:18] don't think about our our our passing
[23:20] days lot to to give us a good ending
[23:22] when it comes time for us so you don't
[23:25] have to necessarily make it a big
[23:26] dramatic moment but just when you stand
[23:29] tell yourself that if this were to be
[23:32] the last prayer that I prayed would I
[23:34] regret it in the grave or not would I
[23:37] regret it in the grave or not now a lot
[23:39] of times we say this before we pray you
[23:41] stand and the prophet s would tell
[23:43] everybody pray this as if it's your
[23:45] final prayer prayer as as if it's your
[23:47] departing prayer but I want to challenge
[23:50] Everybody by asking yourself the
[23:53] question after you finish so when you
[23:55] sayam
[23:59] just in that moment say is that prayer
[24:01] something that if this were my last day
[24:05] I would feel comfortable presenting that
[24:06] to Allah or do I not even know what
[24:09] prayer I just prayed do I have to think
[24:11] for a moment did I just do five for
[24:15] right you know one of those MBS where
[24:17] you're like what where am I right what
[24:19] day is it because your mind was so
[24:21] occupied so completely just totally
[24:25] overtaken by something else that you
[24:26] didn't give the prayer to do right so
[24:28] you can ask yourself before that's fine
[24:30] but if you ask yourself after that's
[24:32] really where you feel the weight of that
[24:34] question is this where I'm going to be
[24:37] is this really the the status the
[24:39] presentation that I want to have before
[24:40] Allah subhana T and why prayer prayer
[24:43] because the Hadith tells us that if a
[24:45] person's prayer is good everything else
[24:48] will be fine on the day of judgment the
[24:50] first thing that's looked at is Salah
[24:51] this doesn't mean by the way that the
[24:53] person's like uh you know you can pray
[24:55] and then do whatever else you want no
[24:57] what this means is that prayer is so
[24:59] powerful and being consistent in prayer
[25:01] is such a unique challenge it's not easy
[25:04] by the way it's simple but it's not easy
[25:07] to always conquer yourself in your
[25:09] schedule whether it's sleep whether it's
[25:11] busyness whether it's motivation there's
[25:14] so many diseases that can attack the
[25:16] pillar of prayer but if you can defend
[25:19] that pillar and preserve it Allah
[25:21] subhana promises you that the rest of
[25:23] your day of judgment will go well it's
[25:26] worth it all of the things that that we
[25:28] have struggles with all of the things
[25:30] that we hope that Allah will Overlook on
[25:34] the day of judgment he promises us a
[25:36] pathway to that if we can guarantee our
[25:39] prayers may Allah make us strong in our
[25:40] prayers so he finishes Subhan Allah and
[25:43] he says when you pray Let It Be The
[25:45] Prayer of
[25:47] farewell we should pray in a way that's
[25:49] beautiful we should dress beautifully
[25:52] even if we can't change our garments
[25:55] because we're at work or we're somewhere
[25:56] where it's not possible we should
[25:58] present ourselves in a beautiful way you
[26:01] know one one of the things that my
[26:02] teachers taught me was that you know for
[26:05] for for for the man who doesn't have to
[26:06] cover their arms necessarily they say
[26:08] that you know rolling up sleeves but
[26:09] there's a Hadith in which the prophet
[26:11] sallam actually said that the sleeve
[26:13] should not be rolled up during prayer
[26:14] for men and one of my teachers says part
[26:17] of this is because it's poor
[26:19] presentation it's a bad way to present
[26:21] yourself would you ever walk into an
[26:22] important meeting and walk in like this
[26:25] unless you're going to Home Depot no
[26:26] there's no way that you're you're going
[26:28] to walk in anywhere like that you if
[26:29] you're presenting yourself nicely you're
[26:31] going to present yourself in a way
[26:32] that's proper right you're going to pull
[26:33] your shirt you're going to and so when
[26:35] you stand before prayer it's not even
[26:37] like oh you step into it some people
[26:39] step into prayer like a jump shot you
[26:40] know they step in with one foot Allah
[26:42] abbar and then the next foot comes in
[26:44] you have to Ste you have to keep your
[26:46] right much like a good jump shot you
[26:47] have to have a steady base you have to
[26:50] make sure that you're you're there
[26:51] you're focused which way am I facing I'm
[26:54] facing towards
[26:56] Allah the the the relative the the
[26:59] cousin of the Prophet when he made W he
[27:01] used to turn pale and start shivering
[27:04] not because the water was cold but
[27:05] because he was really really concerned
[27:08] and they would ask him what's wrong and
[27:09] he says do you have any idea who I'm
[27:11] about to stand in front of he would tell
[27:13] the person I'm about to stand in front
[27:14] of Allah with all my mistakes and all my
[27:17] flaws I'm about to stand in front of
[27:19] Allah he would become nervous become
[27:21] anxious in a healthy
[27:23] way so the commentator here says when
[27:27] you pray pray
[27:29] beautifully pray beautifully in your
[27:31] presentation pray beautifully in your
[27:33] execution pray beautifully in your
[27:35] environment and try your best to pray
[27:38] beautifully with the amount of time that
[27:40] you give each movement in
[27:42] Salah one of the the the difficulties
[27:46] most people have in prayer is
[27:47] concentration Focus right raise your
[27:50] hand if you have trouble focusing in
[27:51] your prayers yeah it's everybody and
[27:53] that's why a lot of the jokes we talk
[27:55] about are like forgetting how many raas
[27:57] which Salah is this the where am I like
[28:01] because Shan no and there's a Hadith
[28:03] that backs us up Shan targets you
[28:06] there's a funny story about scholar this
[28:08] one scholar where he said I one time
[28:10] forgot where I placed something and so
[28:12] in order to remember I pray to Raa
[28:14] because shaan always brings the most
[28:16] random stuff to you right your nefs is
[28:19] always like running in circles when it's
[28:21] time to pray because you don't want to
[28:22] focus anything but the prayer so you
[28:25] forgot where your keys were you're like
[28:26] allahar and then you're like like in the
[28:29] couch okay and then you go you break the
[28:31] prayer that's not good but that's it's a
[28:34] story one time Subhan Allah and it shows
[28:36] you again the the the the vulnerability
[28:37] of Salah so how do we pray and a lot of
[28:41] times we struggle with this one of my
[28:43] teachers Professor Omar muzafer he said
[28:47] something amazing he said if you want to
[28:49] make your prayer better and you don't
[28:51] have the ability to like learn uh
[28:54] classical quranic Arabic grammar or you
[28:56] don't have the ability to memorize like
[28:58] let's say that you're working on it but
[28:59] it's a slow project but you want to make
[29:01] your prayer better today you don't have
[29:03] the ability to change things right now
[29:04] but you want to pray better tonight M we
[29:06] want to pray better he said there's one
[29:08] thing that everybody has the capacity to
[29:10] do and if they do it it'll help their
[29:12] prayer be better you know what it
[29:15] is
[29:17] yes everyone has it's like a riddle
[29:20] everyone has the ability to do this and
[29:22] it will instantly improve your prayer in
[29:24] M tonight in 30
[29:26] minutes Focus man this guy all right
[29:29] Sunday school all
[29:33] right Allah knows best right yes of
[29:36] course Focus but how do you focus how do
[29:37] you increase your
[29:39] focus perfect he say Slow Down slow when
[29:43] do you make the most mistakes when
[29:46] you're rushing when do you forget things
[29:48] when you're rushing when are when when
[29:49] are you this morning I was rushing out
[29:51] of the house to get my kids to school
[29:53] and I forgot all of my work stuff me
[29:55] because I go to from there to here and
[29:58] so I get here and I have nothing and I'm
[29:59] like well I'm
[30:00] useless so now I have to go back home
[30:03] right or I was actually able to call
[30:04] someone who's my neighbor and he brought
[30:06] my stuff and Subhan Allah just all from
[30:08] what from rushing it was next to the
[30:10] door everything was there I had
[30:12] everything ready and I forgot all of it
[30:14] why from Russia when a person speeds up
[30:18] their process they make mistakes slow
[30:20] down everybody in this room has the
[30:23] ability to slow
[30:25] down if we pray and we we feel like this
[30:29] prayer is too fast then we are not
[30:32] giving it the beauty that it deserves
[30:34] you may not know the language you may
[30:36] not be able to translate everything or
[30:38] explain everything but if you give
[30:41] prayer it's due right in terms of just
[30:44] slowing down you will feel like a more
[30:46] beautiful person in prayer you'll feel
[30:49] it everything that is valuable and
[30:52] beautiful is never rushed
[30:55] ever right may Allah T give us good
[30:58] so he says we should try to make sure
[31:01] that everything we present to Allah is
[31:02] beautiful anything less is simply not
[31:05] befitting of him okay the next one he
[31:08] says now here's the next step so we're
[31:10] talking about what detaching from uh uh
[31:13] um having too much emotionality whether
[31:15] good or bad that's the whole process so
[31:17] now the next one so the first one he
[31:18] said is what he says become a person
[31:21] that relies upon Allah pray as if it's
[31:23] your last make sure that you pray
[31:25] beautifully then he says know that you
[31:27] will never never experience this
[31:29] sweetness of Faith until you have trust
[31:34] in Allah's decree and Destiny whether it
[31:37] be good or whether it be bitter whether
[31:41] it be sweet or whether it be bitter this
[31:43] is a really tough one it's really tough
[31:46] whether you look at a micro tragedy in
[31:48] your own life something that happened
[31:50] today whether you look at something
[31:51] that's happening over the course of a
[31:53] lot of time something you've been
[31:54] struggling with something that you've
[31:56] been dealt whether you not whether you
[31:58] look at Global tragedy like whether or
[32:01] not you look at there's so many
[32:03] different tragedies that the heart of a
[32:06] human being naturally is predisposed to
[32:09] question
[32:11] why like why is this happening this is
[32:14] not good and if Allah subhana wa tala
[32:18] you know why can't he just change it why
[32:20] can't he just make it something that is
[32:22] good now this is an interesting story
[32:26] line that's always found in the Quran in
[32:28] the lives of the
[32:30] prophets you look at all the lives of
[32:32] the prophets and their lives are filled
[32:35] filled with bad things you could
[32:37] actually probably characterize their
[32:40] lives as being if we were to say it in
[32:43] our terms more bad than good in terms of
[32:47] what they
[32:48] experienced if you looked at their life
[32:50] and what happened and what occurred to
[32:51] them their history it was all bitter
[32:54] sour tough moments with very few moments
[32:57] in between that were like truly
[33:00] celebratory right but you never see that
[33:02] these prophets these people ever use
[33:05] these moments to like Rebel or resent
[33:09] Allah subhana tala never what was it
[33:11] about them what was different work were
[33:14] human beings they were human beings they
[33:16] were the best of humans but they were
[33:17] still humans so what is it about them
[33:19] that changes their ability to see it
[33:21] it's all a matter of perspective it's
[33:23] all a matter of perspective the prophet
[33:26] Alam he says and I'll I tell you this in
[33:28] a narration it's very beautiful he
[33:32] says he
[33:40] says he says the life of a believing
[33:45] person is so unique because every single
[33:50] thing that this person experiences is
[33:52] good and then he clarifies
[33:57] not this way for
[34:02] anybody except for a Believer you're the
[34:05] only person if you believe in God and
[34:08] you have a relationship with his
[34:09] Revelation and his messenger sallu
[34:11] alaihi wasallam please be upon him you
[34:13] have been given a gift of
[34:15] perspective every believer the
[34:17] perspective can be multi-layered it can
[34:20] be like you know what there's good in
[34:22] this or maybe there's no good in it and
[34:24] you're like you know what there's good
[34:25] coming after this or you can say you
[34:28] know what there's no good in this
[34:29] there's no good coming after this right
[34:31] you're also very negative person but
[34:34] right and you can say but maybe because
[34:36] of this I'll get Paradise maybe because
[34:39] of I'll get Jenna so no matter what no
[34:42] matter where you stop the believer
[34:44] always has the end result of any
[34:46] difficulty is always something good and
[34:49] the the person who's optimistic with
[34:51] Allah they actually see Allah in every
[34:53] moment so they're like there's good in
[34:55] this there will be good after this and
[34:57] I'll get Jenna because of this right so
[35:00] the more your relationship develops the
[35:01] more you're able to have those three
[35:03] levels be stronger but it still doesn't
[35:06] give us the reason as to why these
[35:09] things happen and I'm going to give you
[35:10] a
[35:11] secret one of the things that holds
[35:13] people back from their relationship with
[35:14] Allah is the need and the desire to try
[35:18] to understand everything that's
[35:20] happening and why it's happening and we
[35:22] went over the whole series right why do
[35:23] bad things happen we did that whole
[35:25] series I want to give you one line
[35:28] from this man his name is IM alawi he's
[35:30] a genius and I want I want to share with
[35:33] you what he said about this so the
[35:35] question is why do bad things happen and
[35:37] why can't I know exactly why they happen
[35:41] right now he says when it comes to the
[35:45] knowledge of the Unseen this stuff he
[35:47] says this is a secret to Allah alone
[35:51] it's a secret and you don't have access
[35:53] to it the reality is Allah's knowledge
[35:56] is infinite our knowledge is finite some
[35:59] Scholars they they said that you know if
[36:01] you were to compare the knowledge of
[36:04] Allah to the knowledge of a person it
[36:06] would be like the vastness of every body
[36:09] of water on the earth compared to one
[36:12] single drop of mist and they said it's
[36:16] even greater than that so when you think
[36:18] of oh Allah why don't you let me
[36:21] understand why this is happening you
[36:23] first have to answer the question what's
[36:25] the gap between Allah's knowledge and
[36:26] yours if you can answer that question
[36:29] everything else becomes easier so he
[36:30] says this is a secret that Allah T has
[36:33] not given to anyone his creation ready
[36:36] he goes no angel knows it no angel knows
[36:39] it the Angels they obey Allah but they
[36:42] don't know the future in fact we have
[36:45] proof of this in the Quran when Allah
[36:46] created Adam Alam what did the Angels do
[36:49] were they happy were they confused they
[36:51] were a little confused they questioned
[36:53] it they said why would you create this
[36:56] human being
[36:57] because they said we constantly worship
[36:59] you we're praising you like what what
[37:03] more is it that is needed or is wanted
[37:07] from this creation the human being the
[37:09] angels are like basically like we're
[37:11] doing everything we're praying we're
[37:13] worshiping we're every kind of devotion
[37:15] is being fulfilled by us and Allah T
[37:17] responded with a beautiful response he
[37:20] says I know that which you don't know I
[37:23] know that which you don't know because
[37:25] the Angels do things perfectly
[37:28] but they have no agency or free will but
[37:30] we do M's coming in in about 20 minutes
[37:34] you and I have the choice to pray or not
[37:37] to pray we can we can decide Allah gave
[37:40] you that Allah gave me that and when a
[37:43] person decides to do what's good even
[37:45] though they have the choice they become
[37:48] Imam gazali said better than all of the
[37:50] Angels
[37:51] combined because they show they
[37:54] demonstrate that despite the chance that
[37:56] I have to do what I want I'm submitting
[37:59] to what Allah wants don't ever ever
[38:02] think that because you're not perfect
[38:04] Allah does not love you or care for you
[38:06] no when you choose that one moment to do
[38:08] what's right you become elevated above
[38:10] even the angels so he says the Angels
[38:13] don't know nor does any Prophet know no
[38:16] messenger was given knowledge of the
[38:18] future of the Unseen now listen to this
[38:20] he says now when you try to dive deep
[38:22] into this stuff and really try to unpack
[38:25] it and go to these different sort of
[38:28] positions and how do I figure it out he
[38:30] says all it does is cause you to go
[38:32] further and further further away from
[38:34] Allah subhana wa
[38:35] tala so he advises and he says when it
[38:38] comes to certain things that you can't
[38:40] understand the safe route is to trust
[38:44] and to submit to Allah subhana wa tala
[38:48] that's why in the
[38:49] Quran when Allah presents something
[38:52] that's challenging for us to understand
[38:55] like the creation of the heavens and the
[38:56] Earth and the creation of humanity and
[38:59] provision and all this Allah never gives
[39:02] us like math equations to figure it out
[39:04] it's not like chapter three so it's a
[39:06] trigonometry like that's not how this
[39:08] works what does Allah do very
[39:10] interesting whenever Allah presents
[39:13] challenging concepts for us to
[39:15] comprehend you know what he
[39:16] does he asks us have they not seen the
[39:20] sky above them how it was how it's how
[39:22] it's how it's being suspended have they
[39:24] not seen the birds in the sky how they
[39:26] fly have they not seen the clouds how
[39:28] they move have they not seen the
[39:30] mountains how they're pegged into the
[39:31] Earth have they not seen the Earth how
[39:33] it's alive and then dies and comes back
[39:35] to Earth have they not seen the
[39:37] vegetation that when rain comes down
[39:39] from the sky it grows then Allah says
[39:41] why don't they believe he doesn't ask
[39:43] you to use the math part of your brain
[39:46] sorry if you're a
[39:47] nerd he asks you to use your
[39:51] heart and to think about your own
[39:54] existence not to try to prove it reflect
[39:58] on your existence don't try to prove
[40:00] it and that's what gives you that sense
[40:02] of tranquility and Trust now when you
[40:05] think why is this happening to me this
[40:08] sickness this family dispute this
[40:12] business thing gone wrong this layoff
[40:15] this Risha that went South I know that
[40:17] one's going to cut deep I'm sorry I saw
[40:20] a lot of people just sit up they're like
[40:21] how does he
[40:22] know all right cuz you posted about it
[40:24] anyways
[40:26] uh no anything that you go through
[40:29] that's tough anything that you've been
[40:31] through when you can reflect upon your
[40:34] creation and the fact that Allah T
[40:36] created you provided sustained and is
[40:38] with you every step of the way similar
[40:41] to how a child looks at their parent and
[40:43] trusts them intuitively you look to
[40:45] Allah and you trust them intuitively and
[40:47] you know that no matter what it's going
[40:48] to be okay it may not always be easy it
[40:51] may not always be fun and it may not
[40:53] always be sweet but at the end of it I'm
[40:55] with Allah and that's all that I need
[40:57] and the stories of the prophets Alam
[40:58] give us
[40:59] this
[41:01] now there's one last thing that we'll
[41:03] cover tonight by the way if you have any
[41:04] questions we have Q&A slido.com and you
[41:07] can type in heartwork um to ask the
[41:09] questions in sh oh there's already a lot
[41:11] coming in so slido SLI o.com and then
[41:13] you can type in heartwork we'll do some
[41:14] Q&A inshah right after this um he says
[41:18] the next thing that gives you this sense
[41:22] of
[41:23] sincerity and Detachment from the emot
[41:26] hyper emotional
[41:28] of the love and hatred that you can
[41:30] experience in life is he says speak the
[41:33] truth and act on it speak the truth and
[41:37] act on the truth and God will increase
[41:40] you in your ability to see the
[41:43] truth so there's two things here
[41:45] actually I know it sounds like speak the
[41:46] truth and act on it but it's actually
[41:47] two separate things number one some
[41:51] people are a lot better at talking than
[41:53] they are doing raise your hand if you
[41:56] know how to to do something perfectly
[41:58] but you're really bad at
[42:00] it raise your hand if you failed at
[42:02] dieting
[42:04] before okay raise your hand if you have
[42:06] too much dessert sometimes you know how
[42:08] to do something perfectly you could
[42:09] explain it perfectly but you're bad at
[42:11] it
[42:12] anybody okay an example like Michael
[42:14] Jordan and basketball really good at it
[42:16] horrible GM right really really good at
[42:20] something but not necessarily the best
[42:22] at doing what you know okay this is okay
[42:26] it's part of being a human being like
[42:29] not everyone is perfect in executing
[42:32] what they know I understand how to dunk
[42:36] a basketball I understand conceptually
[42:38] when you take the ball and you jump and
[42:41] you put it through the hoop I get that
[42:43] execute that Habibi maybe in high school
[42:47] all right now my Orthopedic surgeon's
[42:49] here right two ACLS later I'm I'm just
[42:52] happy to sit down right alhamdulillah no
[42:54] I'm joking I'm back to hooping some
[42:55] brothers know okay so we can understand
[42:59] something theoretically perfectly but
[43:02] the ability to execute it is very
[43:04] challenging in the mundane world it's
[43:07] fine in the religious world this is
[43:09] called
[43:11] hypocrisy in the spiritual side of our
[43:14] life this is what's called
[43:16] n is when a person knows but they refuse
[43:20] to try I know how to pray but I don't
[43:23] want
[43:24] to I know how to tell the truth truth
[43:28] but I don't I lie I know how to be
[43:30] honest but I'm very dishonest in my
[43:33] dealings this in the mundane world it's
[43:36] fine man I know how to build Ikea
[43:38] furniture but boy I'm not doing it right
[43:40] but in the spiritual world you cannot be
[43:43] the person that knows something and
[43:44] doesn't do it and ignorance is not
[43:47] Bliss so that's number one now there's
[43:50] another side to this which is that some
[43:53] people are really good at doing
[43:54] something but they're not good at
[43:58] speaking about it or proclaiming it
[44:01] which means that they only do it when
[44:03] they're comfortable they're only in a
[44:04] position of comfort they can only engage
[44:06] in it when they're comfortable the
[44:08] prophet when he spoke to people about
[44:11] virtue and what is right and what Allah
[44:14] loves he wouldn't only do it he would
[44:16] also speak to people about it one of the
[44:19] most disheartening
[44:21] things that we are witnessing now as a
[44:24] result of like internet culture all
[44:26] these video show up and you see these
[44:28] really really difficult things that
[44:29] happen to people whether it's crimes or
[44:32] whether somebody's going through an
[44:33] unfortunate circumstance they get
[44:35] injured and everybody next to next to on
[44:37] the sidewalk just keeps going have you
[44:39] guys ever seen these videos somebody
[44:41] like gets hit by something and they get
[44:43] injured and they're on the ground in
[44:45] pain and people are like I got to go to
[44:47] work and they just keep
[44:49] moving the lack of courage to do what's
[44:52] right is a void in your faith the
[44:57] propham was somebody that when he saw
[44:59] something that was
[45:01] wrong even if he couldn't do much
[45:03] because of restrictions he would always
[45:06] say what was right so the the the coin
[45:08] here is two-sided IM is saying speak and
[45:12] act right say something good and do
[45:16] something good and as a result of those
[45:19] two things when you combine those two
[45:20] things Allah gives you the gift of what
[45:23] you become
[45:25] illuminated many of us struggle in
[45:27] making good decisions we get
[45:30] confused a lot of times that's because
[45:33] we haven't given ourselves the we
[45:36] haven't become accustomed to what it
[45:37] feels like to make good decisions we
[45:39] want to make good decisions but we're
[45:40] not making them well guess what you can
[45:43] only know what a good decision is if you
[45:44] know what it looks like and you only
[45:46] know what it looks like if you do it and
[45:48] if you speak about it and if you
[45:50] reference it and if you recognize
[45:52] it a lot of the things that we know
[45:55] speaking of Q&A that we're going to go
[45:56] to right now a lot of these questions I
[45:58] would venture to say that 70% of them
[46:01] the questioner knows exactly what the
[46:02] right answer is I'm not that special I
[46:06] just have a nice wardrobe but besides
[46:07] that thanks to my Taylor in Turkey but
[46:09] besides that I'm not that special you
[46:13] actually know what's right I would
[46:15] venture to say that most people in this
[46:16] room know how to do things that will
[46:19] make their life better in the eyes of
[46:20] Allah you don't need me
[46:23] actually I could die tomorrow and you
[46:26] still would have all the tools necessary
[46:27] to come closer to Allah subhana wa tala
[46:30] it's not about sometimes knowing you
[46:33] already know but it's about the courage
[46:35] to
[46:36] do and to listen to what your heart is
[46:38] telling you that's what makes faith
[46:41] strong may Allah give us that courage
[46:44] okay let's go through some questions
[46:47] inshallah um
[46:53] okay anything that's like super personal
[46:56] I probably not going to answer because
[46:57] it's like very personal um and I don't
[47:01] want to give like very personal answers
[47:03] in the public forum so I'm going to skip
[47:05] over the ones that are like very
[47:08] personal
[47:14] um
[47:15] okay uh I work in diversity to help all
[47:19] minorities but this includes uh lgbtq is
[47:22] this Haram and should I leave U good
[47:25] question so look um there are always
[47:28] going to be different aspects of
[47:30] different groups whether they be
[47:32] religious whether they be political
[47:34] whether they be um human Essence right
[47:36] orientation there will always be
[47:38] differences right partnering for example
[47:40] with different religions if those
[47:42] religions don't believe in the messenger
[47:44] Muhammad sallu alaihi wasallam that's a
[47:45] huge problem too isn't it so we find in
[47:49] our religion that the
[47:51] prophet he would never collaborate on
[47:54] spiritual matters with other religious
[47:56] Traditions or communities but he would
[47:58] collaborate on social
[48:00] Endeavors okay so for example if there's
[48:03] a church and a synagogue and a temple
[48:06] and a group of uh you know people who
[48:09] believe in in science or you know and
[48:12] Muslims who want to get together and
[48:13] solve like hunger that's great you
[48:16] should absolutely be a part of that for
[48:18] sure but if there's a group of people
[48:20] that get together and want to and want
[48:21] to put together a festival that
[48:23] celebrates Jesus as the Son of God then
[48:25] Muslims need to see like hey see you
[48:27] next year at the food festival you know
[48:29] like that's where you draw your line so
[48:31] the boundaries that we have are not
[48:33] necessarily the boundaries that we have
[48:35] are not necessarily people but it's what
[48:37] the essence of the work is Right Muslims
[48:40] are allowed to engage with any
[48:42] individual whether that person is a
[48:44] Believer non-believer whether that
[48:45] person shares your moral compass or
[48:48] doesn't in the work that we can agree on
[48:52] but if the work we cannot agree on then
[48:56] that is where we draw our line and we
[48:58] offer right thoughts and prayers you
[49:00] know we just we offer condolences or
[49:02] support or whatever it is but we don't
[49:03] necessarily have to be uh uh um you know
[49:06] the active support in those Endeavors so
[49:09] ask yourself the question is this
[49:11] something that contradicts My Religion
[49:13] the effort itself the effort itself not
[49:15] the people but the effort does it
[49:18] contradict my religious values and if it
[49:20] does then I have to take a step back but
[49:23] if it does not if the effort is about
[49:25] cleaning up the city if the effort is
[49:27] about pollution right the solution for
[49:30] pollution great brand by the way I'll
[49:31] you could take that one for free uh if
[49:34] the effort is about like animal uh uh uh
[49:37] shelters or you know shelters for
[49:39] families that are struggling with uh
[49:41] drug abuse and addiction I mean there's
[49:43] so many different great efforts those
[49:44] are fine as long as you're not
[49:46] contributing to the actual uh uh
[49:49] disagreeable parts of the groups
[49:52] themselves Allah knows best Okay um
[50:01] let me
[50:02] see I am considering
[50:05] reverting um there were religions that
[50:08] were made before Islam revealed before
[50:10] Islam if Islam is the right way how did
[50:12] a religion so different exist before
[50:14] great question uh first of all uh you
[50:17] should absolutely uh when you're ready
[50:19] inshallah accept Islam um so the
[50:23] religions that came before Islam I would
[50:25] change a little bit of the verbiage and
[50:27] it would help answer the question the
[50:28] religions were not made they were
[50:30] revealed so we believe the prophet
[50:33] taught us that along with the religions
[50:35] that we're familiar with right like the
[50:37] abrahamic faiths there
[50:39] were 144,000 prophets that Allah sent
[50:43] each of them with their own book so
[50:45] across the history of time and 144,000
[50:48] could also be a rhetorical number
[50:49] meaning it could have been more so we
[50:52] believe that there has been Revelation
[50:54] from God to the Earth via a message and
[50:57] a messenger since the creation of human
[51:00] beings we believe that we believe that
[51:04] we know some of those prophets we
[51:06] believe that we don't know most of them
[51:09] and we believe that the final one his
[51:11] name is Muhammad abdah sallu Al wasallam
[51:14] that's our understanding of Revelation
[51:17] okay now we believe as Muslims that the
[51:21] final Revelation confirms and also
[51:24] establishes itself as the super
[51:26] preceding precedent for all other
[51:28] Revelations which means it doesn't mean
[51:31] that the previous religion Revelation
[51:33] was wrong at the time that it was
[51:36] revealed so for example Muslims don't
[51:39] believe that those who were following
[51:40] Prophet Musa are doomed to Hell Fire
[51:42] because they weren't following Muhammad
[51:44] no we believe that he Sall alaihi
[51:46] wasallam came with the Quran which
[51:50] confirms they used to say confirms what
[51:52] we have the Jews of Medina used to say
[51:54] look what he's preaching is a confirming
[51:56] exactly what we have so we believe that
[51:58] the Quran came and confirmed and the
[52:00] only difference about the Quran from
[52:03] other Revelations is that it's the final
[52:04] one because it was told to us that it's
[52:07] the final one so the existence of other
[52:11] religions should not cause any sort of
[52:13] unsettled anxiety in the heart of a
[52:15] Believer other religions to us are proof
[52:19] of what Allah said there have been other
[52:22] religions people deviated from those
[52:24] religions then the the the religious
[52:27] Revelation was sent to bring people back
[52:29] to what the teachings were and this
[52:32] series occurred over and over and over
[52:33] again until today and even until today
[52:37] the Revelation that we do have know as
[52:38] the Quran and the sun of the Prophet
[52:39] sallam people are deviating from that
[52:42] too who were born Muslim just like just
[52:45] like people previously did the only
[52:47] difference is that there's going to be
[52:48] nothing that comes to abgate this one
[52:50] this is the final one okay so if a
[52:53] person looks at the existence of other
[52:54] religions and feels like settled you
[52:57] don't have to that's just the proof of
[52:59] it you know I love imaj waj may Allah
[53:01] bless him give him life he said
[53:03] something really nice he goes Islam is
[53:04] not the newest religion it's the oldest
[53:06] religion Islam is the original religion
[53:09] of Allah it is what Allah revealed to
[53:12] all of his Messengers peace be upon all
[53:14] of them so definitely you should convert
[53:17] salum okay all right uh next one
[53:23] um can I pray with my eyes closed if it
[53:26] helps
[53:27] my uh so there there are some
[53:29] recommendations both in the Hadith and
[53:31] also from Scholars about not closing
[53:33] your eyes um but ironically the
[53:36] messaging that's given about closing
[53:37] your eyes is so that it doesn't distract
[53:39] you because if you close your eyes you
[53:40] might start you know wandering in your
[53:42] in your uh in your head so some Scholars
[53:44] actually like is one of them he said if
[53:47] it helps you to close your eyes then you
[53:50] should but don't fall
[53:51] asleep that's actually what he said okay
[53:55] um
[53:57] please don't forget the question you
[53:58] bookmarked last Monday I forgot it how
[54:01] can you not I can go back to
[54:05] it hold on let me see someone sounds
[54:09] desperate and it got a lot of up
[54:12] votes not desperate like that why is
[54:14] everything an offensive thing they
[54:16] literally just sound
[54:17] desperate which question was it it's
[54:19] 3:00 a.m. in Kenya Roots is amazing
[54:22] no no we did that
[54:25] one huh huh oh the dogs was it dogs we
[54:29] ended with
[54:30] dogs wow
[54:33] really okay did we talk about dogs
[54:36] they're cute okay all right
[54:40] so gotcha okay are you sure it was you
[54:42] no okay so she's like I heard a friend
[54:45] told
[54:46] me okay so are dogs Haram so no dogs are
[54:50] not Haram uh no no creature is Haram
[54:54] Haram just means impermissible
[54:57] you can't be like it's Haram no it's not
[54:59] Haram like it is a thing it's a creature
[55:01] it's a creation of Allah subhana wa tala
[55:04] okay but the question is not are dogs
[55:06] Haram the question is what can be a a
[55:09] human being or a muslim's relationship
[55:10] with this creature okay so pigs for
[55:13] example are not Haram but they are
[55:15] impure in and of themselves so the
[55:17] relationship that a Muslim can have with
[55:19] a pig is just reading Charlotte's Web
[55:21] that's about it like we can't we can't
[55:23] really do much like can't use their
[55:26] bristles for the hair for bristles can't
[55:29] use the skin for anything can't use the
[55:30] meat nothing like pigs are like they
[55:33] they're impure they you know just keep
[55:35] your distance it doesn't mean that you
[55:36] have to go on a crusade against pigs let
[55:39] them be right but you can't use them
[55:42] okay now cats are not impure cats are
[55:45] pure animals so the relationship that a
[55:48] Muslim can have with a cat or with birds
[55:51] or with is is a lot easier okay cats
[55:54] don't present any sort of challenges is
[55:56] when it comes to Purity in the life of a
[55:59] muslim okay outside of like their uh
[56:02] their you know waist which isn't uh can
[56:04] be most most all other animals as well
[56:08] dogs are a
[56:10] challenge they are in of themselves are
[56:12] not Haram but they provide a challenge
[56:15] in that their moisture from their saliva
[56:18] and their
[56:19] snout is impure according to the
[56:23] majority of scholar overwhelming
[56:25] majority of Scholars there a few from
[56:27] certain schools of thought that that
[56:29] allow for them some conditions but
[56:30] they're it's impure according to the
[56:31] overall
[56:32] majority okay so what does this mean
[56:35] this means that if a dog touches you um
[56:39] with any saliva or residual saliva or
[56:42] has this s now then the thing that
[56:43] you're wearing or the part that you
[56:45] touch has to be cleaned in order for you
[56:48] to be able to perform prayer so look if
[56:51] you have a dog I don't want this to be
[56:53] the saddest day of your life if you're
[56:56] thinking about getting a dog don't do
[56:58] that just hold off for a second for
[56:59] God's sake
[57:01] okay what I would recommend to people
[57:04] and there's other concessions for dogs
[57:05] like hunting or like protection um
[57:08] protection more like if you live in like
[57:10] Denton not quite like other parts of the
[57:13] Metroplex okay um so look if somebody
[57:18] has a dog or they know someone has a dog
[57:19] don't be like I went to heart work you
[57:21] and your dog are both Haram you haven't
[57:23] learned anything what I need you to do
[57:26] or what if you're listening is obviously
[57:30] look I understand people are connected
[57:31] to these animals and they're very they
[57:32] love them I have cats I get it I'm kind
[57:34] of kind of over them but um just the
[57:37] litter part I love them but the litter
[57:38] is a bit much um you know I'm taking
[57:41] care of every time I change the litter
[57:42] I'm like oh
[57:43] Allah if there's no other reason I get
[57:45] jna except for this just make it make
[57:48] this be the reason right if a woman got
[57:50] Jenna for feeding a dog water then
[57:53] surely scraping the waste of an animal
[57:56] to make my family happy like surely this
[57:58] is enough reason to forgive my
[58:00] sins uh I mean so that's my Dua every
[58:03] night so but the dog what I would say
[58:06] for a person who has it is um prepare a
[58:09] place and a wardrobe for prayer that the
[58:13] dog can never come near uh meaning like
[58:16] a room that they never go into clothing
[58:18] that they never ever make contact with
[58:20] maybe leave the clothing in that room
[58:23] and this is one way to ensure that your
[58:25] prayers are not not harmed that's the
[58:27] big concern the big concern like we said
[58:29] is Salah you don't want your clothing or
[58:32] your space of prayer to be uh uh
[58:35] compromised with the impurity of
[58:37] anything and the dog right can be uh a
[58:41] problem with this okay so don't let them
[58:43] go in this room don't let them touch
[58:44] your clothing uh if they if you pet them
[58:47] and touch them then you have to wash up
[58:49] you don't have to make wo with
[58:50] impurities per se but you have to wash
[58:52] up it's better to make wo of course just
[58:54] in case uh you know if if you lost it
[58:56] but the point being is there are ways to
[58:58] sort of like thread the needle it's just
[59:01] very difficult to own a dog and to
[59:04] really give it its right and to love it
[59:06] and to take care of it it's really
[59:07] really difficult uh especially with a
[59:10] family and all that it's really
[59:11] challenging when it comes to prayer so
[59:13] that's why the majority of Scholars they
[59:15] say that it is disliked for people to
[59:17] own dogs outside of the uh concessions
[59:22] like hunting and security and all that
[59:23] kind of stuff or people who use them for
[59:25] like Mental Health or like seeing eye
[59:27] dogs Etc that's fine that's all okay cuz
[59:29] that's all a dispensation that's given
[59:30] for health okay um now again remember
[59:35] that this is not a feta I'm just I'm
[59:36] relaying to you the what my teachers
[59:38] have have taught us um and so don't take
[59:41] this and go and start arguments at home
[59:43] most of you your parents told you dogs
[59:45] are Haram because they themselves don't
[59:46] like dogs uh and they're spiritually
[59:49] allergic to them uh and they told you
[59:51] you were allergic as well so I'm happy
[59:53] that you remembered thank you that's a
[59:55] good way for us to end may Allah T bless
[59:57] everybody here may Allah T give us the
[59:59] ability to practice everything that
[1:00:00] we've read and that we've heard may
[1:00:01] Allah T give us the ability to always be
[1:00:03] a person that prays our prayers with
[1:00:06] complete focus and complete Beauty may
[1:00:08] Allah T give us the ability to accept
[1:00:09] his decree for us and to see the
[1:00:11] sweetness and the purpose and the wisdom
[1:00:14] in his decree may Allah T give us the
[1:00:15] ability to always speak and to act upon
[1:00:18] how we speak and to speak upon how we
[1:00:20] act and may Allah give our hearts
[1:00:21] increased light and
[1:00:23] vision um continue to make Dua for those
[1:00:26] in Gaza uh for those across the world
[1:00:28] Sudan Somalia who are struggling you
[1:00:30] know the the rohinga uh in buma uh and
[1:00:33] for Bangladesh please make Dua you know
[1:00:36] one of the one of the taxes of being
[1:00:38] comfortable is that you cannot forget
[1:00:40] those who are uncomfortable that's the
[1:00:42] spiritual tax if Allah puts you in a
[1:00:44] position of comfort it's not anything
[1:00:47] about you that's special you have a
[1:00:49] responsibility to remember those who are
[1:00:51] uncomfortable it's a personal
[1:00:52] responsibility so every day every day
[1:00:55] make Dua for the of mamam and for Allah
[1:00:58] to make it easy for those who have such
[1:01:00] a
[1:01:02] difficulty prayer has just been called
[1:01:04] for uh just a minute ago so we're going
[1:01:06] to head over to the Mah uh if you can
[1:01:08] please help out for those of you who sat
[1:01:09] on the chairs by helping us stack them
[1:01:11] on the dollies and for those of you who
[1:01:13] sat on the backjacks if you could just
[1:01:14] line them up nicely here on the front
[1:01:16] try to be careful with the plants uh on
[1:01:18] your way
[1:01:24] out
[1:01:54] e e

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