Being Content with the Blessings we have -Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

The Honor and Blessings of Mankind

What is next? Respected elders and brothers, mothers and sisters, students, assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

Almighty Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, has mentioned in a number of places in the Qur'an the honor He has given to the human being, and the virtue that this human being enjoys from Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. Meaning Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, has created within us the ability to reach the highest of stages even beyond that of angels. If the God-given gifts that we have been endowed with are not utilized for benefits of ourselves and of humanity and general creation, then of course a person can fall from the esteem of Allah and can really become worse than any creation of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So it is a double-edged sword. Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, has given us immense blessings. If we utilize them for the benefits of ourselves and humanity, then we can achieve what our potential is.

The Gift of Speech and Reflection

So from amongst those blessings, Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, has given us tafakkur, tadabbur, thinking, pondering, the ability to ponder and to think, the ability to express our inner thoughts in words, the ability to express our emotions in words, in gestures, in poetry, in prose, however we may wish. This type of sifah, this attribute of the kalam, this attribute of speech, is not been given to anyone else. The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, إِنَّ مِنَ الْبَيَانِ لَسِحْرًا Allah himself says, عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ عَلَّمَهُ الْبَيَانَ Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, has taught the human being Qur'an, He is most merciful, He taught him Qur'an, and He has also taught him bayan.

He has also taught him how to express himself. And the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, said, إِنَّ مِنَ الْبَيَانِ لَسِحْرًا Indeed, there are certain modes of speech that have such an amazing appeal to people, and that bring about and stir up such change that it's as though it is a spell, as though you're casting a spell on someone. It has magical powers.

The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, is saying, that certain words, certain poetry, certain types of speeches have a very powerful effect on those who are listening. So this is the blessing that you and I as humans enjoy from Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. And where does this speech come from? It isn't out of thin air.

It is being motivated by a very deep process of thinking, of pondering, and of processing loads of information. We see what's around us, we hear what's around us, we observe what's around us, we allow it to process in our minds, allow it to come together, and then we think of something, and we share it with you. We share it with each other.

A simple comment of looking at someone's clothing and say, you know what, that looks very nice, you're dressed really nice. Or to observe something that's been cooked at home, and say, mashallah, this looks so nice, and it tastes so nice. These small words have an ability to brighten someone's day, have an ability to make someone super happy, have an ability to give loads of encouragement.

The Importance of Pondering Over the Qur'an

So Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, has given you and I this ability of tafakkur, and He wants us to use it. He says in the Qur'an, for example, فَلَا يَتَدَّبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ عَمْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَلُهَا Do they not ponder on the verses of the Qur'an? Or are there locks on their heart? Why is it that they don't ponder over the meanings of the Qur'an? Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, repeatedly in the Qur'an says, إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ Indeed, in these are major signs for those who ponder and think. Those who gloss over the verses of the Qur'an, or gloss over the entire life is just going through the motions, and they are not able to simply stop and think and ponder of what's around them.

They're lost in their own delusion. They're lost in their own thoughts, and they are not able to observe and absorb whatever's around them. They are not gonna be able to find the North Star.

They are not gonna be able to get guidance. In order for us to be able to get guidance from the Qur'an, as well as from happenings around us, it requires tafakkur. أَلْسَعِيدُ مَنْ وَعِضَ بِغَيْرِهِ We've been told that the lucky one, the lucky intelligent and well-to-do person is the one who takes heed from others.

He looks at someone else tripping and falling and says, that area is probably a slippery area. This might be someone maybe mocked it and didn't try it, I need to be careful. When you see a car sliding in front of you, you realize there's ice on the road, you have to slow down.

أَلْسَعِيدُ مَنْ وَعِضَ بِغَيْرِهِ That intelligent person is, he looks at those who are falling, slipping, and getting themselves into ditches in front of him and says, I need to be careful. I need to ensure that I don't make that same mistake. A fool is who looks at that, but because he is so or she is so lost in thought, lost in their own fancies, that they don't realize, they're not able to process what's happening.

They're not able to figure out that this is a major problem. Now, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, وَكَائِين مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَاهَا وَهِيَ ظَالِمَةٌ فَيَخَوِيَةٌ عَلَى عُرُوشِهَا وَبِئْرٍ مُعَطَّلَ وَقَصْرٍ مَشِيدٍ أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَا أَوْ أَعْذَانٌ يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا فَإِنَّهَا لَا تَعْمَلْ أَبْصَارٌ وَلَكِنْ تَعْمَلْ قُلُوبٌ لَتِي فِي الصُّدُورِ Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, there are so many towns and so many villages. أَهْلَكْنَاهَا Which we have destroyed.

وَهِيَ ظَالِمَةٌ The reason we destroyed them is because they were oppressive. Meaning the people of that town I'm no longer gonna accept this anymore. فَيَخَوِيَةٌ عَلَى عُرُوشِهَا The entire village and the entire town, the entire roofs of the town fell upon the dwellers.

The homes were demolished, the buildings were demolished. وَبِئْرٍ وَعَطَّلَةٍ They were deep dug up wells. There were beautiful springs that gave out great clean water.

And now today Allah says, those wells are deserted. They are dirty and deserted. They've dried up.

There's no one willing... Water is a source of life. When the source of life, water is completely dried up and dirty, you know very well that there's no living life in that area. وَقَصْرٍ مَّشِيبٍ Palaces, huge strong palaces that have now become smithereens and have now fallen to the ground.

Allah says, أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُ فِي الْأَرْضِ Why do the disbelievers who are listening to these verses at the time of the Prophet ﷺ and who travel throughout the Middle East and who travel to different parts of the world and see the remains of the previous nations who were destroyed by the wrath of Allah. Allah says, أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُ فِي الْأَرْضِ Why don't they walk around the earth? فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ So that their hearts would awaken. يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَا You have intelligence.

You have minds and hearts. You have that. But they're not working properly, Allah says.

If you were to travel and if you were to look at the ruins of the previous generations, you might strike something with you. The light bulb may turn on and you might start realizing that, subhanAllah, look, these people were so much more powerful than us. Look at how they ended.

I could be next. فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ You'd get hearts. يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَا But not just mere hearts and in minds.

يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَا Which you could use to comprehend the secrets of life. اَوْ اَذَانُوا يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا Or you get ears. We all have ears.

The disbelievers at the time of the Prophet had ears. يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا But you're able to listen attentively to what you need to listen in order to strike your heart. In order to strike a chord with your heart.

In order to allow the faith and the voice of Allah, the voice of the Qur'an, and the voice of the Prophet ﷺ to go deep into your heart. It's not happening right now. Allah says travel.

Allah says travel. Look around. Reflect.

And maybe that will do the job. And then He says, فَإِنَّهَا لَا تَعْمَلْ أَبْصَارٌ The reason you're not taking effect from the verses of the Qur'an, you're not taking effect from the prophetic teachings, and the non-stop effort of the Prophet ﷺ is because you become deaf, blind, and dumb. But they may resort to saying that, Hey, we have perfect vision.

We're able to see very well. What do you mean we're blind? So Allah ﷻ responds, فَإِنَّهَا لَا تَعْمَلْ أَبْصَارٌ It's not the eyes that you see, the two eyes on your face that go blind. وَلَكِن تَعْمَلْ قُلُوبُ الَّتِي فِي الصُّدُورِ Instead, it is the hearts that are within the bosom of a human that become blind.

When the heart becomes blind, then no matter, death comes in front of you, birth comes in front of you, a prophet comes in front of you, miracles come in front of you, angels come in front of you. Nothing is able to move this hard heart because unfortunately this heart has become sealed, has become blind. They may have perfect 20-20 vision, but they're not able to understand the splitting of the moon.

They're not able to understand the descending of the angels in the battle of Badr. Nothing moves them. They're not able to understand water gushing out of the fingers of the Prophet ﷺ. They're not able to understand the destruction of the entire army of Abraha as he tried to attack Ka'bah to Allah.

Miracle after miracle happening at the time. Students when they study Seerah or Aqeedah, many times I hear the students say, Sheikh, I have a question. I don't understand.

How could you possibly not be a Muslim after witnessing this? How could you possibly not believe in Allah and His Rasul ﷺ after witnessing this? A very innocent question, a good question. But the answer is right here. لَا تَعْمَلْ أَبْصَارُ وَلَكِنْ تَعْمَلْ قُلُوبُ الَّتِي فِي الصُّدُورِ They're seeing it, but the hearts are the things that have become blind.

So although they are able to see, they are not able to appreciate and comprehend the depth and the power of the miracle that they saw. And you're seeing that today. There's births and there's deaths and there's all sorts of miracles happening under our nose every single day.

How many people look at the world events and get motivated to change their lives? How many people look at the world events and line it up with the signs of the day of judgment and the prophecies made by the Prophet ﷺ and say, that's it. Enough is enough. Play time is over.

I need to realign my maqsad and my purpose in my life with the teachings of the Prophet ﷺ. The clock is ticking away. Time is rolling. And we really are going at a very fast pace toward the end of times.

How many people really make that decision? How many people really come to that conclusion? Everyone's listening to the news. Everyone's watching, hearing. But there's no tafakkur.

There's no pondering. That's where my whole talk is about. The aspect of Allah ﷻ gave us the ability of tadabbur and tafakkur.

Processing information in a proper manner. That is what leads you to be the leader of the universe. That's what leads you.

The Prophet's Example of Reflection

That's why Rasulullah ﷺ, who is a human, he is a human, bashar. Innama ana basharun mislukum I am nothing but a human like you.

Yuhaa ilayya annama ilahukum ilahun wahid However, I received revelation from Allah ﷻ. The Prophet ﷺ was a human. But he was the highest of humans.

Not just a human, the highest of all creation of Allah ﷻ. And one of the things Allah blessed him with to use to the full strength and power was tadabbur and tafakkur. Pondering and thinking. And that's the reason why 6 months before the revelation even began, the Prophet ﷺ already started hiking up to Mount Hira.

Cave Hira. And he was sitting there and pondering and thinking about what's happening in the Meccan society. Where are we headed? This is not what humans are supposed to be doing.

How did we end up being deviated so far off from the right path? And it was those 6 months that began predating the beginning of iqra' bismi rabbika alladhi khalaq And the first revelations that came. Friends, let us take this power of thinking and pondering to the next level.

Tafakkur: Reflection in Different Dimensions

One is to reflect the news and everything that's around us happening and connecting ourselves to Allah ﷻ. Looking at the fall of past nations. Looking at the fall of nations right now. Looking at the way tables are turning.

Looking at the instability of the politics around the world. And observing that, absorbing that, and coming up with proper righteous conclusions that we need to collectively and individually connect with Allah ﷻ. That's obviously one aspect. Another aspect is that making our internal thinking process a positive one.

Ensuring that as we process news, negative news, from the spouse, from the children, from the parents, from the siblings, from the business partners, from the employers, from the employees, from the stock market. Wherever we are getting negative news, to be able to process that in a positive manner. To always look at the silver lining.

To look at the tunnel, not the light at the end of the tunnel, but rather the light that is literally with you. We talk about the light at the end of the tunnel. What we don't realize is that we're being ungrateful to Allah ﷻ that there is a light right around us.

The Story of the King and the Missing Gold Coin

There's a story that someone said, he said that, the king. The king said, how is it that I have everything, yet I am always unhappy. I own every material thing I could imagine and I want, yet I'm not happy.

And I see the workers in my palace, they earn very little. They have very little material means, but I see them happy. They're with their little wife and their kids in their small little hut.

And they're happy with their humble small lifestyle. And I own everything I could imagine, yet I'm always stressed out, worried, full of anxiety. This may be very true.

We may find ourselves at one of these two extremes. That we have so many material things, yet our hearts are hollow and empty. And we feel, you know, that there's something lacking.

Always upset, frustrated about something. Or we may find ourselves having very small, meager means. But Alhamdulillah, we've got a smile on our face and we're content.

Wherever it may be, this story hopefully is a lesson for all of us. So the king asked one of these intelligent viziers, why is it that I am suffering, even though there's no apparent reason for me to suffer? And these people are enjoying life, even though there's no apparent reason for them to enjoy life. So he said, I will explain to you how this happens.

He said, I would like you to take a bag of coins, and write on it, 100 gold coins. And leave this 100 gold coin bag, send one of your workers to any employee of this palace. Go drop it off outside his hut.

Go drop it off outside, knock on the door, and tell your employee to leave it there. However, one thing I want you to do, is that when you put this bag of coins, of how many coins? How many? 100. I want you to take out 1. And I want you to leave 99 in there.

And put it there. That's all. So the next morning, I mean it's a lot of coins, that poor peasant or employee wouldn't earn that in a whole year.

100 gold coins. Next morning he sees, that same person who he had sent the money for, drooping, tired, lethargic, uninterested, working, and signs of frustration on his face. So he said, I need to find out.

I would think that he would have the biggest smile, and so happy and excited. 100 gold coins, maybe not even show up to work. Go start building his dream home somewhere.

Why is he looking so sad and droopy and down and depressed? So he went to inquire and he said, someone, he said, Bhai, what's wrong with you? Why you look so parashan, udas? What's wrong? Why you look so down? He said, what a horrible night I had. Really? What happened? Someone came knocking at my door. And I opened the door and there was no one there.

And then there was a bag of coins sent with my name on it. And it said, 100 gold coins. I got so excited.

I took it in, and opened it up, and we started counting, and lo and behold, there was only 99. So, I asked myself, I got my kids, my wife, out of the bed, and I said, we need to start searching. So we spent the entire night, in the shrubs, in the bushes, in the jungle around our house, under the mats, left and right, searching for that gold coin.

Nowhere to be found. And I came back, and I yelled at my wife, yelled at my kids, that you have become greedy, that you got 99, and you're happy and content. Do you know we lost one entire gold coin? It's somewhere there.

You didn't do a thorough search. You didn't look properly for it. And how dare you can try to go back to sleep.

Get back out there again. So the entire night got spent in fighting and bickering, with no sleep. And we still were not able to find it.

So the vizier came and told the king, here you go, this is the answer. The answer is that, you have been accustomed to 99 amazing blessings in your life. But you're always fixated on that one blessing that Allah chose not to give you.

And because of which you're not able to allow, to enjoy yourself with those 99 amazing blessings from Allah. And you ruin the happiness that you're supposed to have, because you're fixated on that one that you don't have. While the other person, before he didn't even have 99.

He was content with whatever he had. It's only when he started getting a taste of your lifestyle, he started acting like you as well. Which is, instead of rejoicing over the 99 blessings, lament and cry over the one that you don't have.

Gratitude for the 99 Blessings

A beautiful lesson for all of us in our lives. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us so much to be happy about. So much to rejoice, so much to enjoy, so much to be thankful for.

And most definitely Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also has tested us in small little forms. If it wasn't there, our masajid would even become more empty. If it wasn't there, our Fajr attendance would drop even further.

Our Jummah attendance would drop even further. Our Khatmul Qur'an night attendance would drop even further. The Qur'ans would gather even more dust.

The Masahif would get even more dusty. If it wasn't anything that pinches us. The fact that there are certain things in our life that pinch us, are the things that motivates us to raise our hands in front of them.

Those are the things that make us yearn to come to the masjid. Those are the things that make us want to cry in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Those are the things that want us to make us to fast on a Monday or Thursday, or an odd day for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because we're stressed out with our life.

Those are the things that make us put our hands into our pocket and take out some Sadaqah, in order to remove some difficulty. My brothers and sisters, this Tafakkur, Tadabur, ability to think, and the emotions that lie behind our words, as we started off this talk today, are one of the greatest gifts of Allah, Bayan. Tafakkur, Tadabur, which separates us from the rest.

A Positive Approach to Life

Along with doing the positive things we are doing with it, we need to ensure that our whole approach to life becomes a more positive one. Utilize Tafakkur and Tadabur to focus on your current situation in life, at work or at home, and try to start focusing on those 99 things. Try to begin to find, I won't say you have to search for it, it's right there.

You know sometimes you lose your keys and they're right in front of you? That's our example. We have every reason to be smiling, all of us here, have every reason to smile. But Shaytan makes us forget it.

Shaytan puts a veil over our eyes and doesn't make us realize, Why am I so sad? Why am I so gloomy? Why am I kicking the door? Why am I slamming the car door? For what? There is so much to be grateful and thankful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, with regards to my children, my spouse, my family, my parents, my health, my wealth. And inshallah ta'ala, if we change our perception internally, it will help us go through life in a much more productive manner. There is way too much negativity within our community, within ourselves.

Negative energy, negativity, bickering, fighting, backbiting, slandering, accusations, and just mere objections sitting on the side, and just left and right, accusing someone of this, accusing that organization of this, accusing people of this. And guess what? Not only it doesn't help them and those organizations and those people, it makes us lead much more miserable lives. We are the ones who end up becoming depressed and upset when we keep on focusing on the negative things.

We have to start taking a more positive approach to no matter what's happening in the dunya, look, with difficulty comes ease. Most definitely look. Many times you dislike something, there is definitely good there.

If you and I begin to lead such hopeful lives, then we'll see that we'll be able to accomplish a lot more than we've ever expected. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, he mentioned in a beautiful hadith which itself requires a whole lecture itself, The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, he mentions that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, He dislikes and He gets upset at people giving in. When a person says, I can't do, she's too difficult to work with, he's too difficult to work with, my boss is like this, my wife is like this, my husband is like this, my children are like this, my sickness is like this, Allah hates when people give up and throw in the towel and say, I'm out.

(From the teachings of the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam)

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, instead you have to hold on to acting in an intelligent manner. Acting in a well thought out manner. Use the brain and the ability to think and ponder that Allah has given you for your own success.

And for the success of the community. فَإِذَا غَلَبَكَ أَمْرٌ However, at times when you feel overwhelmed by an affair, فَقُلْ حَسْبِيَ اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ Say, Allah is sufficient and He is the best of caretakers. Leave it up to Allah.

Try as hard as you can, when it's all said and done and you were not able to achieve what you wanted to, say, it was never in my hands in the first place. What was in my hands was to work and I tried and I tried and I tried. Now it's all done, حَسْبِيَ اللَّهُ وَنِعْمَ الْوَكِيلُ Allah is sufficient for me and He is the best of caretakers.

Closing Du'as

I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow all of us to begin to use our intellect, our ability to ponder and to think in a positive manner. Say, Ameen. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow us to reflect on the happenings of the world and to take lessons from it.

I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us from amongst those who ponder over the verses of the Qur'an and allow ourselves to get personally attached with the book of Allah. I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow all of us to become agents of good change and positive energy for ourselves, for our families and the community.

Kindly stand up, complete the rows, insha'Allah, and perform the sunnah salah.

Fill up all the rows, insha'Allah, before you begin your sunnah.