Team Fajr | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 3.12.2022

Team Fajr | Prescriptions for the Heart

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, and all praise is due to Him. And peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah. And peace and blessings be upon our Master Muhammad. And peace and blessings be upon the wife of our Master Muhammad.

I request everyone to please move forward. Sit as close as possible. Insha'Allah, those who are in the lobby, who are here to join, you can also join the dars. We are going to be starting the third section of this book, and the final one. This is, actually there's one smaller one after that as well, or one small one page one after that. So this is the third section called Prescriptions for the Heart. Important internal exercises to attain patience. From the book, Hubasheer al-Sabireen, Hidden Blessings, Prescriptions for the Heart.

Wisdom Number 28: Building Patience Within Ourselves

How are you supposed to, these are going to be now, what are the methods of building patience within ourselves? And remember, patience is of multiple types. One is the patience, what you and I usually think, which is the most commonly mentioned one. Patience when faced with difficulty, when faced with the loss of life, when faced with the loss of wealth, when faced with loss of health, when faced with people's mockery. That is number one level of patience. Second one is patience in terms of being consistent with our good deeds. It requires صبر الطاعة, for a person to remain consistent with the good deeds that he is doing. And number three, صبر المعاصي, patience in staying away from sin. So that also a person is being pushed to commit sin, and they are building their willpower to say no to it.

So now how do we keep, what are the methods of building this patience within our heart? This is number one, keeping the presence of Allah in mind. This is what this wisdom 28 is about. استحضار, keeping the presence of Allah in mind is a way to build that.

The Example of the Prophet's Patience

Hakeem al-Ummah, Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi said, When Allah consoles His Prophet by saying:

Have patience upon what they say. It could be asked, how can one have the patience to endure such a tribulation? Such hardship, it's unbelievable. When you are out there trying to benefit people, you are saying, you are trying, it's like someone is telling a friend or an individual, that run out, get up, get out from this apartment building, it's on fire, it's going to explode, get out. And you are waking people up. And this person, instead of listening and being appreciative, begins to not only swear at you, but start throwing things at you, hurls things at you, begins to spit at your face. That is what Nabi Alaihissalam had to endure every single day. Saving people, trying to save people from Jahannam, and by encouraging them to say, لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله and leave their shirk and kufr behind them. But instead of being appreciative that He is warning them and forewarning them of what awaits them, they are hurling insults and much more than that at him.

So how are you supposed to remain patient? And then, see both, one is two types of patience. One patience here is to be able to listen to this trash, to be able to allow the spit of these people to fall on their face, and not to punch back, fight back, and argue back anything. And number two is, to be able to come back and do the exact same thing the next morning. To go invite people again, without feeling that I'm done with these people. That's another type of sabr.

A Sahabi's Testimony

In hadith of Sahaba it's mentioned, that Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, a person says, I saw Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, before he accepted Islam, he said, I saw Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam going through Mina, and during the eight days of Hajj, going to people as they were grouped in a tent, and inviting them towards Islam. And there was a man behind him, screaming, out loud, saying, this man is a madman. This man is a madman, this man is a crazy person. Do not listen to him, do not follow him. Leave him. It's like someone walking around behind you with a bullhorn.

And, he's not worrying. He goes into the first tent. There's a group of people. Imagine yourself, you're with a group of friends, eating at a restaurant. Someone shows up at your table, and starts speaking to you. There's a groupiness. Everyone's out together. It's how you act with a person who's coming as an outsider. Hey, guys, can I talk to you? Everyone's looking at him like, what? Everyone's a group of friends having coffee together. An outsider comes to the table and wants to speak. So these people are sitting in their tents. An outsider comes, doesn't ask them for directions. Doesn't ask them for food. Tells them that all of this lifestyle, if you live on this, you're going to hell. You have to give up all of this, and come towards what I'm calling you. And so they would just look at him like, who are you? And what are you talking about? And then, they would collectively laugh at him, make a mockery on him. And would say, get out of here. So they would force him out, out of his tent. And of course you could see how sad and dejected he would feel. And he would leave there and go to the next tent. And he would again invite these people, and this person behind him would be out loud, kept on saying, don't follow him, he's crazy, he's a madman, he's this and that. And everyone is listening, and this man from outside the tent or inside the tent would be screaming, saying, don't listen to him, don't listen to him. And Nabi Alaihissalam keep on inviting, and everyone again laughing, making a mockery, rejecting him, and he's walking out. Go to the third one, fourth one.

So this Sahabi, who became a Sahabi later on, he says, that what shocked me was how he's going from tent to tent. Rejected, rejected, again and again. But each time he goes to a tent, when he walks in, he's so full of hope. That these people will listen to me. And that these people will not be like the ones, how many, nine tents before me, ten tents, twelve tents before this. Yeah, they were all horrible, but this is gonna be different. And the second thing he says was, the next day of Mina, he would start making rounds from the very same place, from the beginning, and go visit the very same tents that he had visited just yesterday. And who had shot him away, A'udhu Billah, SubhanAllah. And the next day he goes and visits the same tents with the initial level of excitement, as though he had never had experience with them at all. This was unbelievable. And this man was Abu Lahab, his uncle, who was behind him, telling people not to follow him. So this was a daily routine, an annual routine, a monthly routine of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.

The Divine Solution

So how are you able to gain this level of patience, is the question. So then, he said, let's move on with the ayah:

What's after that?

And glorify your Lord with praises before the rising of the sun, and before it sets. Meaning right now, before the rising of the sun, we're sitting here, Alhamdulillah. This gathering here, is following this ayah. Time after Fajr, and time after Asr. Time before sunrise, and time before Maghrib. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is telling Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, glorify your Lord with praises, that's how you're gonna gain strength.

So he says, what is the way we're gonna engage in patience? By engaging in intimate conversation with the Beloved. When a person engages in heartfelt conversation with his Beloved, then all the pain and sadness melts away.

The Phone Battery Analogy

Let's think about what I just said right now, what we just read. That, if we have, if we got injured, then we'll apply a balm, we'll apply a band-aid, we'll take some aspirin, take some Tylenol, and you move on. And that's how you overcome the pain of, physical pain, usually. These are the means for that. Along with your dua, you know, masnoon dua of removing pain. So now, similarly the pain of the heart, the emotional pain that Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam would be going through. When you hear these stories, and you wonder, how did Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam handle all of this? And why cannot I handle smallest of things?

Routinely, we hear people saying, I give up, I can't take this anymore, this is too much, this is overwhelming. And the simple answer to all of this is, how much time have we spent speaking with Allah? How much time have we spent in munajat? How much time before maghrib, before fajr, or after fajr rather, before sunrise, have we spent doing a dhikr of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala? If we did all of that, then it's highly unlikely that a person will feel overwhelmed. Highly unlikely that a person will feel that I cannot handle this. Because the Quran itself, Allah Azawajal himself says:

Allah does not burden a soul more than he can handle. So why is it that every other person says today, I'm overwhelmed, I can't handle it, too much stress, too much this. Because the time we're spending charging is not sufficient.

You have a phone that's perpetually always on low battery, low battery, it says data not working, it says background light has to be cut down to 2%, because battery save mode. I can't handle it. Which phone? Why your phone cannot handle it? Why can't you make a phone call? Why can't you search something on the internet? It's because it's on low charge. Oh bhai, the simple solution is go charge it. Don't keep on complaining that the light is going away, and my internet is slow, and apps are not working. Because all of that is happening because it's trying to conserve energy, and you haven't charged it. So that's why even the smallest application on the phone, it can't handle it.

Well, that's our example. When we do not charge ourselves with iman, we do not charge ourselves up with Allah's relationship, then the smallest of things will make us feel overwhelmed. And we say, I don't have the bandwidth to do this anymore.

The Reality of Modern Life

How do you see people? They have full-time jobs, full-time take care of their kids, full-time they're, mashallah, studying the deen as well. They're also doing so many things, multiple jobs. One person was saying, I'm studying in college, so I cannot study the deen. I said, go find me a classmate of yours at college, who's only studying college. Find me one guy in your class. In any class, that all he does is studies. That doesn't happen anymore. Everyone is doing multiple things. They're studying in college, they're raising a child, doing a couple of jobs, not just one, subhanallah.

I remember I was in one of the grocery stores here, a couple of years ago, and right before the store closes or something like that, I saw a guy stocking up the items. I think I asked him for something, but I just looked at him, and I said, everything okay? You seem so overwhelmed and so tired. He's putting cans of tuna or whatever it was, but he really looked like completely done. And he's like, yeah, I'm a full-time college student, and I have a year-old baby. Unfortunately, this is the system out of wedlock. People are having kids all the time. And now I have to support the child too, so now I have to work all these shifts, and it's just, there's only 24 hours in the day, from college to working, to taking care of the baby at home and everything else, taking care of his wife or whatever. All those type of things, and that drains a person.

So that's your typical life here. So for a person to say, I can't study, I'm in college, or my child is in college, hence he cannot study. Don't tell him about any program in the masjid. He's a college student. Don't let him not hear any of this stuff, because he'll get confused. This is the problem. There is actually, much a person can attain while studying part-time, and going through college. But why did I mention this? The idea was the ability to juggle multiple things at the same time. That strength comes from Allah. So when a person says, I used to do that, but I can't do that anymore.

The Power of Connection with Allah

The reason why can't you do that anymore? Because your battery is not fully charged. Once you charge your battery up, with iman and تعلق مع الله (connection with Allah), you'll be able to do all these things at the same time. So, let's not give in, and throw in the towel and say, I'm done. I can't do this anymore. Let me drop out of deeni classes. Let me drop away from masjid programs. Because work is getting too challenging. Allah is قادر (All-Powerful).

Why does your life have to be like that? You tell Allah, Ya Allah, I'm here to worship you. I'm not here to worship my work. My work is there, because I have to bring food at home. But that's not my مقصد (purpose) and purpose you send me in the life. So there's nothing greater for me than worshiping you, and getting close to you by seeking علم (knowledge), and by sitting in gatherings of knowledge and ذكر (dhikr). But now my work is taking away time from the masjid. Ya Allah, I ask you through your infinite قدر (qadr) and power, that you put بركة (barakah) in my time, so that I'm able to spend time that I used to in the house of Allah. Spend time the way I used to in the masjid, or in gatherings of knowledge and ذكر, without taking a hit in my other affairs. Why can't Allah do that for you? But we don't even ask. We think, no, He can't. So let me not ask.

Allah's Promise of Sustenance

And guess what the Quran says? Quran says:

Oh Rasulullah ﷺ, لَا نَسْأَلُكَ رِزْقًا - we are not asking you for sustenance. We're not asking you for sustenance, for you and your family. نَحْنُ نَرْزُقُكَ - We are the ones who will actually provide you sustenance. وَالْعَاقِبَةُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ - And the good result and the good ending will be for the people of taqwa.

وَأْمُرْ أَهْلَكَ بِالصَّلَاةِ وَاصْطَبِرْ عَلَيْهَا is the first portion of the ayah. Command your family to pray, and remain patient on it. Don't give up your prayer, no matter what happens. And then, we're not asking you for sustenance. We're asking you to do something, you better do that part. Is to pray yourself and make your family pray.

So how عجيب (amazing) it is, people would tell people that I don't pray, my children don't pray, make دعاء for us, make دعاء for us. The Quran didn't say make دعاء for salah, Quran said do it. And then the Quran says for رزق (rizq), that I'm providing, relax. That part, we want to take over and say, no, I have to provide. دعاء is not gonna help. You see how we flipped it all around. The Quran says, command your family to pray, رزق I'll take care, I got it, don't worry about it. But I want you to do that, you call me, you contact me. That's what salah is, contacting Allah. And the رزق, I will send to you. Allah is telling Rasulullah ﷺ, command the family to perform salah.

Under Allah's Watchful Eyes

So he mentioned the story of a man who was a criminal. Actually, hold on, there's another verse, beautiful verse, subhanAllah, of Surah At-Tur:

And be patient with the judgment of your Lord. فَإِنَّكَ بِأَعْيُونِنَا - Surely you are before our eyes. Allah is telling Rasulullah ﷺ, surely you are before our eyes. Meaning we see you.

In Surah Al-Shu'ara as well, Allah says that we see you from amongst, what's that? In the last portion of Surah Al-Shu'ara, Allah says, that we see you:

And the way you are going back and forth, up and down amongst those who are prostrating, all of that is in front of our eyes. We are able to see all of that. Allah is telling Rasulullah ﷺ, in more than one place, that you are literally as we say, in front of my eyes. Which he knows of course, Rasulullah ﷺ knew that Allah is عليم (All-Knowing), and He is خبير (All-Aware), and He is لطيف (Subtle). But he still spells it out to say, you are in front of my eyes. Like here. And be patient with the judgment of your Lord, surely you are before our eyes. And proclaim the praise of thy Lord, when you stand in Salah. And proclaim the praise of your Lord in the night, and at the declining of the stars. Meaning, proclaim Allah's greatness, in قيام الليل (Qiyamul Layl), in Maghrib, in Isha, in Fajr. All of these times when you pray, pray properly and praise Allah. And this will assist you in gaining صبر (sabr).

The Story of Love and Endurance

So he mentions a story, of an individual, who was caught for something, and was brought in to be lashed. So the executioner, began to whip him and lash him and flog him. One, two, three, four. And all the way till 99. He did not make a noise. Absolutely. He kept quiet. And the 100th one, he screamed out loud. So later on they asked him, that why was this 99 you kept quiet, 100 one you screamed out. And he said that, I received the first 99 lashes, while my beloved was standing there, watching me throughout this ordeal. Due to this, all the pain and suffering had vanished. However just before the last lash, she turned away and left. And that was the single most painful moment for me.

That when, what do we do with children, when they go to the doctor's office? You keep their eyes focused on something else. Be it their favorite doll, be it their favorite toy, or be it something on YouTube. You're distracting them, and they're looking at that, and they don't feel the pain of a shot, of an injection, or of removing of something, opening of the stitches, or putting on some stitches, or whatever the case may be. Simple. You distract the mind with something, that you're really focused on, and then you don't feel physical pain. Isn't that the case? We see this everyday.

So here is the story is that, there's nothing عجيب to understand, how is that possible? This is really possible, everyday we do that. When your mind is so focused, and engrossed physically, emotionally and spiritually, and really in the love of Allah, then you don't feel pain. Haven't we heard the story of Ali رضي الله عنه? It's usually quoted in talks, that the level of concentration, where he had to pull out an arrow, from his leg in one of the battles. And it was a very deep arrow, to be able to pull it out. What should we do? Without anesthetic, how are we gonna handle this? SubhanAllah. And then the idea was given, that you begin salah. Begin to pray. Just get started, and we won't tell him anything. Went on to pray, and after his salah, he's noticing that he's been pulled out, without him even realizing that happened. It's like a type of hypnosis. When a person starts the salah, it's a type of hypnosis. A person is so, so, so focused, that the portion of the brain, that focuses on pain, is just not even working there at that time. That time is all focused on, Allah's communication.

The Energy of Faith

So now, it's not just salah. When people are focused on the rewards, that they're gonna get from Allah in آخرة (akhira), in the afterlife, it's like the most amazing, most amazing boost of energy, you can ever get in your life. Seriously, you're not gonna find anyone like this. You know, even if you drink, a thousand liters of Red Bull, you're not gonna have, this level of energy, and patience, and endurance. Like the one, who is expecting his rewards, from Allah.

The Story of the Magicians of Musa

Musa عليه السلام's, in his era, the magicians that accepted Islam, their stories mentioned. And they were out there to fight and destroy Musa, as we know, عليه السلام. But when they saw:

When they threw their staffs, and Musa عليه السلام threw just one big staff, just one staff that became one big snake. Their staffs all had become snakes, and their ropes had all become snakes, and they were running very quickly slithering on the ground. And Allah tells Musa, throw down what's in your hand, throw it on the ground. It will eat up everything that they did. Everything that they have shown here, it will be eaten up in one bite. And then Allah says, all that they have done is just the plotting and ploy of a magician. And a magician will never be successful no matter how much he tries. Success, yeah, apparent worldly success of harming someone can happen. But in the long run he will never be successful. In the long run he can never be successful. He is كافر (kafir) with Allah, كافر with the Quran. How is he ever gonna succeed?

So Allah did not wait for the Akhirah here. This is a Nabi now. He's being challenged. So that Nabi's staff instantaneously cleaned out all those fake snakes. Because that was just not a real snake. Nabi Musa's snake was different. Nabi's Musa's snake was not, you know:

Allah said, it was made to appear, it was made to appear because of their magic that these sticks were moving like snakes. It was made to appear. But Musa عليه السلام was not doing any magic. That was real. قلب الماهية - Literally the actual essence of that stick changed into a real snake. The DNA changed into a real snake. It was not fake. It wasn't just hypnosis. It wasn't just a magic show. It was realities. The حقيقة (haqiqa) changed. That does not happen in سحر (sihr). That's why سحر cannot compete with what? With the معجزة (Mu'jiza). What Nabi did on معجزة. And the معجزة just completely wiped it out.

So now these magicians realized that, okay, what we're dealing with is not magic. He's not a bigger magician than us. He's from a completely different category of people. We know magic. There's nothing out there that can eat us up, eat our snakes up like this. So what happened? All of the magicians fell down into sujda. They said, we believe in the Lord of Musa and Harun.

Fir'aun's Threats and the Magicians' Response

So Fir'aun could not believe my own army turned against me like this.

Have you believed in him before I've given you permission? Wait, wait, what's it about? You're all getting the paycheck from me. You came here at this time to fight with him because I'm paying you. And I told you I will reward you with my close proximity and my love and my appreciation if you win. How did you turn your back against me and begin to prostrate to the Lord of Musa without my permission?

Ah, I get it. Now he knows of course this is wrong what he's about to say. But this is all part of the propaganda that باطل (batil) knows how to do so well till today. We're in the midst of a massive propaganda war right now. Alright, so this is pure propaganda. He knows exactly what he's about to say is wrong. But he has to come up with a premise to explain why his army was defeated and why his people left him. He's gotta come up with something that the public will buy. Otherwise, it's gonna be a major revolt and people will just give up on Fir'aun. So he says:

He actually is your Grand Master who taught you magic in the first place. Wait, wait, didn't you do your homework Mr. Fir'aun? These people have been working for you all year. Musa, where did he come from? Where did he teach the magic? Explain. He knows that's not true. But he had to build this premise to explain to people why his people left him. And he said, oh this is the Master Magician.

Soon you're gonna find out that you're messing with the wrong person. I'm gonna cut your hands and feet from the opposite side. One hand from one side, a foot from the other side, a leg from the other side. And then I'm going to hang every single one of you. So you're gonna die hanging from trees with one hand cut off from the right side for example and a leg cut off from the left side.

The Magicians' Transformation: From Darkness to Light

And soon you're gonna find out whether your lord or my lord or me, which one of us is more severe in giving punishment and whose punishment lasts longer. What do these people say?

These people were sahir, magicians who were out there to destroy Musa minutes ago. And now they're telling Fir'aun: لَن نُّؤْثِرَكَ عَلَىٰ مَا جَاءَنَا - We will never give you preference over that clear proof that has come to us from Allah. The fact that what Musa Alayhi Salaam did destroyed what we did, is clear proof.

That is why you should never undermine anyone. You never know, no matter how far-fetched a person may be, far away from deen rather, a person may be. When they come back, they come back stronger than the rest. Because they've been to the dark underworld. They've been there, done everything else. They've seen the workings of Shaytan. And so when they come back towards deen, when they come towards deen, they beat everyone else. Because they don't fall into all the other stuff that many people fall. You see many white converts many times are so ahead of people born into Islam. The level of appreciation is so much greater. This is an example of that. These are all converts who've accepted Islam an hour ago, for example. And they're telling Fir'aun, we will not give preference to you over the clear proofs that have come to us from Allah regarding the truthfulness of Musa, and the message of Musa.

The Ultimate Response to Tyranny

The next line is amazing. This is why I shared all this. He said:

Do whatever you want. قَضَى يَقْضِ means to make or pass a judgment. Pass any judgment and do as you like. إِنَّمَا تَقْضِي هَٰذِهِ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا - For indeed you have no control except over this worldly life. As soon as our soul is pulled out, what are you gonna do? Nothing. You cannot do anything. As soon as we die, you have absolutely no control over our soul. No control over anything else. You can do whatever you want with the body, it's dead, lifeless. Isn't that amazing answer they gave? Do whatever you like, but you only have control over this worldly life.

We have indeed believed on our Lord, so that He may forgive our sins. And so He may forgive the action of sorcery and magic that we were forced to do. And Allah is much greater than you in terms of rewarding. وَأَبْقَىٰ - And Allah is much greater than you in terms of everlasting reward. He outlives you, and His rewards will outlive your rewards and are far superior than the rewards that you are trying to give.

The Power of True Faith

My beloved brothers and sisters, subhanAllah, this is iman within the heart of these magicians, ex-magicians. That the love of Allah became so strong that they were able to withstand everything. Because they knew Fir'aun was not bluffing. They knew exactly what Fir'aun was capable of doing. Yet it did not affect them at all. And they said, bring it on. Because why? We are looking at the big picture. We're looking at Jannah right now. And in the meantime you want to kill us, however you want to kill us, it will not deter us because we're looking at Allah عز و جل, and we're looking at Akhirah.

In this way, the true lover of Allah who is the absolute possessor of all beautiful attributes, who is never unmindful of the state of His slave, because Allah is never unmindful of the state of His slaves obviously. When a person focuses on Allah عز و جل, the possessor of all attributes, he will constantly be experiencing an internal contentment due to his awareness of Allah's omnipresence and omniscience.

So in summary of this wisdom 28, if a person keeps the presence of the ultimate beloved in mind, the enjoyment of love will make tolerating hardship easy. That's what we all need to work on now. May Allah عز و جل fill our hearts with the muhabba of Allah عز و جل and allow us to always have istihad and keep in mind the fact that Allah is watching us.

The Dua of Ta'if: A Model of Faith in Hardship

This reminds me of the incident of Ta'if. Unbelievable level of emotional and physical torture.

Oh Allah, I complain to You of my weakness and my unpreparedness for what I'm dealing with. وهواني على الناس - and for my being completely disrespected and not cared and not regarded, for people not having any regard for me. They don't have a regard for the messenger. That's why they don't have regard for the message. That's what Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم thought. You understand that? Your message is great. They should respect your message. But I'm the messenger. And unfortunately they don't have respect for me. So hence they don't have any respect for the message of yours that I'm bringing to them.

Oh Allah, what have you done with me? Have you handed me over to an enemy? Have you handed me over to someone who has full control over my life? What's going on? This is عام الحزن - This is the year of passing away of Khadijah رضي الله عنها as well. So, what is the end plan? What's the end game? I'm going through so much. And the last point of this dua:

If you are not angry with me, then I don't mind any of this. Meaning if I'm enjoying your love, and I'm enjoying your appreciation, and you are looking at me suffering like this, and you wish for me to suffer like this, then I do not mind at all. How can you say that? That's what it is. It's because he was so much in love with Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى. He just wanted to make sure. You know, this is it. I should keep on going. This is the right direction, right? This type of suffering, I didn't miss an exit here, did I? This is how it's supposed to be. Yes, this is how it's supposed to be. However, may I add:

Oh Allah, if you give me well-being, if you give me well-being, and if you give me peace in my life, then it would be... Aafiyah means well-being. If you give me well-being, it would be more comfortable for me. So, I would be appreciative if life was a little bit... if this type of situation will be changed from such difficulty to a little bit ease. That's what he mentioned to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in that powerful du'a.

So that tells us the same thing. That muhabba with Allah azza wa jal will ease our difficulty.

Love Through Recognition

Hakeem An-Ummah says: Love is dependent upon the recognition and ma'rifah. If one does not have proper recognition of something, he cannot love it. And equal to the amount a person recognizes something will be his love for that thing. The more you recognize the qualities of something, the more you will love it. Furthermore, though it is obviously not possible for human beings to attain complete recognition of Allah. It is not possible for human beings to attain complete recognition of Allah. Allah on the other hand does have complete recognition of His slaves. His love for His slaves is complete.

Textual proofs serve as testimony to this fact. For it is clearly established that the love that Allah has for His servant far exceeds the love that parents have for their children. You have heard that Allah azza wa jal's love is more than that of 70 mothers. 70 mothers loving their children, more love than that is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's love for every servant of His.

The Practice of Muraqabah

Once you have understood this, I will mention to you an experience of mine that is essentially my life's experience, my khulasa of my life. Mawlana Tani says, let's listen up. If a person meditates and reflects daily, make muraqabah of the following things. What is that? Allah loves me, Allah loves me. Thinking about this, الله يحبني. And Allah intends nothing but benevolence for me. Allah azza wa jal only wants rahmah for me. Allah only wants to give me gifts. And Allah loves me. If we think and contemplate over these statements, and make muraqabah of these statements, or like the muraqabah of the verses of the Qur'an:

Right? Inform my servants. Inform my servants that I'm the most forgiving, most merciful. وَالرَّحْمَٰنُ الرَّحِيمُ etc. These verses of the Qur'an. He said you will find this extremely beneficial.

One benefit of this meditation is that it will help automatically develop love for Allah in the heart. We see examples of this in worldly affairs. People will have love for a specific leader or government official when they come to know what he wishes well for them and the community. Or that he intends to benefit them and fulfill their needs. They will have love for him even though they may not have known that candidate previously. That is why there's a whole effort that politicians will use to speak about what good they are trying to do for their communities. And you keep on mentioning through all the advertisements. Pre-election, what's that all about? Pre-election, all those advertisements are about, you know what, I'm out there for you. Vote for me. So when a person hears it enough times, even if it's false, he will end up believing in it. So when we hear the benefits of Allah's relationship with us, what benefit we get by our relationship with Allah, we'll fall in love with Him.

Relief Through Divine Love

The second benefit of this meditation is that no sooner does a person realize that Allah loves, that Allah has love for him, he is relieved of his worries and hardships regardless of the extent of the worries and cumulative stress. This is due to the fact that he inherently knows that if Allah loves him, then there will definitely be some benefit in that particular hardship. Wow!

Right? If you really know that Allah loves you, then you will have this conviction that there is some, has to be some benefit, otherwise my mom and dad, normally we say that, my mom loves me, my dad loves me, little child will say that. My mom loves me. Why are you here? I don't know, my mom told me to stand here, so I'm here. He has this yaqeen, that my mom and dad love me, and so don't worry, I don't know who you are, you're telling me this and that. But they told me for a reason to stand here, I'm going to stand here. Oh, the bus is leaving, it's leaving. No, they told me to stay here. I don't know what happens after that.

That trust is what we have with Allah. We have this yaqeen that Allah loves us, that no matter what happens, like what do you mean, everyone's, look at everyone's life, your life is still the same man, everyone's life is changing, everyone's life is becoming better, you're still stuck there. I'm not stuck there because I want to be stuck here. I'm stuck here because Allah wants to see me in this state right now. Financially or whatever the case may be.

And so, a person has itmi'naan, content. He's not comparing, who moved in from a one bedroom to two bedroom, two bedroom to three bedroom, apartment to townhouse, townhouse to home, single home to bigger home, bigger home to mansion. That's the trajectory of people. And he's still stuck in step two or three. But he's not worried. Most people will be worried who don't have relationship with Allah. Because they think they got left behind. But the one who knows that Allah loves me, and Allah is watching me, and Allah will care for me, he said, there's no such thing as Allah forgot about me. That doesn't happen.

My Lord does not forget, and my Lord is not misled ever. If it's happening to you, it's because it's meant to happen to you. Right?

Whatever missed you was never meant to hit you, whatever hit you was never meant to miss you.

Understanding Divine Wisdom in Hardship

We experience situations in life that are difficult or painful, that maybe His love for us is not perfect. Otherwise, as that doubt goes, why would He allow us to experience this pain? What I'm about to read is something so important. There's people leaving the Islam because of this, because they're not understanding this point, unfortunately. The existence of evil, existence of pain, why do we experience this?

Understanding Divine Wisdom in Difficult Times

The answer to this is that experiencing uncomfortable and painful situations is not a sign of Allah's dislike, or lack of love for us. Rather, experiencing these painful and uncomfortable states is one manifestation of His divine love. This is due to the fact that any situation that is experienced is a direct result of divine wisdom, and will be a benefit for your deen as well as your dunya. The condition that came over you at that particular moment was in actuality for the sake of your spiritual reformation. It was for your spiritual reformation.

The Traffic Stop Analogy

When the police pulls you over, does he say, did you ever hurt a cop? No matter how bad it was, the stop, will he ever say, I pulled you over because, you know what, you're brown. How long is he gonna keep his job if he says that? I pulled you over because I don't like Muslims. I pulled you over because you're African American, or whatever. If he were to openly say that, will he be able to keep his job? They will always say, even, I'm not saying most cops are like that, I'm just giving an example, that no one will be so blatant, even a racist or whoever, will not be very open about it.

Most of the time, the genuine cops out there that are serving our community and doing great work, what will they always tell you, even though you get upset, you're being pulled over because you're trying to get to your appointment, will say, sir, I pulled you over at a traffic stop here to ensure your safety and the safety of others on this roadway. The speed you're traveling with, it doesn't make, I'm not here trying to ruin your day. That's not my purpose to get you late to your meeting. But my purpose is to ensure that you arrive at your meeting safe. Is that correct? That's what they will say, and that's, إن شاء الله, is what they mean as well. That they want you to follow the rules so that you are safe on the road and others are safe as well.

So here you go. This is, when we get a musiba from Allah, that's like a traffic stop. And it's like, takes time, and you have to pay a ticket too, and you might have to court appearance as well. But we kind of caused it by not following traffic laws. And now if we were not stopped, we would probably end up falling into harm. Every single day there's car accidents by people who are not following traffic laws. So now this is what this person will understand. That the difficulty I'm going through right now has come about me for the sake of my spiritual reformation. Like we would say, for the sake of my safety, I've been pulled over. Here I say, for the sake of my spiritual reformation, I've been pulled over by Allah.

Though you may not have understood it, or understood the reasoning behind it, like most people do not understand the reasoning behind all these stops either, especially younger people. It was actually for your betterment that you either did not remain healthy, did not remain wealthy, or did not remain in a state of comfort.

The Parent-Child Analogy

A simple example of this is parents who do not always act in accordance with the desires of children. We see quite often that parents will make the children do things that are uncomfortable for the child, but will have profound benefit for them. For instance, having them take a bitter medicine or administering a painful injection when they are sick. Though the child may cry and scream in pain, the parents undoubtedly know that the act was necessary for the well-being of the child.

The above example is inherently understood when we reflect upon our own states. But it becomes hard to apply the same logic and rule to others when we see them suffering. In the same manner, when we see the suffering of a child or an animal, our minds may automatically question, how can Allah allow this innocent creature to suffer like this?

This is so true. I'm a father, الحمد لله, children, so the same things happen, and the child will cry, and you don't get worried, or like, okay, I give a medicine to the child, and he screams, okay, this is just stuff you got to deal with. You got to make sure he has that Tylenol, and move on. But myself, who has to hear my own children crying regularly for various things, when I'm traveling, or I'm somewhere else, and I hear a child cry, I'm like, oh my God, what's going on? Why is the child crying like that? It feels so bad.

The reason, my own experience, is because I don't know why that child is crying. It sounds really bad. But I bet my child cries like that, or even worse than that. But why does it have the same effect? Because I know, that I'm the one who's become a means of that, for example, where I'm in this situation, completely aware of what's happening, and that this is a drama, or this is fake, or whatever the case may be. You know what I mean? So you don't get perplexed by that, because you know what's happening. But when you hear someone else crying, screaming, you wonder, oh my God, why is that child going through so many problems? Why do that mom and dad don't take care of that kid? Because why? We're not aware of what's happening.

Divine Knowledge and Wisdom

So here we go, is that sometimes you may look at a person, human being suffering, or an animal suffering, and then you say, how come Allah is allowing this person to suffer? This objection, however, is rooted in the failure to recognize that Allah is the ultimate knower of all things in totality. He is Al-Muhit, which means that He is the one whose knowledge and power encompasses everything. When His knowledge encompasses everything, whereas our knowledge cannot even encompass our own condition and our own state, then of what benefit is this objection? What benefit is this objection to Allah's decree?

How do we know whether or not a certain condition is for the betterment of another creature? When we think of Allah, we should know that all of His actions are intrinsically good, and have a divine purpose, and that all His doings are rooted in mercy. This section that I'm reading, I think many of us should take a picture of this section, of reading what I'm reading from page 91 to 92, and share it. I can think of right now maybe 5 people I can send this to, who've asked me within the past few weeks about this exact same thing. And they're so confused about this issue.

Accepting Life's Inevitable Tests

With that being said, I'm not claiming that this answer or knowing this concept is going to remove difficulties from your life. Rather I'm saying that difficulties will inevitably come, but you will be able to deal with them in a different way. Knowing that Allah has love for you in every condition will make the difficulties become easy and enjoyable. Moreover this desire that you should never experience any pain or hardship or stress should be removed from your heart. Because you have not been created except in turmoil and to be tested in this world. The worries and stress of this life only come to an end in paradise. May Allah make us reach the next life with complete success. Ameen.

سبحان الله. Beautiful writing of Allah Ta'ala sums up this whole issue in a beautiful manner of the existence of evil. And reminding us that don't expect a ride in the park. Because it's not. It's not. We're gonna have to suffer and go through difficulty as Allah Himself mentioned in the Quran. And إن شاء الله when we breathe our last, إن شاء الله qabir will be easy, إن شاء الله. And we go to the akhirah. And when we enter jannah, إن شاء الله, then that's where there will be a true life of comfort and ease.

Community Announcements

We would like to appreciate those brothers. الحمد لله we're doing khidmah. As always in the breakfast, serving the breakfast to students and others. And brother Saifullah Sheikh, الحمد لله who was the sponsor of today's breakfast. May Allah put barakah in his health, in his wealth, in his children, in all different aspects of his life. And may he get the full reward of the khair and barakah that we are all going to do throughout the day after. إن شاء الله sitting in this gathering and also enjoying the breakfast.

Time Change and Sha'ban Programs

Additionally, a couple of announcements. Tomorrow is going to be the time change. So keep in mind of the salah times that will be changing. And next Thursday will be the 15th night of Sha'ban. We'll have attaining the mercy of Allah. إن شاء الله I'll be giving a talk after Maghrib. And 7.40 I think so or 7.30 or so Maghrib will be. So that's going to be this coming Thursday after Maghrib. It's the 15th night of Sha'ban. What are the virtues of that night? How many millions are forgiven? How do we attain Allah's mercy on that night? And some of the activities that we can keep ourselves busy in, ibadah that we keep ourselves busy in, will be shared and explained that night. So do join in on-site or online. And then you have then isha onwards to make ibadah.

Fasting Recommendations

Second thing, Sha'ban is going ما شاء الله quick. We have 13th, 14th, and 15th of every month that we should be fasting. So I encourage myself and all of us to fast next Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. All three days we should fast. And we will get the reward of fasting the entire month. Three days, we'll get the reward of fasting all 30 days. Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم will never miss out that fast. Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم instead would fast majority of Sha'ban. The first 15 days majority would fast. If we cannot fast the majority of the days, we should at least fast these three days. And it will help us and our families physically, emotionally, and spiritually prepare for the blessed arrival of Ramadan. إن شاء الله.

Ramadan Programs

And Ramadan, we have Tarawih taking place here in multiple places. We have a 29 day and إن شاء الله, more than likely a 27 day as well. And then we have a 19 day and a 10 day and possibly a 7 day as well. إن شاء الله, lined up for this year. So we request you إن شاء الله to be committed to come and benefit from all the programs that will be happening in the blessed month of Ramadan.

Closing Du'a and Dhikr

Let's do some dhikr إن شاء الله.

O Allah, we ask you to accept this gathering. O Allah, we ask you, whatever was shared, make it easy for all of us to embody that. O Allah, please do not make whatever we're sharing a proof against us, but rather make it proof for us. O Allah, grant us your true muhabba, your true love, your true ma'rifah, and make it easy and make that a means for us to be able to remain patient throughout our lives. O Allah, allow us always to be focused on the rewards we're going to receive in the akhirah from you, O Allah, as we go through life.

O Allah, we ask you to grant us, all of us, aafiyah and well-being in all aspects of our life. O Allah, please do not test us, for indeed, we are very weak. O Allah, but once, if you have ever chosen to test us, O Allah, then grant us that level of muhabbat of yours, and knowledge of yours, that will make bearing any type of difficulty easy for us. O Allah, we ask you to grant barakah in our health, in our wealth, in our children, in our deen, in our dunya.

O Allah, make the tarbiyah of our children, O Allah, of our generations, allow us and our children and grandchildren, our generations, to be connected to the masjid. O Allah, all of our difficulties, please remove them, bring ease, grant shifa to all those who are sick, our regulars and those who are... O Allah, from our families who are sick, grant them all shifa, those who passed away.

O Allah, we ask you to grant them complete مغفرة (maghfirah). And O Allah, we ask you to allow this dars to be a صدقة جارية (sadaqah jariyah), for all of our parents, for all of our teachers, and our elders, O Allah.

O Allah, we ask you to grant protection to the madrasah, to the masjid, to the students, to the staff, to the musallis, to the volunteers, to the well-wishers, to those who listen and attend the classes online and on-site. O Allah, we ask you to grant them all protection in their health, in their wealth, in their iman, in their honor.

And O Allah, from above and from the bottom and the top, from right and left, from all directions, protect them from the attacks of شيطان (shaitan). Protect them from the evil effects of the نفس (nafs). O Allah, protect them from حسد (hasad), سحر (sihar), عين (a'in), all evil things. O Allah, we ask you to grant us all protection.

O Allah, whatever permissible desires and needs any of us are making, we ask you, O Allah, to... with du'as that we're making, or whatever permissible desires and needs we have, that you fulfill them, O Allah.

Spring Break Umrah Announcement

Additionally, إن شاء الله (Insha'Allah), there will be a spring break Umrah group that we're going to be taking, إن شاء الله (Insha'Allah), on March 23rd. There's details outside on the flyers outside. March 23rd, إن شاء الله (Insha'Allah). With a return on April 2nd, we'll have one Juma'ah in Makkah, one Juma'ah in Madinah, إن شاء الله (Insha'Allah). We'll be arriving right as Ramadan will begin, إن شاء الله (Insha'Allah).

Supporting Students for Umrah

And also, there are students who are going to be leaving next week. Approximately next Saturday, إن شاء الله (Insha'Allah), we have about 60 students going. So many of them are not able to afford it, and we've, الحمد لله (Alhamdulillah), given them our word that we're going to support those who are going.

So if any of you want to participate at any level, either full, it costs about $1,900. So whether it's one student or more students you're able to give, or a portion of it, please do consider something like this. And if a person wants to give zakat towards that, that's fine as well, because there are students who are 100% zakat eligible, whose tuition and all other expenses are paid for through zakat. And this is also something that can be offset and utilized for, and a great way to send people to the house of Allah عز وجل (Azza wa Jal), إن شاء الله (Insha'Allah), who, in the company of their teachers, will use their time in the best possible manner, and come back rejuvenated.

And إن شاء الله (Insha'Allah), the du'as that we're making there will be also for all of us here. So consider helping the students as well, who are going to be leaving إن شاء الله (Insha'Allah) next Saturday. جزاكم الله خيراً (Jazakumullah khairan).