Never Give Up Hope
By Nouman Ali Khan | 2026-01-09T15:04:24.557532+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Never Give Up Hope - Nouman Ali Khan
Opening
I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed.
And when it was said to them, settle in this town and eat from it wherever you wish and say, "Relieve us of our burdens," and enter the gate bowing humbly; We will forgive you your sins. We will increase the doers of good [in goodness]. But those who wronged among them changed [those words] to a statement other than that which had been said to them, so We sent down upon them a punishment from the sky because they were defiantly disobedient. (Quran 7:161-162)
And ask them about the town that was by the sea - when they transgressed in [the matter of] the sabbath - when their fish came to them openly on their sabbath day, and the day they had no sabbath they did not come to them. Thus did We give them trial because they were defiantly disobedient. (Quran 7:163)
And when a community among them said, "Why do you advise [or warn] a people whom Allah is [about] to destroy or to punish with a severe punishment?" they [the advisors] said, "To be absolved before your Lord and perhaps they may fear Him." (Quran 7:164)
And [have We not] expanded for you your breast? And We removed from you your burden. Which had weighed upon your back. And raised high for you your repute. (Quran 94:1-4)
All praise is due to Allah. May peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah and upon his family and his companions and those who follow him.
Introduction and Recommendation
إن شاء الله in this brief reminder, I'd like to add a couple of things. Very little can be added to what was already said. And much of what I was planning to say has already been robbed by Abdul Nasir as usual.
So I'm going to keep this speech short. I know every speaker says I'm going to make it short when they're going to make it extra long. But I think I actually mean it this time.
I think, well only time will tell. Have hope. So the first thing I want to share with you guys is just a recommendation after this talk is done.
When you get time on your own, there's something I want you guys to watch on YouTube. I believe it's halal. It's a professor named Professor Hisham Al-Awadi.
Professor Hisham Al-Awadi has got an hour-long lecture on not losing hope. And I think it's one of the best presentations of the topic I've ever heard personally. I'll share some of the things from that with you.
And I've changed some things from his talk. But I think it's worth listening to and worth taking notes on also. It's just personally very beneficial to Muslims.
I think. And just even for your family to hear. But I advise you guys to hear it yourself.
Parents, especially, just hear it yourself. (إن شاء الله وتعالى). And try to discuss some of those things on your own with your kids instead of sticking them in front of a TV screen or a computer screen and having them watch a video because they won't.
Understanding Sin: Lessons from the Companions
So I want to share a couple of things with you in terms of something that the students of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), the best students of the Prophet, the sahaba (رضي الله تعالى عنهم) ajma'een, something they just understood about sins. Something that they were very clear about, that we nowadays are not very clear about. And I want to just reiterate them just so we can refresh ourselves and our attitudes in terms of sin.
First Principle: Distinguishing Personal Disappointment from Divine Mercy
The first thing is when you and I sin, we're disappointed with ourselves. That's a matter of fact. I mean if you have any ounce of decency left in you, when you do something wrong, at the end of the day, you look back and you say, how could I do that? You've lost hope in yourself in some respect.
And that's what disappointment by definition is. You've lost hope in yourself and you ask yourself, how could I have done such a thing? That's natural, it's normal. It's not something bad to be disappointed in yourself.
It's not something bad to be sad about your sin. It's actually a gift from Allah, as though it didn't mean you still have a conscience. But, that disappointment was never confused.
They never confused it and allowed that disappointment that they've lost hope in themselves. They're not confident in themselves anymore. They didn't let that become or translate into, Allah has lost hope in me.
Just because I don't have hope in myself does not mean Allah does not have hope in me or Allah does not expect more from me or Allah himself is disappointed in me. They didn't extend it to that. Just even if you've given up on yourself, the Muslim knew, they understood certain qualities of Allah that are permanent.
You know, our feelings and our temperaments, they go up and down. You have good days and you have bad days, like Abdul Nasir said. You have good and bad days.
But Allah (عزوجل)'s mercy and His power to forgive is always there. So you don't confuse your mood and your state of being and your level of sadness with Allah's constant open door policy.
Second Principle: Allah's Mercy is Greater Than Any Sin
Then, the second thing. They understood that no matter how big their sin is, and they should feel terrible even about smaller sins, and they were. They were sensitive to the smallest infractions, the smallest sins.
But regardless, no matter how big their sin gets, they knew Allah's mercy is still bigger.
So they would never think, I've done so much bad now that I'm beyond the point of return, that there's no hope left for me, I'm way past hope.
One time I was talking to a bunch of youth about forgiveness. Just a small reminder about regular istighfar and ask Allah to forgive you, etc.
One brother came up to me afterwards and said, can I talk to you in private? I said, sure. So we go in the corner and he said, bro, look, I've done a lot of messed up stuff. I mean, I'll ask for forgiveness because you're saying, but I'm pretty sure God's not going to forgive what I did.
And I was like, well, I'm pretty sure He will. He goes, no, bro, you don't know what I did, bro, I'm bad. I was like, I know you're bad. You're pretty bad. I can appreciate that. But know that you don't have to tell me how bad you are, and you don't have to list to me the crimes you've committed.
So I go, oh snap, you're right. You're going to hell. You don't have to do that to me.
The Example of Pharaoh and Divine Hope
But know that Allah (عز وجل) knows your sins and has forgiven people that have transgressed far more than you in the past. Not only that, people that Allah knew. Allah always knows what's going to happen in the future, yes? So Allah knew Fir'aun will die a kafir, yes? Allah already knew Fir'aun is going to kill babies.
Can you imagine that? I mean, just picture that idea. He's going to kill babies. How evil does a person have to be? Not one by the thousands every other year.
Not to mention the innocent people. This is his humanitarian crime that even an atheist would say Fir'aun should die. Even a human rights activist would say Fir'aun should die.
He should suffer a thousand deaths. This is above and beyond what he says about himself declaring himself God. Allah already knows what kind of evil person this is.
It's hard to match that kind of evil. It's hard. We come pretty close in the Muslim world sometimes, but it's hard, you know? May Allah help the Muslims in the Arab Spring, you know? But regardless, I want to make a point.
You know when Allah (جل وعز) said Musa (عليه السلام) to talk to Fir'aun? He says لَّعَلَّهُ يَتَزَكَّى Maybe he'll get purified by benefiting from the reminder. (Quran 79:19) Allah puts hope in Musa (عليه السلام) when talking to Fir'aun even though Allah already knows where he's going to end up.
He already knows. But you're not allowed to give up hope on people. And they themselves, even as terrible as he is, Allah knows he still has the potential.
He is also not at the point of no return. He can still make the choice. He can still make the choice.
سبحان الله. Not even giving up on Fir'aun. Who's left? Who's left?
The Mother Who Lost Hope
I met a mother not too long ago. She came to me. Muslim mother. Very religious, very devout mother.
And she has two sons. One of them very religious, the other one, let's just not describe it, right? So she comes to me at the end of a seminar on Surat Ar-Rahman. Wall thing.
And she says, Brother, I can't make dua for my other son. I can't do it. I've taken him out of my heart.
He's no longer my son. He parties. He goes to clubs.
He has a girlfriend or two. And he's on drugs. And he doesn't listen to me.
He hasn't prayed in two or three years. My other son is a hafidh of Quran. And he does this and that.
I don't have any hope in that other son. I've taken it out of my heart. And first thing, you know what I told her? MashaAllah.
No. I said, how dare you? Lady. Allah made him your son.
Allah created that connection. You are not in any position to cut a connection that Allah Himself made. The only day on which connections are cut is the day of judgment.
And cut off from them are the ties [of relationship and religion]. (Quran 2:166)
Until then, you are bonded to your son. And until the command of Allah comes, you cannot cut yourself off. And she says, but what about this? Ibrahim, you know, Nuh (عليه السلام) he was trying to save his son.
And Allah told him no. He's like, Allah told you? You're gonna cite that revelation came to Nuh (عليه السلام) to cut his relationship from his son 950 point something years. He's still hoping with his son.
And the only time he stops is when Allah tells him to stop. So you're six months of frustration compared to 950 years of Nuh (عليه السلام). What's wrong with you? You can't do that. You can't lose hope in people.
As was mentioned before. So now I want to share with you the second thing that your sin is not greater than Allah's mercy.
Third Principle: You Control Your Sin, Not Vice Versa
Then a third interesting thing that the Sahaba understood and sometimes we don't clearly understand.
Your sin is not more powerful than you are. Your sin does not have control of you. You're in control.
People say, I can't help myself. I can't help myself. I just get angry and then my lights turn off.
I don't know what's going on after that. And a few hours later when I'm, you know, my color has changed back from green to back to human again. And I've shrunk in size.
Now then I don't know. I have no recollection of what happened in the past. You know, a bunch of incredible hopes in our community with their anger.
Oh, bro, you know, once I get talent player, I can't help myself. You know, I go to college and you know what I'm saying? It just happens. What can I do? It's beyond me.
I don't have any power over myself. I can't help myself. I can't help my finger from clicking.
You know, I can't help but respond to the text. I can't help but look at that stuff. I can't help myself.
Sahaba understood. Yes, we make mistakes. And sometimes our sins get the better of us.
Shaytan's waswasah gets the better of you. Your nafs al-ammarah gets the better of you. But Allah created you with control over yourself.
And only you can give up that control. They understood. Yeah, it's like you're guarding a territory.
Your heart is like this castle you're guarding. And shaytan is hovering around trying to make his way in.
And then one moment of heedlessness, like a guard who falls asleep and the crook slips right in.
You drop your guard a little, he slips right in. You make a mistake. But that does not mean he's won.
If you've woken up, you can kick him out again and lock the doors again. That's what istighfar is. That's what tawbah is.
That's what dhikr is. It's reinforcing your defenses. You cannot allow your sin to win.
You can't say to yourself, look, it's won. It's already got the best of me. I'm beyond hope.
Just like we don't say my sin cannot be greater than Allah's mercy. My sin is not greater than myself. Allah created us much more noble than that.
Allah says, And We have certainly honored the children of Adam...We have certainly created man in the best of stature. (Quran 17:70, 95:4)
Human beings were created in the best possible fashion. Human beings were honored. An honored person cannot be giving up his sin.
He can't be caving in. So we understand our sins. In addition, just as an addition to that same point, we understand our sins as an enemy.
An enemy that disguises itself as a friend. Haunts us. And we do something wrong.
Just like shaitan itself is an enemy. So we recognize that enemy the moment we wake up and we distance ourselves. We cut ourselves off.
And maybe we'll fall into that sin again just because we're human. But that does not mean we'll get used to it. And we're gonna be fine with the fact that we'll just mentally adjust ourselves and say, I know I'll be doing this until weeks anyway, but it's alright.
It's not gonna be like that. You'll never mentally accept defeat from your sin. It will never happen.
This is the attitude of our companions رضي الله تعالى عنهم أجمعين .
Fourth Principle: Allah is Always Present
Then they understood another thing. And this is a very important concept when dealing with sin and losing hope. People lose hope when they think they've messed up way too much. They can't turn back to Allah anymore.
The idea is, where are you gonna turn back to? Sahaba understood, no matter how much, even if we think we've disappointed Allah, where are you gonna go? I've got nowhere to go. There's no place I can hide. There's no place Allah doesn't see me.
When you disappoint your mother, your boss, your teacher, you can avoid eye contact. You can just go into your room and close the door. Maybe you disappointed a friend.
You said something mean to them. You're embarrassed to talk to them again. You don't call them.
You don't respond to their text. You're kind of... It's awkward because you don't want to deal with that. So you just avoid contact.
The problem is Allah is constantly in contact whether you realize it or not.
And We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein. (Quran 50:16)
We're closer to them than the jugular vein right here. This rope that connects life.
Allah is closer than that. How are you gonna distance yourself? Allah will not distance us. He's already there.
He's already there. We're the ones that pretend He's not there. And you know how offensive it is when someone's there and you pretend they're not there? I'm sure you do that all the time, old friend.
Two of you are talking, a third one walks in, you pretend they're not there, you keep talking among yourselves. And you pick another language to talk in so they really don't know what you're talking about, right? It's offensive to Allah that you pretend He's not there.
Fifth Principle: Immediate Repentance
So the next point, when they did sin, they realize Allah is right there. They're caught on camera. They realize immediately they're caught on camera. So you know what they did? Immediately, sorry Allah.
I seek forgiveness from Allah, the Most Great.
That was a slip. They don't just say astaghfirullah. They're talking not about Allah. They're not just saying something. They're talking to Allah.
They're talking to Allah. You ever seen a kid whose mom says, don't touch the fridge? And he looks around and his hand goes towards the fridge and then he hears, and he turns around and his mom's standing right behind him. What does he do? He gives mom a hug.
Sorry mom. I'm not going to do it again. I promise.
You know. You recognize the presence of the one you've disappointed. You turn to him immediately.
There's no lapse in between. You don't waste any time. This is the next point.
They understood there's no time. They understood, I can't wait to come back to Allah and mend this relationship. I have to do this immediately.
There's a shortage of time. There's a sense of urgency. Then, the last one.
Sixth Principle: Don't Confuse People's Disappointment with Allah's
The last bit that I want to share with you. And this is actually one of the most important. A lot of times we meet people that make us lose hope.
They say things to us that disappoint us or make us feel like, yeah, you're right, I am scum. They'll tell you how haram you and your actions are. How evil you've become, etc, etc.
Don't confuse the disappointment people have with you with the disappointment Allah might have with you. They're not the same thing. They're not the same thing.
Your parents' disappointment with you, your husband's disappointment with you, your wife's disappointment with you, your friend's disappointment with you, your imam's disappointment with you is not the same as Allah being disappointed with you. It's not the same. People can put you down.
And they will. But Allah عز وجل will never abandon so long as you don't.
Lessons from Bani Israel: The Power of Forgiveness
I don't like to give a talk without turning back to Allah's book in one way or another.
So I wanted to share one of my favorite passages with you that deals with the last discussion that Shaykh Abdul Nasir had with you guys, which was about not giving up on people. And he gave us several instances from the instances of the companions' lives.
رضي الله تعالى عنهم أجمعين
I want to turn to a nation that we think is just damned. Bani Israel. Every time Muslims would think the worst thing you could call on Allah is this guy is like Bani Israel.
That means like they're totally cursed or you know, we hate them and they're going to hell. That's one example of people that are just completely damned. There's no hope in them.
So I picked a passage that has to do with Bani Israel. So we're clear about something. So we understand how Allah talks about them.
The Offer of Forgiveness
When He said to them, settle down in this town. (Quran 7:161)
This was said after they had crossed the water. After they had already disobeyed Musa عليه السلام and questioned his authority and had undermined him on several occasions.
Even if you undermine a messenger once, it's enough for you to be done. But they were given opportunity after opportunity, after opportunity. At the end of it all, Allah says, I'm even giving you a city and a house.
Go ahead.
And eat from it wherever you want. (Quran 7:161)
It's one condition. As you go in, you should be saying hitta which means forgiveness. (Quran 7:161)
As you walk into the city as conquerors, you should enter into the city in a state of Sajdah
Enter into the city in a state of Sajdah. (Quran 7:161)
Some of you might be confused. How do you enter the gates of the city in the state of Sajdah? Because Sajdah is on the ground. Well, understand, those of you that play games like Assassin's Creed or one of those like 16th century, 14th century video games, they draw a map of these ancient cities for you with gigantic gates. They have a colossal gate.
This is what old cities were like. They were gated all around and they had this one massive gate you go through. And the conquerors are riding into that gate, through that gate on their horses.
And their heads are on the necks of these horses in Sajdah. A conqueror walks in like this. You know, because he's dominated the people.
The people's heads are down. And Allah says, your conquerors, no, no, no. You put your heads down to Allah when you conquer this city.
And as you're putting your head in Sajdah, while you're doing so, what should you say? Hitta, you should be asking forgiveness. Forgiveness, forgiveness, forgiveness. As you're going in.
In a state of Sajdah, you're asking for forgiveness. Allah says, all your past crimes are forgiven. Just do this.
Just do what? Ask for forgiveness. Have they done small crimes or big crimes in the past? Huge crimes. Not just in the absence of a prophet, in the presence of a prophet they've done huge crimes.
What are some of those huge crimes? Let's see. Oh yeah, worshipping someone other than Allah. A calf.
You know the story. Crimes like murder. Crimes like, you know, disregarding gifts of Allah.
Saying, this ain't enough. Where is the rest of the menu? What's for dinner? What's for lunch? What else we got? Can you go ask Allah to make some additional order, please? This is how you talk to Allah. And Allah says, all forgiven if you just do what? Ask genuinely for forgiveness.
And they played with that. Has Allah forgiven previous sins before? To them? He's let so many things go.
then we pardon you, then we pardon you. (Quran 2:52)
But when they played around with forgiveness, Allah says,
You just ask for forgiveness, we will cover your extended list of sins. (Quran 7:161)
we will increase those who have ihsan. (Quran 7:161)
Now you guys know, there's Islam and then what? Iman and then what? Ihsan.
Allah is talking to people that have a long list of sins and He's saying, just if you ask for forgiveness, there is no end to how awesome you can become. You can even become from the المُحْسِنِينَ You never know what someone can achieve, even if their track record is bad. Allah cleans the slate only because they ask for forgiveness.
The Mockery of Forgiveness
But what did they do?
They replaced the word that was given to them. (Quran 7:162)
The word was, the instruction was forgiveness replaced forgiveness with mockery.
They made a mockery out of forgiveness. That's one thing Allah won't forgive. Allah give you one thing that can get rid of all your crimes and you make fun of that one thing, which is what? Asking for forgiveness.
What do we learn from that? And Allah sent them a punishment from the sky immediately. Didn't even wait for Judgment Day. He didn't even... For the rest of Bani Israel, Allah told them,
Until a given time.
But for this group that played around with Allah's offering of forgiveness, the ones that played with that, Allah sent them the punishment immediately
Because of the corruption that they used to be engaged in.
What do we learn from that? Don't make fun of the power of forgiveness. Don't make light of forgiveness.
Take it seriously that you're gonna ask Allah for forgiveness. Don't say (أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّ - astaghfirullah) No. No, it's not a light matter.
It's a serious matter. It means you come back to Allah. Because that's something Allah will not procrastinate punishing you for.
This is what will connect you directly to Allah (جل وعز). So don't make light of it. Don't be like them.
The Story of the Sabbath Breakers: Not Losing Hope in Others
Now let's turn to hope in other people. Allah (جل وعز) said
Ask them about the nation, that used to be right at the very shore.
In other words, they were a beach town.
There was a group among Bani Israel that were a beach community. And obviously, when you're a beach community, what's your primary economy? Fishing. That's your primary means of sustenance.
When they used to violate the Sabbath.
The Saturday. You know how they used to violate the Sabbath, right? You're not supposed to do any business on Sabbath.
You're supposed to just worship Allah. That was the instruction of Bani Israel. Allah says they violated the Sabbath.
Now Allah explains why they did that.
When their fish would come to them on the day of Sabbath jumping out of the water.
Like make eye contact with them. So, I'm ready, what you gonna do? And then Allah says as a test,
On the days that there were no Saturdays on them, no fish would show up.
So they look at the fish like, I'll catch you tomorrow, Sunday. Game day. They show up Sunday, no fish. The whole week, no fish. Saturday, they jump out of the water again.
They're like, oh. So they have to come up with some way of capturing those fish and not violating the law of Allah. So they play with Allah's law.
They made a casino, high tide and low tide. The water comes in. So they made a ditch. The water would come in. And when it recedes, some water gets stuck with the fish in it. They got out.
Right? They're like, oh, but we didn't do anything on Saturday. Right? Technicality. Getting off on the technicality from court.
Now they don't love court. You can't argue technicality. People say, you shouldn't talk to a non-mahram.
I'm not talking, I'm just pressing my fingers on the screen. That's not talking. And you shouldn't talk in solitude.
I'm not in solitude. I'm in a train station. I'm at the airport.
I'm at school. People all around me. I'm not in solitude.
Technicalities, try them with Allah. See how that works out for you.
The Disagreement Among the Believers
But I wanted, the real subject, the reason I wanted to share this with you guys, was,
You know, there was a group among them that tried to warn them not to play with Allah's law.
Did these guys know that that's Allah's law? The ones that were playing with Allah's law, did they know that that's Allah's law? Yes. So you know there's two kinds of sinners.
There's a sinner that doesn't know any better. They don't know any better. Then there's sinners that know what they're doing is wrong and they do it anyway.
Now when they know that they're doing something wrong and they do it anyway, you say, man, there's no point telling him, why not? He already knows. It's not like me telling him is going to change anything because whatever I was going to say, he already knows. But a group among them would go regularly and try to give them advice and say, please don't do this.
It's not good for you. It's not good for us. It's not becoming of Muslims to play with Allah's law.
Ask for forgiveness. There's still hope for you. Just make tawbah.
They would try to keep going back. There was another group among the Muslims who were not playing with the law of Allah, who said, these people are munafiq. There's no reason, no justification talking to them.
Don't waste your time talking to them. The next ayah is about a disagreement between two groups of Muslims. Both of them are not playing with Allah's law.
One is saying, there's no hope in these sinners and the other is saying, no, we should still go talk to them. Allah says,
A group among them said,
Why are you giving advice to a nation that Allah has already decided to destroy?
Allah is going to destroy them guaranteed. مُهْلِكُهُمْ . The ism is used. Why? Because in their mind, these guys are guaranteed going to be destroyed.
Or He's going to torture them with an intense kind of torture.
Why are you even going near them? Don't get caught in the blast fire.
Just stay away from them because Allah's punishment is any second now. Don't worry about it. Leave them alone.
Don't bother with these people. We still have that today. Man, those guys are liberal.
How much time? 5 minutes? Wow. 5 minutes, that's a long time. OK.
I'll finish before then. You won't have to give me the minus 3 like Abdul Nasir. OK.
So... What was I saying after that? Thanks, Abdul Nasir. Huh?
Why? Why are you even bothering giving them advice?
What's the point? Do we find that today? Those Muslims are liberal.
They're partying. They didn't even come to the masjid. There's no point talking to them.
Entire lecture is dedicated to how some Muslims are and how they're headed straight for the hell. Don't bother talking to them. Allah has already decided to take care of them.
Those progressives and those liberals and those, you know, those secularists and the modernized Muslims and, you know, those guys. Don't bother with them.
A Real Story of Transformation
I met a Muslim like a couple of months ago at the Irving Masjid. Came to the masjid after 12 years for the first time. First time. No Juma'ah, no Eid, nothing.
12 years for the first time. He owned like 8 bars all across Dallas. And just one night in Ramadan, something clicked in his heart that this is wrong.
So he started, he had actually, he told me, he had never even read the Quran in translation ever. So he just started reading the Quran in translation. And he decided overnight, just that Ramadan, no waswasa shaitan, right? He's gonna pull out of the business.
He pulled out of all the business. His brother kicked him out of the house. His friends don't wanna invite him anymore because they've been in the beer business, the bar business for a long time.
So even when he goes to his brother's house, all Muslims by the way, they're all Muslims. They go to his brother's house, they have to drink together. That's like their sign of brotherhood.
So when he says, I'm not gonna drink, they're offended, they kick him out. He's completely isolated and he comes to Allah's house. His Quran.
Those are the kind of people we'd say, if we met that guy two months ago, we'd say, there's no way, this guy in the masjid, come on. Are you kidding me? There's no way. We wouldn't expect anything from them.
And you know part of that, the more religious some of our community gets, at least the more they look like they're religious, the more judgmental they become. They start looking at others as less. They look at your face before they, you know, and judge your heart from it.
There's a hijab on this one, there's no beard on that one, then I know what they're about already. I know the state of their iman already. And I know what, they have no hope, they have no potential.
Easy to pass judgment on people. Right? This is an absurdity. The ahkam of Allah are one thing.
Judging people is something entirely different. We're not allowed to. That doesn't take away the ahkam of Allah.
It doesn't take away the rules of God. The expectations of Allah. But on the other hand, it doesn't give us license to judge.
It just doesn't, it simply doesn't.
The Response of the Hopeful Group
So what does this other group say? This is what I want to end with. One group said, why bother? Right? The other group says,
It will be an excuse that we will present to your master.
In other words, Muslims advising other Muslims and not losing hope in them.
(وَتَعِظُونَ - wa'azh) means to give an advice that goes inside the heart.
Not (تَزْجُرُونَ، تَزْجُرُونَ), why are you scolding them? Why are you yelling at them? (تُصَيِّحُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ). No, no, no. (تَعِظُونَ) softly counseling them.
Giving them words that will actually go inside the heart. That's what wa'azh is. Right? They say we're doing this because if we do this, at least we will have an excuse in front of Allah.
Not they we. (مَعْذِرَةً) goes back to them. In other words, we have to care for other believers even if they're falling in sin because Allah will ask us, what did you do about your fellow believer? What did you do about your fellow Muslim who was fallen off? You just gave up on him? You just let them go? Is that what you did? They say, no, we're gonna continue to advise them at least in front of Allah.
We can't change people's hearts, but at least we'll have an excuse in front of Allah. (يا الله) we've sincerely tried.
Maintaining Family Connections
You have cousins, uncles, family members, extended family, that you don't see except on Eid.
And they don't look like you and they don't got no beard and they don't even know the address of the masjid. And you see them every once in a while. And they're very different from you.
They're raising their children very differently from how you're raising your children. They're very different from you in every way. A lot of things are easily halal for them that are not halal for you.
You know you can't do them but they do them anyway. And you've decided to cut yourself off from them completely because you don't want to get corrupted. It's the other way around.
You're supposed to be constantly finding opportunities to give them good advice. You're supposed to remain connected. Allah made you a family for a reason.
Allah put you in the same neighborhood for a reason. Allah brought you to the same community for a reason. Allah put you in the same company to work as co-workers for a reason.
So you can have opportunities to share advice with each other.
[As] an excuse to your Lord (Quran 7:164)
And then they add, finally,
What I want to conclude with. Hopeful maybe, so that they will have taqwa also. (Quran 7:164)
What do these people express? Just because they're doing, playing with the يوم السبت right now. Knowing me. Not I'm knowing you. Knowing me. They're doing that. That does not mean they don't have a heart anymore.
It might still mean after they're done playing with the day of Sabbath and they got those fish, while they're eating it or after they're done eating it, something goes in their heart and says, I shouldn't have done that. I hope we get fish this time, so next Saturday I don't have to do it. Something might, some conscience might still be in there.
And maybe if I just go and give them a little bit of advice, it might just work. It might just work. Just that little bit might just work.
The Power of Sincere Advice
We don't understand how Allah can put so much power in sincere advice. If you genuinely do it for the sake of Allah and because you care about somebody else. Genuinely.
If you give advice for that reason, our words are powerless. But Allah puts power in them. Allah puts His (كُن فَيَكُونُ - kun fayakoon) in them.
He puts His barakah in them. You will never know how much barakah Allah will put inside your words if they come sincerely. I can tell you personally.
There are friends of mine back when I was in college and I didn't use to make salat or anything. That's the least of my problems back in college. And this one guy just one time found a good opportunity and said, Hey bro, why don't you pray with us? He said it so nicely.
Why don't you pray with us? And I started praying. I didn't miss a prayer since. Just because of that guy.
Allah put something in his word. He didn't give me a long lecture. He didn't show me how salat is fard and the one who abandons salat will burn in jahannam and gonna have these punishments in the grave and he will be considered a kafir by certain fuqaha.
He didn't give me a list of the deeds. He said, Hey bro, come on, let's pray. Okay.
Okay. Let's go. Come meet with one of your friends.
Hey bro, let's not go to that party. Come with us. Alright bro.
Okay, you're right. Hey bro, let's calm down. Let's not fight.
Okay. You know, your associates are talking and somebody's talking trash about somebody. Let's leave them alone.
Okay. Little bit of advice. Just a small, soft word and it can save somebody so much trouble.
So much trouble. We can't give up hope on people. And the proof of that will be how ready are you to be soft and considerate when giving sincere advice.
Building Genuine Relationships First
If you're no longer maintaining... And by the way, don't just call people to give them advice. That's stupid. Okay.
Don't call people to give them advice. Call people to be their friend. Have a relationship with people.
Be genuine friends. Help them out in the hour of need. And then, their heart is open to you for advice.
Otherwise, all they see is someone who's self-righteous, who thinks they're going to tell me how to live my life. They think they're so much better than me. Don't do that to people.
That is self-righteous. Be genuine friends to people before you start giving advice. Before you start telling them how to live their lives and how to raise their kids and how to spend their time.
Don't do that. It'll backfire. And you'll say, Oh, I did my job.
Our job is but to warn (تَشِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا - tashiran wa nadheera) In your case (نَذِيرًا وَنَذِيرًا - nadheera wa nadheera) Right? I did my job. Now it's between them and Allah.
No, that's not how it works. That's not how it works. We just have to find the best opportunity we can.
Closing Du'a
May Allah (جَلَّ وَعَزَّ - jalla wa 'azza) open up our hearts and never allow us to lose hope in Allah (جَلَّ وَعَزَّ - jalla wa 'azza). And may Allah make us of those who become a source of hope for others. May Allah (جَلَّ وَعَزَّ - jalla wa 'azza) make us of those who never lose hope in our family, in our children, in our parents, in our elders, in our community, in our masajid, in our institutions, in the world.
May Allah (جَلَّ وَعَزَّ - jalla wa 'azza) make us a people of hope. And may Allah (جَلَّ وَعَزَّ - jalla wa 'azza) give us barakah through our genuine expectations of Him.
(Bukhari hadith 7405)
I am as my slave assumes me to be. (Bukhari hadith 7405)
We have good expectations of Allah. We expect the best from Allah and you will get the best because that's what Allah promised. May Allah (جَلَّ وَعَزَّ - jalla wa 'azza) give all of us the best in this life and the best in the next life.
May Allah bless me and you. And peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.