`Asr / As-Siddiq Mosque
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaadah, nawaytu 's-sulook, lillahi ta`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.
Ati`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum.
Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
We are here in this meeting, but in the eyes of Allah (swt) all human beings are the same, as Prophet (s) said:
االناس سواسيه كااسنان المشط
an-naasu sawaasiyatan ka-asnaani' l-masht.
People are equal like the teeth of a comb.
The only thing that make us different is that Allah gave us a mind, brain, heart, for compassion, for emotions for sincerity, and mercy. He gave us everything and:
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّاهَاوَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّاهَا
qad aflaha man zakaaha wa qad khaaba man dassaaha.
Truly he succeeds that purifies it, and truly lost is he who buries it [in darkness]. (Suratu ’sh-Shams 91:9-10)
Allah swt inspired for the self what is good for it and what is bad.
But there is always a struggle for good and evil. You cannot always be good and you cannot always be evil. There are some people who are wholly evil, some who are wholly good. But most people are struggling between positive and negative. When they are negative, its like taking a diversion from the highway, like an exit. How many diversions are there on a highway? So there are always many and if you exit, you have to go back. Today the GPS in your car shouts at you, " Make a u-turn, make a u-turn, keep straight, now make a u-turn." Turn on the highway even! (laughter) No, you are not allowed to do that, only the police can do that. So that lady in the navigation system keeps shouting, "Turn back!" And if your wife on the phone hears that lady speaking with you, then it is a problem. So don't put navigation systems on high volume, specially if your wife is calling you all the time. (laughter) So similarly, Allah inspired the self with the Straight Path, and there are many bad exits. Don't go there!
فَأَلْهَمَهَا فُجُورَهَا وَتَقْوَاهَا
fa-alhamahaa fujoorahaa wa taqwaahaa
And how it is imbued with moral failings as well as with consciousness of God! (Suratu ’sh-Shams 91:8)
من أخلص لله أربعين يوما ظهرت ينابيع الحكمة من قلبه على لسانه
man akhlas lillah arba`een yawman dhaharat yanabee` al-hikam min qalibihi `alaa lisaanih.
Whoever is sincere in his actions for forty days, Allah makes a fountains of wisdom to come from his heart to his tongue.
If you look at it technically, 1400 years ago, what was that? That means that everything good was uploaded to your heart, because He said. "fountains of wisdom will be uploaded to your tongue from the heart." That means Allah has put fountains of wisdom in your heart. If you want to see them, be sincere for forty days. Can you do that? Some people can. Can you try not to lie? Some people might lie and say it is a "white lie." His wife says, "Where you went?" and he answers, "I went there," when maybe he went somewhere else; so that is a "white lie." Some people might cheat in business, or might deceive, or might not fast or pray, or do anything good; that is severe. So sincerity is whatever good comes from the heart, and download all the information from the heart to the tongue. Laa yantuq illa bi 'l-hikmah, "That person will not speak except what will benefit you (wisdom) in daily life."
Ibn al-Majah related:
من رابط ليلة في سبيل الله سبحانه كانت كألف ليلة صيامها وقيامها
man raabit laylatin fee sabeelillah suhbaanahu kaanat ka-alf laylatin feemaa siyaamuhaa wa qiyaamuhaa.
Whoever stays up one night doing worship (in muraqabah or tafakkur), it is as if you fasted a thousand nights and you stayed awake a thousand nights.
تفكر ساعة خير من عبادة سبعين سنة
tafakkaru sa`atin khayrun min ` ibaadati saba`eena sannah
To contemplate for one hour is better for you than 70 years of worship.
Give Allah one hour and He will give you the rewards of 70 years' worship. Allah gives! Move one step on Allah's Way, and He will give you 100 steps in His Way. Are we doing that? They asked a person who was always hiding himself from everyone, in `uzlah, not complete seclusion, but solitude. So they asked that person, and Allah is Great, anta raahib, "Are you a monk?" You know that monks in monasteries are always in seclusion.
He said, "No."
So they said, "What are you then?"
He replied, "anaa haaris kalbin bil-`akoorun `ani 'l-khalq "I am the guard of a wild dog, always guarding that dog not to run after people." They were surprised about what he was saying, as there was no dog in his monastery. They said, "what kind of dog?" He said, "nafsee, It is my ego." People's ego destroys them. He said, "It is my self."
Because the self always barks; it keeps nagging, especially men and women. Do you nag too much? Is that normal? Stop nagging! Look at yourself, how much arrogance and pride you have. Why do people fight with each other? Shaytan plays with you in your ear, saying, "O what are you doing? I taught Adam to get a tree for Everlasting Life. I will give you another Everlasting Life!" Where do you find people today? On the computer. It is destroying social life! It is destroying you, your family, and your children. You cannot control yourself, and this big Shaytan, Google, anything you press you get inside, instantly. Press and you get Google milk.
So that monk said, hiya nafsee akhrajtahum min bayna 'l-khalq li-yaslim minhaa, "I removed myself from society to avoid harming people."
That doesn't mean harming them by beating them; he is a priest, he gave his life to the devotion to his Lord. But he was worried to give out negative energy that would contaminate people. He is a priest, which means according to his belief and understanding he devoted and gave his life to his Lord, but he is worried that he might reflect some of his bad character to others.Everyone has a "priest" within themselves that reflects through our entire household and community. If someone is drunk, after five or six hours after drinking he becomes normal. Don't let Shaytan give you that "Shaytan milk", or else you will be drunk all your life and won't know what you are doing!
Another example is, marr rajulun bi-ba`di 's-saaliheen, "A man passed by a group of very sincere people," and found that a pious one was pulling his clothes together. The man said to him, "Why are you pulling together your clothes?" He was gathering his own clothes because they were white and someone passed by him, so the pious man began to pull his clothes towards himself. The man took offense and said, "Why are you collecting your clothes. Are you worried about touching my clothes? They are not dirty, they are clean."
The pious man said, "You misunderstood me. It is not your clothes that are dirty, it is mine. I am worried I will touch you and put that bad energy on you."
So everyone must audit themselves, check your accounts. Are you in good standing with the IRS (US tax agency), or not? Yes, the Day of Judgment is coming. People say there is no life after this one. Who told you?
He said to the amir, the head of that group, and put his finger on his head, "Is there coming a day when you and I will be the same?"
He said, "Yes, there is a day of death, when both pious and the other will be lying down together."
Some unbelievers came to Sayyidina Ali (r) and said, "Why are you spending your time worshipping? You are wasting your time. Come! There is no god, there is nothing! That is not a way of life which you are living. Come and entertain yourself. Even if there is life after this life, it is not ours, you will not feel it!"
Sayyidina Ali (r) said, "If there is no Afterlife, then the time I spent is but a moment, so what is the difference between me and you? Look how old you are. If you are 50 and I am 80, the pleasure you took in that difference of years, do you feel it? No, at the end you don't feel that pleasure of dunya! If I got tired in 70 years and you got the pleasure of 70 years, still we are the same at end. And if there was life after, then if I worshipped, I will be living forever with heavenly desires and you will be living forever with Hell's desires."
So the unbeliever said that he had never thought like that, and declared the Shahadah: ash-hadu an laa ilaaha illa-Llah, wa ash-hadu anna Muhammadan `abduhu wa habeebuhu wa rasooluh.
We have to be very careful as moments are precious, so audit yourself. When the IRS comes to audit financial accounts, people prepare their books quickly! Prepare your books, and you will be saved.
O Muslims! I don't want to speak for very long as it is late and we want to pray Maghrib. So that priest who believed in Sayyidina `Isa (a), said, "I am keeping myself, guarding my harmful, barking dog." We don't admit that our self is a dog; I don't mean our body, no. The Creator honored us (in our physicality), but our behavior, our actions are like dogs; we are always nagging, we don't keep quiet, especially husband and wife, and brothers and sisters nagging each other. For what, to make everyone angry?
O boys and girls, make your parents happy, and do not say "oof " as if you are masters of the house! What did your mother do? She carried you in her womb for nine months, and your father is working day and night to provide for you. That is your good answer to them? Be like the children's song, "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family, with a great big hug you love me too!" So where is the hug? The hug is the Prophet (s).
ادْعُوهُمْ لِآبَائِهِمْ
id`oohum li-abaaihim,
Call them by (the names of) their fathers (al-Ahzaab, 33:5)
Our father is our Messenger, to whom Allah gave all human beings! Allah created him before He created anything else. Prophet said, "I was a prophet even before Adam was between clay and water" or "I was a prophet when Adam was between soul and body." He is the one we have to remember and give our love to!
حب الدنيا رأس كل خطيئة
Hubb ad-dunya raasu kulli khatiyy'ah.
The love of dunya is the head of every mistake.
That, and nothing else, makes you fall in every mistake.
الدنيا جيفة و طلابها كلابها
Ad-dunya jeefatun wa tulaabuhu kilaabuha,
This dunya is like a carcass, and its seekers are dogs!
Like a barking dog, a harmful dog. We are wild, we are not humble, we were speaking about humbleness. The shaykh wants to teach humbleness to students by making them cut wood. May Allah bless us.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.