Friday prayers 12/29/2023

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In Lectures

By Sheikh Abdulrahman Cherri

Transcript

[0:00]the Greed for example I'm able to stop myself from wanting to

[0:06]buy everything you know there's impulsive shopping or buying you can't stop

[0:12]yourself because you're looking for that good feeling when you purchase something

[0:15]again that's an emotion that's controlling you it's driving your decisions it's

[0:22]what is making you move in life instead of you deciding whether

[0:25]this is something that you want to do or not if you

[0:29]take something that just calms you down and plays around with your

[0:32]emotions you're really not developing yourself you're not strengthening that willpower so

[0:39]if you're weak in one area and you're not working on it

[0:42]you're going to remain weak in the other areas as well so

[0:46]a better approach is to have that self-development where you strengthen your

[0:49]will so that you yourself are able to control your emotions and

[0:55]that's why if you look at the books of akl for example

[0:57]or spirituality in Islam even though in traditional medicine there were a

[1:03]lot of different types of medications that the Muslims were aware about

[1:07]that would calm you down for example I'm just using this example

[1:09]so I don't have to discuss all the details of other emotions

[1:13]they did not recommend you to alter your emotional state through changing

[1:20]the chemicals in your body yes they might have advised for you

[1:26]to eat certain foods or to take in certain uh herbs or

[1:29]drinks that help you calm down help you relax but that was

[1:33]just a supporter it wasn't the main thing that you had to

[1:37]rely on also in traditional Islamic Sciences the Muslim uh Scholars were

[1:45]aware of certain types of music that would help alter your emotions

[1:48]as well so if you're going through anger issues there were certain

[1:52]types of Melodies that were played to calm you down if you're

[1:58]someone who was calm there were certain types of Melody that were

[2:01]played to make you uh a bit more or to increase your

[2:06]anger now anger is is very general doesn't mean that you go

[2:09]and yell at somebody anger is that thing that allows you to

[2:14]um move and overcome your uh weaknesses and shortcomings so if somebody

[2:21]attacks your house for example in order to get up and to

[2:23]defend your house you need that anger emotion right you can't just

[2:29]be too relaxed and too cool and and you won't get up

[2:31]right so you need to strengthen that what makes you get up

[2:36]to go to work every single day is that anger so anger

[2:38]is a general category including in it is that yelling and screaming

[2:44]but anger does not equal that it's it's an emotion that has

[2:48]many other emotions that go under it so they would play certain

[2:53]types of music that would allow you to change that and that

[2:57]was a form of therapy that they used as a supportive therapy

[3:02]it wasn't the main therapy because they know that as soon as

[3:06]that music is turned off you might return to your state pretty

[3:09]quickly so it's not a permanent solution to my emotional problems what

[3:14]I have to do to resolve my emotional problems is to make

[3:19]that internal change by strengthening my willpower so in addition to those

[3:26]the main attention was focused on you remedying your problems through self-change

[3:31]you have to no scholar in Islam who wrote on ethics and

[3:38]self-change did not emphasize the necessity of making that change internal through

[3:44]your own effort you have to do that you can't rely on

[3:49]external things to change you because that's not really changing you that's

[3:53]only influencing You by changing the the chemical balances in your body

[3:57]if you really want change then you have to strength your will

[4:02]power there's no other way to do it if you want to

[4:03]change if you just want to be influenced in your life by

[4:08]other things then yes you can rely on certain chemicals or certain

[4:11]pills or certain things to change that but really it's not you

[4:15]who's changing from inside you're just being influenced by these external factors

[4:20]so this change would usually happen through self struggle for example if

[4:26]you do have issues when you're angry then it's recommended that you

[4:31]find certain solutions to that by fighting that emotion itself so for

[4:38]example you could take an extreme approach and completely decide that I'm

[4:42]not going to be angry at anything anymore if you're someone who

[4:44]has arrogance for example arrogance is also a problem when you see

[4:52]other people as less than you and this is a disease a

[4:53]spiritual disease in Islam that you have to get rid of because

[4:58]it stands in the way of self-improvement if you are someone who

[5:03]sees yourself as better than other people and you look down on

[5:10]others then you have to start humbling yourself because this arrogance will

[5:15]drive you into making mistakes in your life and destroying your internal

[5:19]self so you have to begin to make changes it has to

[5:22]be an act of change you have to start being kind to

[5:26]people who you usually see as below or less than yourself if

[5:30]you think for example that your race is more Superior than others

[5:34]now whether you believe that consciously or subconsciously because a lot of

[5:38]people will claim that you know I'm not a racist I don't

[5:41]have problems with other races but if somebody from a different color

[5:44]comes to them they would treat them very differently they won't treat

[5:48]them the same now this is something that we have to be

[5:54]aware of we can't lie to ourselves and say that no I'm

[5:58]okay with everybody but if somebody from a different color comes to

[6:02]ask for a job for example at my business I tend not

[6:08]to hire them I was at another Center the other day and

[6:10]there was a Muslim brother from the African-American community and he had

[6:16]a grandson he live here in uh in Dearborn and so one

[6:18]of the brothers asked him you know is is your grandson working

[6:23]and he said uh he said no he's not working and he

[6:24]told him why you know he should be working he said well

[6:28]it's it's very hard for someone of his color in this community

[6:31]to find a job even though he's a Muslim and he also

[6:37]belongs to the Shia School of but it's true it is true

[6:40]we do have this um passive sort of racism as well that

[6:46]we're not very aware of at times and the this is the

[6:51]result of seeing yourself as higher than other people it is whether

[6:54]you're aware of it on the outside or you're not and situations

[7:00]like this make you more aware you have to see yourself you

[7:02]have to have the self-reflection when you deal with people when you

[7:07]talk to people when you're outside at the shopping center or you're

[7:10]on the street or you're at a cafe is your behavior with

[7:15]people does it differ from one to the other now sometimes it's

[7:18]not wrong to have different types of behavior with different types of

[7:22]people if you're dealing with an arrogant person of course you're going

[7:25]to deal with them in a different way than you would deal

[7:29]with someone who is not arrogant with the Arrogant person you don't

[7:31]want to be too humble because if you're humble with an arrogant

[7:34]person then they're going to take advantage of you right so you

[7:40]can't be the same with every single individual but if you're dealing

[7:42]with somebody who doesn't have that arrogance someone you don't even know

[7:46]and you realize that based on their clothing you started dealing with

[7:51]them very differently you don't talk to them with the same respect

[7:54]if someone who's wealthy comes to you or someone who's notable someone

[7:59]who's known a politician person for example a mayor someone who has

[8:04]a business and someone who has a wealthy lifestyle a mansion and

[8:09]you find yourself greeting them in a much better way than you

[8:15]would greet someone who comes with a car that's hardly moving or

[8:19]someone with a small house if you have that type of behavior

[8:21]and you deal with people differently in that way then you have

[8:26]to realize that there are certain spiritual diseases that you have that

[8:31]you might not aware of and these are very dangerous and we

[8:34]have to pay attention to those because these are not visible things

[8:37]if I have a change of color on my skin I might

[8:43]immediately know that there's something wrong with my body because the change

[8:47]is visible and usually physical ailments they're easier to detect than spiritual

[8:53]ones spiritual ailments ailments are subtle spiritual diseases are hidden we have

[8:58]to use self-reflection and think about how we behave on a daily

[9:03]basis in order to pinpoint exactly what's going on with us what

[9:10]is it that I'm suffering from maybe a lot of the causes

[9:13]of my unhappiness in life is because I'm someone who is not

[9:19]thankful for what I have I'm not a Content individual I'm someone

[9:23]who's always looking to fulfill my life fill my life with things

[9:26]and I have this NeverEnding desire to own things for example maybe

[9:30]this is the cause of some of the unhappiness in my life

[9:33]so we have to do some self-reflection we have to sit down

[9:37]and think about what is it that's controlling me what are the

[9:44]emotions that are causing me issues in my life am I someone

[9:47]who's miserable because I'm always angry at myself or angry at other

[9:51]people this causes misery in your life if you're always angry then

[9:57]you're always in a state of of misery you're never happy and

[10:00]it affects you affects you spiritually and the effect also goes on

[10:04]to affect you physically as well so these are things that we

[10:10]have to always keep ourselves aware of and if we listen to

[10:12]a lecture like this or read a book that talks about this

[10:16]stuff it's not just enough to educate ourselves about it education is

[10:20]the first step you have to know something first and then you

[10:23]have to act on it that's the most important part so if

[10:27]I learn something I have to begin imp imp menting it in

[10:31]my life and there's no quick fix to these things it's something

[10:34]that you have to do from on on a daily basis if

[10:40]you want to see change then you have to have this daily

[10:42]um work on yourself maybe if you can't do it every single

[10:47]day at least every single week have a checkpoint in your life

[10:53]where you evaluate where you are at you have to do this

[10:55]otherwise you won't change a lot of people come and say you

[11:00]know they have questions like I have a certain issue and I

[11:03]need to change it I have like I was at the conference

[11:06]in in Chicago and one of the brothers came and said you

[11:08]know I need I I want to focus more I can't focus

[11:13]every time I start I stand at my Salat I realize that

[11:19]I can't focus there how can I change this well the issue

[11:21]isn't that he can't focus only in Salat Salat is that where

[11:26]that problem comes out because you're standing there right you're not moving

[11:30]you're not occupied with anything else you're not distracting yourself with something

[11:36]so you're forced to start seeing things that you're not aware of

[11:39]in your day-to-day activities when I'm talking now I won't realize that

[11:43]I'm not focused because I'm distracted by speaking when I'm driving I'm

[11:47]distracted when I'm eating I'm distracted when I'm watching TV I'm I'm

[11:50]distracted when I'm on the computer I'm distracted but when I stand

[11:53]for Salat I'm frozen right this is where I start finding out

[11:59]that wait a a second I have I have a focus issue

[12:03]I have too many thoughts in my mind now this is occurring

[12:05]every single moment in your day you just don't realize it you

[12:09]only realize it there because you stop you freeze so Salat brings

[12:14]out this problem so the problem isn't your focus on Salat your

[12:17]problem is focus in your life you have a problem because your

[12:23]thoughts are chaotic in your mind so it brings it out now

[12:26]he was ask asking for a quick fix you can't have a

[12:30]quick fix for that it's not realistic if you want to make

[12:33]a change in your life you have to be realistic about how

[12:37]long that change will take to happen otherwise you're going to go

[12:41]into despair you're going to lose hope and you're going to start

[12:43]saying to yourself I'm a failure my life is messed up I

[12:47]can't change I can't if your expectation is not real if you

[12:50]think that you can change the focus problem in one day then

[12:55]you're going to end up losing hope and falling into despair you

[12:58]have to be real realistic you have to give yourself realistic goals

[13:01]it might take you a month to change a little bit it

[13:06]might take you a year but be real with yourself and don't

[13:08]worry about thinking it might take one year to change my focus

[13:16]problem don't think it's too long of a time because if you

[13:19]change it in a year then you will live a better life

[13:24]after that right but if you decide that this is too long

[13:28]and I'm not going to change it then you're going to spend

[13:30]your whole life in this problem and you're never going to get

[13:31]out of it so this is inshallah something that we can keep

[13:37]in mind Al alul muhamed muham muhammedi Muhammad Ali what the B

[15:37]when it comes to social issues and inshallah I'm going to make

[15:42]this uh second uh sermon summarized because I don't want to take

[15:44]too much of your time I know I uh extended the first

[15:49]one when it comes to social issues issues and social conduct uh

[15:56]one of the great resources that we have at as followers of

[16:01]the prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam and the his family is a letter

[16:06]that IM Ali had sent to the governor that he appointed in

[16:13]Egypt this governor's name was Malik Asar he had appointed him and

[16:17]he had sent him a letter teaching him how to conduct himself

[16:23]with his subjects the people that are under his government and under

[16:27]his rule this is a great letter to read and even though

[16:34]we're not Governors there's a lot of advice that the IM gives

[16:42]Malik that we can take and Implement in our lives it is

[16:45]in this letter that the Imam tells Malik that the people are

[16:50]one of two things they're either your brothers and religion or you're

[16:56]equal in humanity this is a gold golden statement that if we

[17:01]take and apply into our lives we would realize that it would

[17:07]Elevate us as a community and as Muslims that we treat others

[17:10]either our brothers and sisters in religion and if they don't belong

[17:14]to our religion then they're humans they're equal to us in this

[17:19]Humanity so it's advisable that everybody takes a look at this letter

[17:23]and I wanted to go over a few sections when it comes

[17:29]to the Imam advising Malik teaching him how to treat other people

[17:33]how to deal with those who are under his authority and command

[17:39]because life in general has this hierarchical relationship between people I might

[17:48]not be a government uh a governor who rules a state but

[17:51]I might be someone who has a family and I'm a father

[17:55]I have Authority or some type of authority over my children I

[17:59]might be a boss at work who has power over my employees

[18:04]now of course there's always going to be ways to abuse this

[18:11]type of power whether I'm a president of a country I'm a

[18:14]boss at work or I'm a father of a family and I

[18:20]can abuse my power within the system and I can remain in

[18:26]power as well so it's not about abusing this power and not

[18:30]being caught and that would justify or at least say that because

[18:35]I wasn't caught then I must have not done something wrong I

[18:38]was doing something right that's not the criteria that we use we

[18:42]could be abusive individuals and maintain that position because the system does

[18:47]not correct this to type of uh abuse so for example if

[18:54]we have presidents in this country who abuse their type of power

[18:58]it doesn't mean that these presidents are immediately thrown out and replaced

[19:03]by someone else the system is much more complex than that and

[19:06]the same thing when it comes to family if I have children

[19:09]and I'm in charge of them and I have authority over them

[19:12]especially when they're younger it's very hard for people to see that

[19:16]this person is abusive because it happens within the confinement of that

[19:20]house so it's important for us to read letters like this we

[19:25]might not think that it applies to us but but a lot

[19:28]of what the IM is teaching Malik in this letter is something

[19:31]that we should take because we deal with subjects subjects meaning people

[19:35]that are under our Authority on a daily basis so I'm going

[19:42]to take a few sections and just share you know a few

[19:46]uh segments that the Imam uses to teach Malik who has power

[19:52]and authority so remember Malik was a companion of the IM now

[19:59]he was appointed as a governor over people overnight he changed from

[20:08]a subject who was under the command of someone else to becoming

[20:12]a ruler and Governor over people now he has Authority he has

[20:17]power to implement things over people so this change is a massive

[20:24]change in the individual's life one day you don't have control over

[20:31]people and one day you wake up and suddenly thousands of people

[20:34]are under your command this is not a simple change so if

[20:40]you're not self-trained if you're not someone who's pure and close to

[20:45]Allah subhana wa tala then there's always a fear that you're going

[20:47]to act unjust you're going to oppress other people so the Imam

[20:53]is aware of this even though he chose Malik knowing that Malik

[20:56]is the best candidate for this position but even the best candidate

[21:02]needs reminders even the best candidate could turn from a very good

[21:06]individual into a very evil individual because of the change of circumstances

[21:10]I might be a good believer when all I am is a

[21:15]an employee at one of the corporations I can be a very

[21:21]good woman but as soon as you give me a managerial position

[21:23]I cannot handle that I become someone who's evil someone who's oppressive

[21:28]because I haven't changed myself to the point where I can handle

[21:34]such a responsibility so even though the IM appointed Malik knowing that

[21:39]he's the best candidate to become a governor and rule over Egypt

[21:43]he made sure to send Malik advice how to treat people because

[21:47]you could change as an individual you could become someone who you're

[21:53]who you weren't the day before so the IM for example here

[22:00]says to Malik he tells him Infuse your heart with Mercy for

[22:03]the subjects for the people that are under your command Infuse your

[22:08]heart with Mercy just because you have power to control now and

[22:13]to put people in prison and to implement certain punishments does not

[22:17]mean that you should become a rigid and strict person justifying it

[22:23]by saying that I want to keep Rule and order in my

[22:25]country you have to always deal with with your subjects with mercy

[22:31]and now you have to even be more merciful towards people because

[22:35]you have that power and because there's that chance of you abusing

[22:40]that power love for them Infuse your heart with Mercy for the

[22:46]subjects love for them and kindness towards them see look the IM

[22:50]is reminding him that this position that you're taking is going to

[22:54]most likely do the exact opposite of that remind yourself you have

[23:00]to have mercy towards those who are under your control you have

[23:03]to have love when you deal with the differences and your your

[23:07]country and your citizens you have to have love towards that people

[23:12]someone who deals with someone out of love is different than someone

[23:15]who deals with them out of power and control and kindness towards

[23:20]them be not like a beast of prey above them seeking to

[23:25]devour them now that you have power and you have these weak

[23:28]individuals who are under you you become like a beast who seeks

[23:34]to devour them for they are of two types either your brother

[23:40]in religion or you're equal or like in creation and look at

[23:46]how the im here is trying to explain to Malik he says

[23:49]mistakes slip from them they're going to make mistakes don't expect your

[23:58]subjects to behave perfectly sometimes if we have a child or someone

[24:02]who is under our control we expect them to behave in a

[24:04]perfect way that they cannot make mistakes I don't want my child

[24:10]to make mistakes in the house here the IM is telling him

[24:14]mistakes slip from them defects emerge from them deliberately or accidentally sometimes

[24:21]you might make a mistake and you're deliberate in that mistake sometimes

[24:25]you make a mistake and it's an accident so how do you

[24:30]deal with this because you might say see the IM is very

[24:35]careful of these nuances he didn't say mistakes slipped from them and

[24:38]went quiet there because you could have come and said or Malik

[24:39]could have thought and this is how thean comes and plays with

[24:43]the Mind well if it's an accident mistake okay but some people

[24:46]are deliberate in their mistakes and those are the people I'm punishing

[24:50]and then you start saying that every mistake is deliberate you don't

[24:53]see that one may be accidental so the IM is pointing out

[24:57]this Nuance so that he doesn't leave room for Malik to assume

[25:01]that it might be something deliberate and therefore I can justify My

[25:06]Punishment so he says mistakes slip from them defects emerge from them

[25:11]deliberately or accidentally so bestow upon them your forgiveness and your pardon

[25:18]and now he uses a psychological method to make Malik understand why

[25:25]he should do that and create a certain movement in his heart

[25:28]he tells m is people who make mistakes and have defects whether

[25:32]they're deliberate on purpose or by accident forgive them mow upon them

[25:40]forgiveness and pardon just as you would have God mow upon you

[25:44]his forgiveness and pardon for you are above them and the one

[25:51]who has authority over you is above you and God is above

[25:54]him who appointed you so Allah subhana wa tala is above you

[25:59]and above Malik is IM Ali Ali is the one who appointed

[26:03]him right so just you also have someone who above you and

[26:07]just like you might slip and make a mistake sometimes you would

[26:09]wish that that person above you would pardon you right and you

[26:13]would wish that the person above the person who appointed you was

[26:17]Allah subhana wa tala you would wish that he would forgive you

[26:19]for mistakes even when you make deliberate mistakes right you don't ask

[26:22]forgiveness only for mistakes that happen accidentally even when you're deliberate you

[26:26]say Allah I'm weak I'm a human being I made a mistake

[26:30]I made wrong decisions please forgive me right even though you did

[26:34]it deliberately so the way you want Allah subhana tala to deal

[26:37]with your mistakes and let's say you don't believe in Allah then

[26:40]at least the person who's above you who appointed you how do

[26:44]you want them to treat you when you make mistakes that's how

[26:48]you should treat your own subjects he expects you to satisfy their

[26:52]needs and through them he tests you talking about God God expects

[26:58]you to satisfy the needs of the people that are under your

[27:01]control and he expects you and he tests you through them so

[27:07]this is one segment the letter to Malik Asar has been translated

[27:14]uh in a very good translation by an author named RZA Shah

[27:18]kazmi in a book titled Justice and Remembrance it's a book that

[27:25]he wrote about IM aliam at the end of the book is

[27:27]the the full translation of the letter I'm just mentioning this for

[27:33]people to go home you can read download I I would recommend

[27:35]buying this whole book it's a beautiful book talks about the concept

[27:38]of Justice in Ali alam's thought and behavior and Remembrance as well

[27:44]it's a very very beautiful book if you don't want to read

[27:47]the whole book then at least read this letter once in your

[27:50]lifetime just read it read it and see what the IM has

[27:55]to teach us he talks about many things including congregational prayer for

[28:00]example he teaches Malik even how to pray with the people he

[28:03]tells them not to prolong the prayer so long so that people

[28:08]become tired of it and don't want to join the jam and

[28:09]not to make it short so as to lose the meaning of

[28:13]prayer so even things like this the IM was pointing out to

[28:15]him how to find that balance in life I ask Allah subh

[28:23]to assist us in finding the internal balance by learning from our

[28:28]guides the prophet Muhammad and the of

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