To Be Free | Sayyid Sulayman Hasan Abidi

34 المشاهدات· 24/07/31

Muslim Group of USA and Canada
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في آخر

Presented at the 2014 Muslim Group Conference

أظهر المزيد

Transcript

[0:14]is so how totally controlled or unfree i thank you professor milan

[0:45]for that uh very enlightening talk i have been tasked with speaking

[0:54]about our servitude to allah our servitude to our creator as a

[1:00]means for freeing ourselves from any other form of servitude as a

[1:08]means of liberation and my purpose i will have to cut short

[1:11]some of the areas of my talk but my main purpose that

[1:16]i hope all of us will be able to take away from

[1:18]our session tonight is that we want to be able to change

[1:24]the way that we make decisions in our life the framework that

[1:31]we adopt from islam should show itself in our actions either on

[1:38]a superficial level of what decisions we make or on the inner

[1:45]dimension of our motivations for our actions meaning that we might do

[1:50]many things that superficially will be indistinguishable from something that we have

[1:57]done before before we gained faith or before we gained a certain

[2:03]insight about our faith but the inner reality and the motivation of

[2:08]that decision it will be very different from before and in the

[2:14]islamic perspective the reality of that action is very different from something

[2:20]that might superficially be the very same action so where i would

[2:24]like to begin is from a verse of quran in surah allah

[2:33]he describes the creation of the heavens and the earth and in

[2:39]that creation part of the story of the creation of the universe

[2:44]is that allah gave an option to creation whether it would like

[2:54]to submit willingly or not in surah we read is but allah

[3:11]came and turned his attention to the sky and at that time

[3:16]it was in some amorphous state and he said to the sky

[3:22]and to the earth that you must come come but you can

[3:29]either come willingly or you can come compelled have given different explanations

[3:38]of the nature of that choice that was given and was there

[3:41]even really a choice at all in other words did allah just

[3:50]create and there was no option that the heavens and the earth

[3:55]had there was no law and there was no cut but interestingly

[3:59]the quran says that the heavens and the earth they responded that

[4:08]we come willingly they responded to the call and so in that

[4:13]image the quran is giving us there is a choice given by

[4:17]allah there is a conception of willing and unwilling obedience or following

[4:26]and the heavens and the earth they came willingly now the address

[4:34]that allah gave was for sama for the heavens and for the

[4:38]earth but the answer that was given is on behalf of all

[4:44]of creation so instead of replying as the sama and the arab

[4:51]might be expected to reply atena with the dual form because it

[4:55]was two beings that were addressed they reply with the plural form

[5:02]and as mufasa have mentioned that is because the answer was not

[5:09]given just on behalf of the heavens and the earth but it

[5:12]was begin it was given on behalf of all of creation on

[5:16]behalf of all of existence and all that is created or will

[5:21]be created through the movement of time and through the movement of

[5:27]history and all that shall exist within the heavens and within the

[5:31]earth all of that will exist and will follow the command of

[5:37]allah fo on with obedience and with willingness and so one question

[5:42]that we want to make sure that we have answered within our

[5:51]minds is the nature of our relationship to allah and the nature

[5:59]of all of creations relationship to allah and professor ramadan touched upon

[6:07]this topic in his talk it's relevant also to our earlier discussion

[6:12]within all of creation there is no possibility of any kind of

[6:22]a departure from the will of allah there is no possibility of

[6:32]any kind of departure from the plan that allah has for us

[6:38]as individuals and then as we move on to the largest scale

[6:42]within the universe nothing can depart but that is described not as

[6:51]kar but as tawa so although nothing can depart existentially and creationally

[6:56]from the plan that allah has put into existence the nature of

[7:03]that obedience on an existential and on a creational level is willing

[7:10]it is submissive and the reason for that is that nothing within

[7:16]creation exists except so much as god suffers it to exist and

[7:23]accepting the way that god suffers it to exist and so we

[7:31]have no existence and none of the attributes that come within our

[7:38]existence except to the extent that allah subhanahu wa wills the act

[7:45]of creation is not separate from the process of managing and sustaining

[7:55]we think of creation we think of manufacturing as being something that

[8:02]is distinguished and separate from servicing or maintaining if for example we

[8:10]were to fashion a machine or a mechanical tool but for allah

[8:18]and in the reality of creation there is no distinction between the

[8:25]two and everything is just as needy and has just as much

[8:29]towards allah for its continued existence as it had at the initial

[8:36]moment of its creation and that also addresses a question that exists

[8:42]within the understanding of this verse that does this conversation that the

[8:47]quran is speaking about regarding obedience does it come at the moment

[8:52]of creation or does it come after creation in the continued existence

[8:58]of the heavens and of the earth there is no essential intrinsic

[9:04]qualitative difference because allah is not a fashioner he is a creator

[9:10]and that creator is a ever present attribute so to move on

[9:21]we do have one question though that does come in if everything

[9:26]creationally obeys allah submits to allah nothing within the universe is outside

[9:33]of that servitude and of that absolute obedience to the will of

[9:43]allah then what about our free will what about our choices what

[9:50]place do they have from an islamic perspective we do have volition

[9:56]we do have free will our exercise of that free will is

[10:03]to bring us back within the harmony and to harmonize ourselves within

[10:10]the creational purpose that allah has put within all that exists and

[10:16]so the process of obedience to allah and to make choices it

[10:23]is normative in the sense that we are to try to harmonize

[10:29]ourselves with what exists within the creation and therefore we don't distinguish

[10:36]between animate and inanimate beings and that is one of the beauties

[10:41]of the quran in numerous verses whether it comes to islam whether

[10:45]it comes to tasbih when it comes to sujud there is no

[10:48]distinction between sentient and non-sentient animate and inanimate beings that is visible

[10:57]because all have a purpose all have a certain function within creation

[11:06]that allah has placed the difference is that there are different means

[11:12]for us to fulfill that purpose in the case of human beings

[11:17]our fulfillment of that purpose requires us to make certain choices and

[11:24]to worship allah with our actions to make certain decisions but for

[11:32]the rest of creation that servitude and that obedience it doesn't have

[11:39]that extra dimension there is a difference in the manner but not

[11:43]in the reality but not in the essence and so if in

[11:49]the quran we see for example in suratur that walillahi yesterday that

[11:58]all in the heavens and in the earth they do prostrate to

[12:03]allah and i'm going to skip a discussion of what that prostration

[12:09]would mean suffice it to say that it can be seen as

[12:13]an existential prostration somewhat analogous to how if somebody wants to put

[12:21]you down you might respond by saying i kneel to no one

[12:24]they might not have actually asked you to kneel but the reality

[12:28]or the purpose behind what they did ask you to do is

[12:32]similar to that action of kneeling or bowing down and so it

[12:39]is linguistically common in english even to refer to an action by

[12:44]the purpose or by a similar action but the verse says that

[12:48]everything that exists within creation it does prostrate whatever prostration means that

[12:58]it prostrates willingly or unwillingly now if we have already said that

[13:07]the prostration on the existential level is going to be willing then

[13:13]what is the role of cut here is not it doesn't mean

[13:17]unwillingness meaning that something is distasteful to me that i have karahiya

[13:23]and i do it but qatar refers to an external compulsion regardless

[13:30]of whether i want to or i don't want to do it

[13:36]i have i have some force that is compelling so what is

[13:41]the reality of that he has and i will just somewhat briefly

[13:48]indicate and not do justice an interesting and a very poignant explanation

[13:56]he says that different levels of creation have different natures just as

[14:03]servitude for some beings does not require volition there is also a

[14:11]nature that exists within everything that is created the servitude to allah

[14:17]the sujud the prostration the obedience sometimes it is in accordance with

[14:27]the or the intrinsic nature of that thing that exists regardless of

[14:30]whether it is a human being or something other than a human

[14:34]being when a plant is created in the form of a seed

[14:42]then its nature is to sprout and to grow and to reach

[14:48]a certain level of maturity and then maybe to spread further seeds

[14:52]and then to wilt and to go through that process that is

[14:55]the pub of that created being just as a human being also

[15:02]has certain actions that are in accordance with our nature but sometimes

[15:09]that flower will not be able to sprout and grow it might

[15:13]get plucked it might be eaten it might be destroyed by some

[15:19]blight or some disease those actions are against the inner nature of

[15:28]that created being but in both cases there is an equal creational

[15:37]sujud to allah i recognize that these verses are not necessarily speaking

[15:43]about both sentient and not sentient beings directly but i'm broadening the

[15:48]tafseer in order to make a certain point whether the human being

[15:58]grows and lives our natural lifespan in accordance with our taba with

[16:03]our nature with our expectations or whether we are going according to

[16:08]things that are compelling us from the outside in both cases they

[16:17]are equally subject to the wisdom and the laws that allah has

[16:22]placed within the universe and so neither that nor that is outside

[16:31]of allah his purpose or his wisdom and the lesson that we

[16:40]get from that is that our servitude to allah our obedience our

[16:48]volitional and our decision to accept the lordship and our volitional decision

[16:57]to worship allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala this is something which puts us in

[17:06]harmony with and at peace with the entire universe but not the

[17:13]entire universe as the universe with the entire universe as something that

[17:22]has a purpose as something that has a direction as something that

[17:31]has a meaning and that is where the belief in allah and

[17:36]the recognition of allah is so important there are many people who

[17:43]would strip that understanding of creation of any god and they might

[17:50]still say that i am at peace with the universe but what

[17:56]is lacking is that normative dimension what is lacking is that normative

[18:05]that moral and that meaningful dimension of our existence that only comes

[18:15]from recognizing not just the harmony of all that exists and discovering

[18:20]some kind of theory of everything but recognizing that all of those

[18:24]created beings with their multiplicity and with that underlying unity they serve

[18:33]a single purpose now that is a conception of allah and the

[18:39]manner of his creation of heavens and earth that brings us a

[18:47]great deal of awe it gives us a great deal of humility

[18:50]and it should have certain very concrete and very practical effects in

[18:58]our life and i want to spend a little bit of time

[19:01]discussing some of those practical dimensions and the effects as i said

[19:10]earlier we want to walk away from this conference as a whole

[19:13]or from any session where muslims gather together and from this session

[19:17]in particular either doing the same thing that we were going to

[19:23]do anyway but now doing it for a different reason and for

[19:27]a greater purpose than we were going to do it before some

[19:31]of you may have heard me express this example that there was

[19:37]once a an article that i read it said that people who

[19:42]believe in god are not more charitable than people who do not

[19:48]believe in god in some cases they are less charitable now there's

[19:51]many things wrong with that statement but if we take it at

[19:56]face value that the non-believer's donation to ballet is at the same

[20:01]level of significance to the believer's donation for example to a house

[20:07]of worship and if we ignore all of those underlying issues even

[20:14]if that were to be the case the value of an action

[20:16]is not the amount of the charity let's say that non-believers give

[20:21]a greater percent of their earnings to the same kinds of charities

[20:27]that a believer will give the value of the action is governed

[20:32]by the intention everything that a believer does is charity they have

[20:40]kids because as is narrated in the hadith that when yusuf was

[20:46]reunited with his brother vinnie ameen and he asked how he was

[20:49]doing he said that how is it that when you were separated

[20:54]from your brother you were able to marry and have kids and

[20:57]yamin said that my father yaakov said that if you are able

[21:01]to have a family and to give fickle to the earth to

[21:06]give meaning to the earth by having a child who says subhanallah

[21:11]then don't pass up the opportunity your mourning or your grieving for

[21:15]the separation from your brother but this is an act of worship

[21:19]and act of charity and all of the prayers and all of

[21:24]the fasting and all of the financial donations that you will have

[21:27]to give up because you're dealing with a child is an act

[21:35]of charity so either the the action will be different or it

[21:40]will be the same action but it will have a very different

[21:42]significance and a very different meaning the first effect is that we

[21:49]should have absolute peace of mind in whatever we are doing when

[21:55]zikr allah gives it comes from the fact that when we remember

[22:07]allah we remember that our task is simply to fit ourselves within

[22:13]the purpose that exists within creation and that gives us peace of

[22:20]mind that is on a spiritual and on an emotional level but

[22:23]it also gives us on a practical level confidence we don't have

[22:34]any kind of a hesitation to take on even seemingly impossible tasks

[22:40]because we recognize that allah is intimately present in even our volitional

[22:49]actions so not only is allah making us breathe and making our

[22:54]heart beat and making our atoms and even our atomic existence move

[23:01]but allah is intimately present even in those actions that i attribute

[23:08]to myself and because allah is so intimately present in everything i

[23:16]have no lack of confidence in any of my actions the next

[23:23]effect will be that we will have a motivation to do even

[23:26]the most menial tasks sometimes we want to change the world but

[23:32]we can't find it in ourselves to volunteer at a local masjid

[23:40]and to sweep the floor or to vacuum after a program because

[23:43]how is that going to change the world when we fit ourselves

[23:51]into a divine purpose then vacuuming the floor of our masjid a

[23:54]thankless job a job that might mean that i miss many more

[24:00]exciting things will give me maybe more fulfillment than a much more

[24:06]high profile and a much more well recognized test and and this

[24:11]is also something that professor ramadan touched upon it will also be

[24:15]something that will constantly increase our humility the very ability that we

[24:24]have to do more will be seen by us as meaning that

[24:29]allah is using us as a means and as a vessel to

[24:36]accomplish his purpose at a higher level and so i don't see

[24:40]that i have become so smart i have become so accomplished i

[24:45]have been able to do so much i see that allah saw

[24:50]me as being worthy and graced me with the ability to accomplish

[24:55]his purposes before he only thought me worthy of a small purpose

[25:00]now he thinks me worthy of doing something better that recognition will

[25:07]constantly be a means of self-correction as i go through my life

[25:11]and as i move from being that starving student in debt to

[25:16]being at the top of my professional and my personal accomplishments at

[25:24]the top of my field i will be far more connected far

[25:32]more humble as the quran says that allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala he created

[25:42]created for you he placed for you ships he placed for you

[25:50]animals or steeds that you use as a means of conveyance when

[25:54]an engineer builds the titanic then that engineer says that this is

[26:01]a ship that even god can't sink when a muslim is able

[26:07]to accomplish that great purpose he says as the quran describes now

[26:17]i've been told that i have one minute i have much more

[26:20]than one minute of content that i wanted to give how again

[26:23]how hard a stop is it let me just tell one story

[26:29]if you'll permit there is a story mentioned that describes the very

[26:35]last person who's going to go to hellfire on the day of

[26:40]judgement and this is in so imagine that now if we all

[26:45]find out that there's dinner after this i think there is dinner

[26:48]after this right some of you who are in the front of

[26:51]the line you might think that you get the best pickings and

[26:53]those of you who are at the back you might be straining

[26:55]your necks and saying you know did they really think this many

[26:57]people were going to attend did they cook it well am i

[27:00]going to get anything so the very last person struggling to get

[27:06]to the day of judgment now this is not a person who

[27:10]is hoping to get everything that exists in hell this is somebody

[27:13]probably who's hoping that well maybe they're going to close the door

[27:16]early or filled to capacity no more room everyone's gone to their

[27:33]eternal abode and this last person as he is approaching allah will

[27:40]say to those who are moving people in their direction that rush

[27:44]and the person will turn back and allah will say according to

[27:51]the hadith come forward why did you turn and the person will

[27:58]say that oh allah this was not what i thought of you

[28:00]this was not my then this was not my estimation of what

[28:04]you would do for me and allah will say then tell me

[28:08]servant what did you think i would do for you he said

[28:10]that i thought that you would forgive my that you would forgive

[28:15]my sin and that you would cause me to enter into paradise

[28:18]the hadith says that allah will tell his angels that this servant

[28:23]has lied if for a moment in his life he had that

[28:31]hope in me then i would never have caused him to even

[28:36]have to fear my hellfire he lied he never had faith but

[28:45]he said it and therefore let his lie be written as the

[28:54]truth take him to paradise and the hadith continues that that is

[29:00]the reason that allah requires us to develop a deeper and a

[29:05]more profound understanding of the nature of his and the nature of

[29:13]his manifesting of his managing the affairs of the world because if

[29:18]we are able to develop with allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala then that will

[29:25]mean that we will be able to receive the benefit of this

[29:32]divine mercy it is exclusive to those who have a good estimation

[29:37]of allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala i need to make two final points that

[29:40]does not mean that if you think that allah is going to

[29:42]forgive everyone and that he is not going to punish everyone that

[29:47]you are having a positive estimation of allah and you and everybody

[29:52]else are going to go to heaven a hadith explains to us

[29:56]that means that you have no hope in anybody but allah you

[30:05]have no fear of anything but your own sin that no evil

[30:08]comes to you from god but that evil does come to you

[30:13]from yourself and husna requires me to fear the evil that i

[30:16]am capable of it's not a blind kind of god is love

[30:19]god is mercy and therefore hell doesn't exist that is point number

[30:23]one point number two in order to be able to benefit from

[30:27]the freedom from any kind of worldly master and to be able

[30:31]to accomplish the purposes that god has in store for us based

[30:37]on that profundity and based on that depth is most definitely the

[30:44]most basic and fundamental and essential attribute that is required because we

[30:52]as muslims are not subject to our circumstances whether they be externally

[30:59]imposed internally from within our societies the political cultural educational and any

[31:07]other form of institution that restricts us or constricts us we don't

[31:12]think at the level of or in terms of those institutions in

[31:18]order to be able to accomplish those purposes or be worthy for

[31:23]allah to accomplish his purposes through us the most important attribute that

[31:27]we need to develop is i do apologize for delaying you past

[31:34]the initial start time of dinner i do request you though not

[31:37]to all rush out all at once allah

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To Be Free | Sayyid Sulayman Hasan Abidi

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To Be Free | Sayyid Sulayman Hasan Abidi

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