When You Lift Others, Allah Lifts You - Sheikh Azhar Nasser - Night 28

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[0:00]last night of this beautiful Shahar Ramadan program.

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[3:14]>> Tonight it is my honor and privilege to welcome this to

[3:17]welcome to the stage our dear scholar who will be enlightening us

[3:20]on the topic when you lift others Allah lifts you.

[3:23]Please help me in welcoming him up to the stage with three

[3:28]very loud salawat.

[3:57]Muhammadu.

[4:11]Alhamdulillah.

[4:32]Respected elders, my dear brothers and sisters, so we've spent the last

[5:01]couple of weeks discussing ing habits, discussing the things that we do

[5:09]day in and day out that shape our character.

[5:13]And ultimately, as we've emphasized over the course of the past several

[5:21]nights, you and I are essentially the accumulation of our habits.

[5:27]what we do day and night, what we think about, what we

[5:36]do, how we interact with the world, they essentially define who we

[5:43]become.

[5:42]And if you look at the those who have have attained nearness

[5:51]to Allah subhana wa ta'ala whether they are righteous prophets imams you

[5:57]will find that what they have in common all of them is

[6:02]consistency.

[6:04]They are consistent in these habits.

[6:07]Whether it's their salah, whether it's their dua, whether it's their commitment

[6:15]to studying the scriptures that Allah has revealed.

[6:20]You find that what separates them from others is that people like

[6:26]me, we do these things sporadically.

[6:29]We engage in these habits seasonally.

[6:34]Meaning in the month of Ramadan, Muharam, we we elevate our spirituality,

[6:41]we practice these habits, but then what happens when these religious seasons

[6:47]pass?

[6:48]We go back to our old ways.

[6:51]If we are able to develop that discipline, that consistency, we will

[6:59]start to understand what the a hadith are talking about when they

[7:05]speak about being sincere to Allah subhana wa ta'ala for 40 days.

[7:11]There's a narration that says whoever devotes themselves sincerely to Allah subhana

[7:23]wa ta'ala whereby everything that you do you consciously connected to Allah

[7:30]subhana wa ta'ala everything from your salah to the food that you

[7:34]eat to the naps that you take everything that you do you

[7:39]do it with Allah in mind.

[7:40]If you're able to do that for 40 days, if you think

[7:45]about it, 40 days is not a long time.

[7:47]You're talking about six weeks of your life.

[7:50]If you can commit yourself to the spiritual practices that have been

[7:59]prescribed by for 40 days whether that's those 40 days are punctual

[8:06]prayers 40 days of 40 days of doing 40 days of salat

[8:12]whatever it may be the hadith say that if you are sincere

[8:17]if you devote yourself to Allah for 40 days.

[8:28]Allah the hadith says that the the springs of wisdom begin to

[8:35]flow from the heart and they appear on the tongue.

[8:39]Most of us we haven't experienced this.

[8:42]We haven't tasted the sweetness of we don't understand how does the

[8:50]prophet stand for several hours in and he doesn't get tired.

[8:52]How is it that can do recite dua injud and he doesn't

[9:02]grow tired?

[9:02]It's because they're obviously tasting something that you and I have not

[9:06]tasted.

[9:07]Why haven't we tasted it?

[9:11]Because we lack consistency.

[9:12]We haven't developed that discipline.

[9:16]Now what I want to speak about today, we focused a lot

[9:21]so far on ritual worship, on the importance of seeking forgiveness from

[9:26]Allah on a daily basis.

[9:30]We spoke about the power of saga, the importance of praying on

[9:34]time.

[9:34]Another very important topic in Islamic spirituality is how we interact with

[9:47]others.

[9:44]You see brothers and sisters, the journey to Allah subhana wa ta'ala,

[9:51]the way to attain nearness to Allah, it's a journey that requires

[9:57]a certain degree of God consciousness when it comes to other people.

[10:01]Do not think that you can reach Allah just by isolating yourself

[10:09]and doing.

[10:08]In fact, one of the most effective ways to attain nearness to

[10:15]Allah subhana wa ta'ala is to learn how to interact with people.

[10:20]If you notice the prophet sallallahu alaihi he didn't just spend years

[10:28]in and say that I want to reach God by just removing

[10:31]myself from society and focusing on what allowed the prophet to refine

[10:37]himself is to seek the pleasure of Allah in his interactions with

[10:47]people.

[10:47]There's a very famous hadith of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasall where

[10:51]he says the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasall he says that my lord

[11:06]he has commanded me to be flexible with people to be accommodating

[11:13]with people just as he has commanded me to fulfill the religious

[11:19]obligations in the same way that Allah commands us to pray Allah

[11:26]says Allah has commanded me to be flexible with people don't be

[11:33]so rigid when it comes toal and haram be firm but when

[11:39]it comes to things that don't violate the you have to learn

[11:45]to be flexible what your family wants to eat tonight.

[11:47]That that shouldn't be the hill that you die on.

[11:51]When it comes to, you know, where should we go on vacation?

[11:54]As long as it's a halal destination, a mu should be easy

[11:56]going.

[11:58]You should reserve your firmness when it comes to the red lines

[12:05]of the of the Sharia.

[12:07]The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasall he taught people to be flexible, to

[12:14]be easygoing.

[12:14]You know an example of how how easygoing and flexible the prophet

[12:21]was.

[12:20]It is said that the prophet on some occasions he used to

[12:27]come home after a very long day of dealing with and battles

[12:33]and wars.

[12:35]The prophet you know he's not coming back from a 9-to-five office

[12:39]job.

[12:40]He's coming back from dealing with some pretty wicked people, facing existential

[12:44]threats.

[12:45]So the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasall sometimes he comes home to one

[12:50]of his wives and he's hungry, he wants to eat.

[12:54]So he asks, "Is there anything prepared for dinner?

[12:59]Is there food?" Sometimes the wives would say that no, we haven't

[13:04]prepared anything.

[13:05]Now what does the prophet do?

[13:08]Does he throw a fit?

[13:09]He hasn't eaten anything all day.

[13:13]He could have easily said that woman, what's wrong with you?

[13:16]I'm fighting at least prepare have some food on the table when

[13:20]I come home.

[13:23]Right?

[13:24]But what does he do?

[13:23]The prophet says, he says that okay, there's no food.

[13:35]I will make the to do a fast.

[13:36]If you haven't eaten all day and you don't have any, you

[13:40]can make the intention to fast that day.

[13:42]So the prophet takes a situation where he could have escalated and

[13:47]it could have become an argument.

[13:49]What does he do?

[13:49]He looks at this as an opportunity.

[13:51]Okay, there's no food.

[13:53]He says, I'll fast.

[13:56]The prophet was very lenient, very flexible.

[14:00]Now one of the things that we have to develop in ourselves

[14:04]and this is a very very important habit is that we have

[14:10]to learn to desenter ourselves.

[14:13]What does that mean to desenter yourself is to get rid of

[14:20]the selfishness that's in our hearts.

[14:22]We all have a degree of selfishness and it takes a lot

[14:28]of effort to eradicate that selfish self the selfish selfishness in ours.

[14:33]When you look at the Quran, there is an ayah where Allah

[14:39]subhana wa ta'ala speaks about an incident in the early history of

[14:44]Islam, the Hijra, which by the way is very similar to what

[14:47]is happening now in Lebanon and Iran and other places where people

[14:52]are having to leave their homes.

[14:54]You have hundreds of thousands of people who are walking away from

[15:02]their lives with nothing but the clothes on their backs and they

[15:06]basically have to immigrate.

[15:07]They have to leave.

[15:09]They have to migrate to different parts of the country or maybe

[15:12]to another country.

[15:13]Allah subhanana wa ta'ala reminds us about he reminds us of the

[15:23]ultruism of those early Muslims especially the Ansar.

[15:26]Who are the Ansar?

[15:30]The Ansar are those Muslims who were residents of Medina.

[15:34]They embraced Islam before the prophet made his hijra.

[15:39]Now with the death of Abu Talib in Mecca, the prophet's life

[15:47]is now in danger because Abu Talib was the chief of Quraysh.

[15:50]Now that Abu Talib has been he has passed away, the prophet

[15:56]doesn't have protection.

[15:56]He doesn't have tribal protection.

[15:59]So now they're planning to assassinate the prophet.

[16:03]Allah is not safe.

[16:06]And even the Muslims who are in Mecca, they're not safe anymore.

[16:09]It's dangerous for them to stay.

[16:12]So what do they do?

[16:15]They have to go on a hij they have to leave because

[16:22]they can't practice their faith in Mecca.

[16:23]When we talk about hij we have to understand what this means.

[16:28]This doesn't mean that okay we're moving and we're going to bring

[16:31]a U-Haul truck and we'll you load it and everything's going to

[16:36]be fine.

[16:34]It's exciting.

[16:37]No, you're talking about people who literally have to walk away from

[16:41]their homes.

[16:40]They can't sell it.

[16:42]You think you can sell your house in Mecca and take the

[16:44]money and leave?

[16:46]No, you have to leave now because it's an existential threat to

[16:49]the early Muslim community.

[16:51]So, they're all leaving.

[16:53]Over a hundred of them.

[16:57]They leave Mecca with nothing.

[16:58]They have nothing but their clothes on their back.

[17:04]You're talking about women, children, families.

[17:05]They travel, they take that dangerous journey to which is what we

[17:14]call Medina today.

[17:15]So now what what do we see now?

[17:18]There is a refugee crisis.

[17:18]We can call it that, right?

[17:19]If we want to use modern terms, there is a refugee crisis.

[17:26]Now in Medina, you have all of these muhajarin who are arriving

[17:30]in Medina.

[17:33]They have nowhere to go.

[17:36]They're homeless.

[17:35]They're hungry.

[17:37]They have no money.

[17:39]Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala here describes to us the selflessness of some

[17:48]of the residents of Medina.

[17:52]These are people who were trained by the prophet.

[17:53]Look at what Allah says about them in surah 59 ayia number

[18:00]nine.

[18:03]Those people who were living in Medina, they came to visit Mecca

[18:08]many, many years ago because they had a tribal conflict.

[18:11]They wanted someone to resolve the tension between.

[18:16]They ended up meeting the prophet and a group of them they

[18:22]converted.

[18:23]This was before the hijra.

[18:23]They went back and they spread Islam.

[18:26]So is there was a base of Muslims in Medina.

[18:31]So there were people there who were established.

[18:35]Look at how Allah describes the usually when you have an influx

[18:44]of refugees, the natives of the city, they usually don't like it.

[18:50]They consider it to be a burden.

[18:52]But look at what what Allah says.

[18:55]He says these Allah subhana wa ta'ala says they love the ones

[19:07]who are migrating to them.

[19:10]They don't see it as a burden.

[19:14]They love them.

[19:15]It's very important that in these moments when you have our brothers

[19:20]and sisters from South Lebanon who are traveling north, they're traveling to

[19:23]other villages as who are in a position to host them and

[19:29]take them in.

[19:31]We should not have the attitude that oh this is a big

[19:34]inconvenience for me and my my family.

[19:37]We should be like those who have this attitude that I'm honored

[19:43]to be taking in my own family.

[19:46]These people are a part of my in fact they're even closer

[19:51]because the bond of im faith is thicker than blood.

[19:57]Now it's important to keep in mind that many of the residents

[20:03]in Medina they themselves are not rich.

[20:05]It's one thing to be wealthy and to take refugees in.

[20:09]And when I say take them in, what did the prophet do

[20:14]in in Medina?

[20:14]He basically took Muajarin and he he looked at the Ansar.

[20:19]He said the Ansar, you have to take in these families.

[20:22]They have to live with you.

[20:24]Imagine you and I now.

[20:27]Imagine there is a refugee crisis in this country.

[20:30]And let's say it's the time of the reappearance of the Imam

[20:33]and the Imam tells you there is a family of six people

[20:36]for the next year they have to live with you.

[20:42]You share your food with them.

[20:45]You share your kitchen with them.

[20:47]You share your bedrooms with them.

[20:50]You share your laundry room with them.

[20:52]How many of us will do this with a smile?

[20:55]How many of us would be able to do that?

[20:57]This is where Allah tests us.

[21:00]We have to understand that when the Imam reappears, don't think that

[21:06]okay, the test is done.

[21:07]Now the victory begins.

[21:10]No, these are the types of sacrifices that lie ahead for us.

[21:15]So these they're taking in these families, but look at how beautiful

[21:20]these souls are.

[21:24]They love those who are migrating to them.

[21:28]Number one, and then the Quran says what?

[21:36]These these families that are hosting the refugees, they don't feel any

[21:45]need or attachment to the things that they have.

[21:49]You know, sometimes we get very territorial when it comes to our

[21:54]stuff.

[21:55]Imagine now your home, you're hosting refugees in your home because Immi

[22:00]commanded you to do so.

[22:03]Have we purified our hearts to the degree that you don't get

[22:10]too possessive and territorial over the stuff that's in your house where

[22:14]you freely allow them to use everything that they need without making

[22:19]them feel indebted to you.

[22:22]And then what does Allah say?

[22:25]They have another quality.

[22:26]He says, "Not only do they love those who migrate to them,

[22:39]not only are they ter are they not territorial over their possessions,

[22:44]but they prefer others over themselves." Meaning, let's say that you cook

[22:54]a meal and you only have enough meat to feed half of

[22:57]the people in the house.

[23:00]The Ansar would do what?

[23:01]They would make the Muajiri family eat the meat and they will

[23:05]eat something else.

[23:06]They would be altruistic.

[23:09]So Allah in this ayah, he's describing what it means to sacrifice.

[23:16]You see one important part of iman that we have to learn

[23:21]is that religion is not just about convenience.

[23:24]Some of us we practice Islam when it's convenient when it's in

[23:29]my interest.

[23:30]I will align with Islamic values.

[23:32]I will invoke my Islamic rights if it's to my advantage.

[23:34]And I see this especially in cases of divorce.

[23:39]When there's a divorce suddenly everyone wants to follow Islam.

[23:43]They want to follow Islam because in this situation there's an advantage

[23:48]for them.

[23:53]So even though they're poor, they're in need, they still prefer others.

[23:57]And then Allah gives us a general rule of thumb.

[24:07]Allah says, "Whoever is able to safeguard their souls from stinginess, indeed

[24:17]they are the ones who will be successful.

[24:20]We shouldn't be stingy.

[24:24]We should think about other people, especially with Eid approaching.

[24:29]We shouldn't be the type of who only think about my family

[24:35]and my my relatives.

[24:38]We should think about the other members of our family which is

[24:45]this family of believers who are on the other side of the

[24:47]world.

[24:48]We have to think about what their what their condition is.

[24:52]Now I know sometimes we might feel irritated when we have people

[25:05]who reach out to us only when they need something.

[25:10]Have you heard it?

[25:11]Some friendships, relationships, they end because they say, "This person, they only

[25:16]call me when they need something.

[25:18]She only calls me when she she has a problem.

[25:20]He only calls me when he needs a loan.

[25:23]By the way, if you want if you ever want to get

[25:27]rid of someone in your life, give them a loan and they

[25:31]will never call you again.

[25:32]Inshallah.

[25:32]There's someone that you kind of don't want them in your life

[25:37]anymore.

[25:37]Give them alone and inshallah you'll see them again.

[25:42]Some of us we feel this frustration that people only come to

[25:48]me when they need me.

[25:49]And sometimes we feel bitter about it.

[25:53]We feel resentful.

[25:53]There's a beautiful hadith from Hussein.

[26:05]>> Did you notice the microphone hasn't fallen yet?

[26:09]Alhamdulillah.

[26:10]Things are going smoothly tonight.

[26:12]Im Hussein.

[26:14]There's a beautiful he mentions it.

[26:21]He says im Hussein the Hussein that you and I love and

[26:38]we commemorate and we revere.

[26:39]Im Hussein what does he say?

[26:43]He says know that people's need of you is among Allah's blessings

[26:53]upon you.

[26:53]If you are in a position where people reach out to you

[26:58]for help, they need help, they need financial assistance, they need something

[27:04]from you, Im Hussein, he says, do not have the attitude that

[27:07]oh this is a burden.

[27:10]So many people are reaching out to me for help.

[27:11]The imam says this is a that Allah has given you because

[27:17]what's better for you to be in a position to help or

[27:22]for you to be the one who needs help?

[27:23]What's better?

[27:30]This is a that Allah has blessed you and he's put you

[27:35]in a position to help others.

[27:38]If you are always annoyed and irritated that people reach out to

[27:44]you for assistance, that's a sign of ingratitude.

[27:49]And what happens when we are ungrateful?

[27:51]We lose that blessing.

[27:55]The prophet, he said, the imam says, "So do not grow tired

[27:59]of this blessing.

[28:01]Do not say, oh, it's such a big headache.

[28:03]It's such a burden.

[28:03]People only reach out to me when they need something." Don't don't

[28:10]consider this a burden because if you do Allah will remove the

[28:16]resources that he has given you because you're not helping anyone.

[28:19]You see it as a burden to have the upper hand.

[28:25]Okay.

[28:27]Allah will transfer this to someone else.

[28:29]One of the ways to show gratitude to Allah subhana wa ta'ala

[28:35]for the fact that he has blessed you is to give to

[28:40]be generous.

[28:40]There's a very beautiful story that happened during the time of the

[28:47]prophet.

[28:49]It's a well-known hadith.

[28:53]The narration says that during the lifetime of the prophet, this was

[28:58]in Medina.

[28:58]There was a man who entered the masid of the prophet and

[29:02]he was a beggar.

[29:03]He entered the masid.

[29:06]The masid was filled with sahaba.

[29:08]So he started to ask.

[29:08]He would go to the sahabi, ask for some financial assistance.

[29:13]He would tell him no.

[29:14]He'd go to the next one.

[29:17]No, no, no.

[29:18]No one gave him anything.

[29:20]Alhamdulillah.

[29:21]at that time at least they didn't call the cops on him.

[29:25]They didn't they allowed him to ask.

[29:26]And by the way there we don't have a religious justification for

[29:31]speaking harshly to someone who's begging.

[29:34]Of course Islam doesn't want us to beg but we don't have

[29:37]an Islamic justification to kick someone out of a masid or speak

[29:44]to them aggressively because they're begging.

[29:46]We have to be very careful.

[29:48]Allah didn't kick out this beggar.

[29:49]He begged.

[29:51]So this person goes around and he's begging but no one gives

[29:53]him anything.

[29:54]So he comes to the prophet.

[29:56]He says, "Yahool Allah, my situation is dire.

[30:01]I'm traveling and I don't have money.

[30:05]I'm hungry.

[30:06]My clothes are tattered.

[30:10]I can't even get back to my family.

[30:12]I need help." The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasall did not have any

[30:16]money on him.

[30:18]He didn't have anything to give him.

[30:20]So the prophet he says I don't have anything to give you

[30:26]however this is the prophet says I can't help you but I

[30:32]can guide you to someone who can help you by the way

[30:36]we should be like that someone comes to you for help okay

[30:38]you can't help them at least guide them to someone who can

[30:43]because if you do you will receive the reward of as of

[30:45]the of the person who helped So the prophet says to this

[30:54]man, I don't have anything.

[31:03]You've asked everyone in the masid.

[31:05]No one is willing to help you.

[31:07]Let me send you somewhere that I know you will not be

[31:13]turned away.

[31:11]He says, "Go to the home of my daughter, Fatman.

[31:16]ask her to help you.

[31:19]So he goes he goes to that that door.

[31:23]He goes to that sacred house, the house where no beggar is

[31:27]turned away.

[31:29]He knocks on the door.

[31:32]She answers.

[31:34]He says to her, "Oh daughter of Allah, my situation is dire.

[31:39]I'm hungry.

[31:41]I have nothing and I want you to give me of what

[31:44]Allah has given you.

[31:45]Fat Zah also they have a very simple life.

[31:49]She doesn't have much to give.

[31:52]She doesn't even have food in her home.

[31:54]So what does she do?

[31:57]She goes and retrieves a necklace.

[32:00]A necklace that was given to her as a gift by Fatima,

[32:06]the daughter of Hamza.

[32:08]Hamza.

[32:10]This was probably a wedding gift.

[32:14]Maybe it was a silver necklace.

[32:15]Maybe it had some gold.

[32:17]So she goes and she gives it to him.

[32:19]She said, "I don't have anything except for this." She gives probably

[32:23]the most valuable thing that she has without any hesitation.

[32:27]She gives it to him.

[32:30]He takes it.

[32:32]Now, of course, this man is hungry.

[32:33]He's not what he's going to do, eat the necklace.

[32:33]He wants food.

[32:36]So, he goes back to the masjid and now he wants to

[32:43]auction off the necklace.

[32:44]So he calls upon all of the Sahabah, oh, oh Muslims, is

[32:51]there anyone who wishes to purchase this necklace, the necklace of the

[32:58]daughter of Allah?

[32:58]Amaras was in the crowd.

[33:02]He said, I want to buy it.

[33:04]So Amar, he asks the beggar, how much do you want to

[33:12]sell it for?

[33:12]This man, of course, he doesn't know anything about jewelry.

[33:16]Like most men, we don't know anything about jewelry.

[33:20]We take your word for it, right?

[33:23]So he says, "I'll sell you this necklace for some food that

[33:26]will satiate my hunger and just give me some clothes and if

[33:31]you can just get me a mule or something that I can

[33:32]ride on so I can go back home and one gold coin."

[33:37]Naser unlike many people he doesn't take advantage of him.

[33:43]You know sometimes you have someone who's selling something they don't know

[33:47]the value and then what happens they get taken advantage of.

[33:50]He says the necklace is worth more than that.

[33:53]So he gives him everything that he asks and he gives him

[33:59]even more.

[34:00]He gives him more gold coins.

[34:01]He takes the necklace.

[34:04]He takes the necklace.

[34:08]He goes home.

[34:07]He wraps it in a cloth.

[34:11]He perfumes it.

[34:10]He tells his servant.

[34:13]This was probably after one of the battles of Islam because Abnazar

[34:17]is already he's also poor.

[34:18]He must have received some spoils of war.

[34:21]He had a little bit of wealth.

[34:22]He says to his servant, I want you to take this necklace

[34:27]and I want you to go to the house of Fatima and

[34:30]tell her that this is a gift to you from.

[34:35]He bought the necklace and he wants to gift it back to

[34:40]say the fat and he says to the servant that I also

[34:45]want to gift you to the house of Ali and Fatim.

[34:47]instead of serving in my home, I gift you and the necklace

[34:55]to her.

[34:54]So the servant, he takes the necklace and he goes to the

[35:01]house of Fat.

[35:02]He knocks on the door.

[35:03]Fat Zah opens the door.

[35:05]He says to her, "Oh fat, oh daughter of Allah, this is

[35:13]a gift from the necklace, the same necklace that you gave to

[35:17]the beggar.

[35:18]He purchased it and he's gifting it to you now and he

[35:23]has also given me as a gift to your family.

[35:24]So if you need me to do anything, I'm at your service."

[35:28]The hadith says that took the necklace and she said to the

[35:36]servant, she said she took the necklace and she said, "You're free

[35:42]for the sake of God." The narration says that the the servant,

[35:48]he stood and he started to cry.

[35:53]Z says, "Why are you crying?

[35:55]Why are you crying?

[35:59]What's the reason?

[35:58]He says, he says, "I am crying because of the blessings I

[36:09]have seen from this one necklace of yours." She says, "What do

[36:16]you mean?" He says, "This necklace, this necklace fed a hungry person.

[36:23]This necklace clothed someone who didn't have proper clothes.

[36:28]This necklace, it enriched someone who was poor.

[36:36]This necklace facilitated the return of a man to his family.

[36:44]This necklace freed a slave.

[36:48]I used to be a slave.

[36:50]I'm free now.

[36:50]And this necklace did all of that and it returned back to

[36:57]its original owner.

[36:59]This is the meaning of baraka my dear brothers and sisters that

[37:05]Allah he amplifies the impact of our deeds.

[37:10]You do something that is seemingly small but Allah subhana wa ta

[37:13]what does he do?

[37:16]He allows you to achieve a lot of good with very little.

[37:19]I've seen this.

[37:22]I've seen people who have hundreds of millions of dollars and they're

[37:27]not able to benefit the community like someone who makes 70,000 but

[37:31]that 70,000 has barak.

[37:35]You see my dear brothers and sisters this is the mindset that

[37:40]we have to have.

[37:42]Zaharat did not consider this man to be a burden on her.

[37:47]She saw this as an opportunity.

[37:48]She knew that whatever you give to Allah subhana wa ta'ala, it

[37:52]comes back.

[37:54]When the mother of Musa when she had to sacrifice her own

[37:59]son, she put him in the in a basket in the Nile.

[38:04]That was not an easy sacrifice.

[38:07]But what happened?

[38:09]Allah subhana t returned him.

[38:11]He returned to her not just as an ordinary child, but as

[38:15]a messenger of God.

[38:16]Whatever we sacrifice for for Allah subhana wa ta'ala, Allah he gives

[38:24]it back to us in a in a better condition.

[38:25]Now I know the time is is is short but I just

[38:31]have I'll just mention a couple of of narrations and inshallah we'll

[38:37]conclude.

[38:36]Is that okay with you guys?

[38:40]Are you okay sisters?

[38:48]There's a narration in by now.

[38:52]I hope that some of you have the intention to read especially

[38:57]after the month of after the month of Ramadan.

[39:01]It is a book that has so many rich and profound of

[39:07]the narration is the narrator is Omar.

[39:15]He says that I was with Im one day and I im

[39:22]said to me listen to what I'm going to share with you.

[39:31]and know that what I'm going to tell you is the truth.

[39:34]The fact that the Imam is putting this much emphasis, it means

[39:37]that he's going to share an important message.

[39:46]Imam says, "Listen to what I'm going to tell you and know

[39:52]that it is the absolute truth.

[39:54]do what I'm going to tell you and inform the elite of

[40:01]your brothers.

[40:08]Muf says, "Oh, who are the elite of my brothers?" The elite

[40:24]Look at this.

[40:27]In his eyes, the elite, not the ordinary.

[40:32]The elite believers are those who they are the ones who have

[40:39]a deep desire in them to fulfill the needs of their brothers

[40:43]and sisters.

[40:45]Meaning that this is what they're looking for.

[40:48]They're looking for people who need help.

[40:52]They're looking for people to lift up because they understand the value

[40:57]of this act with Allah subhana wa ta'ala.

[41:00]And then the imam, he mentions the reward for fulfilling one need

[41:07]of a mu.

[41:09]Imagine there's someone they have a debt.

[41:11]They need help getting a job.

[41:14]there is some conflict they have with a family member, you intervene

[41:19]and you help them.

[41:20]You relieve them of their their burden.

[41:23]What is the reward of this?

[41:24]The imam says whoever fulfills one of a what is the effect

[41:39]of this?

[41:47]On the day of judgment, Allah subhana wa ta'ala Allah, he pays

[41:52]you back on the day of judgment because that is the day

[41:55]when we're going to really be in need.

[41:58]Imam says if you fulfill the need of one M, Allah will

[42:07]fulfill a 100,000 on the day of judgment.

[42:12]100,000.

[42:13]And then look at what the Imam says out of the 100,000

[42:24]needs one of the 100,000 one of them is that the first

[42:33]thing that Allah will grant you as compensation for granting the of

[42:36]one M or one M is what that he gives you Jenna.

[42:41]This is just one meaning after he gives you Jenna the hadith

[42:44]is essentially saying that you still have 99,999.

[42:51]What's the second one?

[42:54]And among the things that Allah will give as compensation for helping

[43:02]and relieving the need of a in addition to you entering Jenna,

[43:06]the second that he gives you is what that he fulfills?

[43:21]The second is that Allah gives you the power to intercede.

[43:29]Not only do you go to paradise, but Allah says because you

[43:35]helped a m in family, relatives, friends, you can take them with

[43:42]you to Jenna.

[43:45]And there's still how many?

[43:49]99,000 900 and 98.

[43:52]What are what are we going to do with the rest of

[43:55]them?

[43:56]Only Allah knows.

[43:55]Allah has something in paradise that he has reserved.

[44:00]When you read a hadith like this, the next time someone calls

[44:05]you and says, "I need help." We should remember this hadith.

[44:08]We should remember what Im Hussein said.

[44:12]And it's very important my my dear brothers and sisters that that

[44:17]we remember that not everyone who is in need is going to

[44:25]ask for help.

[44:25]Sometimes we have this mentality that there's no one in need in

[44:32]this community because no one is picking up the phone and asking,

[44:36]no one is begging.

[44:37]There's a very important ayah that I want to share with you.

[44:41]And if you've been sleeping for the entire lecture, please just wake

[44:44]up for two minutes so we can cover this ayah and inshallah

[44:48]you would have walked away with something that is valuable.

[44:57]The ayah is from surah al bakar surah bakar surah number two

[45:04]ayia 273.

[45:04]This is such an important ayah.

[45:07]Allah subhana wa ta'ala is telling us here about a group of

[45:14]people who are among the most deserving of our help and our

[45:18]charity.

[45:19]There are many people who are poor in society.

[45:23]But not everyone is poor for the same reason.

[45:26]There are some people who might be poor because they just don't

[45:31]manage their money properly.

[45:31]There might be some people who are poor because they're lazy.

[45:34]There might be some people are poor because of some because of

[45:39]the political situation, because of the the the economy.

[45:42]In this ayah, Allah wants to draw our attention to a group

[45:48]of people who are poor for a very noble reason.

[45:59]Allah says there are some people who are poor and they're poor

[46:05]not because they're not smart.

[46:08]They're not poor because they're lazy.

[46:11]They are poor because they are being sanctioned for the sake of

[46:19]Allah subhana wa ta'ala.

[46:20]You know when you read this ayah and you think about what's

[46:24]happening in the world today there are many the reason why they're

[46:30]poor is because they are saying no to a certain empire.

[46:33]They're saying that we're not going to compromise our Islamic values so

[46:40]we can be a puppet state for you.

[46:42]Allah subhana wa ta'ala says the poor who have been sanctioned.

[46:54]They're being sanctioned for the sake of Allah and they're not able

[47:00]to travel in the land and earn a living.

[47:08]An ignorant person may look at them and think that they're well

[47:14]off because they're not begging in the streets.

[47:18]You look at them, they're not complaining about their condition.

[47:21]They have a lot of self-restraint.

[47:26]But if you are perceptive, you know that they're not in good

[47:34]shape, that they're suffering.

[47:35]They don't ask.

[47:38]They don't ask people because they have dignity.

[47:42]We, my dear brothers and sisters, we should not be the types

[47:48]of people who wait for people to become so desperate whereby they

[47:52]they ask and then we give.

[47:54]Why?

[47:57]What does he say?

[48:00]He says, he says, "Do not burden a needy person with asking

[48:16]if you know that they're in need." Imam is saying that if

[48:21]you know someone is in need, give them before they even ask.

[48:24]And when you give them, be mindful of their honor and their

[48:30]dignity.

[48:31]No one wants to be on the receiving end of charity.

[48:36]This is why B when they would give they would be very

[48:40]careful not to humiliate the recipient.

[48:45]How im virtually all of the imams they used to distribute charity

[48:55]when at night they would go at night and often times they

[49:01]would cover their faces.

[49:03]Imagine as a head of state.

[49:07]As a head of state, he himself is going around and he's

[49:11]distributing food.

[49:13]And he covers his face for two reasons.

[49:16]Because he doesn't want the needy family to look at his face

[49:23]and take because he doesn't want to diminish their sense of honor.

[49:27]Human beings have pride.

[49:27]They have a sense of dignity.

[49:31]Do not rob them of their dignity.

[49:32]He would deliver the food.

[49:35]He would cover his face so they don't feel embarrassed to take.

[49:39]And he covers his face because for charity is not a PR

[49:53]stunt.

[49:51]Many of these criminal politicians, it's all a PR stunt.

[49:56]They have to make sure that the camera is rolling when they

[50:01]want to give.

[50:03]Forbi it's not about PR.

[50:05]It's about the pleasure of Allah subhana wa tala.

[50:09]It's about giving people in a way that protects their honor.

[50:13]And we have to remember brothers and sisters that when we give

[50:19]we are the first beneficiaries.

[50:22]Don't think that I'm giving, you know, I'm helping these people and

[50:27]they're benefiting.

[50:28]Your need to give charity is greater than their need to receive

[50:36]it.

[50:35]This is what the Quran says.

[50:38]Allah subhana wa ta'ala, what does he say to the prophet?

[50:41]He says, "Take from them the obligatory charity.

[50:53]Take the zakat and take a charity from them that will help

[50:59]the poor." Yes, it's going to help the poor.

[51:01]But before it helps the poor, it's going to help you because

[51:08]it purifies your heart from the most dangerous spiritual disease and that

[51:14]is the obsession with the material.

[51:18]This is a spiritual disease.

[51:18]The way to counter the unhealthy attachment to the materialistic possessions of

[51:25]dunya is that you have to train yourself to give, give, give.

[51:29]because it's going to purify your soul from stinginess, from greed, from

[51:36]excessive attachment to the duny.

[51:41]This is what's going to allow them to grow into mature spiritually

[51:48]elevated human beings.

[51:50]The prophet is told by Allah that when you take charity because

[51:56]it's very difficult for people to part with their money.

[51:58]It's very easy.

[52:00]You know for some people the greatest tragedy for them is for

[52:03]them to lose money.

[52:06]They might be they might be able to get over the death

[52:09]of a relative before they get over the loss of money.

[52:15]Allah knows that it's not easy to part with money.

[52:18]So what does he tell the prophet Allah?

[52:19]When they come to you, when they give you their when they

[52:25]give you their zakat, when they give you theirs, what should you

[52:28]do for them to make it easier for them?

[52:31]Meaning make dua for them.

[52:35]When they come to you with their money and they put it

[52:37]in your hand, in front of them, raise your hand and say,

[52:43]"Oh Allah, send your upon this person.

[52:51]When a M comes to you and they give charity and you

[52:55]make dua for them, it brings peace to their hearts.

[53:00]It makes the act of giving easier because they feel that they

[53:04]gain something.

[53:06]They gained the dua of today when we give when we do

[53:12]good inshallah whose dua do we gain?

[53:15]we gain the dua of.

[53:16]So don't ever think that you are losing when you give.

[53:22]You are the first beneficiary.

[53:23]And my dear brothers and sisters, as I said to you in

[53:29]the previous nights, our brothers and sisters in Lebanon, in Iran, in

[53:37]other parts of that region, they need us.

[53:39]Now this is the time where we have to be like the

[53:43]Ansar.

[53:42]We have to make some sacrifices.

[53:44]We have to sacrifice some of our convenience, some of our luxuries.

[53:52]This is when each and every one of us, we have to

[53:55]be a little bit like say, we have to make these sacrifices.

[54:01]We ask Allah subhana wa ta'ala to bless us and to guide

[54:03]us and to illuminate our hearts with the teachings of Muhammad Ali

[54:06]Muhammad to instill in us the altruism of the the selflessness of

[54:15]Muhammad Aliham.

[54:15]Alhamdulillah.

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