Work and be Grateful! - Sayed Mahdi Al-Qazwini

4 Bekeken· 25/03/30

Al-Rasoul Islamic Society
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Al-Rasoul Islamic Society || Halifax - Canada

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Transcript

[0:09][Music] Alhamdulillah must [Music] Muhammad.

[1:09]One of the most fascinating stories in the Quran is the story

[1:16]that is told in chapter 34 Sabbath.

[1:23]The story of the people of Sabbat and the land of Sabbat.

[1:29]And according to commentaries, according to the scholars, they say that sebat

[1:37]either refers to a land or it refers to a nation of

[1:42]people.

[1:43]And this is a story that ties together other stories and concepts

[1:50]in the Quran.

[1:52]Allah tells us in chapter 34 that for the people of Sabbath

[2:10]there were two paradise, one to the right and one to the

[2:15]left.

[2:15]These were a people that were surrounded by gardens, lush gardens.

[2:20]They had all of the amenities that they could hope for.

[2:27]Sebat is described as a place that had no pollution, no bugs,

[2:33]no pests and rodents, somewhere that was clean, that had clean water

[2:39]and all of the types of food that you can imagine, almost

[2:44]like being a paradise on earth.

[2:46]And their story is meant to teach us a few lessons.

[2:51]Now you might ask well what other stories in the Quran are

[2:56]related to the story of the people of Sabbath?

[2:59]One which we all know of which we learned from a young

[3:03]age is when we memorize Allah subhana wa tala says and we

[3:11]just recited the army of elephants that descended upon Mecca during the

[3:23]time the the year was 570 the year of the elephant.

[3:28]This was the year that the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam was

[3:33]born in.

[3:33]And when the elephants descended upon Mecca, the leader of Mecca, the

[3:37]protector of Mecca was Abdul Muttalib, the grandfather of the prophet peace

[3:44]be upon him whom he grew up with for a number of

[3:46]years.

[3:47]But why is it that an army of elephants even showed up?

[3:51]We know that this army of elephants came from where?

[3:54]It came from Yemen.

[3:58]And it was led by a man named Abraa.

[4:02]And Abraa had built a grand cathedral in S, currently the capital

[4:08]of Yemen.

[4:10]And he wanted people to come to his cathedral and worship there.

[4:16]But not just worship there, bring their business there.

[4:19]Why?

[4:20]because he had seen that Mecca had become a center for business

[4:26]as well as a center for worship.

[4:29]For many many years, Yemen was the center of glory.

[4:34]From the time of the prophet when he met all the way

[4:42]until the time that the Quran describes that the people of Sabbath,

[4:47]they stopped thanking Allah.

[4:48]They stopped worshiping.

[4:49]they stopped being grateful and this was about 120 or 130 years

[4:55]before and so you had Yemen as a prominent place all of

[5:02]a sudden it declines and then you had the rise of Mecca

[5:05]and so Mecca becomes in the spotlight and Abraa doesn't like this

[5:14]he wants to return the glory that Yemen had before as an

[5:17]economic powerhouse as a center of worship So what does he do?

[5:23]He sends an army of elephants and he leads it and Allah

[5:31]says the planning that they had Allah he thwarts their plans he

[5:41]routes them he destroys them completely.

[5:42]So when you read and you read about the the elephants, the

[5:49]army of the elephants, it's important to know the historical context.

[5:52]Why in the first place did Abraa decide to take an army

[5:56]there?

[5:56]Why did he decide to build such a grand cathedral in Sal?

[6:01]This is because Yemen was a powerhouse.

[6:03]It was an economic powerhouse.

[6:04]But then they lost all of their glory.

[6:07]In chapter 34 in the Quran, we learn about why did they

[6:12]lose their glory?

[6:12]Why did they lose their glory?

[6:13]First, we are told the story of Allah says that indeed we

[6:31]had granted favors to d.

[6:31]What were the favors of Oh mountains echo with him when he

[6:47]sings and praises used to sing when he would praise and glorify

[6:55]he would do so singing.

[6:55]According to the narration of Aladdam, he says whenever the prophet Daw

[7:01]recited the the the psalms, the zabur, the mountains, rocks and birds

[7:08]recited with him.

[7:10]This refers to the ayat of the Quran in which Allah says,

[7:13]what does he say?

[7:20]So imagine D would sing the praises of God and the mountains

[7:27]would echo and the birds would also echo and they would sing

[7:30]with him.

[7:33]We also made iron.

[7:38]Lein means that which is soft, that which almost if you hold

[7:44]it in your hand, it melts like butter.

[7:46]So, you know, just in case you thought that he was a

[7:50]sort of like a jolly and happy man, no, he could he

[7:55]could also melt iron.

[7:55]But not just melting iron, not just putting it and melting it

[8:02]the way that a um an iron smith or a goldsmith, they

[8:04]use heat.

[8:06]No.

[8:06]According to these reports, Allah gave Doudam the power to melt iron

[8:14]with his own hand.

[8:13]That he can touch it and melt it with his own hand.

[8:17]Imagine in case you thought that, you know, he was like a

[8:21]softy or something because he was singing.

[8:23]No, he can actually melt with just by holding it in his

[8:26]hand.

[8:26]So imagine, you know, if he held your face or he held

[8:31]your hand, what he can do with it, his strength.

[8:33]And we said we we we were able we gave him the

[8:38]ability to create anything out of it.

[8:46]And then he says what did we give his son that we

[8:59]gave even more.

[9:02]He was able to travel using the wind in a short distance

[9:05]the in a short duration.

[9:10]The distance of an entire month going and the distance of an

[9:13]entire month coming back.

[9:21]The father is able to melt iron.

[9:24]The son is able to melt copper.

[9:28]So imagine he's melting copper for the purpose of building what?

[9:37]Pots, giant pots that they can cook food in and serve the

[9:41]people.

[9:42]All types of weapons, all types of armors.

[9:48]Allah says, just because you're able means what means be precise.

[9:53]Just because you're able to produce a lot, you have a factory,

[9:58]you're able to produce an unlimited supply, doesn't mean you have to

[10:02]produce an unlimited supply measure.

[10:03]You know, they they they they study uh like lean and six

[10:08]sigma, they tell you uh produ there's production waste.

[10:10]If you're producing something, there's production waste.

[10:11]Avoiding production waste.

[10:14]Just because you can produce something doesn't mean that you have to

[10:18]produce it.

[10:19]So, be very very precise.

[10:21]And anything that they wanted they can build.

[10:24]He has armies of jin.

[10:31]Build whatever you want.

[10:34]However, what does God teach us?

[10:35]And this is the point that I want to make.

[10:37]This is something that we learn in the month of Ramadan.

[10:48]work work righteousness do good things and also be thankful for it.

[10:56]This is a very particular verse when Allah Allah doesn't say that

[11:04]very little of my servants they give thanks.

[11:07]No, because most people they say alhamdulillah maybe once a day, maybe

[11:12]once a week they'll remember to say alhamdulillah.

[11:15]A shakur is the one who is consistently always thanking God no

[11:21]matter what's happening.

[11:23]If they're doing good, if their health is good or it's not,

[11:29]if their bank account is up or it's not, if things around

[11:32]them are positive or not, they are always thankful.

[11:35]Allah says, Be thankful when you do work.

[11:41]Be thankful if you want Allah to increase.

[11:42]Be thankful for the work that you have.

[11:44]So many people they have so many opportunities and they see it

[11:51]as a burden.

[11:49]I I have to go to school.

[11:54]I hear students they say I have to go to school.

[11:56]People in work I have to work.

[12:01]I have to pay my bills.

[12:02]I have to pray five times a day.

[12:04]I have to fast in the month of Ramadan.

[12:06]I have to do this.

[12:09]I have to take care of my family.

[12:11]How about instead of saying I have to do these things, you

[12:13]say I get to do these things.

[12:15]I get to support a family.

[12:18]I get to go to school.

[12:21]I get to work.

[12:23]Even these work opportunities, these things that sometimes we see a burden

[12:27]on oursel, it's a blessing and an opportunity.

[12:30]Allah says, "Take the work and be thankful for that work." Truly,

[12:38]there are very few that are thankful.

[12:44]Allah says that if you want me to increase for you, then

[12:49]be thankful.

[12:49]No matter how difficult you think your task is, be thankful.

[12:53]So this entire month of Ramadan that we have fasted and you

[13:00]know it doesn't really get easier as you get older.

[13:04]It actually becomes a little bit more difficult.

[13:05]But throughout all of this we are thankful.

[13:08]We are thankful that we have this opportunity the month of Ramadan.

[13:12]We are thankful and we ask Allah to show us another Ramadan

[13:17]and another and another and another after that so that we can

[13:21]continue to experience the blessings.

[13:22]What did the people of Sabbath do?

[13:26]They had everything easy.

[13:29]Allah says, and then he says, look around you.

[13:45]You have a paradise.

[13:45]You have safety.

[13:48]You have security.

[13:48]You have everything that you want.

[13:50]And you know what the people of Sabbath said that oh Allah

[13:58]make the distances longer.

[13:59]They have short distances for travel.

[14:01]They wanted the distances to be longer.

[14:03]Sometimes we ask Allah to make things difficult on us.

[14:07]We are the ones that are making difficult.

[14:10]So he says be grateful.

[14:15]You have a pure land.

[14:19]You have a safe land.

[14:20]You have a secure land, a secure community and more than that

[14:26]you have you have a a Lord which is forgiving.

[14:28]What more than that can you want?

[14:30]If you have safety and security, if you have job opportunity, if

[14:36]you have health and you have wealth, what are you complaining about?

[14:40]What is it more that you want?

[14:43]They began to pray for difficulty upon themselves.

[14:49]We sent to them one of the dams that broke that the

[15:02]water came and it wiped out everything and all that was left

[15:08]was some bitter trees and some bitter fruits to eat from.

[15:15]Allah says this is how we reward the ones who are ungrateful.

[15:19]So my brothers and sisters the key the key to success is

[15:25]being thankful being grateful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

[15:28]Now is a time at the end of the month where we

[15:32]can recall our gratitude to give thanks.

[15:35]One of the reasons why we break fast and we give we

[15:41]give the zakat is a means for us to express our gratitude

[15:43]to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to give thanks.

[15:46]So if we can take away anything from this month, brothers and

[15:49]sisters, the month of Ramadan, let us take away a thankful heart,

[15:56]a grateful heart, not just a hungry heart, a tired heart, an

[16:00]exhausted heart, a heart that's thinking about when do I get to

[16:03]have my coffee in the morning and bagel.

[16:05]I know all of you are thinking about it because I'm thinking

[16:09]about it.

[16:10]Okay.

[16:11]So, but what can we take away from our heart is being

[16:14]grateful.

[16:17]This is a lesson for all of us to be able to

[16:21]take away.

[16:23]I just want to share a couple hadith with you.

[16:26]Imam he says the movement of all things is glorification of Allah.

[16:29]We are not the only beings that thank.

[16:32]We only hear our own thanks but everything around us that God

[16:39]has created thanks.

[16:39]He says the prophet peace be upon him says those who when

[16:44]they are in contemplation they recite every mountain echoes it even though

[16:51]they are not able to hear it.

[16:53]Every time you say every mountain around you echoes it.

[16:57]You cannot hear it.

[17:02]Said I saw he offered two midway between Mecca and Medina because

[17:09]the imam would travel from often he would travel from Medina to

[17:13]Mecca and back in order to perform the Omrah and the Hajj.

[17:17]He says I I saw him offer two between Mecca and Medina

[17:20]while in prostration.

[17:24]He glorified Allah and the trees and the rocks echoed his glorification.

[17:28]The trees and the rocks around us were echoing his his glorification.

[17:32]So when you give thanks, it's not just something that you are

[17:36]doing for yourself.

[17:38]You know, you're training your own nervous system.

[17:40]Everything around you, the mountains, the rocks, the trees, they also follow

[17:44]suit in.

[17:46]The only difference is our ears are not trained to hear them.

[17:52]Now brothers and sisters, there's just a few minutes left, about 10

[17:55]minutes, and I would like to express my own thanks to this

[17:58]community for taking me in as a guest for almost 3 weeks.

[18:05]Of course, this is not my first time here, but it is

[18:10]my first time meeting many of you.

[18:13]The last time I was here was in December of 2023.

[18:15]I had the chance to to meet some of you and serve

[18:18]you.

[18:18]This was only for three nights.

[18:21]Alhamdulillah I feel like I am home and I'll tell you why.

[18:26]I'll tell you why.

[18:28]So I want to rewind the clock back to about 19 years

[18:31]in 2006.

[18:32]Right?

[18:33]19 years ago.

[18:33]So in March of 2006 I was 18 years old and I

[18:39]had just finished high school and a little bit of college and

[18:42]I had decided to move to uh Iran to live in and

[18:48]study in the Ha.

[18:48]This was a dream of mine and with me was my cousin

[18:52]Sal who was here for the first two weeks of the month.

[18:56]We're born 3 weeks apart.

[18:57]He's my first cousin.

[18:59]We grew up together and we both decided when we were in

[19:02]high school that we would go to the So he he left

[19:06]maybe 2 three days before I did.

[19:08]And when I arrived there, you know, he was there and it

[19:10]was a very great time.

[19:12]I I'll tell you this.

[19:13]And when we arrived there, we were single.

[19:16]We uh didn't have uh Wi-Fi.

[19:17]We didn't have cell phone.

[19:19]We didn't have TV.

[19:19]We didn't have any of this.

[19:20]And that's the way that we wanted it.

[19:22]This is the way that we wanted it.

[19:24]Um here living in the, you know, living in the US, we

[19:28]were comfortable.

[19:29]We had driver's license.

[19:29]We had cars.

[19:31]We had were living in our parents' homes.

[19:33]We had, you know, everything that we wanted was was available to

[19:36]us.

[19:36]There is a hadith the prophet peace be upon him says that

[19:39]I have I have placed knowledge in far-reaching places.

[19:42]So sometimes you have to become uncomfortable.

[19:45]You have to become uncomfortable in order to reach that knowledge.

[19:48]So we both moved there and we lived with my brother Sadi

[19:53]who you you will meet inshallah in a few months who will

[19:55]be here foram inshallah.

[19:58]We were living upstairs and we were very content.

[19:59]We were happy.

[20:01]I can tell you it was one of the happiest times of

[20:05]my life.

[20:04]Truly one of the happiest times of my life because we were

[20:08]not thinking about bills.

[20:09]We were not thinking about responsibilities.

[20:11]We were not thinking about work.

[20:12]All we had was time to study and learn and that's exactly

[20:17]what we did.

[20:17]And of course we we we gained a little bit of weight

[20:20]as well.

[20:21]The food was delicious.

[20:23]Alhamdulillah.

[20:24]I don't regret it.

[20:24]And within two months, maybe one month or two months, I received

[20:30]an email from my dear friend S Hussein Musawi who's not here

[20:34]tonight who's traveling.

[20:33]And I actually told him this and he introduced himself.

[20:38]He said, "My name is S Hussein Musawi.

[20:42]We have a Husseinia in Halifax, Canada.

[20:43]I had not even heard of Halifax before.

[20:47]He said, "We have a Husseinia named Alas and I would like

[20:49]to invite you." So I I thought, how did he, you know,

[20:53]how did he know about me?

[20:54]Now, some of you may remember there used to be a TV

[20:58]channel called Salam TV.

[20:59]Do you remember Salam TV?

[21:00]Salam TV.

[21:01]many years ago and when I was around 16 or 17 years

[21:06]old, I was asked with one of my friends from the masjid

[21:08]to do a youth program called youth in focus.

[21:11]So every Wednesday night we would show up.

[21:14]I don't remember what we would talk about but we were excited

[21:16]and it was a beneficial program and our we put our email

[21:21]addresses on the bottom of the screen.

[21:23]So apparently S Hussein had gotten my email address from there and

[21:25]he had sent me an email and he had said I want

[21:29]to invite this I was 18 years old 2006 he said I

[21:33]want to invite you to our Husseinia to speak the first invitation

[21:35]I've ever received by the way to speak anywhere alhamdulillah I don't

[21:40]know what happened maybe the email communication got lost but now we

[21:47]are here 19 years later and I truly believe I truly believe

[21:49]that when Allah wants to take you somewhere he will take you

[21:54]to that place.

[21:54]Sometimes it's going to take time.

[21:56]This is why brothers and sisters, we always recite the dua at

[22:01]the end of the month of Ramadan.

[22:03]Where do we ask Allah to take us?

[22:05]This is the words of Oh Allah, grant us the visitation.

[22:15]And I don't just want it this year.

[22:19]I want to go every single year.

[22:21]every single year inshallah we will make the dua to be there

[22:23]wherever Allah wants you to go brothers and sisters he will take

[22:25]you there it's only a matter of time if you trust in

[22:31]him now let's fast forward from 2006 let's go to 2011 okay

[22:39]the story hasn't ended in 2011 I had the opportunity in November

[22:42]of that year to perform the Hajj with my dear brother and

[22:45]uncle Haj Abu Zanab I was with my parents my father and

[22:51]mother and myself.

[22:50]He was there with his honorable wife and daughter and we met

[22:55]in the first day in Medina on the breakfast table.

[22:59]And you know the other day I said that the hadith Allah

[23:01]that in the hadith that some the prophet peace be upon him

[23:07]says that some souls they meet each other before this life and

[23:09]how do you know your soul has met this person when you

[23:12]are automatically comfortable with this person.

[23:14]You automatically feel love and affinity.

[23:16]And I'm telling you not just because I'm sitting here in the

[23:20]mimbar.

[23:19]This is truly what I felt from the first day and we

[23:23]became friends and he became my uncle from the first day and

[23:28]we had so many conversations which I still to this day I

[23:31]have not told anyone about these conversations but I remember them and

[23:34]I'll tell you one thing that he told me about himself and

[23:38]he didn't even have to tell me about himself because I saw

[23:41]it in him.

[23:43]It's something that he was very very proud of and something that

[23:48]he was excited to tell me.

[23:49]Do you know what that was?

[23:50]He was so excited to tell me and show me how much

[23:56]he loved his wife from the bottom of his heart truly and

[23:59]how much he loved his family, his children.

[24:02]And he would tell me about how he had a weekly tradition

[24:07]of sitting with his family on the dinner table and having a

[24:10]undistracted time discussing anything that they wanted to discuss.

[24:14]I remember these conversations.

[24:16]This is how long ago 14 years ago.

[24:18]But I remember because it left an imprint on me.

[24:20]How many how many other people do you know I don't even

[24:23]remember who else was with us in the Hajj that year.

[24:27]Maybe I remember one or two people and how many conversations did

[24:29]I have but some of them they leave an imprint.

[24:32]And not only did he tell me, I saw the love that

[24:33]he had.

[24:34]I remember one time, I don't know where we were going, maybe

[24:38]we were going to or somewhere and we had got up in

[24:39]the bus and I think he assumed that was with him.

[24:44]He turned around for a second and she wasn't there.

[24:47]All of a sudden, he turned around.

[24:48]He turned around, he ran out of the bus looking for her.

[24:51]Now, she was just standing outside the bus.

[24:53]So, you know, it wasn't a long ordeal, but I said, "Subhan

[24:55]Allah, truly, you know, the way that he watches over her and

[24:59]his family, very loving, very protective." And now that I come to

[25:02]this community, I see that it's not something that's just with his

[25:07]with with his biological family.

[25:09]It's with everyone here as well.

[25:10]The way that he serves the community with a generous heart, with

[25:14]a sincere and generous heart.

[25:15]So, I want to thank you.

[25:18]I want to thank you truly from here.

[25:19]And I want to thank all of the volunteers and everyone who

[25:23]makes this community possible, the programs in this community possible.

[25:27]You know, brothers and sisters, I've told you I've have I've had

[25:30]the opportunity from that from that time 2006 till now.

[25:35]Alhamdulillah, this has been the greatest blessing of my life.

[25:37]Sitting on this member has been the the greatest I don't own

[25:42]anything outside of this.

[25:42]This has been the greatest honor of my life.

[25:45]I've had the ability, I've had the chance to witness communities here

[25:48]and there.

[25:48]Alhamdulillah, this community, I can tell you, is on top.

[25:52]Not because of the food that is served, even though it's delicious,

[25:55]even though alhamdulillah everyone is fed, everyone is taken care of, but

[26:01]I can tell you what stands out is your your each and

[26:04]every single one of you.

[26:07]I've had nothing but wonderful interactions with all of you.

[26:10]Your love, your friendship, your kindness.

[26:12]I know how many professionals there are in this community.

[26:15]You know when I first came Abu Zab was telling me this

[26:20]person is a PhD and that person is a PhD.

[26:23]More than being PhDs in your respective fields, you are PhDs in

[26:26]and this is what stands out more than anything else.

[26:30]So I honor you my dear brothers and sisters.

[26:34]It's truly been a pleasure for me to sit here and talk

[26:36]to you as your younger brother.

[26:37]I'm every time I've sat on this meim, Subhan Allah, I thought

[26:41]I would be nervous.

[26:41]I thought I would be afraid.

[26:44]I thought I would be somewhat unprepared.

[26:45]This month, you know, the beginning of Ramadan, there were so many

[26:49]different things I had to travel.

[26:50]I thought I was going to be unprepared where I came when

[26:51]I came here.

[26:53]But alhamdulillah, every time I sit on this mimbar, I feel a

[26:56]sense of peace.

[26:58]I feel a sense of compassion and I feel that inshallah, if

[27:01]any of you have benefited in any way, even if it's one

[27:06]word, that you remember me in your duas as I will remember

[27:10]you.

[27:08]And I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to join all of us

[27:13]in the best of places.

[27:13]Whether we are here or we are performing the z of the

[27:21]imams of or we are in the ormrah.

[27:22]I ask Allah to gather us all together.

[27:25]Inshallah may Allah reward you.

[27:26]May Allah bless you and inshallah may Allah accept from all of

[27:30]us our foral.

[28:08][Music]

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