[Music]
uh dear brothers and sisters I'm going
to try to make it short not going to go
longer than M so I won't go more than 30
minutes inshallah tal and you know
honestly I wanted to just kind of leave
everyone with some practical tips
because I know that one of the things
that usually happens is when you go to a
convention when you go to a conference
wow that talk was mindblowing that was
awesome did you hear what what what
brother Nan said did you hear what this
what this speaker said did you hear what
brother Omar said did you hear what
brother Kum said what did you did you
hear that did you hear what Dr Arif said
but at the end of the day uh we really
don't make much change there isn't
really much practicality sometimes
that's the fault of the speakers um
sometimes that's the fault of the
listeners um and here's the thing I know
that this topic has probably been
regurgitated hundreds of times under the
guise of different titles different how
I can change now but you know IM he said
something very powerful because Allah
tells us in the Quran that those who
seek Huda guidance will be guided those
who seek it will be guided so
essentially what Allah tells us is that
if you really want to change then the
first thing is that you have to want if
you really want to change then the first
thing is that you have to recognize that
there is something about you that needs
to be changed looking at yourself
recognizing those things as brother n
man said not blaming anyone else for
anything not looking at the world and
and and suffering from analysis
paralysis you know where we'll just sit
around and complain and whine and the
same brother that's talking about how
terrible everything is in is in Gazza
and how terrible everything is in
Pakistan and Africa is the same one who
won't do who won't put forth even an
hour's worth of volunteering towards his
Masjid or towards any Islamic cause but
I want to really focus more on the
individual I think brother n man covered
very well the idea of a society you know
how we how we can change as a community
but if a person is changed then Allah
subhah wa tala inshallah through that
person would change many things in the
community so it starts with each and
every single one of us here's the thing
if you want to
change he says something beautiful he
says when a person is really deeply
involved in some sort of thought when
something is is heavy on his mind heavy
on his heart then everything around him
will be a guide towards that thing let
me put put it to you this way uh how
many of you guys have met annoying Newly
Weds raise your
hands how many of you guys are annoying
newly
WS
nobody no I don't think so I was about
to call you out good call none of you
are annoying you know the people that go
around and all of a sudden you you put
like a thousand pictures on your
Facebook the day after your wedding and
I'm like shouldn't you be doing
something else the day after your
wedding uploading a thousand pictures
and and it's like you've got these cute
little shirts that point to each other
and there's Thing One and Thing Two and
I'm hers and I'm his and all that kind
of stuff and it's like people really
don't care that much about your life but
anyway the the thing is is that whenever
you fall in
love or whenever a person gets engaged
let me tell you what happens from a
guy's
perspective one day the same guy wants
to play basketball all the time wants to
always hang out annoys his married
friends because he's not understanding
enough to understand that the married
guy has to get home by midnight wants to
go hang out all the time and every you
know at any time of the day then all of
a sudden he gets engaged and he never
answers his cell phone again until a
year later whenever he wants to run away
from his
wife and he wants to hang out again look
for an excuse to hang out right but the
point is is when that person is in love
when that person is overwhelmed when
that person is
overcome when that person is really in
that mood Subhan Allah everything they
look around everything they see around
them reminds them of love right like oh
that empty paper cup in the parking lot
it's so beautiful look how it just goes
with the wind I wish I could be that
paper cup in her house and just float
around and all that stuff you know like
all that here's the thing you love Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala everything around
you has meaning all of a sudden every
single thing you really have a sense of
urgency Allah subhana T will show you
the way to change because you know what
at the end of the day it's different for
everybody all of us have our different
demons including me including brother n
including brother kasum including Dr
Arif includ all of us we've all got our
own set of
problems and every single problem has
its specific solution Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala is the one who guides you to that
but the first thing you have to have is
a sense of urgency don't worry about
anyone else
don't worry about what other people are
doing
as may Allah have mercy on a person who
is too busy with his own faults to be
worried about anybody else's faults a
sense of
urgency I've got to make my relationship
right with Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala I'm
going to meet Allah subhah wa taala
maybe
tomorrow it could be very very very soon
I need to make sure that when I meet him
I'm prepared for that interview so
here's what I'm going to give you
because I know that we all have
practicality issues with some of the uh
lectures so I just typed up five things
these are five tips if you want to take
notes you can if you don't take notes in
lectures then you waste your time in
most of your lectures the first one
eliminate the poisons in your life that
aren't allowing you to change how many
of you guys have ever seen a
person um I know I deal with bums all
the time right anyone who deals in
relief work or an IMS any im or
something like that you'll always have
the guy that that you know that was a
loser from a Dun perspective and usually
when you're a loser from a Dunya
perspective you're also not very
disciplined spiritually walks into the
Masjid wreaking of
alcohol brother you know I thought we
agreed you're going to make a change I
thought that something was going to
happen oh I'm a changed
man I go home more now I go to work
every single day what's he not
recognizing the alcohol right the same
way spiritually
you have to recognize the poisons in
your life that will prevent you from
coming close to Allah subhah wa taala do
you really think Allah subhana is going
to give you in your Salah when your eyes
have been all over the place all day and
all of a sudden you think you're going
to go to Salah and Salah is going to be
okay you really think Allah subhana tala
is going to allow you to enjoy that
relationship with him if right before
Salah you were sitting on g chat and
Facebook or whatever and you know you're
chatting with whoever it is and then 2
minutes minutes left in Salah time AAR
is at 4:38 it's 4:36 BRB got to go make
Salah right then you put a smiley face
or something like that you go hurry up
and rush and make your Salah and come
back and you write FML almost missed my
Salah you know something like that
alhamdulillah the uncles don't
understand that one don't work on that
acronym okay the point that I'm trying
to say is you really think Allah is
going to give you change like that you
really think you're will mean anything
that you'll be able to get any out of
that and essentially what that teaches
us is that the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam he taught us about this heart
this he says what your is a space you
fill it up with you fill it up with
anything else you're not going be you're
not going to have any space for Allah
subhah wa tala in there so the very
first thing the very first step to
making that change as an individual
eliminate the things in your life that
are hindrance to you uh excelling in
your relationship with Allah subhanahu
wa taala get rid of those things before
you go do good deeds you know what like
IM said a very beautiful statement he
was asked where's the priority
or doing good deeds or seeking
forgiveness and he said if you have a
dirty thob you don't accessorize it you
clean the stain you clean the stain you
wash the stain off if you got a big old
brown stain on your white shirt and you
go and you put 200 $100 cuff links on
people are not going to notice the
cufflinks people are going to look at
the stain get rid of the stains then you
can start talking about all these all
these things that you can do and
unfortunately you know Subhan Allah
spirituality the notion of
spirituality so this this concept of
progressive Islam SL just spirituality
and ignoring the commands of Allah
subhah wa tala is essentially the same
thing that the Christians did
essentially what Paul proposed it allows
you to act as a fool your entire life
not do anything in accordance with the
Quran and the Sunnah but to do like
something super spiritual so that you
can feel good about yourself so
essentially what you're doing is you're
giving to Allah subhana T what you want
to give him not what he wants you to
give him you know I'll go and I'll pray
and I'll do this extra the problem is
not the the problem is that you're doing
the things that will stop your from
being accepted the problem is not your
Dua the problem is what you do after Dua
and before Dua that's the problem that
you're having eliminate the stains from
your life and then you would find that
you naturally would start to come close
to Allah subhana wa tala because once
your heart becomes clean and honest your
heart starts naturally inclining towards
Allah subhana wa tala your f is to
Incline towards Allah subhana wa tala so
eliminate the things that corrupt your F
number two an ounce of prevention is
better than a pound of cure
you know some people Subhan Allah they
wait for really really really bad things
to happen they wait to see the
consequences of their sins before they
change those things an ounce of
prevention is better than a pound of
cure what happens is that Shan claws you
he digs you into this hole or you dig
yourself into this hole it's a lot hard
harder to climb out of that hole than to
have taken care of it in the first
place he says and I want you to think
about this prevention before before you
commit mistakes you know some people
Subhan Allah are just very weak we're
all weak right but some people just wait
to mess up and then I'll try to figure
it out put aside the flaws you already
have don't go any
further he says that every single action
that you commit every single sin that
you commit goes through the following
stages number one it's a passing
thoughts number two after it's a passing
thought it becomes a f settled thought
you start thinking about it hey hey what
about that you know Shan caught your
gaze with something he caught some he
got you with some sort of Interest let
me start thinking about this you start
to entertain that thought you were not
strong enough to cut off yourself before
you could entertain that thought you
know some people Subhan Allah
immediately the Instinct because their
Iman has become strengthened it takes a
long time to really to to raise yourself
to purify yourself the minute that
something walks by or the minute that
they see something or that they're
approached by something that's Haram
immediately they go
into there's no time there for that I
mean the amount of time the time that
lapses before they do and go back to
Allah subhana T is very small some
people passing thought then I start
entertaining the thought after I've
entertained the thought enough Shan has
told me about how great the benefits of
this action are going to be and
essentially we commit sin because we
think that it's going to serve some sort
of benefit to us we think it's going to
give us some sort of pleasure and it
usually does for a temporary time then
it becomes a Nia I have the intention to
commit that sin after I have the Nia the
intention to commit that sin once I've
made the intention to commit something
nothing's going to stop me then it
becomes I'm determined to commit that
sin no matter what stops me right at
first I was very hesitant now I'm full
force you know I'll give you an example
there was a sister that I knew that
wanted to take off her hijab just to
rebel against her father that's that was
the only reason she wanted to throw off
her hijab she was telling my wife she
was saying the first day she went to
school she felt so uncomfortable without
her hijab that she threw her hoodie on
she didn't we hijab but she threw her
hoodie on next thing you know the hoodie
came off few days right I have the
intention next thing you know then the
tank tops came then the cleavage came
then the short skirts came too why
because you start becoming determined
then to commit that sin your heart
became hard to that that sin has become
human ni to you hey this isn't so bad
you became an addict and that's why once
you have becomes it's surfaced it became
action once it becomes action it
becomes becomes a bad habit once you
have a systemize sin in your life trust
me that will kill your Dua that will
kill your Salah that will kill your your
opportunity to get close to Allah subah
Waal that's why from the Dua that we
that we make
we ask Allah subhana to purify us from
the sins and from the mistakes that
cause our duas to be cut
off and that cause the anger of Allah
subhah tal to descend upon us if you
keep on with a bad habit if you keep on
with a sin I want you to think about
this Subhan
Allah wasallam tells us that at one
point you become defined by your sin
just just like at one point you become
defined by your good deed in bukari the
prophet Sall alai wasallam said that a
person would tell the truth so much he
would be so
truthful till he's written with Allah
subhana as a not that he told the truth
one time this is a truthful person this
is someone who's truthful in his faith
and then a person would lie so much not
that he told a lie here or there until
he's written with Allah subhana tala as
a your name name with Allah is a liar
Subhan Allah you become defined by your
traits you become defined by your Deeds
so the second thing dear brothers and
sisters again is that an ounce of
prevention is better than a pound of
cure stop yourself before you fall into
those situations number three I just
typed these up by the way so I'm using
my iPhone I'm sorry number three anyone
ever heard of the acronym
kiss nobody
keep it simple stupid that's what it
means now because some brothers always
get offended whenever I say that inas I
changed it to keep it simple Sunnah just
to make it okay for everybody some
brother's like brother you should have
said keep it simple
smart don't insult your brothers okay
keep it simple Sunnah we can all agree
upon
that wasam tells us that when a person
goes to his grave and that he would it's
not that he's going to want to come back
and he's going to want to establish he's
going to wish he would have a moment to
come back and establish and liberate
Palestine those types of things or you
know build a new Masjid and those types
of things yes those are great things I'm
not saying those are bad things but when
you go to your grave what are the things
that you're praying for what are the
things that you miss what do you really
want he would come back and wish he
could just offer two raas just two more
raas so that Allah subhana might forgive
him with those two Ras find something
something small in your life that you're
capable of doing and stick with it
eventually that will accumulate
eventually that might be the cause of
you entering into Jenna Subhan Allah
when a person finds something small that
he can do I can't change the situation
in Palestine right now I can at least
try to change it right now in my own's
Community can at least do something here
you know Subhan Allah in most Mass
Whenever there are the the new Board
elections and the new committee
elections and things of that sort you
have like 30 committees that are formed
right and brothers bring out their nice
agendas I don't know the politics of any
of mass here by the way none so you
can't accuse me of being being involved
in anything here but usually what
happens in every M Masjid Brothers bring
out their long agendas this is what
we're going to do this is what we're
going to do this is what we're going to
do three months
later wait I'm on a committee you know
what are you talking about I didn't know
that people completely forget what they
committed to that's why the prophet said
what is narrated that the most beloved
ACC to Allah
subh you know the most consistent of
them even if they're very very very
small I'm GNA give you guys a story
actually do I have time I have time to
tell the story inshallah I'll give you
guys the
story he wrote a book
about the virtues of
iMed iMed at the time of at at the peak
of his life life before the FNA started
even after the FNA started was the most
famous man in the Muslim um hands down
fact that IM says this was the largest
janaza that took place in a matter of
one day he died and he was buried in the
same day you had 1.3 million people come
and pray janaza on him that's more than
the pope more than Pope John Paul with
all the all the media and holding his
body Out imagine how popular and beloved
he
wased used to go around to his students
used to go around seeking Knowledge from
other people wrapping his face so people
wouldn't notice him very humble person
cuz he didn't want people to put him on
a pedestal one day he was traveling to a
sham to Syria what's what we would call
Syria today but of course it's Syria
Palestine Lebanon and Jordan a sham and
he tells the story and of course back
then you know you don't iMed didn't have
a Facebook page you didn't know how he
looked he walks into a Masjid to spend
the night and the haris the guard of the
Masjid tells him get out Majid's closing
he said but I have nowhere to go I don't
know where to go he said get out get out
m is closing he didn't sit there and say
by the way I'm IM Ahmed no he didn't
play that
card just get out so iMed picked up his
stuff and he slept on the steps of the
Masid the haris came and started hey
move go you can't even sleep here go
move away M like where am I going to go
I don't know anything this man not
knowing who he's messing with picks up
iMed by his legs and he drags him to the
middle of the street and drops
him iMed is like
okay then what happens a baker who owns
a bakery right across the street he
comes to IM Ahmed he says you can come
sleep in my bakery tonight I'm be doing
some work you can come sleep here so he
opens the way for him iMed observes this
man he's sitting there
and he's you know putting the dough
together and he's putting in the oven
and everything that he does while he's
kneading the dough he's going suban
alhamdulillah Subhan
alhamdulillah subh the entire night he's
making T IM ahmed's shocked usually
people get tired of T after two minutes
three minutes shocked this guy's
constantly making T at his workplace
he's not sitting in the just at his
workplace he has nothing better to do
right back then they didn't have little
Wayne Orum you know or or Jun jamad PRI
what we know he is now right he didn't
have his iPod or anything Subhan
alhamdulillah constantly iMed goes how
long have you been in this situation he
says what situation making to Allah
subhah waala says my whole life this is
what I do
he says what have you seen from Allah
subhanahu waala as a result of all this
that you make all these days that you
make obviously J and imagine tells us
each one of these is planting trees and
mansions in Jenna you can imagine what
this man has with Allah subhana wa tala
talk about chains right but he
says I never made Dua to Allah for
anything except that he answered it ahed
said
[Music]
Subhan you never made Dua to Allah
except he gave it to you he repeated I
never made Dua to Allah subhana tala for
anything except that he gave it to me he
said except for one thing Ahmed said
what is that he
saided to have a chance to see IM Ahmed
iMed is brought to tears he embraced
this man but then he said Subhan
Allah he said here is
Allah he brought you Ahmed dragging him
by his feet to your bakery if it wasn't
for you I could have slept in peace at
the Masjid Subhan Allah think about
that he made use of his time how much
time do you kill at a red light going to
work how much time do you kill in front
of the TV how much time do you waste of
your life that you you could be planting
trees and palaces in Jenna that's
changed keep it simple Sunnah have have
a w have a w not one of these WS that's
made up by some sheh somewhere that
you're going to be doing no go to the
sun of the messengeri wasam and that's
sufficient find the things that he used
to do on a daily basis sallallah alaihi
wasallam and incorporate that in your
life so that's number three keep it
simple
Sunnah number four think progress why do
I say this is so important how many
times do we see a
sister that says I don't think I can
wear hijab anymore or I'm not going to
wear hijab because I'd feel like a
hypocrite because I don't even pray
right yeah I've seen it a lot I I feel
like a hypocrite I feel Too Faced when I
wear hijab because I know that I'm not
really what people think of me we've
seen that a lot I don't even pray my
five times my five prayers on time I
just I can't do this I'd be a hypocrite
C Shan gets you he makes you think
backwards are the brothers in my
community who always do this let me tell
you what the greatest cop out of not
going to Hajj is but I work
inam how can I use my money and I can
and go to Hajj and then come back and
work in Haram so instead of getting rid
of
Haram I'm just not going to go to Hajj
convenient thinking instead of fixing my
internal life I'm just never going to
wear hijab right or how many times have
you heard this question is it halal to
fast if you don't pray any of you heard
that question before a lot of times lot
of times I hear it all the time and you
know some that say no that person should
fear Allah he's not even a Muslim he
shouldn't be fasting he should start
praying first these types of
things why don't you start praying and
add that so that your fast can become
validated Subhan Allah Think Progress
don't think backwards Shan always pulls
you this way I didn't mean you by the
way it just happened the phone happened
to be coming at the same timean always
pulls you this way and Allah subhana
tala always calls you forward make
progress the most profound lecture I've
ever heard in my life Arabic or English
I was going through my old uh tapes
cassette tapes by the way I don't like I
don't listen to lectures in English
anymore honestly I can't Subhan Allah I
love listening lectures in Arabic I just
that's my own personal inclination
there's one person who always does it
for me
one lecture I found he did this in the '
80s called Islam means progress It's My
cassette I popped it in my car
alhamdulillah I don't drive a new car so
I still have a cassette player popped it
in my car Islam means progress one of
the greatest lectures I've ever heard in
my life if you can find it online find
it I don't know if it's been transcribed
or it's been put in an MP3 Islam means
progress number four is to think forward
number five and this is my last thought
inshallah tala um because I promised you
I'd finish on time and I've been trying
to be good with that
recently uh one time a convert two years
ago um he converted to Islam in the
amarat actually in the UAE British
convert and Subhan Allah he was
reflecting on the manners of the Muslims
and he said something very profound and
I saw it repeated on on Facebook a few
times and things of that sort he said on
your way to becoming a good Muslim don't
become a crappy human
being Subhan Allah
becoming a more religious person should
not make you a jerk it should not make
your character worse it should not make
you more condescending towards people it
should make you make you more humble it
should make you more loving it should
make you more compassionate it should
make you more carrying don't become a
terrible person on your way to becoming
a good Muslim it starts off just as I
was saying with your
parents you know Subhan allaham tells us
what what's going to be judged on the
day of judgement
your that's the heaviest thing that's
the heaviest thing your character and
when you have nasty manners that is a
reflection that on the inside you are
actually devoid of IM because if we look
at the woman who the prophet sallai
wasallam mentioned who prayed a lot of
prayers fasted her fasts did all the
rituals did all the good
things but she was abusive to her
neighbor let me put you let me put this
in perspective for you and we shouldn't
be judging other people the prophet was
making an example of this woman we it's
not our job to do this but let me put
let me put this in perspective for you
you know a person who was extremely
religious and foremost and coming to the
Masjid all the time and doing all theas
if they have Bad Manners if they have a
bad attitude the most you would say is
you'd say that person might get called
out on the day of judgment for their bad
attitude but you know alhamdulillah they
still do this they still do that and
we're supposed to make excuses for other
people we're not that's our job we make
excuses for other people we just don't
make excuses for our ourselves but the
prophet sallai wasallam said what about
this woman what did he say someone tell
me no one remembers this Hadith the
woman who abused her
neighbor who was abusive to her
neighbors with her tongue She didn't go
beat them up she just was abusive to her
neighbors with her tongue She prayed she
fasted she did what she was supposed to
do from a ritualistic standpoint what
did say about her brothers or
sisters she's in Hellfire he said
something else too
wasam
said there is no good inside of her
she's in
Hellfire think about
that there is nothing inside of her
that's
good all of that was was
superficial what really counts is when
your inner beauty changes that will
reflect with your outer beauty too
that's why taught us when we look in the
mirror we say Allah we ask for change
every time we look in the mirror when
you change your clothes you ask Allah
for a different type of change what do
you
say the way you beautified my appearance
you know you gave me these clothes you
allowed me to change into this new pair
of clothes you created me you know with
with some form of symmetry what do you
say
next correct beautify my inside so we
ask Allah subhanahu wa tala to make us
amongst those who experience real change
who search for guidance and who are
Guided by his Mercy