- Seminars and Lectures abroad / ٠01 Masjid At-Taqwa- Morning lectures 1
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- Masjid At-Taqwa- part 1
The secret of existence:
Dear brothers, man sometimes tends to go into details, and in other times he tends to be concerned only in headlines of matters; however the wisdom lies in having a balance between the two tendencies.
Psychologists define a serious disease as: "consumed in details"
Man comes to this life, and he makes a living from trading, industry or businesses of all kinds and he usually faces problems at his work. Following these problems down to the tiny details will consume him and he will forget thereof the secret and the purpose of his existence.
He will forget that he exists to worship Allah, and that this worship is the price for paradise.
He forgets that he exists in order to reach paradise that is as big as the heavens and the earth.
It is said:
Not every smart person is prudent.
Man might be a scientist in nuclear physics, given it is the highest specialty on earth, yet if his knowledge doesn't lead him to Allah and to the secret and the purpose of his existence, he is not prudent simply because he dispenses with the hereafter.
What does the word "forever" mean?
In fact we should pay attention to the exact meanings of terms.
We have number 1, but if we put 3 zeros next to it, it will become one thousand, and if we put 6 zeros next to it, it will become one million.
Now if we put next to it zeros that can fill the distance between myself and the wall, it will become a very big number.
Now if we put next to it zeros that can fill the distance between earth and sun (given the distance is 156 million Kilometers), it will be a numerous number too.
Yet, any finite number is just 0 for the infinity.
Now if we put next to it zeros that can fill the distance between the earth and other galaxies, it is just 0 for infinity.
Our galaxy "Milky way" is spiral and it is small comparing to other thousands of millions of galaxies, and our solar system is just a dot in this galaxy.
Who do you think you are?
You are nothing.
If we don’t pay heed to perpetuity then we are heedless by all means.
﴾ "Verily, the losers are they who lose themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection.﴿
﴾ That is the evident loss.﴿
Narrated in the prophetic relic:
"Verify, man will face shame on the Day of Judgment to such an extent that he will implore God to send him to Hell as a better alternative"
This reflects but remorse.
You are created to be admitted in paradise, and the means to achieve that are in your hands.
﴾ Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope.﴿
Allah doesn't burden you beyond your scope, and as for women, He allows you to get married.
﴾ two or three, or four﴿
Allah doesn't prevent you from owning money, for you may earn your living.
Every desire in man but has a lawful way to fulfill it.
Desires are like gasoline, and though gasoline is inflammable, in the car it is placed in a confined container, and it runs in confined tubes, so if it is ignited rightly in the engine, it will produce beneficial movement and you may take your family in Eid to Jordon if you want.
The movement of the car is the outcome of controlled combustions.
Much in the same line, if man's desires are controlled according to Allah's Method, fulfilling them lawfully is permissible.
The proof is in the following Ayah:
﴾ And who is more astray than one who follows his own lusts, without guidance from Allah?﴿
Scholars of Tafseer considered what is called “Mafhoom Al Mukhalafah” (It is a meaning which is derived from the words of the text in such a way that it diverges from the explicit meaning) in deriving Islamic laws from some Ayat.
Mafhoom Al Mukhalafah to the previous Ayah is: He, who follows his own lust according to Allah's Method, is religiously sound.
Namely, if you long for money, you may work.
If you long for women, you may get married.
If you long for a high rank, you may offer good deeds and Allah will raise high your rank.
﴾ And raised high your fame?﴿
Man needs to fulfill three needs: the first need is eating and drinking so that he may survive.
﴾ And eat thereof as you both wish, but approach not this tree ﴿
There is wide spectrum of lawful meat to eat, and Allah forbids only swine.
There is also wide spectrum of lawful drinks, and Allah forbids only alcoholic drinks.
﴾ And eat thereof as you both wish, but approach not this tree ﴿
This means that the forbidden things are few comparing with the permissible things.
When man comes to life and realizes the secret and purpose of his existence, he will find no higher purpose to achieve, and mundane life will be nothing to him comparing with the Hereafter.
A scholar, who worked on the interpretation of the Quran that is placed on the margin of it, lived 130 years.
Living 130 years and living one year is the same since all human beings will die eventually; this is a fact of life.
Dear brothers, your contribution to life is what really counts not the number of years you live.
According to psychologists there are different kinds of lives: First there is the lifespan man lives and this is the most trivial one amongst all, second there is the life of man's brain, third there is the life of man's emotions and many other kinds of lives, however the life man spends in worshiping Allah is the highest in rank.
A man passed by a village, he found a cemetery there.To his surprise he read on the gravestones that this person lived one year, the other two years and so forth.
He wondered about those short lives of the people there and the answer was: we put the number of years man lives after he repents to Allah and follows His Path.
The eternal life is coming, and no one can deny death.
A week ago, a female relative of mine died.
The grave in this country is different from the grave in Damascus, for it is a big rectangle hole in which they placed her and in the hole there are two small walls and five tiles, then they fill the hole with sand up to 70 centimeters.
This woman used to live in a 400 square meter house, and she owned two cars, not to mention celebrating life, traveling and touring in so many countries where her sons, daughters, sons in law and daughters in law live.
Wisdom lies in preparing for the hour of death.
Who can say: "I will not die"?
…and know that the Angel of Death has passed over us to reach others, and will pass over others to reach us.
When someone dies in Damascus, they put his/her obituary on the walls in the streets.
Once I asked a clerk in the funeral office how many people die every day in Damascus? He answered: 100 every day, the obituaries of 50 of them are put on walls.
When someone dies, people will read his obituary where the names of his family members are mentioned and where his career is mentioned as well whether he is a doctor, an engineer, a merchant or a business man:don't you think that one day your obituary will be put on walls to be read by others.
Preparing for the hour of death reflects your prudence, , reasoning and excellence.
Preparing for the hour of death is easy, all you have to do is to worship Allah and offer good deeds.
Don't underestimate a good word you say here and there, a smile you give to a friend, showing mercy to your wife, being a good father, perfecting and mastering your career and so many other good deeds, for they all are considered as Sadaqah.
Most people live the past and the present, but living the future is what counts (in the sense of preparing for death that is in the future).
Man usually sings his praises and when asked about his career he goes on and on talking about being for example an engineer and studying in America, and he indulges to the full talking about his past, but no one talks about the future.
The future is serious because there is a serious incident in it (i.e. death).
When someone's contract is finished in the gulf countries and he is deported from there after stamping his passport that he can't come back to the gulf countries again, he will panic.
Similarly, one day we will all take a one way ticket out of life.
Have you not seen a funeral before? The deceased is a person, who used to have a wife, children, a brother, acquaintances and a career, but his relatives put him in a grave and leave.
Hence, preparing for this hour reflects your smartness, prudence, reasoning, success and prosperity.
Keep in mind that you will not be deprived of any desire you have as long as you fulfill it lawfully according to Islam.
Though marriage is an intercourse between the husband and wife, there is nothing to be ashamed of since it is a lawful marriage, and people celebrate it, honk their cars' horns and express their happiness.
Islam is a great balanced rational religion, thus it never overlooks your needs.
You need food to maintain your own health.
﴾ And eat and drink but waste not by extravagance﴿
You need a wife to maintain man race's existence
﴾ two or three, or four﴿
You need to excel so that people will point at you and say: He is an engineer; he is a physician and so forth.
Fulfilling the three needs lawfully will make you remembered by others.
Why do we not take a pause before we die and put ourselves into account and ask: Where am I heading? Is my career lawful?
Some people make a career of making backgammon because it is widely demanded by customers, but is it a lawful career?
"Whoever plays backgammon it is as if he puts his hand in the port and pig's blood"
Even if it is widely demanded by customers, you should follow Allah's Method.
Man should not be keen on just selling and buying without paying attention to what is Haram and what is Halal.
The believer should be keen on what pleases Allah the Almighty.
When you (including me) are older than 40 years old, do you think the years remain to live are longer?
Most likely they are not.
Of course there are exceptions and some people live more than eighty, but still what is left of years is not longer than 40.
Life passes quickly and one of us might say: I was just a kid yesterday, going to school, wearing a uniform, having high grades and bringing joy to the family by my achievements as they ask me to read Al Fatiha, after I memorized it, in front of every guest we have.
I once saw a small kid in the airport whose family used more than one diaper so that he won't mess himself on the flight, so I said to myself: this kid might turn out to be a minister one day, and he will forget that he was once in diapers.
This is life.
Live the future because leaving life when man's hour comes is the most serious incident in the future, given you will leave everything to nothing.
There is no house, no car, no party, no tourism and no tasty food in the grave.
No one dares to deny death, thus wisdom is not only in believing in death but rather it is in preparing for that hour.
Everyone believes in death, but only some people prepare for it by being straight on Allah's Path and by offering good deeds.
Allah doesn't deprive you of anything at all (as long as you do it according to Allah's Laws).
Each creature will die, only Allah, who has the Most of Pride and Omnipotence, will stay forever.
No matter how long the night lasts,
the dawn shall certainly come.
No matter how long man lives,
he must die and be buried.
*********
Every man, no matter how long he has been safe,
shall be carried to his grave.
So if you carry a deceased man to his tomb
know that one day you will be carried
The father of a friend of mine was very rich, and he ownedmany houses which were worth hundreds of millions in the richest neighborhood in Damascus. He used to receive very expensive blankets made of mohair wool every winter from France, given this kind of wool is very light yet it keeps you warm.
He lived extravagantly.
When he died, I had to attend the funeral to be beside my friend. They bought a grave for him, but upon opening it, they found it was full of black sewage water, and they had no choice, so they asked his son what to do? He approved putting his father in the grave because there was no solution for that black water.
I thought to myself, this man moved from a 450 square meters house with all its antiques and vases which were tall enough to reach the ceiling and with all his money, to a grave that was full of black sewage water.
I couldn't eat properly for a whole week after that.
Your success lies in preparing for this hour.
Strive to make your grave a longsighted piece of paradise and beware of making it a hole of hellfire.
Hence, following the religion is a serious matter related to your destiny which might be an eternal happiness or everlasting torment.
﴾ There is not one of you but will pass over it (Hell); this is with your Lord; a Decree which must be accomplished.﴿
The Ayah is very delicate and if you misinterpret it, it might mean that we will all go to hellfire.
Pay attention:
﴾ There is not one of you﴿
Using the word "not" means that you are all included, however scholars said: "Worood" is an Arabic word that indicates the meaning of passing by something not being admitted in it.
If you are the minister of interior of your country and you receive the minister of interior of another country as a guest, you give him a tour in your country to show him how advanced it is. You might take him to the prison and show it to him, but this doesn't mean that he is a prisoner. This is Worood, namely to visit only.
﴾ There is not one of you but will pass over it (Hell);﴿
Allah's Beautiful Names are effectuated in the worldly life entirely except for the Name Al Adl (The Just) for it is partially effectuated in the worldly life.
Accordingly, Allah might reward some of the charitable people in the worldly life to encourage others to offer good deeds. On the other hand, Allah punishes some of the bad people in the worldly life to deter others from breaking .
The full justice will be effectuated fully on The Day of Resurrection.
The believers will pass by hellfire in order to see Allah's absolute Justice in those who were behind the misery of others in the worldly life and those who kill people day and night (one of them might kill half million civilians and he would smile on TV as if he is a hero, given he is not bombing another army but rather he is bombing civilians with missiles, air raids and canons).
﴾ There is not one of you but will pass over it (Hell); this is with your Lord; a Decree which must be accomplished.﴿
O Allah, we beseech You to show us the way of righteousness together with those to whom You showed it; and to give us good health together with those whom You have healed; and to be our Protector, as You are of those whom You protect; and to bless what You have bestowed on us; and to save us from the affliction that You have decreed –for You rule with justice and You are never judged.
O Allah give us and don’t deprive us, honor us and don’t humiliate us, choose us and don’t abandon us, and please us and be pleased with us. O Allah bless and grant peace to our Master Muhammad, his folks and companions.
