Loading summary
Transcript1 lines
- [00:03]
A
My brothers and sisters, some people reject the Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. Some people reject the Hadith. If we reject the Hadith, we will not be able to achieve contentment because we won't be able to practice Islam. Islam has been brought to us by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. He is the source of everything. The revelation that came to us is divided into two one, the verses that were recited that are words of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Two, the detailed explanations, the words of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has asked us to follow. Let's listen to this beautiful verse of Surah an NISA, verse number 65. Nay, they are not considered true believers until they make you and your decision final regarding the disputes between them. And later they don't feel any narrowness of their hearts regarding that particular decision. What this means is whatever disputes we have, the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him's decision is final. This verse is one of the verses that all the scholars mention when it comes to Hujjiyatu Sunnah, which means the validity of the Sunnah of the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam. The fact that we must adopt what the messenger has said. If he has said something and declared something, it is considered a declaration for me too. So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam's decision and what he has said regarding disputes between the people of the Ummah, that is final. You're not supposed to feel in your heart any narrowness regarding that decision. That is what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says. So my brothers and sisters, those who don't accept the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. His statements, his words and his teachings, they cannot call themselves Muslim because they haven't believed in the second part of the Shahada. The first part is I bear witness there is none worthy of worship besides Allah. The second part is and I bear witness that Muhammad, peace be upon him, is the messenger of Allah. How can we say that we are Muslimeen when we haven't accepted the statements of the messenger who is the messenger of Islam, Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam. If you're looking for contentment, you must definitely adopt what the Prophet, peace be upon him, has said. So this is a very important verse that I started with today and I continue to another verse with a similar meaning. Verse number 80, Allah Subhanahu Wa ta'ala says, whoever has followed the messenger has definitely followed Allah. How's that, Subhanallah? You want contentment? Follow the Messenger. Peace be upon him, his way, his style, his habits, and whatever he has brought to us in terms of teachings. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us a deep understanding. And this is why to achieve contentment, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about how important it is to ponder over the verses of the Quran. Let's admit many of us are guilty of reading the Quran without understanding it as much as we will get a reward for every letter that we do read. Even if it is without understanding, there is an equivalent reward, if not greater, to actually understand the Quran, put it into practice and teach it to others. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us a greater reward. Contentment is definitely achieved by recitation of the Quran. Without a doubt, greater contentment is achieved by trying to understand what is meant by the Quran, putting it into practice and conveying it to others. Your right and my right regarding the Quran is not only for us to recite its verses in the month of Ramadan. How many of us read the Quran and we've recited it and we cover from COVID to cover, we have actually read it so much. But how many of us have actually gone into its meanings, put them into practice, conveyed them to others, learnt and got the answers of questions that we might have found while we were reading. We got the answers from the experts. How many of us have done that? If you are to spend time with the Quran, you will achieve contentment. The Qur'an is the word of the owner of contentment. If you'd like contentment, you definitely have to study that word. You have to recite it. You have to listen to it as well. Listen with concentration. If you listen with concentration, you will achieve so much more than you imagine. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us goodness. Verse number 82, Allah says, Are they not going to consider deeply and study deeply the verses of the Quran? May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us contentment thereafter. Verse number 86 of the same Surah Surah. Allah teaches us how to achieve contentment in another beautiful way. Interactions with one another. The first point of interaction is supposed to be a greeting. Listen to what Allah says. When you are greeted with a greeting, then respond with a better greeting, or at least reply it with an equal greeting. For indeed, Allah takes account of everything. How beautiful is that? The importance of greeting Greet in a better way. If someone has greeted you in a lousy way, perhaps they may not have been concentrating. You know, they may not have greeted you properly. If you greet back in a better way, the chances of you being content far greater because you have a clean heart. If someone just said assalamu alaykum and you said wa alaikum Osalaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh, doesn't it show genuineness? Doesn't it show a clean heart? But if someone were to say assalamu alaykum and you didn't even reply, it is sinful. Secondly, the one who commences with the greeting is actually free from pride. He will have greater contentment. What are you losing by greeting people? May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make it easy for us. Yes, some people are toxic. When they are toxic and they have harmed you and they continue to harm you, you may want to just greet them and that's it. No extra discussion. But the greeting is something you should not avoid or you should not stay away from. Learn to greet and learn to respond to the greeting in an even better way. If you are greeted, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us contentment, and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala help us all. Then I move on to verse number 112 of the same surah where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about the various levels of sin. If you'd like contentment, don't ever accuse someone else of a sin they haven't committed. If you do that, you will lose contentment and you may even lose the hereafter completely. Listen to what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says. Verse number 112, Surah an Nisa. Whoever has earned a sin and then accuses someone who is innocent of the sin, they've thrown it onto them. Allah says they have indeed engaged in a huge slander and a grave sin. A grave sin. Clear sin. May Allah protect us. One is to sin. If a person has sinned, they can seek forgiveness of Allah. Allah will forgive them. But what is more important is, or what is worse, should I say, is when a person has sinned and they accuse someone else of the sin, or they accuse an innocent person of a sin that that person did not commit, in that particular case, you are doomed. Many of us are suffering today because we have soiled our mouths with that which is absolutely dirty and filthy. Regarding someone else, that is not true. Maintain silence. Keep quiet. It's better for you if you don't have something good to say. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, says, keep quiet. Whoever believes in Allah and the last day should only utter that which is upright and beneficial or remain silent. That's the hadith of the Prophet, Sallallahu alaihi wasallam. It's amazing. If we are to follow this hadith, I promise you we will achieve contentment. How many of us lose sleep because of a statement we've uttered? Because of perhaps something we've said on social media, and then we regret it. It's too late. Sometimes. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us. Never ever accuse people, never ever slander and falsely accuse those who are innocent of a sin, because it will come back to haunt you. And that's what we are talking about, the lack of contentment. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us contentment. Ameen Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about resolving problems and matters. He speaks about marital discord and he speaks about how important it is to resolve marital discord. And then he tells us, always remember that to resolve a problem is better than to break the marriage subhanallah. And to resolve problems with anyone, any member of the Ummah is always the best thing to do. And indeed, resolving the matter is always better. Amazing. What Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us. It is difficult. That's why it is better. If it were easy, perhaps the reward wouldn't be so big. You know, when Allah tells you if you do something, you will earn jannah, that means that particular thing is probably very difficult to achieve. When you resolve problems, Allah says it's better for you. Your contentment, your happiness. Long term, you don't know. Yes, it may be very difficult. I must declare my brothers and sisters that divorce is permissible. But as a last resort, the breakup of a relationship is permissible. But as a last resort, it is still better to resolve if you can. If you really cannot, then respectfully, respectfully, you may terminate a relationship respectfully. You may go your own ways. Because in that particular way, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will protect us and our offspring from that which is toxic. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless every one of us. Remember, when we separate, perhaps if we do so respectfully, we will still achieve contentment. My brothers and sisters, divorce is taking place more than ever before. More than half those who are getting married are actually divorcing at some point, some within the first few years of marriage. Is it because people don't know why they are getting married? Is it because people are not prepared to sacrifice? Is it because we are focused on something we are not supposed to be focused upon? Is it because we haven't developed our character and conduct? These are questions that scream for answers. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us goodness. Allah says that yes, divorce may happen as a last resort. Divorce will happen. It is happening. But when it does happen, be even more respectful after the divorce than you were within the marriage. Because there are rights that you need to fulfill after divorce that are so crucial to your contentment. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us happiness. Someone had a bad marriage. Unfortunately they tried everything and then they divorced. When you divorce, you divorced in order to gain contentment. If you don't play your cards right thereafter, you will lose contentment in a bigger way than what was in the marriage. In that marriage that didn't work. So what are these rules and regulations? Number one, be very respectful. Number two, don't utter bad words about your ex. Number three, if there are children involved, make sure the custody and access is sorted out in a fair way. The person is biologically the father or the mother. They have rights. Remember to fulfill those rights with respect. If you don't, you will lose your contentment. You will lose your sleep, you will lose your health, you will lose the pleasure of the Almighty and there is no way that you are going to succeed. Don't let innocent children suffer and don't bad mouth your ex. Look what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says if you finally and ultimately separate the two of you. If you have separated, ultimately Allah says He will provide for both of you from his virtue, from his mercy, from his kindness, from his goodness. He will provide for both of you. For indeed his provision is very broad. He is very wise. Subhanallah so Allah says we'll cater for both. But you need to be respectful, you need to be kind. You need to be very, very mindful of the fact that this person was your spouse at one stage. You will not achieve anything by uttering bad ugly words thereafter. And trying to prove who was wrong will not help you at all. Remember this, these are some golden words. And I think many people lose their contentment after a divorce. Yet the whole reason of the divorce was in order to be content. The reason is they go wrong in playing the cards after the divorce and they don't understand. It's Allah and Allah's plan that will grant you contentment, nothing else. May Allah subhanahu Wa ta'ala grant us goodness. Yes. If you need to say something or bear witness for someone respectfully, privately to say this is what happened. That's why I actually ended up divorcing. Sometimes you might want to be marrying again and your future spouse might ask you what went wrong. It is their right to ask you if they want to know, they might want to hear your side of the story and they might want to find out the other side as well. It needs to be presented respectfully. I would prefer if someone were to say the two of us were reasonable people, we didn't get along, we were both good, but we had different likes or dislikes or habits, etc. The nature was different and you say something respectful. But if a person were to insult and if a person were to become very low in their character and conduct, they would lose contentment. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Thereafter in Suratun Nisa also reminds us of something interesting regarding prayer. We pray. I'd like to hope we pray five times a day because we're Muslim. If you're a Muslim, you should be praying five times a day. But my brothers and sisters, when we pray, don't be lazy. Don't get up in a lazy fashion. Sometimes I've corrected myself and I still keep correcting myself when I think to myself we say to each other, hang on, I've got 15 minutes. Let me quickly pray and I'll be back. The word quickly is out of sync. It should not be there. Why should you say let me quickly pray, I'll be back in a minute. Don't say that. When it comes to Allah, take your time, pray. It might be the last prayer that you ever gonna get a chance to pray. Subhanallah. So let's try and word our things correctly. Don't say, okay, let me quickly dash into the Masjid. I'll be back. Why? It's the house of Allah. Take your time. Don't use those words. Even if you are in a rush, don't use those words. You can go and quickly come back. But don't say I'm going to quickly go because you may lose contentment. Contentment is found in Salah. Contentment is found in the house of Allah. Contentment is found in the obedience of Allah. If you were to rush through that, you would be compromising that contentment. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in verse number 142 of Surah An Nisa Allah is describing the hypocrites and he says when they Stand up for prayer. They stand vast, very, very lazily. They are lazy, they are standing by the way and it's like a big burden on them. That's hypocrisy. Stay far from hypocrisy. Don't let salah be a burden. Many of us, when our children watch us fulfill salah, they don't want to read salah. The reason is they see us lazy when it comes to salah. It's like a chore, it's so burdensome. But if they saw us smiling happily, getting up, beautiful, getting up for salah and you know, being with such good character, with a good expression on your face, your children will want to fulfill the salah because they know mum is always happy when she's with Allah, dad is always smiling when he's going to the masjid, etc. They will want that contentment as well. So let's learn to correct the expressions on our faces and we will achieve contentment. Here Allah is saying the hypocrites are those whom they don't remember Allah much. What do they do? They don't remember Allah much. They want to show off to the people and they want to show off rather than showing off to Allah to the wrong people. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us contentment. It's a very beautiful point. We move on to the next surah, Surah al Maidah and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about the importance of halal, halal and haram to make sure that you consume that which is halal. If you would like contentment, stay away from that which is prohibited. How do you expect happiness, contentment and goodness when what you are putting in your mouth is unclean, impure and filled with the displeasure of Allah? So this is why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in many verses in Surah al Maidah, beginning with verse number four, Allah says, they are asking you what is permissible for them to consume. Tell them that all that which is pure and good is permissible. Amazing. This verse has a double meaning. On one hand, Allah is saying that which is pure and good is permissible. And he is also saying whatever is permissible is definitely pure and good. Amazing. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keep us from those who are really keen on knowing what is halal, what is haram. Because the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, says there will come a time close to the end when people will not be bothered whether they are eating from halal or haram and eating from halal or haram is not only about whether the animal was slaughtered in the proper way, but it's also connected to whether you earned your money in a pure way and whether there was deception in it or not. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us contentment through the consumption of the food that we we eat. Rather have less that is halal than to have more that is haram and forbidden. Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us something else which will also bring about much contentment. Sometimes we get angry with people, we're upset with people, we dislike people, and we become unjust with those people because of our dislike for them. Allah warns us in this regard. Verse number 8 of Surat Al Maidah. Listen to how beautifully he words it. O you who believe, stand firm for justice. Stand firm for justice for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And don't let your dislike for a people lead you to injustice against them. For that reason, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us. Allah says be just, for it is better regarding or it is better for your relationship with Allah. When you are just, it is better regarding the taqwa that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has instructed you to achieve. And Allah says, be conscious of Allah at all times. Remember, Allah is watching you. When you dislike someone, it doesn't mean you need to peddle bad about them. It doesn't mean you should be unjust and lie about them simply because you dislike them. Whether you like them or not, you must be just. We go back to a story of Shureh al Qadhi. He was a judge at the time of Ali IBN Abi Talib. And there was a certain discrepancy between Ali and a Jewish man. And Shurayh knew that Ali radiallahu Anhu was actually speaking the truth. But due to evidence, he ruled in favor of the Jewish man. As a result, the Jewish man actually entered the fold of Islam when he saw the justice that even against the Khalifa, there was actually a ruling made. Which means because these people had actually ruled in favor of someone perhaps they may have disliked, I've actually now embraced this whole faith because it proves that no way they are just people. Imagine our justice against our own friends. We are failing. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us a deep understanding. And may he grant us goodness. Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in verse number 27 makes mention of the story of Adam, the children of Adam, what happened with them they lost contentment because they became jealous. Jealousy makes you lose contentment. Remember, one of the sons of Adam became jealous of the other. As a result, he lost contentment. Allah says, recite the verses of the children of Adam. Recite the story in these verses of the children of Adam, Habil and Qabil, Abel and Cain. Where Subhanallah, one of them had actually said that he would kill the other because the sacrifice that he had made was accepted and the one from Cain was not accepted. This caused a great disturbance in mankind. It caused murder and lack of contentment, which resulted in great crime. Remember, be happy with what Allah has bestowed upon you. Be happy for others. Don't become jealous when you're happy for others and what Allah has given them. Allah will grant you contentment. It is a very difficult quality to achieve. As Muslims, we are instructed to help save lives. If you save a life, it is equivalent to having saved humanity at large. And if you were to take the life of an innocent person away, it is equivalent to having destroyed entire humanity. If you'd like contentment, learn to help people. Learn to give people such service that would save their lives. We have doctors, we have so many others who have dedicated their lives to improving the lives of others, if not saving their lives in totality. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us the ability to help people improve their lives and to save lives. So when you save a life, you will actually achieve so much of comfort and contentment. Imagine a person drowning and you happened to go there and save them. No matter who they are, no matter what religion they follow, no matter how they think, forget about everything. The fact that you saved a life, you will feel the contentment from the Almighty because Allah created that life too. And you gave importance to life that was given by the same one who gave your life. That is what it is. So in the story of Abel and Cain, in the Quran in Surah an Nisa where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about how one of them killed the other because they became jealous. And remember, we addressed the matter of jealousy and we spoke about how if you'd like contentment, you need to eradicate jealousy. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Thereafter, says the man who committed the murder regretted it. And Allah says, we then prescribed upon them, whoever saves a single life is equivalent to the one who has saved humanity at large. And this is a beautiful instruction from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us these words in Order for us to achieve contentment by pondering over the reason of it. If you think of why Allah says by saving a life, you have saved humanity at large, you will definitely achieve contentment. Like I said, you have saved a life given by the giver of your own life. Subhanallah, that is verse number 32 of this beautiful Surah, Surah al Maidah, not Surah al Nisa Surah al Maidah. Then we move on to verse number 79 of the same surah surah al Maidah, where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us how important it is to remind people when they are going wrong, to remind them in a beautiful way that they are going wrong, to correct people. That is also something beautiful, my brothers and sisters, to achieve contentment. Never feel bad when you are corrected. Because if you feel bad when you are corrected, you are never going to succeed in life. You will be doing things wrong and nothing's going to happen to improve that. So how will you achieve contentment when you feel bad? Imagine someone saying one plus one is five and you're busy telling them no, it's two, and they get so angry with you, they want to beat you up. It would be foolish. We are doing the same thing in our own lives where sometimes we're making big mistakes. Those who are there to correct us with kindness, with goodness, or sometimes in whatever way they felt they would correct us, we felt bad about it. So how would we achieve contentment, growth, happiness and success? It's not going to come for this reason. Allah says not only should you be from among those who doesn't feel bad when they're corrected, but you should learn to have the courage to correct people in a beautiful way where they have gone wrong, no matter what Allah says. The previous nations were destroyed because they didn't correct each other when they were going wrong. Allah speaks of a previous nation and he says they were destroyed because they didn't prevent each other from vice and from evil, from that which is bad. That's why they were destroyed. So remember this beautiful advice from Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. We move on in surat al Maidah again to the topic of halal Allah. Subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us how important it is to consume that which the name of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was mentioned upon. And this is speaking about halal food. And Allah says, verse number 88, Surat Al Maidah, eat from that which Allah has bestowed upon you, that is halal, halal and taib Two qualities that need to be found in the food. Animal rights activists speak about how badly animals are treated. Do you know that we are taught the same thing? We are taught to speak up about how badly animals are treated because of the commercialization of the consumption of meat and so on, poultry, whatever it may be, it doesn't mean we should become people who harm animals or we don't treat them well. If you want contentment, even treat the animals with goodness, remember that the chicken you might want to consume, the beef you're going to have. Subhanallah, imagine that animal was treated in a very bad way because of you, because you were the one who wanted to munch away at that burger of yours. Subhanallah, why would we treat an animal badly for us, that is absurd. If you are not prepared to treat the animal correctly, don't consume that. It will not bring about contentment and goodness. Imagine, to treat animals that are not even consumable by us, such as dogs and pigs, to treat them with care and respect and with kindness is an act of worship that would achieve forgiveness and even paradise. What about those animals we consume? The prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, has expressly said that you treat animals with respect. Even if you were to consume those animals the day that you are slaughtering them, and prior to that you make sure that it is done fulfilling all the rules and regulations, that is when it will be called halal and tayyib. Many people are mistaken. They think that, you know, it's okay for that animal to have had the name of Allah mentioned upon it and that's it. No, you've got to look at the life of that animal. Was it treated correctly? No wonder why we're losing contentment, we're losing happiness. We're focused on so much of evil because perhaps what we're consuming, we've been evil to these animals and that's why perhaps we're not achieving the good energy from the consumption when we eat and consume. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, protect us and grant us goodness. I move on to another very interesting factor of intoxicants. If you want contentment, you need to purify yourself. Don't consume intoxicants and don't partake of those intoxicants or from those intoxicants. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, protect us. Be it the problems of today, you know, the drugs that we have, the alcohol that we have, whatever else it may be, anything that intoxicates you, the Almighty tells you, cut it Out. Leave it out. You want contentment and happiness? Don't fall into the clutches of the devil. Listen to what Allah says. Verse number 90, Surah Al Maidah, O you who believe. Indeed, the intoxicants and the gambling and the various other pagan acts of worship and so on. These are from the handiworks of the devil. They are dirty from the handiworks of the devil. So stay away from them. In order that you succeed, you want success. Allah says, stay away from them. People say, where in the Quran does it say that alcohol is prohibited? When Allah says, stay away from something, it is prohibited. So Allah is telling you, stay away from this. Imagine if someone were to say, should I pull the trigger? And the other person says, no, you better stay away from that. And then they argue, well, you didn't say it was wrong. It is wrong. It is absolutely wrong. You will pay a price if you were to engage in that which Allah told you to stay away from. So let's not argue about it. It is prohibited. May Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, grant us goodness. The reason why it is prohibited is Allah wants to grant you goodness, contentment and happiness. And he says, this is from the handiwork of the devil. An abomination from the handiwork of the devil. So stay away from it. My brothers and sisters, there are various bad habits that may not get to the point of intoxication, but if they are harmful to your body, they are not pure. We spoke about purity moments ago. How to treat animals. Well, sometimes certain things you do to yourself are actually very bad. If you want contentment, cut those habits out. I give you one simple example. The habit of smoking. The habit of smoking is such that people say, oh, you know what? Well, what's wrong with it? It's my own money, and I'm. That's not your own body. And the money belongs to Allah. He gave it to you. You're going to leave it on earth when you depart from this earth, and you didn't have it prior to you coming here, so remember, it belongs to Allah. You use it in a way that Allah wants, and at the same time, you make sure that you spend it in a way that Allah wants, such that it doesn't harm your body, it doesn't harm you. It doesn't mean that this is mine, so I can do what I want with it. Even the body, you're going to leave it. Your soul will go along. Your body is going to be buried here, on or under the ground. May Allah subhanahu wa Ta'ala, grant us an understanding. This is why Allah says, don't use your own hands to cause destruction. Don't destroy yourselves. Don't cause destruction with your own hands. And be good. Be good with yourself and even with others. Let's pray that we can cut these bad habits. Allah gives us opportunities. Imagine how much money you will save if you cut cigarettes. Imagine how many people will actually benefit from the wealth that you are going to save because of you cutting out the smoking habit, the shisha habit, whatever other habits may be there. I know people might be thinking, oh, you know what, there's nothing wrong with this. There is a lot wrong with it. My brothers, my sisters, if you want contentment, don't be wasteful. Remember, even if Allah's given you the millions, you will use whatever you need. You might have a little bit extra, but the rest of it, Allah is going to ask you what you did with it. Spend it in a good cause. That's when you will achieve contentment. When you help others, Allah will help you. So keep helping others and reach out to them. With the wealth that Allah gave you, with the time Allah gave you, with the health and ability that Allah gave you, with the qualification that you have, use that qualification not only to make money, but sometimes to build your contentment. So if you're a doctor, for example, you might see 20 patients a day, have a quota of those you're going to see free of charge because perhaps they can't afford it. And I'm sure most doctors do that. It's just an example which can be practiced in every field. You have a grocery store, do one good deed a day, you know, give something at least for free to those who may need and see what happens. You will achieve a lot of contentment. May Allah bless every one of us in a month.