The Good Person - On Hope (Raja)

Reflections from The Risale-Nur  a Qur'an commentary by Bediüzzaman Said Nursi

The Words - Second Word

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Transcript

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A'udhu Billahi Minash Shaitanir Rajeem Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem The second word is, I'm sure many or some of you or many are familiar with the second word, but it's something so crucial and at the core of especially in this time, always, actually. But I come to this segment often. And it's always a powerful reminder how to cultivate a sacred outlook on life. And basically, it's this little interpretation of the verse in Surah Al-Baqarah, which you know, goes, الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ Those who believe in the unseen, those who believe in the unseen and the ghayb are the mu'minoon. الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ So, inshallah, our prayer is that we are counted among those mu'minoon, those believers, those who affirm, those who and a conviction in the ghayb, in the unseen. So this idea that we need to constantly internalize that there is more to this world than what we see, that there is a reality that is not seen. That's the world of the unseen, the ghayb. That alhamdulillah, we are so grateful that we can live with this dual lens. this Quranic glass, this Quranic lens, this Quranic outlook, that the best is yet to come. And this is, of course, something that is hard to do when things look so evil around us, so much suffering, so much injustice, so many crimes, so many atrocities. But this is what the main feature of of a Mormon, of a believer, is to cultivate the sacred outlook in the ghayb, in the unseen. There is more than the eyes can see. And to constantly cultivate that sacred outlook, to be informed by the Quranic vision on life, that we will not have it all in this world, and that This dunya, as Allah has described it for us, is not a place of ultimate happiness or absolute satisfaction or paradise on earth. It's never been, even during the times of the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him. It has never been the case. So we have to give up on this utopic idea or notion that we will have it all in this world. And this is enshrined, of course, in constitutions, the pursuit of happiness. And this is, of course, a noble goal. We all want to strive to be happy and content. But there is also a failure to acknowledge the reality of our experiences, which is we all experience loss. We all experience pain. We all experience sadness. We all experience suffering. So what do we do when we experience loss of wealth, loss of health, loss of beauty, loss of children? And how can we be happy when half of the globe is suffering, starving, being entrenched in atrocities? How can I ever say I have it all then? So that is what is problematic about such an outlook on the dunya. And Going into community conversation and listening to some of the members in the community, I see there is a sense of disappointment, disillusionment and despair. And frankly, that is something that is the greatest threat. If the despair, if the hopelessness gets so strong in your heart, you can see as much beauty and kindness and goodness in the world, still you will feel always unhappy and miserable because it has gotten to your heart, which is your spiritual core. So we have to make sure the spiritual core, the heart is nourished, is strengthened, is strong in the midst of so much anguish and pain, but also always keep it realistic that this dunya will not give us everything. Alhamdulillah, there are so many blessings we should count and we should acknowledge, but also affirm the other side of the coin saying, you know what? To live a full human life means to also experience suffering, to also walk the prophetic path of loss and pain and anguish and adversity and hardship. So cultivating a sacred outlook on life that acknowledges, that pain, loss, suffering, evil is part of this dunya. It's not going to go away. And that perfect government and that perfect savior and that perfect leader and that perfect religious figure will never appear and save us. And so there will never be paradise on earth. There will never be that certain charismatic figure who will come and save us all or provide us happiness or restore justice, this will not happen. So we have to have this outlook on life that is focused on the unseen. And hope is tied to this sacred outlook, to iman. Iman is not just belief. That's a very, very limited term. It's an affirmation, a conviction, a commitment. cultivating hope and hope is a muscle that we need to strengthen and nourish. It's not coming out of the blue, especially not coming by inaction. Hope is a spiritual discipline. Hope is getting up every day and saying, yeah, Allah, open up opportunities for me to serve because this is why I'm here. I'm here to honor you, to glorify your name, to serve you, to be involved in sacred worship, to elevate your name, to be a voice of justice, to be a vessel for compassion. That is hope. And by being present in the moment is basically building that future that we anticipate. We are voting every time when we wake up, when we are fully invested in the present, through our choices that we make daily in the moment, we are anticipating and we are building that promised future. So this is why we need to be invested in the now by fully being present, invested, engaged, being hopeful, not surrendering into darkness and despair and just thinking that there's only suffering in the world. No. There's not. So we need to be mindful of that, that to live a full human life means to also experience pain and suffering. And Allah doesn't fool us. Allah says, Allah promises you will be tested. And tested doesn't mean that you are being punished. Please, let's go away from this notion that we all see trials in our lives as punishment. No. Trials and tests mean punishment. Now it's your moment to shine. What do you have inside you? What is your potential? What is your capacity to do goodness? What is your potential to show patience in the face of adversity? How can you show resilience in the face of How can you cultivate hope and offer healing in the face of anguish and pain? That's our moment to shine. Allah shakes us up through things that are happening around us or even in our own individual lives. I told a sister who was very, very unhappy and frustrated about certain things that this world is not a place of comfort for us. We have this NFC notion, this very egocentric notion, and our nefs wants comfort. We don't want to have any kind of discomfort. We want to drive comfortably, travel comfortably, have everybody be happy and be in full satisfaction. And we don't want any hardship, any difficulty. But that is not the reality of the human experience. If you go into a room and ask, who has it all? Nobody will raise their hands. Who has experienced crisis and catastrophe in their lives? Everybody raises their hand. So we should not assume that this world is a place of ultimate happiness, of absolute happiness and satisfaction. When we accept that, When we embrace that reality like the Quran presents it to us, and we are focused on the akhirah, that doesn't mean that we deny this world, but we are fully engaged. We understand its reality. We know that this me, you, we are each part of this holy caravan of humanity that comes into this world, stays for a moment, briefly, and then glorifies Allah, serves Allah for this very brief, limited amount of time, and then we will ultimately depart. We will return to our celestial home, our heavenly origin. That is our destiny. So right now, in this turmoil, in this moment of anguish, in this moment of discomfort and being shaken up, can we shine? Can we shine on that divine stage and show Allah what we've got? how much he has endowed us with beauty and goodness and skills and abilities and faculties. And alhamdulillah, by anticipating the ghaib, by knowing and being hopeful towards that beautiful future, I don't see darkness in the future. I see light. I see goodness. I see life. I can't wait for that, but I'm still present in the moment and I do what I can with the now that I have. because tomorrow is not promised. And so we need to always reinforce each other, this view that this dunya, we will never have 100% peace. Wars, disasters, catastrophes, crises is part of the human story. It's part of our human journey. And when we are collectively affirming that, when we are uplifting each other in moments when we are low, when we have the two, three people around us, who pick us up when we are down, then we are in a good place. And this is what the whole story here is about. It's about good fellowship, good suhba, two, three people around you who reinforce you, check with you weekly, check in with you weekly, consistently, and make sure that each other is, everybody is watching out for each other and uplifting each other. And there will be moments where we are low, but we have these two people who share the same vision, the same sacred vision, the same holy values. With them, we can launch into the future and we can be steady in the turmoils of life. So here, it's very interesting. These two people are going on a journey, which basically, we are these people, right? We are in this world, like the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, be in this world. like a traveler or a stranger. Be in this world. It refers to a mode of being. How am I being present in this world? If I'm in the mode of a traveler, that means that I display my best self, display my best version. Like usually when we are guests somewhere or travelers, we are curious, we are open for the experience. But we are also not fully invested or obsessed or overly concerned with things that do not concern us. We know that we are in this divine guest house and Allah looks at our performance. Allah looks how we perform. The Quran says this world is a play. Imagine you are on stage and you are now performing. And everybody is watching. The angels are watching. The prophetic souls are watching. The arwah are watching. The high spirits are watching. How is Zayna performing now? What is her response in the face of anguish and adversity? Is she surrendering into despair and hopelessness and passivity and cynicism and pessimism? Or is she saying, no, I will not surrender into darkness and anguish and despair. That's not the prophetic path. I'm here for a very, very short time. I want to honor my Lord. I want to elevate His name. I want to uplift. I want to heal. I want to be constructive. Those are the characteristics of the moment. That's why I shared this beautiful quote that prophetic grief acknowledges pain but doesn't give in to cynicism, pessimism, or despair. Yes, we make space for the pain and the grief, but we are never hopeless. Because Allah says, do not despair of Allah's mercy. And always cultivating that outlook that the best is yet to come. Allah will give better than what he has taken. That's his promise. I find comfort in the promise of my Lord. That's what keeps me going every day. But also hope, like I said, is a spiritual muscle. It's a discipline. And I shared that before, that beautiful hadith when the Prophet ﷺ was about to die. Very painful moment of dying, sekarat. When you're in the process of dying, it's very painful. Many of us go through very debilitating pain, chronic pain. You feel bedridden, you're paralyzed, you can't move. When you're hospitalized, just getting up is an act of courage. You know, there are moments you can't even breathe so much, the pain is swallowing you up. And then you read the Hadith of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, when he's dying, he asked for his miswaq. He asked for his toothbrush. Even you think, why in the moment of dying, is he asking for his miswaq? Because even that is an act of hope, is an act of service to Allah. When you are in such debilitating pain, And you get up that one step or even just going to the bathroom and washing and brushing your teeth. It's an act of life. It's a service to life. It's honoring Allah's life. It's serving your body. If anything, if nothing, you can serve your body, which is an act of service, which is taking care of that amanah that Allah has given you, that trust, that sacred trust. Taking care of ourselves must be top priority. That means, to keep our spiritual core strong every day, to make an effort to, like the prophet says, even if I'm in pain, I will make that step, that one step, to just get up, to breathe, to sit maybe on the balcony outside, you know, have a walk in the neighborhood. Those are acts of hope. And when we do that, then the blood is flowing. Energy is coming back. Life is coming back. So that's a very powerful element in the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's life. Even when you're about to die, even if you know judgment day is happening, you plant that seed. You plant that seed. You're always up for life. And when you plant that seed, that's an active dua. It's an active prayer to say, Ya Allah, I have not lost hope. You call me for hope. And if nothing, I will embody hope. by getting up, by brushing my teeth, by dressing, by taking my ablution, by taking care of myself and my hygiene, by taking care of my health. Those are important steps. We should never diminish them or underestimate, especially when we are in such intense pain and grief and anguish. Those are huge moments of opening, huge moments of sacred service because it takes so much energy. to just be able to stand and breathe at times. And so for us, the greatest test is to not lose our sacred outlook of hope and not never lose the sight on the ghayb, on the unseen, because it's there. Allah promised, all the prophets promised, all these trustworthy scholars, they promised, pious people testified. This is not a lie. This is not something fabricated. This is something that has been testified throughout religious traditions, across religious traditions. So I encourage everyone to hold on to hope, not to surrender into despair and darkness. That's not an option for a mu'min. A mu'min always stubbornly believes in the goodness of Allah. Hope is tied to having a good assumption about Allah. Allah is not there to torture us, to punish us. to discriminate us. Allah wants us to reach the best version of ourselves. And we can do that by holding onto the unseen, by affirming a conviction in the unseen, by making every minute count. And like these people here, when we are in this mode of being travelers in the world, that keeps us steady because we realize This is a journey, a journey of humankind. People come, people leave. I'm not bound to stay. And when I know I'm a traveler and stranger in this world, I'm also not overly obsessed. The fate of the world is not on my shoulders. I'm not going to solve all the macro events. Yet, I'm also not denying my role or neglecting my role as an important trustee and caretaker in this world. And to keep it local, to keep it on the micro level, to take care of myself, my family, my community, that's all where we can make a difference. So it says here, if you want to understand what great happiness and bounty, what great pleasure and ease are to be found in the conviction in Allah, in belief in Allah, listen to the story which is in the form of a comparison. One time, Two men or two people went on a journey for both pleasure and business. One set off in a selfish, inauspicious direction and the other on a godly, propitious way. I thought a lot earlier about what does that mean to set out on a journey. The first one has this Nia, the intention is directed from an egocentric perspective. He has a certain worldview already. A very egocentric, narrow, limited, self-centered perspective. And I think that's the ultimate failure that many of us, the trap that we fall into. We have certain expectations of this world. When we come in, we have this checklist and it has to play out the way we want on the checklist. It's a very egocentric perspective. approach to the dunya and life. And I'm the first one, right? Like I'm the first one who admits that they have fallen into inconstancy. I have a certain checklist and I expect Allah to create outcomes according to my own nafsi, my own self-centered perspective. But Allah says, I'm not creating outcomes according to your standards. I'm not creating the world according to your expectations. I do not operate according to your reasoning. See, this is how the nafs, now we want all peace, we want justice. And there's nothing wrong with wanting that. But Allah's wisdom in the world operates differently. What if that when we are shaken and the purpose is for us to, our characters to be formed, right? Allah wants to transform us, wants to change us. wants to invite us to be better and improve ourselves and elevate us. But because I come into this journey of life and have a certain checklist, I want perfect children, the perfect husband, the perfect job, perfect health, perfect wealth, prosperity, perfect government, perfect leaders. But then I look around, the world is not like that. So already my direction is... taking me into a very, very wrong destination. So here, that's why it describes the person as a self-centered. The universe should operate according to my interests and needs. No, and it starts with people complaining about weather. It's too cold, it's too hot, it's too this, it's too that. I'm not comfortable with this. I'm not comfortable with that. So see how egocentrism already plays out. And because I start with that, that's my starting point. Like I serve Allah and I expect certain outcomes. Ya Allah, I pray. Ya Allah, I do this. I want a certain outcome. Well, Islam is not transactional. Islam is not a religion that says you do things and then Allah responds according to your self-centered interests. That's not how it works, right? And so already, When we come into this world, or from today on, to make the intention to say, like the first hadith in Imam Nawawi's collection, why are you doing the hijrah? And hijrah doesn't mean physical migration. It means, what are you setting out to do? What is your intention as you depart into this day, as you start into the day? If we wake up and having this intention, Ya Allah, my intention is, is to migrate or start this day or serve this day in your name. Create opportunities for me to serve, to elevate your name, to honor your name. That's a very beautiful, broad goal with no specifics. Ya Allah, allow me to show the best version of myself, to be a good khalifa on this earth, to speak truth, to work for justice, to take care of the vulnerable and the marginalized, those are amazing, beautiful, sacred goals. But if I come into the world or into the day already having 10 items on my list, and if I don't accomplish them, and if Allah doesn't create that outcome for me, then I feel like a failure because already my direction is selfish. How about maybe the day unfolds in ways that you haven't expected, right? And Allah creates opportunities for you, but because we are stuck with this notion that I have to get to this, have to focus on this one agenda item, we miss out on the other opportunities. That can be, you know, go out for a walk in the neighborhood and glorify Allah's name, bear witness to His justice. Be a witness to his adalah outside in the creation. Allah says, don't they look at the birds who keeps them up in the air, in the sky. Allah invites me to be a witness, to glorify him, to honor him, to elevate his name. That's the greatest sacred service I can make. But we see it as not a worthy goal. It's not on our agenda. But it's mentioned in the Qur'an. Allah wants us to remember, Allah wants us to glorify him as we are looking at the creation, pondering his majesty. Are we able to testify, to bear witness to his glory? That's why I'm here. That's one example of how then the day unfolds in beautiful ways and how then that nourishes us because we do not set out our hijrah, our travel in this world is not for a selfish reason. We say, Ya Allah, I want this day to unfold in your name, to serve your glory, and then create opportunities for me where I can shine and serve you in the best way. And that then is success. That's a success. And then I'm not, you know, I don't feel overburdened by the things that I haven't done because I say it was not the time today, right? I don't feel like a failure if that, checklist is not fulfilled so the other person he goes his his direction on the journey is godly he says my goal is to serve god my goal is to honor allah in all these different circumstances that he will put me in at my workplace in my family in my neighborhood in my community in the creation wherever i am wherever allah has placed me i will respond in holy ways I will honor his name. And God is not compartmentalized. Allah is not in one area and in another absent. I show up as Al-Amin, the trustworthy voice in all of these places that Allah has positioned me. I try to speak truth. I embody goodness and compassion. And that is my sacred service. And that is success. That is how the day unfolds. And this is then how our direction is towards Allah. It's not about worldly accomplishments only. Those are, if they are given, they are beautiful blessings, byproducts, but they are not my end goal. I'm not here to solve the macro problems of the world. I'm here to respond in a way that honors Allah's name. If he wants me to be patient, I will be patient. If he wants me to be resilient, I will be resilient. If he wants me to express forgiveness, I will express forgiveness. If he wants me to be in action, I will be active. If he wants me to be giving to my neighbors, to my community, I will do that. So this is our ultimate goal. And by doing that in the now, we are affirming the ghayb, And we are hopeful for the future. But we are not setting ourselves up for disappointments when things don't play out the way we want. The way we want will never come. And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam also did not solve all these macro problems, right? I mean, so to be realistic in that regard and to always know that this dunya will always contain elements that challenge us. But those challenges, we decide if they're opportunities for growth and transformation, or if we see ourselves as victims. That's the ultimate choice we make. Since the selfish man, and selfish doesn't mean selfish in like, I mean, think of it as egocentric, as nefsi, as self-centered, because when we approach life and the world and the universe in an ego-centered perspective, we want things to play out the way our nefs want. And like I said, this is a very wrong departure point. But we have to set out into the world. Can you please turn off the microphone? Somebody's microphone is on again. Since the selfish man was both conceited, self-centered and pessimistic, he ended up in what seemed to him to be a most wicked country due to his pessimism. So we perceive the world the way we are. So if my inner spiritual core is weak, if I see the world just being embedded in suffering and evil, that means that that heart needs to be strengthened, that iman. Because it's not true that the world is only... going down in injustice and evil and suffering. Count the kindness and the goodness and the blessing that you encounter in your life. Be a witness to the justice and the balance and the harmony and the order and the arrangement and the perfect measurement in the universe. And then you will be nourished by Allah's name, Al-Adl. Because that's there. That's what we see. It's self-evident. Self-evident. I come On the minute 6.48, the sun rises up. That's adalah, that's justice. Somebody arranged in perfect measurement, perfect precision, perfect order. The universe, the sun, the moon, the galaxies. Yes, the human being has the power to choose imbalance and chaos. But the galaxies and universe are testifying that Allah's justice prevails. The human being has no authority over this divine program and plan and this arrangement. And when I see that justice exemplified and displayed and manifested in the universe, then I say, yes, I affirm Allah's justice. It's deferred to the Supreme Tribunal. I don't see it here because some crimes are too big to take to any human court. They will be taken by Allah Himself. And that's what gives me comfort and peace. And that's where I find my strengths. By being immersed in the book of the universe, I find strengths and the affirmation of the universe that Allah's justice exists. Things are deferred. They are not, you know, they are being judged upon. And Allah records and He says in the Quran that He delays a little bit. He delays, deferred to the Supreme Tribunal, to that Supreme Court. And human beings, they are in the delusion that they are ultimately absolutely free, but they are not. Everything is preserved. I see some flowers blooming now in the winter season. These very special plants, they bloom in the cold season. It's still growth is always happening. Nothing is forgotten. Nothing is neglected. But the problem here with this person, and we can all relate to this, is the way we are inside. If our inside, our internal world is in turmoil, or if we are falling into pessimism, then whatever happens around us, we will interpret according to our own inner lens. We will see always darkness. So we have to be careful that the spiritual core is strengthened. And so he looked around and everywhere saw the powerless and the unfortunate lamenting in the grass of fearsome bullying tyrants, weeping at their destruction. He saw the same grievous, painful situation in all the places he traveled. The whole country took on the form of a house of mourning. This is beautiful. Probably the moment where we find ourselves, this collective grief and sadness and anguish, this house of mourning where we feel we only see corpses around us every day. Every day we see people dying, witnessing a genocide. Apart from being drunk, he could find no way of not noticing this grievous and somber situation. So what is the person doing? Because The heart, the human heart, cannot take so much suffering, cannot witness that much suffering. It's too much for the human heart. It's too much for the human spirit to witness so much anguish. And so we are unnaturally affected. For everyone seemed to him to be an enemy and foreign. And all around, he saw horrible corpses and despairing, weeping orphans. His conscience was in a state of torment. So easy, especially in this moment, to fall into this state and numbing ourselves with things and trying to be in denial. I mean, how can we cope with this? We can't do it alone, right? And so it's, especially in this moment, to affirm, to say, I affirm your goodness. I know that justice takes place. I see it testified in the creation. I will not allow pessimism to affect me and my lens. Because there's another reality, and we see that in that other man. And the other man, the other person was godly, devout, fair-minded, and with fine morals, so that the country he came to was most excellent in his view. In his view, so... Nazar, the look, is determined by our inner state. But how do we make sure that inner state is in a state of peace and goodness and hope and doesn't see everything just in despair? This good man saw universal rejoicing in the land he had entered. Everywhere was a joyful festival, a place for the remembrance of Allah overflowing with rapture and happiness. Everyone seemed to him a friend and relation. See, he doesn't distance himself from the creation. With everybody, he tries to see a connection. Everything seems friendly because he understands he departed in the name of Allah and he's a godly person, that everything has something to teach him, something to elevate him, something to foster his journey. Throughout the country, he saw the festive celebrations of a general discharge from duties accompanied by cries of good wishes and thanks. He also heard the sound of a drum and band for the enlistment of soldiers with happy calls of Allahu Akbar, God is most great, and there is no God but God. Rather than being grieved at the suffering of both himself and all the people like the first miserable man, This fortunate man was pleased and happy at both his own joy and that of all the inhabitants. Furthermore, he was able to do some profitable trade. He offered thanks to Allah, offered thanks to God. So this is the paradigm of kufr and iman. We decide every moment if you want to fall into kufr, into darkness and pessimism and despair, or if you want to upwork. Iman and hope and life and that future. So we live these two paradigms and it takes energy to stay in the light. I'm not saying it's easy, but there are strategies, things that we can do proactively to try to stay in the light and not to be in a constant state of despair and pessimism. That is not the prophetic path for us. That is not an option for us. And see, what are some of the strategies? I think here we see that again, after some while, he returned and came across the other man. He saw his condition and said to him, you were out of your mind. The ugliness within you, the ugliness within you must have been reflected on the outer world so that you imagined laughter to be weeping. and the discharge from duties to be second pillage, come to your senses and purify your heart so that this calamitous veil is raised from your eyes and you can see the truth. For the country of an utterly just, compassionate, beneficent, powerful, order-loving, and kind king could not be as you imagined. Nor could a country which demonstrated this number of clear signs of progress and achievement. The unhappy man later came to his senses and repented. He said, yes, I was crazy through drink. May God be pleased with you. You have saved me from a hellish state. What stands out to me here is again, good sohba, good fellowship. You need those two, three people, community, and I'm not saying a crowd of 200 people, but two people who share with you that godly vision on life. that iman, that affirmation and the hype. And when you are low, when I am low, this sister will reinforce and remind me of that truth. And tomorrow she'll be low and down. I will encourage her and motivate her and strengthen her. We are social creatures. We cannot do this alone. This is too big to carry alone, this collective grief and anguish. So we must find ways to find like-minded people, with the shared vision, shared ideals. Not people who are involved in the dunya and are not interested in it. I'm meaning people who have a sacred vision on life, who come regularly, who are on the same journey, weekly check in with each other and make sure that they are uplifted, that they can be raw and share their pain and struggles. So many people are alone. So many people are suffering in silence. We have to invest in healthy social connection and healthy social relationships. And that means two people are community, three people are community in Islam. Community is something that is in the spiritual DNA of a movement. And sadly, what I'm witnessing is, A lot of people do not have that healthy social support. It will not help us if we do that once in occasion, mental health therapy session. That will not get us through life. And that is important, yes. And if there are complicated feelings and issues, we need to seek our professional help. But we need people around us who know our experiences, our daily struggles, who know my challenges. who are around me, who are close to me. Those are the two, three people I can rely on. And traditionally, there will be one, two sister who are more learned or more experienced in that moment who will lift you up. We need that fellowship, that healthy travel companion who helps us on the journey. Like here in this analogy, he was reminded by his dear brother, by his dear sister, What life is about. He said, wait a minute. There's something that is not right. There's another reality that you have forgotten. And we fall into that trap. We forget. We become heedless. We fall too deep into the darkness and the despair. And then we need somebody who holds our hand and tells us, remember what our destination was about. What our journey was about. So number one thing, every secular studies now shows, we don't need to mention all of them, that just talking to a stranger is healthy for our mental well-being. But imagine checking regularly with a good moment. Somebody who looks at life in a holistic way, fair-minded, as a pious person, being in their presence, how will that nourish you, strengthen you? Consistently, weekly, I mean. That is the social support we need, that suhba, that fellowship, that companionship, like the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam exemplified, companions on that journey to Allah, going through major struggles in their lives and reinforcing each other. So that is something that we must invest in, must cultivate. Today you might be in a good situation, you know, situation or good moment. Tomorrow I'll be low and I need that sister. I need that social support. Social support is critical in times of adversity. This is too gigantic to carry alone. Life is too big to carry alone. And there are other things. It's not just the macro events, but a place where you can be raw, fully belong, share your inner world, your pain and be uplifted. So number one, healthy fellowship, healthy sisterhood, sacred sisterhood. And alhamdulillah, I have seen the endless benefits. We all know that the endless benefits of this, how much of a difference that makes in our lives when we have this community of caring people, of two, three sisters around us, how this will carry us through the storms of life. The other thing is, he points him to the creation. The book of the universe is so nurturing, so strengthening. Let's not deny ourselves or diminish the importance of being immersed in the book of creation because everything Allah tells us in the Quran reminds us about his beautiful names. He says, look around you. That beautiful sister or the beautiful brother says, look around you, this country. How is this universe designed? by an utterly just, compassionate, beneficent, powerful, order-loving, and kind king. Somebody rules. A high power rules. A high rationality rules. A genius rules. This precision, this exact arrangement, this perfect measurement, the galaxies, the stars, the way everything is prepared for us, amazing, extraordinary order, our generosity. Okay, then now I see clearly. Now I'm coming out of that dark place. Wait a minute. I've forgotten to read the book of the creation. Now I'm coming back to this. So yes, every day I'm going out to walk. That's my hope discipline. I'm looking at the bird nests up in the tree and I say, The amazing Lord, the amazing creator who has protected these little birds in that most stable, most perfectly engineered bird nest will surely not abandon my needs. That is where I get comfort. Because my need is that, yes, my fellow human beings should also live in happiness, in peace, in prosperity, experience justice. Yeah, Allah, that is my greatest need right now. And when I look at the creation, look at these bird nests being protected by Allah's mercy and His power and how He endowed every being with the ability and the skill and the wisdom to build these nests to protect their loved ones, then I'm sure I affirm that Allah will not neglect my greatest needs, which is to be reunited with my loved ones, with my children, to be reunited with all these amazing people that I witness who are suffering. I want them to have ultimate happiness. Allah will not deny me that. So when we are out in the book of the creation, when we are taking these active steps, when we are witnessing to his power, his generosity, his order, love, and his justice, then we know that nothing will be forgotten. All needs will be answered. Allah answers to the needs of my stomach in endless ways with endless blessings. How can He then deny my greatest need, my desire for eternity and immortality, my desire for justice, absolute justice? I can't live knowing that these atrocities will stand. No. But by engaging that muscle of hope, that spiritual discipline of immersing myself in the creation and bearing witness to Allah's justice, that is what Allah loves. See? Now you're reading the creation. اقرأ بسم ربك الذي خلق Read, read in the name of your Lord, and then you will find certainty, you will find hope, you will find peace, you will find the light, and you can get out of that dark place. So I urge everybody, always, that healthy fellowship, that healthy sisterhood, and that sisterhood or cosmic brotherhood and sisterhood with the creation. The tree and the birds, The clouds and the rain and the stars all remind us of the glory, the justice, the generosity, the love and mercy of Allah. Allah will not forget our needs. Allah will answer. Allah will restore justice. Allah will bring perfect, absolute justice and happiness for all. But our test now is how we respond. What's our outlook? And if we don't have a good assumption about Allah, Then we need to go back and strengthen that core. Like this person, we've forgotten. We're falling into this hellish state and think there's just suffering in this world. No. And Allah now looks at what's our response. How do we think about the world? What's our outlook? And if we are not careful, we can fall into very, very problematic, consistent despair. And this is something that I'm I'm very worried about in this moment. I see that and I understand. But there are steps we can take proactively, right? Huddling together, being in community, social support, Quranic affirmations daily where the Quran tells us every day. This world is finite. It's transitory. We are here for service. It's not a place of happiness. It's not a place of absolute satisfaction. It's not where we will have it all. All around me, I see people, loss of health, loss of wealth, loss of children. Nobody has that ultimate happiness. And when we realize that, when we hear each other's stories, we are reminded, wait, that was the universal human journey. So our destination, our ultimate destination is the akhira, is the afterlife. And that's what we are working for in the now. So to finish up, oh my nefs, oh my soul, know that the first man represents an unbeliever or someone depraved and heedless. I fall into heedlessness. I have a lot of moments where I'm low and where I forget, where I feel depraved and say, what doesn't make sense anymore? What's this for? Why am I even bothering? But then I pick up myself. I say, no, that's not an option for me. to be in despair. In his view, the world is a house of universal mourning. All living creatures are often sweeping at the blows of death and separation. Man and the animals are alone and without ties, being ripped apart by the talons of the appointed hour. Mighty beings like the mountains and oceans are like horrendous lifeless corpses. Many grievous, crushing, terrifying delusions like these arise from his unbelief and misguidance and torment him. This is a very, very dangerous state to fall into. Seeing life as meaningless. So many, I go into classes, sometimes I talk to college students. Everybody struggles with that. What's the meaning and purpose of life? Is everything meaningless? Why am I in this world? Why am I here? Where am I headed? Are these mountains just lifeless beings, these oceans, these clouds, these trees? And then we see the Prophet peace and blessings be upon him, entering this world and look at the light and the mercy he brings. He says the mountains are not corpses, the trees are not lifeless. Everything is alive. Everything has meaning. Everything has purpose. For everything there are reasons. There's wisdom. I'm not just thrown into the world for some meaningless endeavor. No. He comes and he explains through the Quran, everything becomes alive. Imagine, in that time, in the jahiliyyah, ignorance, and even now, where people tell us, or this subtle atheism tells us, that everything is meaningless. Everything is lifeless. Everything just has a materialistic meaning. existence. That's it. We are bodies. We come, we enjoy, we die. That's it. We decay under the soil. But he tells us, no, the human being is the crown of creation, endowed with the spirit, with the ruh, which is the divine spark. And you are an honored servant of Allah sent into this divine guest house to shine for a moment, to display your amazing abilities, potentials and faculties and skills, to dream, to imagine, to build, to construct, to heal, to create, to write, to innovate, to build, and then you'll return to Allah. That's our purpose, our godly purpose. Allah has endowed us with so many blessings. He talks to us, not to animals. He talks to me, to you. He choose the human being as his addressee. He honors the human being. Look at my voice, unique. Your voice is unique. He put on everyone a stamp of Ahadiya, the oneness of Allah. The oneness of Allah, Allah is Al-Ahad. Your voice is unique. Your DNA is unique. Your face is unique. Your wrinkles are unique. The way you move is unique. There is no second like you. You are a unique, original creation of Allah, the greatest piece of art He has created. You are not just a material, bodily, physical existence. You carry that ruh within you. What is it for? Is it simply for dunya and worldly and physical and material existence and enjoyment? Or is it for some higher purpose? So that is the ultimate question. What is my meaning? What is my purpose? Why am I here? And how do I live this life? And we have the greatest blessing, which is the Quran and the Prophet's teachings who show us the way how to even in the midst of suffering and pain, We can thrive, we can grow, we can make a difference, we can heal, we can uplift, we can be wounded healers. Alhamdulillah, this is amazing what the Prophet ﷺ brought to us. And it's not the outer circumstances, but the outer circumstances made him shine, showed his beauty actually. His moral character, his moral standing, his jewel, that jewel inside him came out through pressure, hardship, fire, stress, ridicule, rejection, torture, starvation, you name it. All of it made him, made us appreciate that moral jewel. That's why we look up to him. He didn't leave us a material legacy. He showed us his spiritual legacy. And those are the people we look up to. Those are the people who inspire us. Those are the people who made a difference in life. And that's why we are here. We are here to display Allah's beautiful qualities. We are here to display Allah's glory. Ya Allah, I'm an honored servant. I want to elevate your name. I want to remember you in all states and modes of life, in pain and pleasure, in sorrow and joy. You will find me as your trusted servant. And the Prophet ﷺ is the way. So as for the other man, inshaAllah, may Allah allow us to be that person. He is a mu'min. He is a believer. He affirms. He recognizes and affirms Allah. In his view, this world is an abode where the names of the All-Merciful One are constantly recited, a place of instruction for human beings and the animals, and a field of examination for human beings and jinn. All animal and human death are a demobilization. They are all leaving, are demobilized. Those who have completed their duties of life Depart from this transient world for another happy and trouble-free world, so that place may be made for new officials to come and work. The work of this world will not be finished with me. Alhamdulillah, I find so much comfort. The fate of the world is not on my shoulders. I am here for a little glimpse, a little moment. The work will continue. It doesn't end with me or you. It doesn't end with us. Allah will send the sacred officials. And even if I did not check off all that agenda item on my list, alhamdulillah, I know the people after me will follow and will carry on that sacred work. There's so much comfort in that, so much relief and liberation knowing that. We sometimes stress out thinking that we need to solve everything. We need to finish the task. No. Alhamdulillah, I'm honored to be part of this caravan, this sacred journey. But it's not upon me to finish. It's not upon me to accomplish everyone's task. And this is wonderful. And Allah rewards you as if you intended to finish it. Even if your intention was to serve 400 years, Be at every good place and remember Allah. Allah will give you that reward when that intention is there. And if our lives are short-lived, even if we just live a year or two years or 40 years, Allah will give us endless reward if we have that sincere intention. Ya Allah, I wanted to serve you more, more spaces, more opportunities, but I fall short. But Allah will, according to that sincere intention, give us the reward and the ijr. The birth of animals and humans marks the enlistment into the army. They are being taken under arms in the start of their duties. Each living being is a joyful, regular soldier, an honest, contented official. Alhamdulillah. Allah has chosen me, you, as his sacred official, as his caretaker, as his representative on this planet. And all voices are either glorification of Allah, and the recitation of his names at the outset of their duties, and the thanks and rejoicing at their ceasing work, all the songs arising from their joy at working. Yes, we see people leaving, crying, but what do we know in the reib, what their state is, what their degree is, what their high spiritual status is? They might have suffered so much pain here, but who knows how that pain worked on the other side? And then they enter that other world, that other realm, the world of the unseen. And then they experience that joy, that high status, that high maqam. Allah elevated them. We don't see that here. In the view of the believer, all beings are the friendly servants, amicable officials, and agreeable books of his most generous Lord and all compassionate owner. Everything has something to teach me. Every obstacle, every difficulty, every pain is here to transform me to a better version. If I can see that, if I can see every event, every illness, every pain, every sadness, every anguish, every injustice as an official, Allah has designed, allowed this to take place, then this means that there are some very important lessons for me to take. to be transformed, to learn, and also then support others in their journey. Very many more subtle, exalted, pleasurable, and sweet truths like these become manifest and appear from his belief. That is to say, belief in Allah, belief in God, bears the seed of what is in effect a tuba tree of paradise, while kufr, unbelief, conceals the seed of a zakum tree of hell. We carry it in us because we are a microcosmos. Microcosmos means that we already carry the seed of paradise and hell in us. We decide how this is going to manifest on the other side. Which seed are we wanting to grow? Which tree do we want to bring into existence on the other side? That's our ultimate choice. If I want to feed, may Allah forbid, prevent us from that, but if I feed that seed of the zakum tree, which is constant despair, constant pessimism, constant feeling foreign and alien in the world, constant feelings of negativity, destructive thoughts, then I'm feeding that seed, which is nothingness, which is darkness. So I have to make, I'm still an agent. Allah gives me choices. I can feel that. And what is there on that side? That doesn't lead to nowhere. There's nothing there feeding that seed of a zakum tree. But feeding the seed of a tuba tree, yes, let's feed that with healthy Quranic affirmations, with healthy sohbah and sisterhood, healthy fellowship, with immersing myself in the book and the creation. That's feeding it. It makes you grow in prayer, in glorification, in eskar. And then, inshallah, it will manifest on the other side. Nobody, everybody is free to choose their path. Allah has given us the ultimate freedom to choose what we want to bring into existence on the other side. He knows what our ultimate destiny is. But we don't know. And so that we don't end up on the other side and saying, yeah, Allah, why did you put me here? They'll say, here, these are the choices you made. Nobody forced you. You were not a victim. You choose. In every situation, you knew these two paths, these alternatives. And so we have ultimate agency. We can make choices. I choose how to look at the world. I choose how to move and be in the world. Allah knows in His foreknowledge what choices I will make, but He doesn't force me to do them. Allah doesn't force anybody. In His knowledge, pre-eternal knowledge, and because He created us, He knows, but the issue is, do we know us so that we can be firm later when we face our Creator, that we say, yes, those were my choices. Those were my choices. That means that salvation and security are only to be found in Islam and belief, in which case we should continually say, praise be to God for the religion of Islam and perfect belief. So true. I think in my own experience of suffering and tragedy, the only thing that has kept me through This is like my deen. That amazing blessing of this religion that has given us so much spiritual sustenance to carry through so much English. It's the greatest blessing. It's the greatest blessing in our lives. So may Allah allow us to make the right choices, to stay in the light, to embrace the characteristics of a movement, to live with hope and positive anticipation in this world to never surrender to darkness and despair to always see his overarching justice and kindness and benevolence and generosity and love and to always affirm strong conviction in the afterlife and in the world of the unseen.