Transcription
In Alhamdulillah [Music].
All praise is due to Allah. We praise Him, we seek His aid, and we ask for His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils of ourselves and the evil consequences of our actions. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can lead astray, and whomsoever Allah leaves to go astray, none can guide.
I testify that there is none worthy of our worship and devotion but the Almighty Allah alone, and I testify that Muhammad (S) is His servant and messenger.
O you who believe, fear Allah as He should be feared and die not except in a state of surrender and submission to your Lord. O mankind, be dutiful to your Lord who created you from a single person, and from him, He created his wife. From them both, He created many men and women. Fear Allah, through whom you demand your mutual rights, and observe the rights of your kin. Surely, Allah is ever an all-watcher over you.
O you who believe, keep your duty to Allah, fear Him, and speak the truth. He will direct you to righteous deeds and will forgive your sins. Whoever obeys Allah and His messenger has indeed attained a great achievement.
The best speech is the Divine speech of Allah, and the best guidance is that of Prophet Muhammad (S). The worst things in the religion are the newly invented matters, for all the newly invented matters in religion are heretical innovation, and every innovation is misguidance.
Al-Imam Muslim collected it from Abu. The Prophet (S) says in this Hadith: "The strong believer is better and dearer to Allah than the weak believer, and in both of them, there is good." Then the Prophet (S) goes on to say, "Be keen and diligent in seeking what is good for you, and never fall in despair or helplessness. If something happens against what you want or what you wish, don’t say, ‘Had I done this,’ or ‘Only if I did this or that, things would have been different,’ because that expression, which means ‘only if,’ opens the door for the work of Shaytan.” Collected by Imam Muslim, this is a great Hadith from the Prophet (S).
If we understand it with a modern mindset of what a strong believer means, we will misconstrue the meaning. The Prophet (S) says, "The strong believer is better and dearer to Allah." Allah loves the strong believer more than He loves the weak believer, although both of them have good, but the good with the stronger believer is greater. That’s why Allah loves him or her more than the weak believer.
But what is the strength that the Prophet (S) is talking about? Since the term "strong" here in this Hadith is not qualified, it is not limited to any area. It means different types of strength, but we need to understand this type of strength according to Islam itself. In another famous Hadith, the Prophet (S) explains to his companions what strength really means.
He challenges a common notion among people about what strength and power really mean. People assume that the strong among men is the one who is physically strong, the one who can beat others and put them to the ground, who can wrestle with them and defeat them. The Prophet (S) says to his companions, "The strong man is not the person who can overpower others with his physical strength, but the real strong man is the person who is able to take control of himself in moments of anger."
So the Prophet (S) says, "Don’t think that strength is about physical or external display of strength; real strength is when you win the inner battle." You need to win the inner battle against yourself, against your desires, and against your weaknesses and base tendencies before you are able to win battles outside. That is the order in Islam: you have a battle within against your nafs (self), and then you have a battle outside. You have to win those battles before you are able to win the battles outside.
If you ignore this advice and decide to win the battles outside while ignoring the battles within, you will bring your weaknesses and shortcomings into your external battles. Even if you win externally, the one who wins is not yourself but your shortcomings. It will be your nafs.
What does that mean? Because the nafs has tendencies, it has greed; it cannot be satiated. It always wants more. As the Prophet (S) says, "If the son of Adam has a valley full of gold, he would wish for a second. If he has two valleys full of gold, he would wish for a third," and so on and so forth. Nothing puts an end to the greed of man but death. As long as you are in life, there is greed within yourself.
There is this obnoxious nature of the self that is always yearning for itself. It is lowly, and we call this self-centeredness. You have a tendency to lie, to deceive, to put yourself first, to cut corners, to wrong others, to cheat, to seek means around, and not to act optimally. You take the easy way out and violate the moral standards of Islam. We all have these tendencies—this is a challenge that Allah put us through.
If you don’t win the battle against this immoral call of the self and the nafs, when you fight the battles outside, you’re going to bring this greed, you will bring the shortsightedness, you will bring the selfishness outside, and that’s what wins outside. It’s not your heart; it’s not the good side of who you are; it’s not virtue.
So that’s why when you seek to win the battles outside first, all you’re doing is bringing that selfishness and that greed and that false sense of loyalty outside. You will make it win against others, but that’s not who you really are. That is something that has defeated you within, something that has taken over you, and you have become a soldier for it; you have become an agent for evil, even when, seemingly, outside, you are winning the battles.
So the strong believer is someone who conquers the inner enemy first. That’s what a true believer is. You need to strengthen your heart against your nafs. Your heart needs to win the battle against Shaytan. Once you dominate within, your presence in the world will be a blessed one. You will become a force for good.
That’s the meaning of the statement of the Prophet (S): "The strong believer is better and dearer to Allah than the weak believer." That means the one who has already won the battle within. When you win the battle within, life outside is not the same. Every battle you engage in, even if you lose it, you are the winner.
The Muslims had a setback in the Battle of Uhud. Seventy companions were killed; they were murdered. What started as a great win by the Muslims ended up being a great setback, yet it was a great—it worked in the advantage of the Muslims. Allah said to them, Allah says to the believers, "Do not be disheartened, do not be discouraged. You will be the uppermost as long as you hold on to faith."
That’s why the Prophet (S) said in the authentic Hadith in Muslim, also narrated by Imam Ahmad, "Amazing is the state of a believer. All his affairs are good for him. If good comes to the believer, a blessing comes to the believer, he’s thankful or she’s thankful, and that’s good for them. But if a hardship, if a loss, if pain, if a disease, an illness, if harm comes to the believer, they are patient. He is patient in the face of it, and that ends up being good for him."
This feature is exclusive to the believers; that's the strong believer. So we need to win the battle within first and foremost for Allah (subhana wa ta'ala) to love us. Then Allah will aid you. After that, you have so many battles to win.
You have the battle with your family. Don’t take that on face value; your family is a big challenge. Your spouse is your responsibility to deal with and give them their rights and keep them upon the path of Allah (subhana wa ta'ala). If they cross the boundaries of Allah, you have to remind them of Allah (subhana wa ta'ala). If they fall short, you have to bring them back on track. You have to give them their rights, even when your self says no.
You need to provide for them when you're trying to win something for yourself. You need to put them first. Many times, you will have to sacrifice many of your dreams, many of your wishes, a lot of your luxuries and favorite engagements. You have to sacrifice that for your spouse many times. For your children, you have to discipline your children. You have to organize your life around taking care of them.
"O you who believe, protect and safeguard your family, your children, from a fire whose fuel is humans and boulders."
A person who is a man in his house, who takes care of his family and keeps them on the path of Allah (subhana wa ta'ala), he acts with mercy and compassion when the situation calls for it. He acts with decisiveness and manhood when the situation calls for it. He acts with justice, insight, and devotion to Allah (subhana wa ta'ala). That’s a man who has won the battle within—not the man who plays or tries to be a man in front of a weaker person in front of him or the person who makes so much noise and gets things their own way.
That’s a man who is championing the weaknesses within himself and making them public and spreading corruption in the world. That’s a strong believer.
You know, there is the temptation for the battles outside. They have their pull; they are a powerful temptation, and they seem to promise an easy victory or success.
There’s also another source of temptation: if you win outside, you get recognition by others. This is something our self craves, and Shaytan wants us to celebrate that because he knows he can pull us in any direction he wants, as long as we follow the desire for recognition, social recognition.
But you have to win that battle. Then you become free from Shaytan because if you don’t win the inner battle, you become a slave for Shaytan. The battles outside that you are fighting, no matter how virtuous they are, you will be fighting on behalf of Shaytan. You would be bringing more damage to the causes that you are fighting for because you are bringing the filth and the weaknesses and the shortcomings that you have not been able to conquer.
You will bring them to the public arena, and you would be clueless about how harmful they are. And that’s what Allah refers to. That’s the way Allah described the hypocrites when it’s said to them, "Do not spread corruption and evil in the world." They say, "We bring reform. We’re doing good; we’re helping this cause. We’re calling for something good."
Allah says, "Indeed, they are the ones who are bringing corruption, but they realize it not." They can’t realize that. Why? Because they are blind. What is the source of blindness? The fact that they lost the battle in their heart, and they came out too early, trying to conquer the external world.
Then the Prophet (S) tells us that other than the battles that you need to win, other than your greed and selfishness, your ignorance. Allah says about man, humans have two powerful tendencies: a tendency for injustice and a natural state—default state—of ignorance.
These are battles you have to conquer: your natural tendency for injustice, for aggression, for oppression; to put yourself first is a tendency you need to overcome. Your ignorance is a battle that you need to fight.
If you come out into the world before you win those battles, you will be a source of corruption even when you don’t realize it. You think you’re doing good, but you would be causing damage. But you are so confused within that you can’t even understand the world outside. That’s what the Prophet (S) is telling us.
Then, when you add to this physical strength, intellectual strength, and skills that you have in the world, that becomes a bonus. But if you have all of the external skills that people celebrate, but you have lost the battle within, you are a weak believer, and you are a soldier of Shaytan, even when you don’t realize it.
You’re acting against the good that is in the world, thinking you’re doing good. That’s the irony of people who act too early, people who decide not to fight the battle within.
Then the Prophet (S) says, "O believers, strong or weak, there is good in them." What is the good? Iman (belief) in Allah, but it’s weak in the weak believer.
The strength of a Muslim—and the Prophet (S) is going to explain where this strength or part of this strength comes from. The Prophet (S) advises us how to navigate the world and be strong in it. "Be keen, be diligent in attaining the things that are good for you."
When we say "good for you," we also need to reconfigure what that means because if we understand it with a modern mindset, we’re going wrong. People think that whatever profit they can get in the world is good for them. Not necessarily.
The good in this world is whatever brings you closer to Allah, whatever guarantees or helps you be on the path to Allah, pleasing Allah (subhana wa ta'ala). Any blessing that takes you away from Allah or slows you down on the path of Allah is not good; it becomes a curse.
So the meaning of whatever happens in your life is contextual. The Prophet (S) says, "Be keen and diligent to get what is good for you." What is good for a believer? To attain the acceptance and the pleasure of Allah, to worship Allah, to dedicate every part of your life for Allah.
There’s no duplicity in the life of a Muslim. I have a life at home, a life at work, and then I have a life at the masjid. Sometimes I’m religious, but I have a split personality, you know, where I just act like everyone else. That’s a textbook definition of hypocrisy.
So the believer lives here for Allah. You were created for Allah. The livelihood around you, all the details of life, are there; they are part of the journey and are meant to be something that helps you get closer to Allah. If they don’t help you get closer to Allah, there will be hurdles and obstacles on the path.
That’s how you navigate the world. You do not fall into despair; you do not fall into a sense of helplessness. Why? Because, yes, you are supposed to do the work in this life; you’re supposed to seek. You’re supposed to put in the labor, but the results are not with you. There is a bigger plan—there are bigger dynamics—and that is the will of Allah (subhana wa ta'ala).
You still have to try, but your actions are part of the plan of Allah; they are just one ingredient. This bigger context of the will of Allah is so powerful that you cannot control it, yet still, you have to strive and do your best.
So the Prophet (S) continues to say, "Do not say." If something happens against your plans and against your work, you are so keen to get what’s good, but your plans don’t work out. The Prophet (S) said don’t resort to "only if."
Why? Because "only if" opens the door for Shaytan to start his work. "Only if" opens the door, and Shaytan comes in. Shaytan wreaks havoc in your heart and in your mind because when you say "only if," you are saying things are not in the hands of Allah; they are in my hands, and I messed up, and that’s why things go wrong.
That’s why it opens the door for Shaytan; it opens your heart for Shaytan because you are cancelling Allah—you're ignoring Allah and how He animates the universe. You think your works, your actions, get the results. Allah says no. What happens is the will of Allah.
You put in the work, but Allah decides whether things happen or not. Shaytan wants you to believe that you are the one who makes things happen or you are the one who messes up and then loses.
That’s why a lot of Muslims now say, "Oh, I made a million dollars." You didn’t make that; Allah provided you with that. Yes, you strove and worked, but it’s Allah who gives that.
That's our worldview because you could put in the work ten times over, and if Allah doesn’t want to give you a million dollars, He will not give it to you, and you would never get it.
So never attribute this causality to yourself; see yourself as a force that tries to do good, but things are in the hands of Allah. When you strive, when you seek Allah (subhana wa ta'ala), and you strive to do your best, always hand things over to Allah.
Whatever Allah brings into this world, Allah is merciful; Allah knows what He’s doing. Everything in this life happens for a reason; everything in this life is a result of Allah’s wisdom. Don’t question that, even if it’s painful or uncomfortable. This is a test for you.
Sometimes, as the scholars say, the raw people that Allah forces to enter Jannah, Allah forces into Jannah with what? With so much hardship in their life. So even hardship could become a blessing if you trust in Allah (subhana wa ta'ala).
We ask Allah to guide our hearts, open our minds, and keep us on His guidance.
A final reminder: the new pipe that had to be installed, as per the regulations of the city, cost the masjid quite a bit of money. Alhamdulillah, with the fundraising last week, we are only $116,000 short.
So please be generous, and inshallah, let's hit the target because I think the time is running out. Let’s help the masjid insha'Allah hit the target and get this done without any issues, without any hiccups. We will have a better area, and don’t forget—I don’t need to repeat all the talk about the reward that you get once you do this for the sake of Allah.
Win this resistance within yourself. Win this battle, the inner battle within, by going over the self's desire to hold on to what we have. Do that sacrifice for the sake of Allah. Allah will never shortchange you.
We ask Allah to accept from all of you.