How to love the Prophet (saw) | Sacred Compass | Ustadh Harun Waheed Dabbagh

Council. Can I just request everyone to start sitting down, please, if you don't mind? Thank you. So, welcome everyone once again to our evening gatherings at Sacred Compass. As always, we are here every single Wednesday. So, please do invite your friends, your family members, both physically and online. So, please do make sure you attend and please do make sure you spread this message and this word to everyone that you know.

So, it's mentioned that every single situation has both an incorrect and correct reaction. So, if you're faced with a trial, the incorrect reaction would be to blame Allah. But the correct reaction would be to, um, to be patient throughout that trial. And similarly, if you're faced with a blessing, the incorrect reaction would be to associate efforts to yourself. But the correct reaction would be to be grateful towards Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for that blessing.

So, all of us collectively, we can all be grateful for at least one thing, and that's despite of your, um, your wealth, despite of your marital status, despite your job status, and that is to have *suam* in our lives as a guide, as a teacher, as a mentor to the easiest and most efficient way to reach Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And how do you express that gratitude towards Allah? We implement His Sunnah. We learn to, um, love Him. We learn to appreciate Him.

So, this evening, we have Harun, who will teach us practical tools to learn and appreciate Allah *salallahu alaihi wa sallam*. And by extension, we can use those tools to love anything we want in life and also to create hatred for anything in our lives. So, we will have the opportunity for one-to-one with us or any of our *ush Muhammad Shikh Salman* and anyone else who's in attendance, straight after the reminder and the gathering. We will break for *maghrib* at approximately 8:00 p.m. and conclude and begin the second part of the reminder straight after *maghrib* and *sunnah*. So, please, I request everyone, after we do pray *sunnah*, please try your best to come straight back to your *jazz* so we can start our second part of the session from, *inshallah*.

So, with that, I'd like to call upon Hamza to deliver a Quranic recitation.

Who? Fore! [Music] Foreign! Foreign! Oh, he [Music] see for [Music] [Music] for [Music] All of [Music] Oh. [Music] [Music] Oh. Oh. Oh. [Music] Alhamdulillah. [Music] [Music] Welcome. All praise be to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and all salutations are upon His final messenger, Sayyiduna Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, the beloved of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the beloved of the creation.

Now, I want to open up with a story, and it's a true story. It's a story of two parents who are on their way traveling with their child, and their child is disabled. Their child is disabled, physically disabled, so they're wheelchair-bound. And unfortunately, when they were traveling on a train, the train derailed, and when the train derailed, it fell into a lake. Now, naturally, and they say this even when you're flying, that if in case there is any decompression or the plane plummets, they say, "First, look after yourself." Meaning, give yourself oxygen before you help others. Now, imagine this train has fallen into the water, and these two parents are left in a position where this train is sinking, and that with the limited time that they have in this water, they have to choose between life and death, and the instinct of survival. Go.

>> You talk about calamities and then you end up inviting them. Just admit, I think there's a, there's a gust of wind coming, so it's going to fall over again. Okay.

So, they have to fight their instinct of survival. Now, what these two parents do, in spite of all of their instinct, in spite of all of their want, every ounce of you when you're near death is thinking about survival. Both of the parents hold up their child's, um, wheelchair in the water. And it's because of their efforts of docking their child, docking their child, and giving them their float that they end up dying and sinking, and their child survived.

So, Daniel Goleman mentions this. Daniel Goleman is the author of Emotional Intelligence, and he published this in the '80s, and he opens up with one of these stories. And what's amazing is that in spite of your instinct to survive, in spite of every ounce of you, their love for their child overrode all of that. And so, we learn something about love, that love is such a power. It is such a quality that it has the ability to override even your need to survive. How many people, how many stories and books have you read about people who've died for love? Your Romeo and Juliet, your Layla and Majnun, meaning people who are willing to give their entire life and override their objectives. Why? Because love, love has this very powerful effect. And one of the effects it has is that it converts struggle, it converts struggle to joy. It converts striving to ease. It converts work to purpose. How many people who say, "I love what I do"? When they say, "I love what I do," it doesn't feel like work. Why? Because love has transformed what anybody else might say, "That's really difficult." But it's given you focus. So, love is a very powerful quality if used and harnessed for the right things.

So, imagine these parents, they gave their life for their child. But what does it mean then to love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? What would that do to a person? How would your worship change? How would your sacrifice change? How would your striving change? It wouldn't feel like worship. It wouldn't feel odd because it's based on love.

So, we arrive to one of the most important qualities, and the most important quality that we were created from, and we are created for, was love. That Allah created us out of love [Music] and we were created to love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So, the question now is, how do you develop this? So, to explain love, love has two dimensions. The first dimension is what is hidden. And the second dimension is what is seen. So, if we take the analogy of the Arabic language of the word, *hubb*, this shares the same root as *hab*, meaning seed. So, that hidden part is like a seed. You can't tell it's planted there, but it's been planted. It's been planted. Now, just like a seed is planted, it needs to be nurtured and developed before it becomes and it blooms to be a tree. And it is only when then it becomes a tree, we extract benefit from it. But in the absence of developing and nourishing and nurturing and developing its branches and tree and fruit, the tree, in the absence of the tree, the seed brings no benefit except that it just exists under the soil.

So, the question for us is, how do we develop love? And what is it? So, we mentioned it's two things. The first is what is hidden, and the second is what is evident. Now, we're going to focus on what is hidden. So, if I had, who here has heard of the Moroccan footballer who signed all of his assets to his mother? Who's heard of this story? Okay, everybody. Okay. He signed all of his assets to his mother, and when he married his wife, or his wife, when it came to the divorce, she couldn't claim on anything. Yes. Okay. Good. Now, nobody would say that woman loved him. What can we derive from this? That what does she really love?

>> Money.

>> His money. Now, it may be the case two people can come together, and maybe it started with loving each other, but then money and influence and power and control and status, they also come. And so, can love change?

>> Yes.

>> It can change. So, this is akin to two friends. You know, let's say you come and visit me, and after 10 years, I decide that I'm going to give my inheritance to somebody else, my wealth to somebody else, a favor to somebody else. Now, because you're not getting that, you go elsewhere. You stop seeing me. You make friends with somebody else. You'd say that this person's, they were never in it for me. So, the first part of love, what is hidden? What do we say? What, what is it that we're planting? Is it a feeling? Is it a state? What is it? Very simply, it is *niyyah*, intention. Do you love Allah for who He is? Do you love the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam for who they are? Or do you love them because they give you things? Is it a conditional relationship? Because if it's a conditional relationship, you don't love Allah for Allah. You love Allah, in reality, for something else. You actually love that thing. You don't love Allah. So, intention is the first seed. If it is corrupt, you can grow the tree, you can nurture this, >> but it's going to reap poor yield. It's going to reap poor fruit. It's like having a disease, but from the inside. A tree that is hollow, roots that are hollow. So, the first is *niyyah*. And we see this in the time of the Sahabah, in the Prophet's time. He's asked this very profound question. He's asked, "Oh, Umar, do you love me more than everything?" And the Prophet, in his truthfulness, he responds, "Allah, I don't love you. I love you more than everything except the love of myself." And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says, "That's not sufficient." Because the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said that you, a true believer, is one who has achieved love of me over everything. Meaning, my love dominates other loves. And then he says, "Allah," he pauses. And he says, "Now, I love you more than myself." Now, what people misinterpret in this *hadith* is not that, it's not that Umar wasn't, doesn't follow the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, doesn't love him, but maybe there was an ounce of that love that it was, "I love you for me," because I'm benefiting from this, from what he was getting. Which, if you look at the *sirah*, transformed. So, what happens in that moment of pause? Does he pray? Does he recite a special *dhikr*? What did he do? He simply corrected his intention. He paused. He thought about it. And he says, "No, I love you for you." Meaning, for who you are, for what you are. And that is the first stage of when really your relationship with Allah and His Prophet starts to become, and it's sourced on actual love. Because everything below it is based on what you can get from them. That means that you really love that thing. We mentioned this a few sessions ago about *wala'*, the degrees of *wala'*. There are over 16 degrees, and over eight of them don't even, are not sufficient. They're not, they don't meet the threshold of *wala'*, but they're categories of worshippers. So, the higher, the first baseline is when you start to love something for what it is, because it's not to do with you. It's nothing to do with you anymore. It's what we call unconditional. It's unconditional.

So, our *Masha'ikh* has explained that if you want to, the first thing you need to do is plant the seed. Make Allah love Allah for who He is. Love the Prophet for who they are. Now, the question is, how do I water this seed? There are three ways that you can water the seed. And this is like, as water is to a seed, these three things are like sunlight, oxygen, and water. And these are *jamal*, *kamal*, and *ihsan*. If you want to love something for what it is, *jamal* means know about its beauty. Because human beings, we fall for things because of its beauty. And it's true. You can fall for somebody because of how they look. Just by, I've met somebody, and I said, "How did you meet your wife?" And he said, "Honestly." I said, "What?" He said, "Um, I saw her for the first time." I said, "Okay, right." But it's true. You can fall for somebody just based on beauty. *Kamal* is excellence. If you think about it, why do you like your favorite athlete? Why do you like somebody who's achieved a high craft or skill or celebrity? It's because they've achieved some excellence in a field to such an extent that irrelevant of your religion or your background or your ethnicity, everybody can recognize, "Yes, this person is excellent." And there's a love that comes, there's an adoration that comes with that excellence. And *ihsan* is the blessings that person has brought to you personally. So, these are things like we experience when we love our friends, we love our parents. Why? Because firsthand, we've experienced the blessings of that person, the service of that person, what they have done for you. So, we said *jamal*, and this is why engaging and learning about the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, learning about his *shama'il*, learning about his intercession, learning about his qualities, his beauty, his *shama'il*, these are very important. Because if you want to love Allah and you want to love the Prophet, you have to engage in these three things because it's to do with them, their personality, their blessings. And when we listen and we sit in talks and we hear about the *hadith* of the intercession of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, of the love of Allah, you feel that, you feel that inflation. But that is water coming into a seed that can go and come and go. Seeds don't need watering all the time. So, *jamal*, *kamal*, *ihsan*. Now, in, I think we're going to be breaking now for *Maghrib*'s coming in, and then after, we're going to be talking about now, how do we practically build love? Because if it is to engage in and absorb and consume the water and air and oxygen, which is *ihsan*, just like a tree absorbs this and builds its roots, then there are roots. Roots that feed the seed. What are those roots? And we're going to be talking about seven roots that feed the seed of love. If you know these seven, you will know how to build love for anything based on these seven roots. So, we'll take a pause there and we'll pray, and then we'll return. [Music] Well, this is just going to hurt. Allah Oh sh Allah. All shan [Music] I I swear [Music] I [Music] [Laughter] [Music] Allah Oh go [Music] What's up? [Music] For the for the [Music] Allah Alhamdulillah. [Laughter] [Laughter] for [Music] me. Hechech. for [Music] Allah. [Laughter] What can be Lord? Oh, all Alhamdulillah. [Laughter] [Laughter] [Music] Yeah. What's What can [Music] Allah Allah. Allah. Come on. Oh, come on. Come close. Allah, [Music] love. Come on. Allah come Allah [Music] [Applause] Oh yeah. [Applause] Thank you. Excuse.

So, to recap, we said that there are, that love firstly comprises of two dimensions. The first is that which you cannot see. It is hidden. That that is planted in the ground. And the second is that what sprouts forth from it, and that is what is evident. That's *ma'na*, meaning what is evident, what can be seen, what can be experienced and tasted. Now, the first part that you plant is the seed of anything. When you grow it, when you nurture it. So, the seed of love is firstly to correct your intention. Why is it that you love that thing? Is it for yourself? Because if it's for yourself, then you love yourself. You don't love that thing. Or is it because you love that thing for what it is? So, when we love Allah, when we love the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, the Sahabah loved Allah and His Messenger for who they were. And so, to nurture this seed into something that is beneficial, three things need to be absorbed: *jamal*, *kamal*, and *ihsan* – beauty, excellence, and what that thing has done for you, meaning the blessings.

Now, these come to us through seven roots. So, just like a tree, the tree extracts the nutrients from the soil through roots, and that's the job of the roots. They pull nutrients and channel it back to the seed so that further it can sprout forth. It can grow and mature further. So, what are the roots? Now, this is very important because if you understand the channels that develop love, you will realize and recognize how you can develop. And the first three roots are what you look at, what you listen to, what you speak about. These are the first three channels. These are each of one of them is a root to the seed which is planted in a person's heart. If you look, if you go to Medina, if you look at the *ayat*, the signs of Allah, we can't see Allah, but we can see His signs. If you meet and speak and you're in the company of the people of Allah, looking at them, this increases one's remembrance and love of Allah. To see Allah's perfection in the creation is to see the perfection in design. That also increases love of Allah. There may be scientists that increase such heights of love that we won't be able to because of their study of Allah's perfection in the creation. And if you use your faculties, your ears, your eyes to speak about, to listen to *hadith*, the Quran, the favors of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the favors of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, only will increase love. But it has to come through speaking, listening, and seeing. So, these are the first three.

The next three are things that you exert. These are, these are also roots, but they're more about what you give. So, what you spend money on, what you spend time on, what you spend effort on, and what you think about most. If you think about it, if you love something, you will spend time on it, or money on it, or you will think about that. It will always be on your mind. Now, imagine these seven roots were channeled to something illicit. Imagine they were channeled towards something illicit. Someone has developed a food addiction. Let's say that's not illicit, but I think it's *haram*. Why? Because they're watching cooking shows all the time. They're scrolling on reels just watching food. It's like people I meet in Ramadan and say, "You know, I'm really finding Ramadan difficult." I said, "Why?" Like, you know, it's the winter now. It's coming into the earlier, earlier parts. So, the fasts have become shorter. What's the issue now? And and then you go down to, and they're watching cooking shows in the day. They're scrolling on Instagram, looking at, uh, recipes, and that's all that's on there on their mind. So, what do you think is going to happen? They're going to build that state of wantingness for what food. Now, imagine you use that for Allah. Imagine you use that for the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. These roots will feed what we all experience as the state of love. When we say we feelings, that's like water being brought into the seed. But it temporarily is being brought, and then it goes. Now, does a seed stay a seed? No. What happens? It grows. Its, it grows. The tree grows from it. The bark grows from it, and then the branches grow, and the leaves, and then it bears fruit. So, all of this is good. It's good. It's feeding. This is like somebody who's saying, listening to poetry and reciting *salawat*. These are all good. This is building that state of love. But what's the purpose of that? It's meant to become evident. Because if it's not evident, a seed underground does nothing. >> It does nothing. Neither benefits, nor is it seen by anybody. It's the tree that gives shade. It's the tree that produces oxygen. It's a tree that produces fruit that can be exported anywhere in the world.

So, when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, among His 99 names, notice the name that refers to love is *Al-Wadud*, and *Wadud* comes from *mawaddah*, which is an evident love. It doesn't come from *hubb*, which is hidden. It comes from evident, because Allah is evident in His love, in the blessings that you receive, in your existence. He doesn't, it's not an empty claim. Do you understand? So, in the same way, these seven roots can build or suffocate love, the state of love. Now, the purpose of love is so that it grows and it benefits others. This is really what complete love is. It's not complete until it is something grows from it.

So, now we move on to the second part. We said the first is hidden. The second is evident. What is that? Very simply, if you want to summarize everything, that is evident is simply that you color yourself. You copy the one that you love. That's it. Everything that you're asked to do, everything you're asked to do in relation to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, everything you're asked to do in relation to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is simply just copy them. Copy the qualities of Allah in your life. Allah is truthful, you become truthful. Allah is gentle, you become gentle. Similarly with the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, his forbearance, his patience, his kindness. That the proof and the sign that you love is that you have brought what they love. Meaning, they love these things. Allah loves gentleness. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam loves gentleness. Allah, Allah's mercy. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, Allah's mercy. You love what they love, and you bring that into your life. You know, the thing about when we copy celebrities, we think the things that they use are the things that they love, but they get paid to promote things. It doesn't mean that they love it. It could be even a rubbish product, but because they've been paid well, they're going to push it to their followers. Why? Because people love them and will follow whatever they like, whatever they show preference towards. What was it? Ronaldo at a conference moved a Coke bottle out of view and put water there. What happened to the share price of Coke? >> Yeah, it dropped. Just from one football player, one of the most famous football players, moving a Coke, showing what? Lack of preference. Just didn't prefer it. And the whole share price tanked. So, you see, when we love fake role models, know that even the things that they love, they don't share necessarily. Maybe they love good health, but they promote fast food. Maybe they love certain financial amenities for themselves, but they give others incorrect advice. How many scandals, how many financial scandals are there because of celebrities pushing crypto scams? >> So, who's benefiting? They end up pocketing it themselves. So, meaning that's with fake role models because they don't necessarily have people's benefit in mind. They have them. That's what happens when you make yourself the center of your life. You only serve yourself. But Allah and His Messenger, they only love, they only ask of you that they love themselves. If Allah is truthful, He expects truthfulness from you. If Allah is gentle, He only expects gentleness from you.

So, now we're coming to the second part of love. That is, if you love something, not only are you covered in copying that thing, but you love what the beloved loves. You love what they love. Sayyiduna Anas, he once observed the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam eating some food, and the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, he was searching for, I think it's like a melon or or a pumpkin. Sorry, not melon, pumpkin. And he said, "Since seeing that day, pumpkin became the most beloved thing, beloved food to me. It's one of my favorite foods." Why? Because he saw the preference of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. That became his most beloved thing. Once he was, once doing *wudu*, and in, or after the *wudu*, he turned, or in the middle of *wudu*, he turned and he just smiled, and then he continued to do his *wudu*. The Sahabah asked him, "Yasi," because the Sahabah would learn from the high-ranking Sahabah, those who were in the company of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, that's where they got their *deen* from. So, they asked him, "What was this like? Was this something we should do?" Because they were copying. You see, their education wasn't sitting in a classroom all the time. It was to observe and copy. Copy the role models. It's the quickest way of emulation. It's the quickest way of change. So, Anas said, "I smiled because once I saw the Prophet do this. He was doing *wudu*, and something he remembered, and he turned and he smiled. So, I, that came to my mind, and I did the same." There was another companion, he's known as *Sunnah*, like the madly in love with the *Sunnah*. And from him, we have known and compiled so many of the *Sunnah* because of his, his strictness on practicing the *Sunnah*. He would bow his head at a point in Medina. He would bow his head, and the Sahabah would say, "Why do you bow your head at this point?" He goes, "There used to be a tree here. There used to be a tree that when the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam would walk under, he would bow his head. So, I continue to bow my head." Such was their love. Such was their adoration of whatever he sallallahu alaihi wa sallam did. These are not even things the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam loved. These are things that just he did, and they loved him that much. There was once a female companion. She came to sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and she gave her child to him and said, "Ya, take my child in your service." And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, "And how will I do that?" She said, "That when the arrows are fired in battle, and the arrows come towards you, use my child as a shield. Use my child as a shield." And was shocked. There are books and books and books written on the *shama'il* of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam for a reason, because the Sahabah, the Sahabah were completely and utterly in love with the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. There is no question about that. No question. We don't have enough time to speak about the love of the Sahabah.

So, they colored themselves in the qualities of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. So, when we feed this quality of love, when we're sitting in these *majalis*, we're going to gatherings of *salawat*, that's good. That's good, and you should do that. But know that it only becomes evident if it's coming out into deeds. It's coming out into qualities. Qualities are like branches of a tree, because qualities produce deeds. Generous people produce generous actions. Gentle people, the branch of gentleness will produce actions of gentleness. And so, the tree that bears fruit, the tree that bears fruit, and the more fruit that you bear, and the more branches that you develop in the qualities of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, the more a tree lowers itself. Why? Because it's a fruit-bearing tree that bends. And this is what servitude means. This is what humility is. To love the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, his love will transform you into a servant, because he sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was a servant of Allah, *hamdullah*. He is a servant and the beloved of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and that's what the end goal of love is, that you end up emulating the one that you love. You become what they have. You become what they have. You don't become them, but you become what they reach. You become what they have the honor that they have. You also get that. And so, this actually, because love is sometimes spoken about in a poetic and intangible way, our *Masha'ikh* make it practical, that from this, we now know what we can do to build that state and want and longingness. That's good. You should want that. But if it doesn't come out in expression, then it's a fruitless love. It's love by tongue only. And none of the Sahabah were lovers by tongue. None of them were lovers by tongue. They gave their lives for Allah and His Messenger.

And finally, I turn your attention to a *dua*, narrated in *Tirmidhi*, and it's known as the *dua* of love, and it summarizes everything we've discussed. Because you see, people want to love Allah, but they don't know how. They think they might love Allah, but like intention, you have to constantly refresh it, to check that it's still there. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, and this is a *dua* that was not, was also narrated and mentioned by others like *Imam Ahmad* as well, and it says, "Oh Allah, grant us Your love. Grant me Your love." So, asking Allah directly is related. Meaning, firstly, you need to correct your intention, because you're asking of Allah, it's between you and Allah. That's something that you, in your heart, you can make that request. But then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam indicates, "Well, what's the means to that?" Well, you should also love what they love. Now, what do we see? "And grant me the love of those whom You love." Why is that important? Because the sign of love is what you copy. And copying means you should love what they love. >> So, who does Allah love? Who does Allah love? Not just the >> the *Anbiya*, and the greatest of all of them is what the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam walked once, and the Sahabah were talking about the, the *Anbiya* of the prophets, that this prophet, he was, Allah, Ibrahim *alaihis salam*, sorry, Musa *alaihis salam*, was Allah, the one whom spoke and was spoken to by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Ibrahim is Allah, he is the intimate friend of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He is, he is the one who was miraculously born from the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, "Yes, what you've said about my brothers is correct, but I am the most beloved to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala." So, Allah, [Music] "Oh Allah, grant us Your love." Then comes the evident part, that we grant us the love of those people. We should copy those whom You love. And what do they, what do the *Anbiya* love? What do the *Awliya* love? They love deeds. They love the actions that Allah loves. So, the *dua* ends by saying, "Oh Allah, grant us love of those deeds that You love." We want those. Why? Because this is what's beloved to Allah, and this is what's beloved to His Messenger. Why? These deeds are the qualities that they love, embedded in these deeds. So, now you have the fruit.

So, in this *dua*, we should have a new perspective. Now, it actually explains the whole formula for love. If you want to build love, it's not about states. People think love is around poetry and feeling good. It's not. It's building a state and letting that transform you. Because once you love, once you make love transform you, then because you see the word worship, or it is the extreme of love. When someone says, "I worship something," it means I wholeheartedly devote and devout, devote myself in obedience, in preference to something. That's what they mean. It's the extreme of love. In fact, the word love is subordinate to worship, because worship is the extreme of love. So, in reality, what we're talking about here is how to become a worshipper, and that is to love the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Loving the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions, "Say to them, oh Prophet, if they love Me, then follow me, and I will then in turn love them and forgive them." So, Allah has placed His condition, why? Because of Allah's love with the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, His love of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And so, we hope our love of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam grants us nearness to Allah. And that's what this month is about. It's *shukr*, it's thankfulness, it's a reminder, it's an appreciation, not just for gatherings of *dhikr* and *salawat*. That's good, because it will feed the state, but if it's not going, if you're not going home with a way of trying to implement and transform yourself, all you're doing is planting seeds, watering them, and they're fruitless. And so, let this month be a month where we start to nurture our relationship with Allah and His Messenger. Let this month be a month where when we attend these gatherings, we see that improvement. The roots start to take place and start to secure themselves. And we see that we leave this month with a stronger connection with the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and more importantly, a method. Because what we've shown there is a method. If you want to love, you need to then feed these seven channels consistently, making sure that no other contamination is coming in them, so that you end up loving something else. Keeping them pure, that you're taking in water, not poison.

And I'll leave you with this final story. There was once, uh, a man who was on travel, and he, on travel [Music], was taken in by a woman. Uh, she said, "Look, you're stranded. You don't have food. You don't have water. You can stay at this property. I always taking guests, and I will look after you." So, he felt very shy, but he said, "Okay." So, that one night, he stayed in the inn, and this was a practice also found in the Arabs. Uh, the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam also himself, when he was traveling in the *Hijrah*, he was taken in also, uh, by a, uh, by a woman, which she, the *shama'il* that's written for her. So, this woman feeds, feeds him, cooks, gives him new linen clothing for one night. Next day, he says, "Okay, I should be getting going. Get going." She goes, "No, no, no, no. I made food for you." So, he sits, and he eats. And she goes, "No, you should rest again." So, he's thinking, "Oh, this is over the top now." But he says, "Okay, fine. I'll rest." She says, "Why don't you just stay another night? You can stay another night. No problem. I'll accommodate for you." So, she then accommodates him for another night. She again, breakfast on the table, food, lunch, bedding, clothing. He's enough food for him to take away on his journey. So, he's thinking, "I get better service from this person than what I get from my own family." And before he leaves, he says, "I would love, I want to thank you, you know, for your hosting." He says, she responds, he says, "You see, when I saw you, you reminded me of my son who's left me. And out of the love of my son, I did what I usually would do for my son. I would cook for him and clean for him and accommodate him and do any of the errands to look after him, because it was at the memory and the love of my son." So, our *Masha'ikh* say that this is also like the love of Allah, that just by emulating the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, you are emulating what is beloved to Allah, and because of that, Allah's *rahmah* comes upon you. That's what it means to be beloved to Allah.

So, we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us the love. Firstly, we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us His love. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us the love of those whom He loves. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us the love of those deeds which are most beloved to Him. And to make this love more beloved than ourselves, to make this love more beloved than our families, the love of our families. And make this love more beloved than the needs, like cool water on a hot day. Alhamdulillah.

>> Any question from the sisters? [Applause] [Music] I just wanted to know with this, what is meant by, again, it says Allah to me, then myself, my family, and even cold water is meant by, >> cold water is referring to, because you see, cold water for the Arabs was an amenity, do you understand? Having cold water to quench your thirst on a hot day. Imagine like you're really thirsty and you want water. You know that dire need of thirst. And going back to the story I mentioned initially about the parents who overcame their desire to survive out of love of their child. It's that. It's what it's referring to. That's what you mean by cold water. So, it's beautiful because this *dua* actually gives you measures on what you should measure your love against in the *dua* itself. Love of yourself, family, and even your needs. Do you understand? So, not to use this example, but, and you're going to ask me how I know this example. Um, actually, I'm not going to name the person. There's a famous celebrity who, she would, she would, she loves her job of concerts so much that she would even skip meals and forgo food. And not because, you know, out of like punishing herself, because she loves what she does so much. Famously, this is, no, that when they're so engrossed that you even skip meals because you're so engrossed and in love of what with what you do, and that's a job. Imagine love of Allah. So, is that clear? Yeah.

>> You have the love of above everything. How did you know that you love above your wife, family, your girlfriend?

>> Very simple. When the preference and command of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam clashes with the preference or command of anything else, your preference is with the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Simple. That's it. That's all. That's all. This all comes down to giving preference. Firstly, following what he sallallahu alaihi wa sallam made obligatory. You obey that, and you leave what he said is *haram*. That's the first level of love. But really, you develop even further when you even love what he made optional. That's when love becomes much more higher, because you're not commanded to do that. It's out of your own volition. So, very simply, if you want to know where your heart is in anything, look at what you're willing to give preference over. Let's say your wife or your family say, "I don't want you to pray." So, what? You're going to listen to them because you're a family? No, because your preference is still with their, the Sahabah who in Mecca, they had to pray in hiding, and when their parents found out, I think it's, he was kicked out of by his own mother when she found out that he would, he converted and he prayed. Now, was he sitting there saying, "Oh, my, you know, I have to fulfill the rights of my mother?" And but it's my mother, still rights of parents are extremely high, but love of Allah and His Messenger, that's the only exception. Do you understand? Obviously, there's wisdom in how to deal with things, that's different if there is a clash, but this is the easiest way of telling. Do you understand? That's a good question.

>> I have a question. This is perhaps more of a request than a question, but how, what are the first one or two steps a person should take to build love of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam? Just a quick recap.

>> So, going back to this diagram, very simply, if you want to love the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, first, stop feeding the seed with things that are poisoning it. Before giving nutrition, let's say I put water and to grow a plant, but I'm also putting acid on the plant five times a day. So, the first thing is to stop the acid. And the acid is feeding the roots with darkness. So, that's why, you know, when we say the obligatory, the obligatory isn't just to pray *salah*, it's also to stop *haram*. That's also obligatory. So, purification. For those who don't know, we teach a course of *tazkiyah* and purification, and what it does, it targets each one of these roots that feed the heart. The heart is where love and *iman* sit, and it prevents poison coming in there and destroying anything that you have in there. So, that's the first thing. The second, and obviously, you know, in this month, this month is attributed to the birth and the passing of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and in some ways, it's a double *mi'raj* because he sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, he entered this *dunya*, this life, in this month. He also entered the *akhirah* in this month. So, both the *dunya* also celebrate him, and the *akhirah* celebrate him. So, this month is a month of his sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, one of the greatest mercies of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, uh, in which the re, the primary recipient of the Quran. You know, if the Quran, that night is a night of power when it was revealed, imagine the one, the night which the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam arrived in this world, it is a light upon light, it's a mercy upon mercy. So, he attending gatherings, listening to the *shama'il*, we should really learn about the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Learn about his *shama'il*. Don't just learn about the *ifrad*. If you don't know the *shama'il*, start there. If you've heard the *shama'il* before, learn about the *shama'il*. Learning about him sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and let that love translate into abandoning things that dishonor or go against him sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. That's the first place to start. So, those two things: learning more about him, and two, using that motivation to purify those roots, purify one's love. So, those two things are very practical. You should be able to do them. If you're doing the *tazkiyah* course, left.

In, we move on to our final, uh, final, uh, section of the collective *dhikr*. And as we're reminding, uh, our respective brothers and sisters now on a weekly basis, that this is a *Sunnah* of sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. You see, *Sunnah* is defined as any speech the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam uttered, any action that he performed, and anything that he approved of. So, the approval is either, uh, explicit or tacit. Explicit approval means that what the sallallahu alaihi wa sallam has verbally approved of. And the tacit approval is what the sallallahu alaihi wa sallam remained silent when he, uh, when he learned of. And so, this *Sunnah* of a collective is both a *Sunnah*, it's a *Sunnah* through approval, through tacit approval, and it could be the case, could be made as well, that it is an explicit approval as, or actually action as sat with the Sahabah who were doing collectively. So, there's nothing more compelling than this. And then everything else is really the, the icing on the cake, isn't it? That the angels, they look for these gatherings. They come here for their sustenance. They come here for their nutrition. They come here to find the best company. Such gatherings are so favored by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Every deed that you perform, every good deed, you need to have a *niyyah*, you need to have an intention for it to be accepted. Except a gathering of *dhikr*, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says to the angels, "Testify, my angels, that I have forgiven everyone who's there, everyone who's attended." So, the angels will say, "But among them is someone not from them." Meaning, he just walked past. He just turned up. His friend, his mom, his dad dragged him over. They didn't even want to be there. They had no intention to be there. All the deeds that a person does, they must have intention. And we know the first *hadith*, all scholars start with, is the *hadith* of, "All deeds are judged by their intention." But this gathering is so powerful and so loved by Allah that even those who don't have a, don't have an intention, they also benefit as well. And Allah, He says, "These people, anyone who's with them is never saddened and never grieves." Such is the, such is the favor Allah holds these gatherings in. So, if a person, this is what they want, Alhamdulillah. A person doesn't want this, then no other gathering will be attended by angels and looked upon by Allah with such favor. None.

So, just as some basic etiquettes before we continue, uh, that we dim the lights just to aid with focus and concentration, and, uh, um, and please, uh, Alhamdulillah, children are welcome as you all know, but do hold your children, 'cause if it is a little dark for them, maybe they trip up, maybe they fall. Uh, follow the lead, uh, *inshallah*. Brother Abdullah will be leading the *dhikr* today. It will be a short, um, and then *inshallah*, do raise your voices enough that you can hear yourself. It doesn't have to be the person in the next building who's hearing you. Okay? Audible doesn't mean screaming. Okay? So, this is something the regulars know. Alhamdulillah, not what we, not what we do. Uh, so, and finally, and more importantly than everything, is that a person should now, uh, come into the presence of Allah. What that means is that you should be conscious now, "Allah is with me. Allah is seeing me. Allah is hearing me." If your mind wanders, just come back to that thought. "Allah is with me. Allah is seeing me. Allah is hearing me." Alhamdulillah. [Music] Allah [Laughter] align. Are you [Laughter] feeling [Applause] for [Laughter] [Music] Allah. foreign. Yeah. [Laughter] [Music] Mer was sending the ima. M was sending the Foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] mean in heaven. I call me link on me. Holy Spech. [Music] me. [Music] Far and more [Music] Her in More hal Oh no more in the morning. In no more in more [Music] in Morning. In more in [Laughter] more. Oh more [Laughter] muham. [Laughter] It's a lot of [Music] You are as you [Music] align. You [Music] [Music] be Allech. [Laughter] [Music] Y [Music] for [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] for [Music] Fore! Foreign! Foreign! [Music] Valore [Music] Allah say he was holy. You are sending a Alhamdulillah. What a [Laughter] was [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] gathering. Allow every one of us, every single one of us to have heeded the words of this and taken them on board and started to plant the seed of love for [Music] and water that seed. Allow our speech to be that of the perfection of sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.

Allow us only to look at what pleases Him. Sallallahu alaihi wasallam. Allow us to listen to His story, His life, and His qualities so that we may increase in our love of Him. Occupy our thoughts with thoughts of Him, occupy our actions with the Sunnah of Him. Use our wealth and resources to support the projects that He loves. Allow us to be reflections of Him. Sallallahu alaihi wasallam.

Truly they are deprived, those who see His coming as insignificant. Protect us from such a fate. Allow us to be those who are colored in His Sunnah, who are fragrance in His perfume, those who are decorating with His qualities. Allow us vision of Him in this life and the next and grant us His intercession. Uh, protect us from giving lip service only. Allow us to be those who are first to give up their wealth, give up their health, give up their entire life and their reputation and everything that is good to them to give it up for...

[Music]

So, just before we leave or before we, uh, break for snacks, we have a couple of announcements. The first announcement is one of our sister organizations, Seek to Change, are holding a, uh, holding a launch event on the 23rd of September at 6:00 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. in Compressor House. It's near the Excel Centre. So, most of us live in or near East London. So, who's the target? Seek to Change are an organization who focus on dawa to non-Muslims, and this is a specialization. This is not, uh, this is not a skill that everyone has. And so, inshallah, they will be teaching especially how to live cohesively, not least during these times where there is tension between communities, tension against Muslims. It was a year ago that there were riots. So, how do we become the best neighbors and the best, the best ambassadors of Islam? Sometimes even without opening our mouths as well. You see, blasting Quran on Oxford Street and, uh, and getting one in a 100,000 is not a great conversion rate. That's not something that patted the companions on the back for. Yes. Dawa is a skill and an art, and it's one that changes depending on who you're directing it towards. So, inshallah, this is very important. I myself, inshallah, intend to be attending. I don't have that skill. So, I'm going to learn from the instructors over there this, this very unique and specific, uh, expertise on da'ee and dawa to, uh, people who are not necessarily Muslim.

The other, uh, the other announcement is the Selling Society, which is another sister organization of ours. It's like the academic, um, arm of, uh, of Sacred Compass. Uh, we have launched a, uh, five-part course on the essentials of Sharia. Anyone who wants to build a firm foundation and grounding in the Sharia disciplines, this is for you. It is made for casual learners, people who cannot commit a lot of time, and, uh, it's one weekend a month for five months in a row. So, starting this September the 20th, inshallah, we'll be covering the topics of what is our faith, what is our belief system, and we'll be covering, uh, Islamic, uh, the, the Islamic legal theory. Basically, what you will learn is why are there so many different opinions? Yes. Why are there so many different opinions, and is that a bad thing? So, there's more detail, of course, to that. The third is the salah. So, everyone knows how to pray. I'm sure some people maybe need a refresher, but more importantly is how to establish salah. So, how do you establish salah in your life? How are you somebody who has made salah transform? How can you become somebody who transforms himself through salah? Then we have Quran, which are the sciences of the Quran. How did the Quran reach us? Is the Quran, uh, are there different categories of Surahs? Yes. And how do we benefit from that? And also Hadith, which is also how Hadith reached us and how we classify Hadith based on the veracity of its strength and its authenticity. More important than actually all of that is how to transform knowledge into action. Because what you know about Sacred Compass and those who have attended the Selling Society before is that we're all about practicality. Never theory without a plan. Never theory without a method. Knowledge was never intended for qualifications. Knowledge was always intended to bring us closer to Allah. And so, inshallah, we'll be through the teachings our mashayikh have shared with us, alhamdulillah, over the years and, uh, and the classical, obviously, Islamic literature, we'll be sharing with you how you can benefit immediately from that knowledge that you gain. So, it's in person here in Wing High School, inshallah, same place. It will be a weekend, so Saturday, Sunday, 10 to 4, both days, one weekend a month, inshallah. And, uh, and also online if you can't make it. And if you do miss any lessons, then those online recordings will be shared.

Just one thing to also emphasize. You see, many people have this idea that in order to study the religion, you have to travel the world. And yes, you used to have to travel the world and sit at the feet of scholars. Alhamdulillah, he's modest in his, in his speaking of the course, but Muhammad is selling the Sharia sciences abroad. He has also sat at the feet of scholars, some of the foremost scholars of all the likes of Kari, who is a Mauritanian born and bred and trained scholar, among one of the most elite scholars in Europe, if not the world. So, alhamdulillah, for those who can't afford to go live in the desert and spend years learning Arabic and learning the sciences, the job of the is to make things accessible and easy for people. So, alhamdulillah, these types of courses have been built and designed with that in mind. So, do take, uh, these opportunities. Very little time you have to give, one, you know, one session or two sessions a month, or was it one session a month? Nothing. But what you will get, you won't be able to find on YouTube or tracking PD because this has really been acquired through knowledge. And that's one last thing I'll say about knowledge. It's not just what you can get on the internet, that's information. Knowledge has always been passed down from the chest of people to the chest of students, from heart to heart. As Imam says, that knowledge is a light of the heart. So, this is what you get and how you benefit from the fee of the scholars, uh, that you don't get from say, a pro. So, that's if anyone wants to speak to you, um, make yourself known to the front. Otherwise, we've got about 17 minutes left. So, please finish all the snacks. And we'll see you next week again, 7:15. Ter again. So, doors will open at 7:15 and they will be closed between 7:30 and 7:45 because, um, other users of this building, children will leave the building, and for safeguarding reasons, um, the venue asks that we don't have some people come during that time. So, come before. If you're absolutely going to be late, then you have to wait until 7:45. You can catch up on 9 later. Uh, that's it. Take it.