Transcription
[Music] Alhamdulillah. Brothers, sisters, brother side seems a bit depleted, doesn't it? They all struggling in Ramadan.
One of the purposes of uh the month of Ramadan is as Allah articulates in the Quran, "Oh you who believe, fasting has been prescribed upon you like it was prescribed upon those who came before you." And the purpose of that is what? In two hours approximately, eat as much samosi, pore, kebabs as you can. Is that the purpose of the month of Ramadan? No.
The purpose of the month of Ramadan is that by the time that the month of Ramadan is finished, that you have a deep connection with Allah. that you have a deep connection with Allah that you become people of ta and that is the purpose of the month of Ramadan and this is why that every one of us needs to assess himself that is this month of Ramadan being something which has been spiritually uplifting for us have we become people who are closer to Allah subhana wa t'ala or are we you know generally how we ritualistically finish the month of Ramadan we uh don't eat, we don't drink and don't have relationship with the wife. Besides that, we do exactly what we normally do other than Ramadan.
The purpose of the month of Ramadan is that by the time you finish that you become people of tawa. The not eating, not drinking is a catalyst in you becoming a people of tawa. But that is not the ultimate purpose of the month of Ramadan. The purpose is that by the end that you are spiritually stronger. You have a deep connection with your creator. And that means that those things which are forbidden come become forbidden to a greater degree. Eating and drinking and a having a relationship with the wife is generally permitted. But in the month of Ramadan that which is permitted becomes forbidden. What about those things which are generally forbidden? What do what is the status of those things?
And one of the things which moves a man away from tawa is the deception of the dunya. The dunya itself. Why? Because we are all social beings. We are affected by our surroundings. And this is why if you live in a spiritually healthy society, it helps with the spiritual development. And because the dunya means that which is close, that which is the closest and the is that the other or the further. So the duny is something which is tangible. We can experience the duny. The duny is around us. The is based upon im. And therefore many people are deceived by the dunya. The dunya takes over their life. I mean, how many intelligent people you see around who never once in their life think about their purpose in this dunya? They go through life without actually thinking what their purpose is in their dunya. They know their shoes have a purpose. They know their jackets have a purpose. But what is man's purpose on the duny? Why did Allah create man? And people are deceived by the dunya.
I mean imagine who chose to be born wherever you were born. Who chose to be born in Clapton or East London? No, you didn't choose. Allah chose for you where you will be born and what time. If he chose you could been born in the depths of Pakistan or Bangladesh or Somalia or wherever. So you came into the dunya involuntarily and by Allah when the angel of death knocks on your door it will not have an appointment it will come and you will leave this dunya involuntarily. You will not choose that no no no no I still got this to do. I got still got six months of being the president of the Islamic society of UCL or I still got you know a few hundred,000 to make my first million. Let me make my first million. You won't have any choice. You will leave the duny involuntarily. You will leave the duny involuntarily. So you came in the duny involuntarily and you will leave the dunya involuntarily. Then what makes you think that you are at liberty to do anything that you wish from the time that you are born to the time that you are that the time that you die life is a trust from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and everybody here wants success but what is the definition of success when Allah speaks about success what did he say he said he says whoever has been removed from the fire and entered into Jenna he is successful and then Allah says directly after but the itself this life is provision visions of deception because Allah knows that the vast majority of people who are removed from Allah and who lose their purpose and who are deceived by the dunya is be deceived because of their purpose in life is because of the dunya and this is what is like you know it's like a dream have you ever had a dream you know you dream and in the dream. You're driving a Ferrari California and you got a big lovely mansion and you're enjoying. You're actually believing that's reality and then you wake up and you open your window and you see your Peugeot 306 and you're still in the east of London. No, I mean I I don't know what East of London is. Normally I crack a few jokes about Birmingham, but I don't. You realized that that dream was a delusion. You realize on the other hand, you know, you sometimes have a dream that you're in pain. You're being beaten in your dream and you actually feel the pain and then you wake up and you realize it was only a dream. This is what this world is like. When said he said people are asleep only when they die will they wake up. You believe that you are awake but in reality you're asleep and only when you die you really realize when you see the reality of the dunya and the reality of the hereafter you realize that the dunya was deception and that's when you wake up in the time of Isaatam there was a person who wanted to accompany Isaatam. So he said, "Oh messenger of Allah, can I accompany you?" And Isaatam allowed him. After a while, while they were on the journey, Isaatam told him, "Go and buy three chapatis." They had chapatis even in those times. So he goes and he says, "There's only two of us, me and Isa. What was the third one for?" So he goes so he eats the third one. So when he comes back to Isaatam isatam asks him where's the third one he goes there was no third one. So they carry on the journey and Isaatam goes buy a goat and he gives he pays the owner money for the goat and then he makes a dua Allah subhana tala and that goat all by itself is sacrificed skinned and it begins to roast. So the man's shocked. He says, "Allahb, subhan Allah, mashallah, how did this happen?" And Isaatam says, "I ask you by he who made this miracle happen. What happened? Where is the third roti? Where's the third chapati?" And he said, I don't know where the third one is. They go on further on the journey and they come to a river and there's no boats who cross. So Isaatam hits his staff on the bank and the river parts and Isa and the man sees this and he says Allahbar subhan Allah what a miracle. And Isaat wasam asked him he said I ask you by he who performed this miracle where is the third chapati and he said I don't know there was no third roti later on they reach a desert and they rest and isam makes three sand heaps of sand and then he makes a dua to Allah subh tala and Allah changes those three heaps of sand into gold. And Isaat wasam turns to him and he says, "This one for me, that one for you, and the third one for the one who ate the chapati." And he says, "I ate it. I ate it." And Isaat wasam said, "You go your way, I go my way." And he's elated. He's got the dunya, three heaps of gold. And two robbers come past and they see this man with three, you know, heaps of gold. So they kill him. And then one says to the other, he says, "Go and buy some roti." So one goes and buys some food. So the one who's waiting thinks when he comes back I'll kill him. The one who's gone to buy the chapati thinks I'll poison the the chapati. When he eats it he'll die. So he comes back he kills him. He eats the chapati and he dies. The duny is still here but man leaves it. Man leaves it.
Isaat wasam once saw the dunya embellished like a beautiful prostitute and he asked the he asked her he said who are you and she said I'm the duny and he asked her how many partners have you had and she said I've had billions of partners every person who's walked on the face of this earth has been my partner and he said how many have you been faithful to and she saidnone and isatatam said fool is he who falls in love with you after he has seen what you have done to your previous partners. And this is why when Allah says in the Quran, do not forget your portion of the duny. Im says that your portion of this duny is your cuff. That the only thing that you will take from this duny is your kaf. You know everything else you leave behind. Every your car, your bank balances, you take nothing. your popularity, your fancy scarves, your nice homes, every your nice garments, everything remains behind. What you go to in the grave is those two cuffins. That's it. And this is a reality of the dunya. But we are often deceived by the dunya.
One of the most beautiful examples and I've given this example a hundred times of the reality of the dunya is the example given by Imam Gazali about the he speaks about a man who's walking through the jungle and whilst he's walk he looks behind and he sees a lion chasing him and he runs and he comes to a well and he jumps into the well and whilst he's falling he manages to hold onto some rope and he breathes a sire of relief and looks up. He sees the lion hovering over him, waiting for him. And he looks down and beneath him is a large serpent with his mouth open, waiting for him to fall. And the only sport he has is the rope. And after a little to while he sees a black mouse and a white mouse set upon the rope and they begin to nibble it. Above is the lion. Beneath is a serpent. And the only support he has is the rope. And now that's being nibbled at. And in front of him he sees this honeycomb. And he looks at this honeycomb. And then he sticks his finger into that honey and he takes that honey upon his finger and he places it upon his tongue and the sweetness of the honey momentarily makes him forget the lion, the snake and even the two mice. Im Gazali says that the lion is death which is always chasing you. The serpent is your grave and to which every person will fall. And if he's a good person, it will be a garden from the paradises of from gardens of paradise. And if he's evil, it will be a pit from the pits of Johannam. And the rope is his life. And the black mouse denotes the night and the white mouse denotes the day. And they are always nibbling upon your life. And the hadi is the dunya. A man tastes the sweetness of the dunya and he forgets death. He forgets the grave. He forgets a day will come that he will die and he will have to stand in front of his creator. And this is the reality of the dunya.
Have you ever gone to the graveyard? Have you ever seen you know the gravestones? You will see many people it would say 1825, 1875. You realize that these people have spent more time beneath the earth than above the earth. Men who were more powerful than me and you, more beautiful than me and you, who had more wealth, more strength, more knowledge, they come and they left. But intelligent man is he who prepares for his hereafter. But it is that what is around us sometimes makes us forget our purpose in life.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam told about these three men. He said in the Israelites before Islam, there were three men, one was a leper, one was a man who was bold and the third one was a blind person. And Allah subhanana wa ta'ala wanted to test these people. So he sent him an angel in the form of a human being. And this angel goes to the one with leprosy and he says to him, "What is the thing that you desire the most in this dunya?" And he says the thing that I desire the most in the dunya is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives me good skin gives me nice color because people shun me. People shun me. And this is what you often see today you know because people have become very superficial how they view other people. So they sh so they judge you not upon your actions. They don't judge you upon, you know, what kind of character you are. They judge you by materialistic means, what car that you drive, you know, where you live, how good you're looking you are. I mean, Allah created man, man didn't choose. And you see people, you know, drive big cars, have big bank balances as though he's going to share that money with you. You know, a guy has a big car and all of a sudden he has friends that he never knew about. I mean, what what does that say about human beings? What you're ready to suck up to a person because of a piece of metal? I mean, is this what Muslims have come down to?
There was a time where people were judged upon their character. If Abu Bakr had judged Bal upon the color of his skin and his status in society, he would have never freed him. But he judged him by his he judged him by his tawa. And this is why when he saw being persecuted, he went to and he said, "Omey, sell me Bal." And Omeay said, "Yeah, I'll sell him to you because you're the one who corrupted him." And he said, "How much?" And he said, "10 gold coins." And Abu Bakr who went home and he bought 10 gold coins and he gave it to Omeaya and Omeay began to laugh. And Abu Bakr said, "Omey, what's making you laugh?" He said, "The reason that I'm laughing is that if you had haggled with me, if you had haggled with me and you had offered me one gold coin, I would have sent sold Bal to you for one gold coin." And Abu Bakr said, "I swear by Allah." Omeia, if you haggled with me and asked me for a 100 gold coins for Bilal, I would have given you a 100 gold coins because Bilal was worth it. And he freed him. And then Bilal who was a slave. He was a slave. But he rose through the ranks that Abu Bakr the Khalif of his time would sayal. Omar in this time would say in his time when Omar wanted him punished and wanted his turban taken off his head. Who did he send? He sent who was Khaled? Khalid was the son of Wim. He was the sword of Allah and he was the son of Wim who was the leader undisputed leader. People think it was Abu Talib was the undisputed leader of Qur and Bilal the slave. But when he became a Muslim and when he became a relationship with Allah, he Omar sent him and he took the turban off the head of but today we judge people you know by the clothes that they wear by the clothes that they I mean Prada watch sorry Prada shoes isn't it? See, alhamdulillah, I don't know much of these. I mean, I as you can see, I don't really deal with all those kind of things. Prada, shoes, cartier, watch. You know what? Is this what Muslims have come down to? If you want to judge people by their looks or by the clothes that they wear, then let me tell you, when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam left his dunya, he had patches upon his clothes. 11 patches. When Abu Bakr who left this dunya, he had 14 patches upon his clothes. When Omar Abdul Aziz passed away, who was Omar Abdul Aiz? Omar Abdul Aziz was the most powerful man on the face of this earth from the narration mentioned that his khalifhat span from China to Spain, from the caucuses to the depths of Africa. And when he was passing away, you know, he had these old clothes on. And somebody said to his wife, "Just change his clothes." And she remained quiet. And then he said again, "Look, he's dying. Change his clothes." And she remained quiet. And upon the third occasion, he said it angrily. And the wife turned to him and she said, "I swear by Allah that these are the only clothes that he has. These are the only clothes that he has." But history remembers. History remembers Omar Abdulaziz because of the that he left behind because of the that he did for humanity and this is why history remembers him.
So he says, so this a so he says to the angel he says beautiful skin and lovely hair and then he said materialistically what do you desire? And he said materialistically what I desire is a camel. So the angel gave him a pregnant camel and he made dua for baraka and he went on and then he went to the person who had he was bold and he also had some skin disorder and he said what do you desire? He said I desire that Allah give me hair and also people shun me. So he rubbed his hand over his head and Allahh removed his skin disorder and he gave him hair and then he said from the dunya what do you desire? He said I desire a cow and he gave him a pregnant cow and then he made dua for baraka and same with the blind person. He restored his eyesight and he gave him pregnant goat and then Allah wanted to test these people again because these were netas from Allah weren't they so Allah wanted to test them so he sent him another angel now in the form of a porpa so he went to the man who had the leprosy and he said I'm far from my home I have nothing and you know that one camel that he had it prospered Now he had a whole valley of camels and he said I am far from my home. I have nobody that I can turn to besides Allah and after Allah you out of all these hundreds and thousands of camels that you have give me one. And subhan Allah he said he said I have too many rights over me. I have too many mouths to feed. I have too many aspirations. I don't have time for the people in Pakistan. You know, I've got my iPhone to buy. I've got my large car to buy. That's my aspirations. And those people in Pakistan regarding who Allahh says the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said the believers are like one body. If the head hurts the entire body is in a state of discomfort got no time for them because I have huge aspirations. This is what Allah says about the he said he said leave them to eat and drink and aspire for their lofty aspirations delude them allow their lofty aspirations to delude them soon they will return to Allah and Allah will show them and he said I got too many rights over me and the angel said aren't you the one who once had leprosy and you and then Allah gave you all this. He said, "No, no, me. This I had from my forefathers. This I inherited." And the angel cursed him. He said, "If you are lying, then may Allah restore you to your original state." And Allah restored him to his original state. And then he went to the bold man. And exactly the same conversation. Too many moused, too many mortgages to pay, too many aspirations. As a poet says, he says, he said, "Alas, how many a desire lies in the depth of the grave. Every man who dies, every woman who dies has these aspirations but you never fulfill them because this is the nature of the dunya. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said if the slave of Adam if man had two valleys of gold he would aspire for a third. It never finishes. And then he went to the blind person and he said to the blind man, he said, "I'm a porpa far from my home. Give me one of these goats." And he said to him, he said, "By Allah, you see all these goats I have. Take whatever you wish because Allah granted them to me. Allah granted them to me." And then he made a dua for this man that may Allah increase. And this is the nature my dear respected brothers and sisters. People are suffering out there. And don't allow the dunya to deceive you. Because Muslims have a concept. It's called baraka. A baraka. When you spend for the sake of Allah, Allah is the one who gives and Allah is the one who increases and Allah is the one who puts the baraka in Allah promises. He said if you do shook then I will increase. What does shuk mean? Generally you know the Asians I don't know about the rest but they say you know a shuk is alhamdulillah. That's it. The optimum shuk is that you spend and you utilize what Allah has given you for his pleasure. That is shuk. That is the optimum shook.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said relates in his you know he said he said three things I take an oath upon no man's wealth will decrease if he spends in the path of Allah no man's in the time of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and I'll finish here in the time of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam came home and he asked Aisha has anybody come to a house and she said a man came but all we had was a bit of food for your messenger of Allah so I kept it for you and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said no no no Aisha what you would have spent is that you would have kept that for me because it would have been by Allah and it would have been stored whatever you have would perish but whatever is stored by Allah will remain and this had a profound impact on Aisha. And after the demise of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, a beggar came to the house of Aisha and her her slave opened the door and and the beggar said, "Oh family of the messenger of Allah, give me something." And she said, "We have nothing." And I was listening to this and Aisha said, "Who is it?" and said it's it's a beggar and all we have is a handful of barley for you to open your fast with and it was at the time of and said give it Allah will provide and she gave it come time there's no food and opened her fast with some water and she began salah and is sitting there and she's sarcastically she's saying, "Oh, Allah will provide. Allah will provide." And then there's a knock on the door and a man comes and he gives a goat as a gift. And finished the salah and she said, "Who is it?" And she said, "It was a man who lives in the area. By Allah, he has never ever given us anything before, but today he bought us a goat." And said, "Oh, Bira, isn't that goat better than the handful of wheat that you had?" And then she said something which really signifies the iman of these people. She said, "I swear by Allah, none of you can be a true believer until his trust in Allah is stronger than that which he has in the palm of his hand. that which he has in the palm of his hand. You see it but your trust in Allah is stronger than what you have in your hand. And we see the and may Allah make our belief stronger in the then it is in the may Allah give us a an im which makes us realize the fallacy of the and the deception of this as well.