assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatu alhamdulillah
Brothers and sisters first of all I want to thank you for taking your time spend some time fwith me here online at
home data were in the last days of
Ramadan this is the 25th today so this
is live the the month Allah subhana WA
Ta'ala says I am and my dudettes that
these are a yam in Arabic is how there
was an ephod
it's called Hilda it's a it's a plural
of pal city in other words these are a
few days so if it feels like they went
fast they intentionally are there to do
just that because this is an opportunity
that we're being told not to squander
it's an opportunity of time in our
tradition we have the concept of Baraka
which is in Arabic the word actually
means to descend so you have a camel
Baraka Tanaka to like the camel alighted
descended on something and so Baraka is
something that rain is called Baraka
it's something that it descends and so
in in I think the closest equivalent in
the Western tradition is the idea of
grace that you bless things thank you
people say grace before their meal
that's to to add in that Baraka and so
in our tradition we have we have Baraka
that in here's in time we have Baraka
that inheres in space and we have Baraka
that in here's in people and so the
buttock of time for instance there's an
hour every day that is an hour of st
Jabba and Allah hides these things it's
one of the things that he hides in in
his in in time so that we pursue it for
the woman estimate what would I get
he'll wrote I said are they to hurry is
to really fervently seek something to
seek it out and so allah subhanallah
donna has hidden that time that of
barakah of immense barakah in the day
and then monday has a blessing and
thursday has a blessing
the problem was asked about fasting on
monday he said fee he would it to on
that day i was born in other words it's
a day of blessing too because of the
fact that he was born in it gives it an
added blessing or barakah and the same
is true for Thursdays because Mondays
and Thursdays are the times when the
actions the Angels take the actions of
the servant and so when you're fasting
they're taken in in a state of
incredible obedience because fasting is
one of the most rigorous types of
obedience that we do and then you have
the the idea of Juma which is extra
Baraka and Friday and then the the
Baraka of the Milazzo more the season so
for instance the Hajj is an immense time
of Baraka and then you have Baraka in
Ramadan you have Baraka also according
to some not everybody agrees about this
imam mattock differed but the people of
sham the new shot ban what they call
chevy bharat is considered to be a night
of barik and there is a he laughs so
when you see people say oh i don't
celebrate that that's fine they don't
have to celebrate it and and and those
opinions stand but the majority of
scholars have seen it as of less at
night and that's why in most places
especially in south asia that they have
their own term for chevy bharat it's
it's a very important night for them so
it's these are times when there's an
immense amount of Baraka and so again
you have Baraka also in years and the
17th of ramadan is a day of barakah
because it's a day of Bedell and
traditionally Muslims would do the vidya
so this period that we have these last
10 days are considered to be an intense
period of blessing
and it's difficult to translate the the
word late or other it's it's often
translated as the night of power but
it's actually the night of decrees it's
the night in which allah subhanallah ana
you adieu and that's that's the dominant
opinion that it's called laila terrified
that because allah what is going to
happen in that coming year and there's a
lot of difference of opinion about when
it is in fact some of the scholars
actually argued that it was at any time
during the year and for that reasons
they said that really that the people of
highest him and they consider every
night to be possibly the night of Kedah
and but the the the common understanding
is it's a night of power in other words
it's a powerful night which that is
certainly true and so i want to talk a
little bit about power and the and the
secret of powerlessness in our tradition
Hodari allah allah Dehesa demócrata idea
there are many words used to describe
the different aspects of our laws power
that Allah has absolute power we on the
other hand have power that is granted to
us and there's differences of opinion
about whether that power in hears in as
or is it something that is purely from
allah subhanho wa taala and all we earn
is the is the action itself through
kissably these are what they call
difficult column the the the particulars
of column and I was speaking last night
with the great scholar Sheikh Saleh
horseys really one of the great scholars
of the element Kahneman we were actually
talking about this issue he called me
from Turkey and and I because one of our
students actually did a paper on this so
the idea of power of human beings having
power we actually in the end we express
our powerlessness by saying na hoona
what apple whatta in bila there is no
power
no strength to hula like you have would
do to make any changes or to actually
affect anything there's no strength or
power except bila through the means the
divine enablement this is the ISTE ayah
that imam about how he mentions in his
book that he grants us and so it's very
important for us not to see power even
in the world to see nations with power
that there's actually they don't have
power in reality and the people that
understand this are actually they're
they're they're the freest people
because they're not afraid they're not
afraid of people that are in power
they're not afraid I mean obviously we
behave with the S Bab so we're not
foolish people in that way the Prophet
SAW I said I'm said and Menelaus the
Lughnasa that a believer should never
humiliate himself and so Syrians are
okay and others mentioned that they
should not ever put themselves in
situations where they will be humiliated
and mizerock said Leia Tyrell dotes upon
that they don't oppose government in a
way that the government will in turn
humiliate them put them in jail and do
these things he said that was a type of
either lad that that that they did and
in fact in the famous hadith about the
highest Shaheed which is the the man who
goes to unjust power and and speaks the
truth and is executed for murder
Mohammed all day long on who actually
said that that he shouldn't go knowingly
that he's going to do that that if that
happens that's a shada but he shouldn't
put himself in that type of position
these are again he left issues but but
the important point that I really want
to drive home is that powerlessness is
our state it is the actual natural state
of the servant of Allah we are AB and
the thing about the AB then the AB is
Aja's he's he or she is powerless a
stabbed in the EMA that they are they
only they do what they're told by their
mola which again doesn't mean that we
don't do things we choose things in the
world we do all these things but we live
with this alignment with the divine in
other words we restrict ourselves to
what Allah subhana WA Ta'ala has
permitted us to do and in that way we in
a sense are handing over that freedom
and in doing that by entering into Islam
by entering into a state of submission
we actually become free so there's an
immense power in powerlessness and
there's an immense freedom in
powerlessness and this is something that
the early Muslims really understood well
they understood this in a very deep and
powerful way the prophets Elijah them he
said Bhavani Monteux Allah fear a demon
Casa Luba lamento other theoretical
bobba some of the commentaries say that
Doba is a tree in Paradise there are
many Hadees that use this term boba it
also can mean blessed are the people but
but some say it's actually a tree with
immense shade and fruit in paradise that
that will be for the people who do these
things so he said Mantova feel a demon
cosa who humbles him or herself without
monk pasa without there's no deficiency
in them in other words like a wealthy
person that's humble despite as well an
intellectual highly educated person
who's humble despite their education and
their understanding that's what it means
to be humble and it's something that we
have to struggle with there's there's a
there's a type of Toa though if you
actually look at the the morphological
form of it it actually has to do with
like you actually do it with a knowledge
that you need to be humble because in
the end at cabrillo Lila at a llama -
Lila would keep it out really laughs
that that magnin the the vastness the
greatness the grandeur the glory and the
majesty
all of these are attributes of allah
subhanho wa taala they're not attributes
of a servant and so the servant should
be humble before a loss of a hand with
an and this is why the prophet Isaiah
said mental that Leela or a fowl
whoever is humble before Allah subhana
WA to Anna
Allah will elevate that person and this
is something that we have to learn as an
Ummah that in in in many ways we tend to
forget this important metaphysical truth
that Allah will will elevate the people
who are humble and ladina let you read
una alone
no one fil ardi whatever said those who
don't want to be exalted in the earth
they don't want it Larry Doudna aloooone
fil ardi what F asada and that wow there
indicates that these are two separate
things they don't want to be elevated in
the earth
affarin Allah says Aleph a tarp and a
frown he he he exalted himself he puffed
himself up in the earth and so it's very
important that Muslims should not want
to be in those positions of power or
authority to be no in fact the Prophet
SAW a time said whoever seeks positions
of authority or power they should not be
given them well there goes elections so
so it's very important that we remember
that allies the one that you makin that
he's the one that gives Tim keen but he
gives Tom keen with conditions for the
people he loves he'll give Tom keen a
lending in mecanim fedora what do they
do
economist Allah you know they establish
prayer they pay their zakat they fulfill
the obligations of being in that
position if they don't have that ability
if Allah loves them he will not give
them he will not establish him in the
earth and so powerlessness is an
incredible Sunnah that I believe it's
actually a cinnamon SIA it's a forgotten
Sunnah of our prophet slice at him he
before even when he was forced into
jihad and and it's very clear even
Tamiya makes his clear and many scholars and if you haven't read Juan Cole's book, Mohamed The prophet of peace, amidst a class of civilizations, It's an excellent book.
I mean I recently read it and I actually had a meeting with the author and I was just so impressed with how he showed clearly that the Prophet SAW was far from a warmonger which we know that he really was constantly looking for avenues of peace.
The Prophet SAW
said I'm always wanted to find an avenue
of peace in the 29 battle they're called
battles they're not battles it has oweth
our military expeditions they're not
battles but they're often translated as
bad as a mistake because in those 29
there's again difference of opinion 27
29 but in those 29 battles fighting only
occurred in 11 and in the greatest
battle in terms of numbers which was the
hon duck less than 10 people died and
there were tens of thousands of people
involved in that 3,000 on the Muslim
side 30,000 it was 10 to 1 numbers the
despite that less than 10 people died
and when I did a study of the number of
people that died during the prophet's
lifetime we're looking at less than 400
people it's it's quite stunning and the
Bene apart a that which is clearly an
exaggerated number and the the book that
Barakat Ahmed wrote Muhammad and the
Jews is I think a really important book
that that really shows that the numbers
were grossly exaggerated much later so
so this idea of development wada if
you're a demon cosa well then F&F; see
him in of AD Masada and he he vel F
see he he in his own self he he deems
himself insignificant and this is
another really important quality is to
recognize not only are we all expendable
as de Gaulle said that the graveyard is
filled with indispensable people that I
mean one of the things about life is
that when you die most people are just
going to oh you know if they knew you
they might say Oh
mashallah and indeed anyway now they had
a job if they were close they might send
condolences to the family think but the
people that are really gonna miss you
are your direct loved ones those are the
people they're gonna miss you other
people won't really miss you
that the world goes on and we've lost
greats when even majore died who was one
of the greatest scholars of morocco the
man who buried
him who was his student wept and just
said I knew this world was insignificant
when when a man that had this tongue
because he taught his whole life and and
he was just a master of all the sciences
one of the truly great ease of
of Moroccan history and he said I just
knew that if worms could eat this tongue
this earth was work that this earth had
such insignificance in my eyes and and
this is the nature of dunya we're
passing through it it's important and
we're people that love the eylem because
it's a large creation but we we despise
the dunya and the the distinction
between those two is very important
between eylem and between dunya Adam is
this incredible theophany it's this it's
this amazing theater of enlightenment
it's this incredible manifestation of
divine attributes the actions of God
that I love God it's stunning with with
its stars in the heavens all of these
galaxies this extraordinary sky the
blueness of the sky and its reflection
in the ocean the wonders of the see the
incredible spectrum of flora and fauna
on this planet we're all now we're
living in a time where we're discovering
all these micronutrients and all these
amazing foods from all over the world
these these that aspect of the world is
something to just marvel at and to feel
joy just about being in it but the dunya
is reputation it's you know he said she
said
King Lear there's a wonderful scene at
the end of King Lear where he tells
Cordelia you know about how we're gonna
be free now from who's in and who's out
at the court you know we can live life
now without having to worry about
because he has a realization an
incredible realization in that play this
is part of dunya as you get older you
will see more and more how empty and
vacuous the life of this world is higher
to dunya Mattel material or its
the it's a deluge a delusional pleasure
in the teleportal that's all it is it's
a delusional pleasure "I've been with the poorest people on the planet and I've been with the richest people on the planet. I've seen the inside of palaces and I've lived in the huts of some of the poorest people on the planet and some of the most extraordinary people I've ever met are the poorest people" that I've met
and so I you know this is dunya we have to
we just have to understand the nature of
the abode and what it is and and and so
you have this sense of your own
insignificance one of my favorite
stories of all the stories in the Sierra
which is in a sahi collection also I
share the beloved wife of the Prophet i
sat empty when she went when she was
slandered so horribly when she found out
about it she her hair fell out she
stopped eating
she went into a horrible depression for
a period of time and