Who Am I

Who Am I?

Speaker: Sh. Abdul Nasir Jangda

Event: #YMC2K19

Opening

"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful."

"All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. May peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, his family, and all his companions."

The Beginning of Prophetic Mission

When the mission of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) started over 1400 years ago, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) at the age of 40, he sought solitude and went to go and reflect at the top of the mountain of Nur, Jabal Nur in the cave of Hira. And while he was there, he received divine revelation and thus began his prophetic mission of changing the world, reconnecting the creation to the Creator, giving people a sense of purpose in their lives. After the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) came back home, he came back to Mecca.

With this message, with this mission, having literally absorbed the words of God into his heart, everything looked different. Everything was different. Nothing would ever be the same ever again. Not for him and not for anyone else. Because the understanding was achieved at that moment that there is a profound truth and a reality behind the facade of the world. Everything we see, everything we touch, everything we interact with, there's a deeper meaning.

The Second Revelation: Surah Al-Qalam

And when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was walking around in the streets of Mecca, looking at everything differently now, and his mind was racing and his heart was beating fast, and he was trying to wrap his head around the idea that how do I proceed. Allah sent upon him the second revelation that he received. And we know that revelation that Allah sent him as surah number 68, surah al-Qalam.

In that surah, Allah begins by saying:

"Nun. By the pen and what they inscribe,"

"You are not, by the grace of your Lord, mad."

By the blessing and the grace of your Lord, you have not lost your mind. The fact that you see and you understand that there's something deeper happening here, it's not because something's wrong with you. You haven't gone crazy.

"And indeed, for you is a reward uninterrupted."

We're asking you, we're asking a lot of you. We're asking you to do something that is really challenging. But know that if you follow through, there's a huge reward that awaits you that is never ending.

"And indeed, you are of a great moral character."

And you are upon a very great and a very noble character. You are amazing in your character, in your demeanor, in how you deal with people, how you interact with people, how you treat people.

Divine Warning About Opposition

But then Allah told the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) something. Something that nobody wants to hear, but it's a truth. He basically told him that, unfortunately, even though what you're saying is right, what you're doing is good, the way you're going to do it is going to be the best way that it could be done. In spite of all of that, there are going to be people who are going to oppose you. There are going to be people who are going to choose to fight you, oppose you, and persecute you. And they're going to be very difficult to deal with.

"Then you will see, and they will see,"

You very soon shall see how things unfold and they will also see how things unfold.

"which of you is the afflicted."

And soon we will realize who is right and who is wrong.

"Indeed, your Lord is most knowing of who has strayed from His way, and He is most knowing of the [rightly] guided."

Your Lord knows best who is more rightly guided and who is off the path and astray.

Standing Firm Against Opposition

So then Allah told the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and this is where I'd like to make the point in my talk here today. He said:

"So do not obey the deniers."

So these people who deny the truth, don't listen to them. Do not give in to them the least bit. Do not waver in your morals, in your standards, in your ethics, in your beliefs, in your principles. Don't waver. Don't give in even an inch to these people who deny the truth.

"They wish you would compromise, so they would compromise."

They want you to compromise your standards because they have already compromised their own standards.

Characteristics to Avoid

"And do not obey every profuse swearer [of oaths] and despicable one,"

Here are the things you should look out for. Allah says, here are the things you need to look out for. Do not cooperate with people who are hallaf. They take meaningless oaths. I swear this, I swear that. Their word has no weight. People who are really despicable in their character. They have no dignity, they have no honor.

"[One] defaming, going about with malicious gossip - "

People who go around picking on other people, they're bullies. They go around trying to cause trouble wherever they go. They're always trying to stir the pot.

"[A] preventer of good, transgressing and sinful,"

They're always, whenever something good is happening, they try to poke holes in it. They try to stop anything good from happening. All they do is hate. They don't know where the line is. They constantly cross the line with people. They're very sinful people. All they want to do is engage in sin.

"Cruel, moreover, and an illegitimate pretender."

They're cruel hearted people. Cruel, just mean. Not only that, but on top of everything else, you can never believe a word that comes out of their mouth. Everything they do is a lie. Everything they do is fake.

"[He was so] because he was a possessor of wealth and children."

And what makes them feel like it's okay to go around acting this way? What gave them the idea that it's okay to live your life this way? Why? Because they have a big family, because they have a lot of money, they live in a big house, they drive a fancy car, lot of people know their name. So just because of their quote-unquote worldly success, they feel like they can go around acting this way.

"When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples.""

And when you give them the signs of God, when you read to them the Qur'an, they said, don't come here telling me old stories. They dismiss the truth as just being old stories.

The Central Question: Who Am I?

The point that I wanna make here in this particular session, is that after talking about being strange and dealing with these challenges of being different, and then talking about, you know, what is right and

wrong and how to go about living our lives. The topic of my session is who am I? And it's a very important exercise for everyone to engage in when you ask yourself, who are you? Who am I? Who are you?

Look in the mirror and size yourself up and take a very long, hard, honest look in the mirror and ask yourself, who are you? And who you are is not just as simple as the address where you live. Who you are is not as simple as how much money you have in your bank account or what kind of a degree you have or what company you work at. That doesn't tell you anything about who you are. Here today, gone tomorrow.

True Identity vs External Circumstances

You live in this house today, you live in a different one tomorrow. You work at what company today, you work at another company tomorrow. I was talking to a friend of mine recently who worked for 15 years at a company at a very high executive level. And it was to the point where his identity was completely intertwined in working for that company. His identity was completely intertwined with that company and what it does. That's how he was known as so-and-so who works over there, very big successful company.

And just out of the blue, it was time to move on. And he's working for a completely different company now that does something totally different. And it actually struck him. He came to me at my office in between classes at the seminary at Qalam. He came and he sat down and he said I'm literally having a crisis of identity. I don't know how I feel about all this.

And as a friend, that's when I took the opportunity to say, well, maybe that was the problem. Your job should not define who you are. That's not who you are.

What Defines Us

So then what does define us? Allah tells us what defines us. God tells us what defines us. It is the content of your character. It is the principles that you abide by. It is what you believe in. It is what you stand for.

So I'd like to lay out two profiles here today. I'd like to lay out two profiles that we get from the Qur'an and from the prophetic tradition, from the hadith of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) from Islam, two profiles. And let's see which one, it's something for each person to do on their own. Check which one do you measure up against. Which one more closely describes you? And only you can answer that question for yourself.

Profile One: The True Believers

So number one, Allah defines and describes some people in the Qur'an in the following words:

"The believers are only those who, when Allah is mentioned, their hearts become fearful, and when His verses are recited to them, it increases them in faith, and upon their Lord they rely - "

True believers are those people when the name of God is mentioned, their hearts tremble and shake. When the verses of the Qur'an are recited to them, they grow in their iman and conviction. And they continue to put their faith and their trust in their Lord.

"[Those] who establish prayer and spend from what We have provided them."

They establish their salah regularly. Just like we just heard, they spend in good causes that which God gave them.

"Those are the believers, truly. For them are degrees [of high position] with their Lord and forgiveness and noble provision."

These are the people that God has reserved very high stations in paradise for them. And He will forgive them, and He will give them the best of things.

"Certainly will the believers have succeeded"

Allah tells us that successful are the believers.

"They who are during their prayer humbly submissive"

Who are the believers? They have quality in their salah. They enjoy talking to God in their prayer.

"And they who turn away from ill speech"

When they realize that something is meaningless and not beneficial, they avoid it.

"And they who are observant of zakat"

They constantly strive to better and improve themselves.

"And they who guard their private parts"

These are people who take care of their daily prayers, all the timings of their prayers.

These are the people who will inherit the highest stages. The gardens of paradise. And they will be therein for all of eternity.

Allah goes on to describe good people, people whom Allah loves:

They are the people when they walk on the earth, they walk with humility. They're humble. When ignorant people come and get in their faces, they say salam and they move on. They don't waste, they don't suffer fools. They don't waste their time with useless people.

They are people, they spend their whole nights worshipping and praying to their Lord.

They ask God to protect them from the fire of jahannam. That's the worst place anyone could ever end up.

They don't overspend. But they're not stingy either. They're not extravagant nor are they stingy. Rather they are very balanced in how they live in this world.

They never associate partners with God. They would never harm another person let alone kill another person. And they never engage in sexual conduct outside the confines of marriage.

These are the descriptions. People who pray, people who give zakat, people who live life in a balanced way. They're humble, they're kind, they're generous, they have integrity, honesty, trustworthiness. These are good people.

Profile Two: The Hypocrites

That is one profile of person. What is the second profile? Allah tells us:

Hypocrites. What are they like? They're always trying to get someone to do the wrong thing. When they see someone doing the right thing, they try to stop them. And they're very stingy.

They forget God. So God will ignore them.

Allah tells us:

When they do salah rarely and when they do give zakat reluctantly, it's not accepted from them because they hate to do it. It's not from the heart. They're just doing it for show, for prayer.

They constantly think that they are deceiving God. They're constantly trying to undermine other good people.

God increases them in their illness and in their disease.

Prophetic Description of Hypocrites

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) describes these people. He tells us:

(Bukhari hadith 34)

Four characteristics and qualities of bad people.

(Bukhari hadith 34)

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says, if you have any one of these four qualities, then you have something problematic in you until you leave it.

Number one:

(Bukhari hadith 34)

When that person is trusted with something, they break that trust. You tell them something and say keep it to yourself, they tell somebody else. You give them something, you say keep it safe for me, they don't do that.

Number two:

(Bukhari hadith 34)

When they talk, they lie.

Number three:

(Bukhari hadith 34)

When they give you their word, they always break their word.

(Bukhari hadith 34)

When they disagree with someone, they become very rude and very vile and disrespectful. They don't know how to disagree.

And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) tells us that these are the characteristics and the qualities of bad people.

Two Paths Before Us

So now, and remember those characteristics that I presented in the beginning. Lying, cheating, slandering, criticizing, bullying. These are two profiles, two kinds of people.

You want to answer the question, who am I, who are you? That's how you go about answering that question. Am I more like person A or am I more like person B? Do I, am I closer to the first profile or am I tragically closer to the second profile?

The Character of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم)

And I'll end and conclude by mentioning who the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was. Who was the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)? Allah tells us what he was like.

Who was Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم)? Allah tells us in surah number 9, ayah number 128:

There came to you a messenger from amongst you. Your suffering was hard on him. He felt your pain. He cared so much about other people that he would feel their pain. He always wanted what was good for other people. He wanted what was good for you. He wouldn't think of himself first. He would think of everyone else first. With the believers, with his followers, in his community, he was very merciful and extremely, extremely compassionate.

That's who the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was.

The Challenge of Self-Reflection

It's not an easy thing to do. It's in fact probably the hardest thing to do. To be honest with yourself. To look in the mirror and really ask yourself, who am I? Am I more like this person or am I more like that person? It's a really, really hard sobering moments.

And it's probably going to upset you profoundly when you finally do get around to doing it. But know that it's probably going to be one of the most important moments in your life when you're finally able to do it. And hopefully that's sooner rather than later.

That's the moment that your life changes. That's the moment when you realize I could be doing so much better. My life could be so much more meaningful. I could literally change the world. Forget about changing just myself. I could change myself and the whole world.

But it all begins with that question of who am I? And being willing to look yourself in the mirror. And size yourself up and check yourself.

Closing

May Allah allow us to live a life of honesty. Say ameen. May Allah allow us to live a life of dignity. May God give us the ability to live with meaning and purpose. And may Allah allow us to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.