How to Obtain Contentment

How to Obtain Contentment

Opening Praise and Testimony

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, the Seal of the Prophets and Messengers.

All praises are due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And surely Allah is the friend and protector of the righteous. And I bear witness that Allah is One and has no partners, and that Muhammad, the son of Abdullah, is His servant and His last Messenger. And may Allah always and constantly send peace and blessings to Muhammad, to his family, to his companions, to all those who call to his way, and establish his sunnah to the Day of Judgment.

Greetings and Introduction

As to what follows, my beloved brothers and sisters, to our innocent children, I begin with the greeting words of the righteous: (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh).

I bring special salams from your brothers and sisters in the Cape region, in the southern part of Africa. And I want to bring also feelings of solidarity, especially in the Islamic school. Because Islamic education connected with the masjid as the basis of the community is one of the most important elements of success today in the struggle that we have to survive as Muslims in this world.

And I pray that Allah عز و جل would make this masjid, this school successful, and would increase the number of schools that are coming in this model. May Allah bless the founder of the school, his family, his friends, all those colleagues who have participated in the effort of educating the youth, and developing relevant Islamic education.

The Importance of Relevant Islamic Education

And when I say relevant Islamic education, I speak about that which gives us the success in this life and in the hereafter. And that is the true contentment, that is the true success, that we have closeness to Allah عز و جل in this world, and we have eternal life, inshallah, in the hereafter, in the highest part of Jannah. And education has become so important. Knowledge - (علم النافع - beneficial knowledge) - is so important to the younger generation.

Growing Up in a World of Contradictions

Growing up in a world of contradictions and confusion. And the young people today who are coming into this world, who see Muslims in large numbers, who go to Mecca, look at the hajj, they can see it now on television.

They see Muslims building large buildings, Burj Khalifa, largest building in the world. They see Muslims with the largest airports, some of the richest people. They go to the capitals and they see streets lined with gold.

But at the same time, they will go to another part of the Muslim world and they will see poverty. They will see Muslims suffering under the gun. They will look at the situation in Gaza. And they will see Muslims surrounded. And the world is not moving. It's a contradiction.

And how to come to balance in the face of this contradiction, this is a great challenge for the younger generation, those who are coming into leadership. And so it is critical for us to try to analyze what is going on, to turn to our sources, to hold on to the rope of Allah Azza wa Jal, when we are in this change that we are going through.

The Win-Win Situation for Muslims

And to never forget that for the true Muslim, it is a win-win situation. Either we win in this life or we win in the hereafter. And I again bring the example to you of the Muslims of the Cape, who were taken away from their homes.

In the 17th century, they were brought from Java, from Malaysia, from parts of Southern India, from the East African coastline. And they were taken by the Dutch into the Cape region. And they were made slaves and they were political prisoners.

And from amongst these people was a great scholar, Sheikh Yusuf from Makassar in Indonesia, who had resisted the Dutch colonial presence for 20 years. And a deal was made and he left and he was taken to the Cape. And even though he was a political prisoner, he established a madrasa. He left a chain of information or a chain of knowledge leading back to the Prophet ﷺ.

The Divine Formula for Success

And as I mentioned in an earlier session, and I want to reflect upon this, especially that we are trying to seek ideas of contentment in this world and in the hereafter. That in Surah Yunus, verse 62 and 63, that the Cape Muslims in chains, getting up in the middle of the night, praying to their Lord, in a state of slavery, colonialism, apartheid, which separated people based on their color and their religion, they would constantly read:

"Behold! Verily on the friends of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve. Those who believe and constantly guard against evil, for them are glad tidings in the life of this world and in the hereafter. There is no changing the words of Allah. That is the supreme success."

And so this divine revelation in the Arabic language gives us a key formula for success in this world and in the hereafter. In the Awliya Allah - لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ - and the scholars have shown us that this means there is nothing to fear in this world presently and they have nothing to fear in the future. وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ - and they have nothing to be sad about, nothing to grieve about for what has gone before.

Who Are the Awliya of Allah?

And so this formula that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given to us, showing us that this is a Bushra, it is a Bushra because in it it is showing us that to be from the Awliya of Allah, to be a person who is a friend of Allah, who is protected by Allah, who is given a special nourishment from the Creator, it is something that all of us can do. It is not a secret society. It is not something passed on by the blood. Allah said: الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَكَانُوا يَتَّقُونَ - "Those who believe and they have taqwa."

Understanding Taqwa

(الخوف والرجاء - Al-khawf war-raja) - that they fear Allah Azza wa Jal, that they hope in the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They surround themselves with the consciousness of Allah. And so they practice Islam not only in the masjid, outside of the masjid, not only around Muslim leaders and friends, but they practice their Islam even around non-Muslims. They practice their deen not only in Islamic programs but when they are at work, when they are at school, when they are at the seaside, when they are in the mountain, anywhere they are. They realize that there is One who has divine knowledge, there is One who is closer to us than our jugular vein, that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows all that we do in the secret and in the open.

Nothing to Fear, Nothing to Grieve

And so with this consciousness of the Creator, they have nothing to be afraid of and they have nothing to be sad about. That they suffered, yes. We went through oppression. We lost the Khilafah in Turkey. We do not have a Khalifa. We lost power in this world. We lost our palaces. We had the beautiful Andalusia. We had Cordoba and Granada. We had Baghdad which was the most beautiful city on earth with millions of books. But we have nothing to be sad about because all power and all authority rests with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And if we accept this if we say (قَدَّرَ اللَّهُ وَمَا شَاءَ فَعَلَ - Qaddarallahu wa ma sha'a fa'al) - that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, He willed what will happen to this Ummah and whatever He wants it will come to pass. And there is a reason for the pain, there is a reason for suffering.

Lessons from the Cape Muslims

And I looked at the people living in the Cape, these people who had been taken from their homes, who had been made political prisoners. I visited Malaysia itself recently and I saw the same faces of the people looking the same as my friends in Cape Town. But the desire for Islam that I found in Cape Town had even become more than it was in Malaysia itself. Because sometimes if you have Islam around you, you become lazy, you take it

for granted. And when you are suffering and when you are in pain, then you remember your Lord. And so there is a reason for the pain, there is a reason for the suffering, and there is a reason for everything that we are going through.

Living in a World of Deception

Brothers and sisters, this world that we are living in today, to try to understand what is happening, to try to make the connection with Allah, has become extremely difficult and it needs for us to be highly intelligent. We need to go back to the Prophet ﷺ to give us keys to unlock the secrets of what is going on today. The Prophet ﷺ did not speak from himself. He spoke from above seven heavens.

We live in a world today where people have the ability to make pictures, to make fantasies. They make something look real that is not real. They will take something false, make it real, or they will take something real and they make it false. So something that is happening on the ground, they will twist it around, turn it, that you cannot even believe what is going on to you at the place where you are.

The Prophecy of the Great Liars

And the Prophet ﷺ said in an authentic hadith reported in Al-Jami' al-Saghir of Imam al-Suyuti:

"There will come to you near the end of time كَذَّابُونَ دَجَّالُونَ - great liars to the point of being like false prophets, antichrists. They will come near the end of time and they will come to you with a type of speech that neither you nor your parents have ever heard of before."

Look at this wisdom that the Prophet ﷺ is saying. He said there were great liars who would come near the end of time and they will come with a type of speech that neither you nor your parents have ever heard of before. Beware of them. Beware that they take you astray and beware that they put you into a fitna, a trial, a temptation. And sadaqa Rasulullah ﷺ, it has come to pass.

Digital Technology and New Forms of Deception

Digital technology where they can take images now and they can put words in the mouth of a person that he didn't even say. They could take my picture and they could put words in my mouth that I didn't say, put it on a disk and send it to Al Jazeera or something like this and accuse me of something that I didn't even do. Our parents have never seen anything like this before.

And we can even say those of us who are over 30 years old or 40 years old, when we were growing up we didn't even have these things. So it's even one generation. It's not even five generations, it's one generation that this technology has changed. And they say it is changing so rapidly that by the month it is changing now. And so this is a new period of time. They will come to us with a type of speech that none of us have ever heard of

before. Beware of them that they take you off the path and beware that they put you into a trial, into a temptation, into a fitna.

The Need for Intelligence

And so this requires on our part a high amount of intelligence. This requires on our part to be able to go back to our sources to bring us to the straight path and to keep us out of the path of evil. Because evil today has become a business. And in many cases, the new stars, the new idols that are coming out of the movies, many of them now are gangsters and bandits. Criminals are the heroes for many of the younger generation. Evil has been made to seem like an enjoyable thing.

And a person who wants to tell the truth, who wants to live modestly, who wants to judge people not based on their color, who wants to live without interest and usury, that person feels strange, that person feels like they are an outsider in the world. And so it is crucial for us to make a connection with those things that are actually happening around us, and it requires for us to have a high amount of intelligence in order to get this satisfaction in this world and in the hereafter.

The Intelligent Person vs. The Fool

We need to have intelligence. The Prophet ﷺ gave us direction in this and he told us in an authentic hadith:

The Prophet ﷺ said: "الكَبِّسُ Al-Kayis) - the intelligent person is the one who controls himself, he controls himself and he works for the next life. And الأَحْمَقُ )al-ahmaq) - the fool, the idiot, is the one who lets himself go, does anything in this world, and then he hopes Allah will forgive him in the end."

And so they give the shirts for the younger generation, and the Nike shirts, and you turn the back and it says, "Just do it." Just do it. What does that mean? Just do it, do anything. This is the أحمق. He lets himself it's hawa. He does anything and then at the end he thinks I'll make istighfar or that God will forgive me, I am a good person and he lets himself go. This has been described by the Prophet ﷺ as a fool.

الكَيِّسُ مَنْ دَانَ نَفْسَهُ وَعَمِلَ لِمَا بَعْدَ الْمَوْتِ - The intelligent person is the one who controls himself in this world, he controls his desires.

The Reality of This Life

Because look at the life of this world. How long do we actually live in this world? How many years? The Prophet ﷺ basically said 63 years old he lived and he said in the 60s, this is basically the life span of the Muslims in this Ummah. If you live over 63, you're on borrowed time. This is the life span of this Ummah.

But let's give the person 100 years. Let's say that our man Zayd, he lived to be 100 years old. Measure the life of this world to the hereafter. And those who are studying math can try to do the math for me. You have 100 here

Why is there no hope? Because what came out of this conference is that 14% - is that 10% of the earth's population is eating 86% of the natural resources. 10% of people, they eat 86%, and 90% of the people, they only eat 14%. So a tiny minority of people, they are controlling the wealth in this world and they are creating inequalities in the world.

And the people are forced to cut the trees down to make charcoal and to wood and to do all types of strange things. And then we change the atmosphere, carbon dioxide comes in and the atmosphere changes. And so the issue that people could not agree upon, it was not necessarily that we do something to make the earth greener. But the issue that could not be agreed upon is that the poor people in the world, the majority of the people in the world, they deserve to have an equal amount of access to the natural resources on the face of the planet earth.

This could not be agreed upon. And because they could not agree upon the equal distribution of wealth, then the conference failed. And so Copenhagen, which the people were hoping to have Copenhagen, then finally became Nopenhagen and there was no hope for the people at the end.

The Awliya of Allah: Those with True Contentment

And so the Awliya of Allah, those are the ones who have satisfaction, those are the ones who have contentment.

- they have nothing to be afraid of and nothing to be sad about and grieve in the life of this world.

Who are they?

- they believe and they have taqwa. And taqwa is made up of

- it is made up of fear and hope. There's two things in taqwa, it's the consciousness of Allah.

The Balance of Fear and Hope

Now think about these two things. There is fear of Allah's punishment and there is hope in the mercy of Allah. And both of these elements make up taqwa. And some people even said, one scholar, they would debate the issue and they say: "Which one is more important? Is

more important or is

? Which is the most important of taqwa?"

And another great scholar, Ibn Qudamah al-Maqdisi, he answered the question and he said: "It's like saying, 'What's the difference between

and

? What's the difference between bread and water? Which one is more important?'"

If you look at the two, bread satisfies a hungry person and water satisfies a thirsty person. So both of them are important, depending upon whether you're hungry or whether you're thirsty. If you are thirsty, you don't want bread. The bread will make you more thirsty. You want water. But if you are starving, you want something solid, so you want the bread.

And so they looked at the both, they looked at it, which one of these elements. And different opinions came up. Interesting discussion comes up about these two qualities. This is what we are balancing now in this world. And

to a certain extent, we need them both.

The Importance of Fear in Times of Sin

But the scholars said that in the time of

- if the sins have become the greatest issue, then the important part of taqwa is

. It is fear that you need to fear the punishment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You need to be conscious that for every action there's a reaction. If you do evil things, evil will come back to you. It will come back to you either in this life or it will come in the next life.

And ma'siyah today has become the order of the day, just as we saw what the Shaytan will do. He will command us to do evil and immorality and to say against Allah that which we know not.

(And Allah the Almighty has spoken the truth). It has become a system of miseducation coming through the television and the media, a system of miseducation for the younger children, starting with cartoons.

Warning About Children's Entertainment

It starts with the children's cartoons. Do not allow the children to sit and watch cartoons without you checking it out. Because through these cartoons, they can make a story which is even worse than the movie, because they create a being and they put racism in that. They will put hatred of women, they will put class consciousness, rich over the poor. They will give all types of message to the children that by the time that child grows up, that child already has a hatred of himself. He's ashamed of his family, he's ashamed of his language, he's ashamed of his nation. He doesn't want to be himself. He wants to be something which is not real.

And so in the time of ma'asiyah, the scholars say then the khawf is necessary.

The Successful Believers

And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in Surah al-Bayyinah has told us very clearly in speaking about those who are successful, those believers, in describing them, He said:

"Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Allah. That is for those who fear their Lord." (Quran 98:8)

Allah will be pleased with them, those believers, who... that they will have the best place to live, they will be in Jannah. Allah is pleased with them and they will be pleased with Allah.

Who is this for?

- the one who fears his Lord, that he is aware of the presence of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, that Allah is most merciful, but at the same time that Allah is severe in punishment. And that is important for us to realize.

The Mercy of Allah and Repentance

And it does not mean that if we have done something wrong in this world that we are destined for hellfire. Allah is most merciful. And Allah tells us in the Quran:

"Say: 'O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, despair not of the Mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.''" (Quran 39:53)

Allah forgives all sins in this life before death. Allah will forgive, inshallah, any sin that you do. But it means

(tawbatan nasuha) - that you have to have a true repentance.

The Requirements of True Repentance

To be satisfied, to gain contentment, we all make mistakes. But if we make a mistake, we need to turn back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We need to make tawbah. And when we make tawbah, it doesn't mean you just say

(astaghfirullah). It means you recognize what you did wrong, that you turn, repent to Allah عز و جل,and that you make the intention never to return to the sin. You make a strong intention.

And then you do compensation. Part of tawbah is

(raddal-madhalim) - that means you give back what happened with the people. And some person will say: "Okay, if I stole $1,000 from the store and I make tawbah, then I can give back $1,000."

Yes, you should give it back. I don't say to you take the money and go to the shopkeeper and say, "I stole $100 from your shop," because he's gonna call the police. But give it back to him some way. Give it back. Make your tawbah to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Story of the Imam at Dark Side

But the point is, if you scandalize somebody, if you backbite somebody, then what can be done? If you said something against another Muslim...

We had an imam in Cape Town. He was an imam who was a strong leader and he had an Islamic school and he was a serious brother. And they made this discotheque, they made this nightclub which they called Dark Side. And this is the one that had seven heavens, seven levels in it, okay.

And the imam, he found out that some of his students were in Dark Side, Islamic school. So he was the kind of person, he takes, he changes things with his hands. So the imam, he went down to Dark Side Saturday night.

They're dancing around, take ecstasy, they're all high and stoned, it's 3 o'clock in the morning. And they go over to the food and they're dancing around. And then they go to the restaurant, there's a little stall there. And then they say, "Is there halal food?" They're dancing around at 3 in the morning, eyes are glazed.

The imam said, you know what the imam did? He drove into Dark Side. He went into the middle of the dance floor and he grabbed his students and he pulled them out of the place with his jubbah on and his cap. He went right inside and he took his students out.

Now some people are driving by and they see the imam going into Dark Side. "Astaghfirullah! There it is, the imam is going to Dark Side!" And they go back to their people and they start to talk: "There it is, I saw Imam Fulan Fulan in Dark Side." Then suddenly: "Imam committed adultery, imam takes drugs, imam does this." And the whole thing goes out of place.

The Lesson on Backbiting

The question is: Did you go to the imam and ask him why he was at Dark Side? If you went to the imam and you asked him, then you would find out. He would tell you: "I was doing nahi al-munkar. I was forbidding evil things at Dark Side." He's the hero of Dark Side. But you said he's a criminal.

Now the point is, you want to make tawbah. You found out that the imam was actually bringing the students out. You want to make tawbah. How do you do this? You cannot pay the imam money. You ruined his reputation.

Now the scholars say in this case, you will have to say good things about the imam. You will have to go around and say so much good about him until his reputation comes back. This is raddal-madhalim. This is the way you will compensate for the wrong that you did for that person.

Complete Repentance: Self-Analysis and Reconstruction

And so tawbah has to be a complete action that the believers do, and not something which is false. It is a complete program. And we can even call it self-analysis and reconstruction.

And so by having this, we will gain, inshallah, the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to be al-kayis, the intelligent person.

- they have nothing to fear in this life, they are satisfied with who they are, they have nothing to be sad about the past.

So we lived in racism, so we had slavery, so we have apartheid. Should I cry all night? No. I need to go forward. I need to go forward with no fear about what will happen in the time to come.

Closing Dua

And so we pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would give us this contentment in the life of this world, that Allah would purify our hearts, make us to be al-kayis, the intelligent person, and give us that success in this life and the hereafter.

I leave you with these thoughts and I ask Allah to have mercy on me and you.

(I say this and I ask Allah's forgiveness for me and you).

(And peace and mercy of Allah be upon you).