n46 1 SIGNS THAT ALLAH LOVES YOU Bilal Assad

Signs That Allah Loves You

Speaker: Bilal Assad

Opening

That are special to you, that you share with Allah subhana wa ta'ala and no one else. Like the Wahi. And they are righteous dreams.

Righteous dreams from Allah subhana wa ta'ala. Sometimes when you're a teacher, I hear this because I'm a teacher as well, and these teenagers come to me. Every year I have the same year nines.

I'm stuck with the year nines guys, every year. It's that critical age. And it's like they never change, but I forget that they've moved on.

So I get the same ones over and over again. Teenagers are the same. And one of the things they always tell me, I hear this a lot.

Sir, I never used to see so many dreams. Now I see too many dreams. Some of them say I don't see anything.

But a lot of them say I see the Day of Judgment. I see this and I see that. Subhana Allah, it's as if when you hit puberty, the shaitan comes to want to destroy, you know, your pathway.

Make you feel like something's wrong with you. Then Allah brings you dreams as well. To help you to be guided.

A warning, or a guide, or something good. To give you maybe a sign that you are going good. You remember those dreams? You've had those nice dreams? I haven't had some in a while.

Maybe three days ago was a nice dream, but a long time before that. I just wish those dreams would come. They make you feel something special, don't they?

The Prophet's Love for the Poor

Anyway, imagine you went to your dreams and went back to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and you're looking for him.

Where do you think you'll find him? Where do you find him? Where do you think? Where's the first place to look? Let's say you don't know how he looks like. You don't know where it is. You've never been to Mecca or Medina.

How do you know? But you went back 1,400 years ago, and the first thing you think about, Rasulullah, where is he? Where do you go? Without asking anyone. Anyone want to guess? The Masjid? No. Not the Kaaba? No.

Ahsant. Well done. With the poor people.

That's what the Sahabas used to say. If we ever looked for Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) outside of Salat time, because you know, a Muslim doesn't stay in the Masjid all the time. That's not a productive Muslim, to stay in the Masjid all the time.

Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم), if he had nothing else to do at home or his other duties, he was at the Masjid. But you will find him with the poor people. And he used to say, I love the poor people the most, and the most people of Jannah are the people who used to be poor here.

Something secret about them, Allah knows best. And not everybody can handle being poor. Have you ever heard someone making that statement? Not many people can handle being wealthy, Ahsant.

Not many people can handle being poor. Like, you think you deserve to be poor? It's like that. Poverty now seems a blessing.

But only for some people. Allah says:

"And no one will receive at Jannah, except those who are absolutely patient, those who are of great fortune."

Reference: Surah Fussilat 41:35

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Understanding Allah's Love

When you, Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) used to look for the poor people, and used to be sitting amongst them. So let's look at the mentality today. If Allah loves you, He makes you rich, with money.

Here is the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) praising the poor people, who are righteous, of course. If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loved people based on the blessings He gives them, then why Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) himself was not wealthy? He didn't even like it. The other way around as well.

If Allah loves only the poor people of wealth, why would He give Dawood and Sulaiman and Yusuf (عليه السلام) among the greatest kingdom on earth? If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not love, if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loved you only when you see someone healthy, then why did He make Prophet Ayyub (عليه السلام) so sick for so many years? Even some people used to say, look at this man Ayyub. If he hadn't done something terribly wrong, Allah would not put him through this hardship. Isn't that correct? And people moved away from him.

They isolated him because they didn't want to get jinxed by him. They thought he's a non-righteous man, evil man. We don't want to get this mirrored into our family.

Some people live long, Allah must love them. Some people live short, what have they done? If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's love for a person is a sign that you live long, then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would not allow Fir'aun to be in his kingdom and live long. In fact, he preserved his body so that no one can ever forget him.

If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala did not like a person, if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala took someone's life early which meant that he doesn't love him, he wouldn't take the Prophet's (صلى الله عليه وسلم) child, Al-Qasim and Ibrahim at the age of two years old. So my brothers and sisters, love of Allah is not based on the amount of blessings you have in this world or the lack of it. It has nothing to do with that.

Contentment (Qana'ah)

Have you ever heard of happiness and contentment? The difference between happiness and contentment is that happiness is temporary, contentment is forever. And contentment in Arabic is called Qana'ah. Qana'ah, to be satisfied and content with whatever you have.

It doesn't matter what state the Muslim is, the mu'min is, you have contentment. You don't forget Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. If you are in prison, you look at it as a seclusion between you and Allah.

If you are out in the open, you see that Allah has given you a duty you have to give, you have to do. If you have wealth, it means that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given you responsibility to use that wealth in some good way. If you don't have wealth, it means Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is testing you with poverty and you're going to learn from it for others.

Because the biggest people who really are the most humble, you'll find the homeless people. You give them, they give for some reason. If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives you children, it means he's testing you with your children somehow.

Or he is honoring you with the children, but it's a responsibility. He gets you married, it's a responsibility, but all the blessings come with it. If he keeps you single, again it's a responsibility.

Whatever it may be, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is giving you tests and responsibilities and with it, you will rise or fall. It's up to you. But here's the thing, Allah will not bear you more than what you can bear.

"Allah will not burden a soul with more than what they can bear."

Reference: Surah Al-Baqarah 2:286

This is a promise from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Then how come some people say, I can't bear it anymore? Brothers and sisters, this is you making that decision.

Wallahi, this is us making that decision. There are so many YouTube clips from non-Muslims who have learnt from us, from the past, how to motivate people to move forward and not give up. But Allah sent the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) to teach us that from the beginning.

Yaqub a.s. said to his children who tried to kill his own son Yusuf after many years, he said to them:

"Do not give up from the mercy of Allah."

Reference: Surah Yusuf 12:87

"The only ones who give up on Allah's mercy are the disbelievers in Allah."

Because they don't trust Allah's mercy. Those are the people who say, what have I ever done for God to do this to me? What have I ever done so God doesn't give me and gives the other person? These are people who deny Allah's favours and blessings. These are the ones who despair from His mercy.

Because they don't have any trust in His mercy subhanahu wa ta'ala. And he said to his sons, don't. And look what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave them.

Look what He gave Yusuf alayhi salam. And what Yusuf alayhi salam said in the end after all the dungeon, all the prison, all the hardship. What did he say on his throne? Rabbi, my Lord, You are the one who gave me this kingdom.

And You are the one who taught me the knowledge that I know. Oh Allah, I ask You only to make me die as a Muslim. And make me join with the righteous.

"And make me join with the righteous."

Reference: Surah Yusuf 12:101

You know al-Hikmi in Arabic means someone's ahead of you and you're running up to them. You're chasing them. You're in the back row.

Yusuf alayhi salam, the Prophet of Allah. Says, Oh Allah, even in the back row, I'm happy with that. Let me follow the righteous.

This is a form of humbleness. That if you think that you are such a righteous person and you boast about that. Then these are the people who actually forget Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Because when you think of yourself too good, you fail. And when you think of yourself too low, you'll never rise. But stay somewhere in the middle.

Signs of Allah's Love for You

My brothers and sisters in Islam, so what are the signs of Allah's love for you? And what are the signs in you that you love Him?

1. Following the Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم)

The first is that you are a voluntary follower. Meaning no one's forcing you. You are a voluntary follower of the message.

Of the message of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Allah says in the Qur'an:

"Say, if you love Allah, then follow me [Muhammad], and Allah will love you in return."

Reference: Surah Aal-e-Imran 3:31

And Allah will love you in return. Following the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, Allah loves you. Now following the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is how? Is it just in the white thawb? In my beard? In the miswak? In the hat? In that I eat with my hands? Or I sleep on my right? No.

اتباع الرسول sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is what he said in the following hadith. You wanna know? After the worship, we all know the worship and the sunan of worship. He said, He said to his companions, Do you know what a Muslim is? They said, Allah and his Messenger know best.

He said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 10; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 41)

"A Muslim is someone whom the people are safeguarded from his or her tongue and his hands."

Then he said, Do you know what a mu'min is? A bit higher than a Muslim? Believer? They said Allah and his Messenger know best. He said:

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And so Prophet ﷺ said to him, you touched a woman? He said, what do you mean you touched a woman? He said, I touched her. He says, did you do zina? He says, no. He says, did you do the stuff that husband and wife he goes, no, I didn't do that.

He said, just touched her and hugged her. He said, pray your salah, do your good deeds and wipe it away. Now, I can hear the young people using this as an excuse.

I can hear you, you're saying it, just by thinking I can hear it. Does that mean that I can do haram? Just praying and it's all gone? Obviously not. You can't trick Allah.

Rasulullah ﷺ is telling this young man who has this energy and hormones, he's telling him, go to do good acts. Because good acts, what they do is, they are rehabilitation. They clean you and they clean your mentality and they make you feel embarrassed.

Because when you become better and you remember Allah, you are more likely to not return to that sin and to feel ashamed of it. But if you don't follow up a good deed, then there's no rehab. We've all told our children these things, don't we? Get off the phone, get off the playstation, get off the game.

Words don't work with kids. They just laugh at you. Get off, yeah, alright.

You got to seriously put restrictions and replace it with something else that gives them the same or similar rewards. Something else that they enjoy. My brothers and sisters in Islam, therefore, whoever follows the Prophet ﷺ Allah loves them.

2. Humility with Believers

A second one, the ones who are humble and easy with their brothers and sisters in Islam. Allah جل جلاله says, if you do not strive and struggle in the cause of Allah, Allah will exchange you with another people whom He loves and they love Him. And then He describes them, a dhillatan ala al mu'mineen.

They are humble with their brothers and sisters. A'izzatan ala al kafireen. And those who are enemies of Islam, they are honourable against them.

They don't, they don't put their heads down to them. No, they're aware. But with the believers, they are humble.

Now, some brothers and sisters that I've heard of, not everyone, not everyone. Inshallah I'm not here. I've seen it happen before.

When the dunya creeps into our hearts and the love of Allah جل جلاله is kind of their only lip service, not really in your heart, I come to you and I say, brother, how much do you want for the car? You say, well, brother, $10,000. I say, what are you talking about? I saw it for $9,000 over there. He says, khalas brother, take it for $9,000.

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Then I say to you, give me a better deal than $9,000, how about $8,000? He says, brother, I can't, this is it. And then I say to you, brother, you got to love for your brother what you love for yourself. I start blackmailing you with the hadith.

I use the deen to blackmail my brothers and sisters. This is the opposite of humbleness. Subhanallah, that sahabi, I think it was Abu Musa al-Ashari, Allahu alam, don't hold me to it.

He went to buy a camel. Okay, back 1,400 years ago. He went to buy a camel from another companion, from a Muslim, a mu'min.

He says, how much do you want for the camel? He says, give me five dinars. He looks around at the camel. He says, no.

He says, less? He says, no, I think it deserves more than that. I'll give you six. He says, take it for six.

He goes, just a second. He's looking at it. Obviously, when you're going to buy a car, you have to look around and check it.

He's checking the camel a little bit more. He says, no, no, I think it needs seven dinars. Will you accept seven? Why not? The sahabi kept going around the camel more and more.

The more he saw this camel, or was it a horse? The point is, he saw that it was worth much more than five, double its amount. He says, I'll give you 10 dinars for it. He says, you've given me double? He says, yes.

For I heard the Prophet ﷺ say, you will not receive piety until you love for your brother what you love for yourself. If I was selling this horse or this camel, if I was selling it, I will know that it's worth much more than that, and I would want more. So, I'm giving you more.

One brother I saw today, he's buying man'oush. You know what man'oush is? Any Lebanese people, man'oush? Arabs, Egyptians, do you say man'oush? Alkaak, yeah, like that, the dough. He's buying man'oush for tomorrow, on Eid.

Buying lots of man'oush. The brother loves him. I could tell, he likes him for one reason, because the other brother is religious.

The word religious is not the right word, but we can say, a man who loves Allah, and he loves that he loves Allah. The man who is selling him said, for example, $200 bought a lot. He goes, take it for 150.

The other brother looks at him, he says, Wallahi, I'm giving you 210. I'm gonna give you more. He says, no yakhir, give me less.

You take more. Wallahi, yakhir, I just want less. Wallahi, I'm gonna give you more.

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It's very rare to see people arguing the opposite of everyone else. Nahu, Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he said, Bada al-Islamu ghareeban. Islam began strange.

Wasa ya'udu ghareeban kama bada. And Islam will come back strange the same way it started. Fatuba lilghuraba.

Glad tidings to those who are strangers. This is one of the meanings of strange. Like that.

Who does that these days? They'll call you crazy. But no, no, no. You have something inside of you, richness that no one else has.

3. Attachment to Places Allah Loves

Who else does Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la love? Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la loves the one who finds himself or herself attached to the places and the people whom Allah loves. You feel comfortable when you're at the masjid. You feel comfortable with the people of the masjid.

You see someone who looks a person, a woman or a man of deen, you feel comfortable. You feel at peace. You feel comfortable when the Quran is recited.

You feel comfortable when somebody reminds you of something that Allah loves. You like it. You actually love it.

This is a type of person who has a sign of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la's love to them.

4. Coming Closer Through Obligatory and Voluntary Acts

My brothers and sisters in Islam, listen to this beautiful hadith.

I've said it before, but it's amazing and really suits this point.

That, in Bukhari, Sahih Bukhari, Rasul Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

"Whoever takes one of my righteous worshippers as an enemy, you are bad to them. I, Allah is saying, I have declared war against that person."

So be careful, my dear brothers and sisters.

We don't know who is the righteous person of Allah. He's not necessarily a famous person. Not necessarily a person anyone knows.

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Not necessarily a person that you see all the time in the masjid. Not necessarily. You might see them, they might go to other masjids.

Maybe a sister, she doesn't go to the masjid at all, I don't know. Maybe she goes sometimes, maybe she goes at night. But these are people who are inconspicuous.

You don't actually know. They're not out there to show off. And sometimes some people who are popular and famous, they're also people of Allah.

But what I'm saying to you is, we don't really know who they are. Not clearly. Could be you.

Could be me. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us all among them. So whoever is an enemy to one of these righteous people, I have declared war against them.

So be very careful, my brothers and sisters. Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, and there is nothing that my worshipper comes closer to me, more beloved to me. The thing that I love the most, that he comes closer to me with.

And the things which I have made compulsory upon him or her. See this fara'id that we pray. The fard.

That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made fard and said, there's a punishment if you don't do them anymore. Like the five daily prayers for example. The five pillars of Islam.

Why did Allah make them fard? He made them fard because he loves them the most. He refuses to make something he loves the most as an option.

Because he wants you to come closer to him.

Sometimes my father says, you have to call me every single day at this time. I'm not accepting any excuse. You have to call us always at this time.

Why? Because your parent loves you. He's teaching you how to respect your father and mother. To connect with them.

Because if you don't, you're going to be unhappy. If you don't connect your family ties, you're an unhappy person. Subhanallah.

Unless of course there are exceptions. So then he said, and my worshipper keeps coming closer to me with what? So you come closer to Allah with the fard prayers. And then some people keep getting even closer after the fard prayers with what? With voluntary acts, bin nawafil.

So sunnah prayers are voluntary acts. Fasting on voluntary days of Ramadan is nawafil. Doing umrah is a nafilah.

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And so Prophet ﷺ said to him, you touched a woman? He said, what do you mean you touched a woman? He said, I touched her. He says, did you do zina? He says, no. He says, did you do the stuff that husband and wife he goes, no, I didn't do that.

He said, just touched her and hugged her. He said, pray your salah, do your good deeds and wipe it away. Now, I can hear the young people using this as an excuse.

I can hear you, you're saying it, just by thinking I can hear it. Does that mean that I can do haram? Just praying and it's all gone? Obviously not. You can't trick Allah.

Rasulullah ﷺ is telling this young man who has this energy and hormones, he's telling him, go to do good acts. Because good acts, what they do is, they are rehabilitation. They clean you and they clean your mentality and they make you feel embarrassed.

Because when you become better and you remember Allah, you are more likely to not return to that sin and to feel ashamed of it. But if you don't follow up a good deed, then there's no rehab. We've all told our children these things, don't we? Get off the phone, get off the playstation, get off the game.

Words don't work with kids. They just laugh at you. Get off, yeah, alright.

You got to seriously put restrictions and replace it with something else that gives them the same or similar rewards. Something else that they enjoy. My brothers and sisters in Islam, therefore, whoever follows the Prophet ﷺ Allah loves them.

2. Humility with Believers

A second one, the ones who are humble and easy with their brothers and sisters in Islam. Allah جل جلاله says, if you do not strive and struggle in the cause of Allah, Allah will exchange you with another people whom He loves and they love Him. And then He describes them, a dhillatan ala al mu'mineen.

They are humble with their brothers and sisters. A'izzatan ala al kafireen. And those who are enemies of Islam, they are honourable against them.

They don't, they don't put their heads down to them. No, they're aware. But with the believers, they are humble.

Now, some brothers and sisters that I've heard of, not everyone, not everyone. Inshallah I'm not here. I've seen it happen before.

When the dunya creeps into our hearts and the love of Allah جل جلاله is kind of their only lip service, not really in your heart, I come to you and I say, brother, how much do you want for the car? You say, well, brother, $10,000. I say, what are you talking about? I saw it for $9,000 over there. He says, khalas brother, take it for $9,000.

Doing Sadaqah

Doing sadaqah is a nafilah. Anything that you're not asked to do, you don't have to do it, you do it. Wallahi al-azim, wallahi al-azim.

Even directing someone lost on the street how to get to the shops or how to get to somewhere is a sadaqah. Muslim or non-Muslim. That's the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. Giving water to a bird is sadaqah.

Avoiding walking near a colony of ants that you see in the park, you avoid it. Like you want to light up a barbecue, you see a colony of ants, you go, let's not do it here, let's do it over there, is a sadaqah. Can you imagine an angel coming down to give you hasanat, just for choosing to move away from a colony of ants? Or bees? Something so insignificant, anyone can do it, subhanallah.

If she likes it. Smiling to your brother's face, a sister smiling to her sister's face. A husband and a wife looking at each other.

Brothers and sisters, I didn't even say smile to each other, but in a good look. Just the husband looking at his wife, and the wife looking at her husband.

Listen to what the Prophet ﷺ said:

"If the husband looks at his wife, and the wife looks at her husband, Allah looks at them with a look of mercy."

Is it hard to get to Jannah? Now that we think of it. You grab the vacuum cleaner, and you vacuum your room or the lounge. You didn't do a good job with it, how old are you? Seven year old.

What's your name? Muzakir Dakhilullah You know what Muzakir means? What? A Muzakir is the one who reminds others of Allah. May Allah bless your parents for naming you that name. My brothers and sisters in Islam, Muzakir grabs the vacuum, he doesn't know how to use it very well, he starts vacuuming.

He gets rewards, and his parents get rewards. He's helping his parents, but his parents also get rewards for raising. You as an adult, you do the same thing, you get rewards.

Subhanallah. And it's countless. Directing someone to the tap to make wudu, your reward is there.

A person who can't see something, wants to read it. Wallahi it's in the hadith, literally it says a person who can't see well, and you read something for them. Your grandfather, your neighbor, a person on the street waiting at the bus stop, someone says, can you help me read this? It's a sadaqah.

So, my worshipper keeps coming closer to me with these little voluntary acts. Until, I love him in a special way. Now Allah subhana wa ta'ala has two types of love.

The love that is for everyone, and the special love that is only for specific people. The love that he has for everyone, is that he loves for them to be guided, and not go to hell for him. And to come closer to him, so he

brings to them signs.

Wallahi even the non-Muslim, he brings them signs all the time. Everybody. And then there's a special love.

Those are the ones who deserve it, like this. Then Allah says:

"As soon as I love him a special love, I become his hearing which he hears with."

"And his eyesight which he sees with."

"And his hand which he uses."

"And his legs which he walks with."

"And if he asks me, I will give him."

"And if he sought protection from me, I will protect him."

"And I have never hesitated to do anything."

More than I have hesitated to do this. And that is to take the soul of my worshipper when he comes to die.

"Because he hates it and I hate to hurt him. He hates to die. And I hate to hurt him."

Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6502

5. Allah Uses You for Good

رَوَاهُ الْبُخَارِيُّ

Those who love Allah, Allah uses them and employs them for good work on earth. You know, sometimes, some people call you at the most awkward times. And they need your help.

And you answer them. You feel awkward, I mean, you know that? Allah has sent them to you. Allah has chosen you.

You know, when you're tired, and you go out and do an act of goodness, Allah has chosen you. The fact that you have the ability to do that, Allah has chosen you. Listen to the hadith of Rasulullah:

"If Allah loves a servant, a person, a worshipper, He uses him or her."

He uses them. One time this brother, he said to me, Brother, I was at the masjid. I'd only been going to the masjid for about a week.

And I only went there because there were some people I was meeting for marriage. Now, he used to go to another masjid, but that particular masjid, they used to meet there. He says, one day, this woman walks in, she's pregnant.

And she needs help. Her husband walks in, and you could tell he's had problems. This brother's there, and they couldn't find the people of the masjid, the administration, the management, and they said, we need just to buy very simple furniture, at least a bed, because I'm pregnant, I just need a place to sleep.

I need a bed in my home. We've got nothing. We haven't got a fridge, we haven't got food, we haven't got bed, nothing.

This brother, and his future father-in-law, and his future wife, I did their marriage about a week later, they went to the closest furniture shop and bought for them a mattress, some blankets in Manchester, is that what you call it, Manchester? What do we call it? Yeah, Manchester. And a bed, and some groceries, and came back. They went to their house, unloaded it, and left.

This couple is blessed till today, mashallah. And the other couple, Allah knows what happened to them, but this was a sign for me when I looked at it, Wallahi, sadaqa Rasulullah ﷺ he is so truthful. If Allah loves someone, He will use them.

He will send those people to you, when you least expect it, you are special. And mark my words, any good you do to others, it will come back. Double, triple, quadruple folds, in ways you least expect it.

Allah said:

"Whoever fears Allah, and avoids doing something that is wrong, Allah will open a door for them, from places they least expected."

(Surah At-Talaq 65:2)

6. Facing Hardships with Patience

My brothers and sisters in Islam, Rasulullah ﷺ told us also, that one of the signs of Allah's love, is this. Are you ready for it? I'm almost done, but this is probably the hardest one to handle.

The more hardships you go through, and the more patient you are, the more it is a sign that Allah loves you. Man, that makes no sense. Makes no sense.

It doesn't make sense to us as humans, because we've been conditioned to think that way. It's negative. Allah says:

"You may hate something when it's actually good for you, and you may love something when it's bad for you."

(Surah Al-Baqarah 2:216)

Rasulullah ﷺ said:

"The amount of deeds, the gratification of deeds, depends on how great the hardship that you are going through is."

When Allah loves the people, He will give them hardships of some sort.

"Whoever accepts it, and is pleased with Allah, Allah will be pleased with them."

"And whoever turns away and loses themselves, and loses the connection with Allah completely, Allah also turns away from them."

Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2396

So my brothers and sisters, the ones who go through hardships, and are patient. Patient means, doesn't mean you don't do anything about it.

You do something about it, but what do you do? You don't abandon Allah جل جلاله. You don't say what's happening to me? I'm gonna give up. Listen to what Prophet ﷺ said. He said, a person keeps calling out to Allah جل جلاله. And then he said, do not give up.

Continue and insist. For a person may be calling to Allah, and then suddenly they give up on their du'a, and Allah جل جلاله then gives up on them. They turn away from Allah, Allah جل جلاله would have always about to be

giving them.

Remember my brothers and sisters, when Allah جل جلاله doesn't give you something, maybe it's not good for you right now. Maybe what's happening to you now, is something for the future. We hear all these celebrities, they talk about it.

They give these motivational speeches. I mean, really they're simple to a Muslim. We hear them everyday.

And they say, I hit rock bottom, before I can go back up. And this wall, I had to put my back towards, and I saw only in front of me man. And then everybody goes, that was the most motivational speech ever.

We hear ten times more motivational than that, coming from above seven heavens. Yet these people are seeing it, we should see it too. Allah جل جلاله never leaves anyone out.

"And if my worshippers ask you about me, I'm close, I'm close, I'm always close."

(Surah Al-Baqarah 2:186)

قَرِيبٌ مُّجِيبٌ دَعْوَةَ الدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ

Oh my Lord, I've never been blessed, nor left alone.

7. Angels Love You and Your Acceptance on Earth

Rasulullah ﷺ also said that if Allah جل جلاله loves a servant, it means that that worshipper, will be loved by the angels.

And will be loved by everyone else on earth. If Allah loves someone, He tells Jibreel, I love certain person, so love him. So Jibreel عليه السلام loves him.

Then He tells the angels, Allah loves so and so, so love him. All the angels start to love him. You know how many angels there are? Don't worry about it.

You will never know. You know how many stars there are? More than the grains of sand on earth, scientifically proven. And I have a science background.

Doesn't mean I know everything, I don't know astronomy, I just read that somewhere. There are more stars in the heavens, than the grains of sand on earth. And there are more angels than all the stars.

Rasulullah ﷺ tells us the long hadith, that there is a Baitul Ma'murah Ka'bah up there, and ever since it was created, 70,000 angels enter it and leave. They make Tawaf and they leave, and they never return to it, and it's never empty. 70,000 after 70,000.

8. The Youth Who Constantly Seek Forgiveness

And lastly, and this is the best one I think for me, because I see young people here.

The Prophet ﷺ told us, Al-Shaab, Al-Ta'ib, Habibullah. Al-Shaab, the youth, boy or girl. Al-Ta'ib, the one who is always seeking Allah's forgiveness.

I'm sorry Allah. I'm sorry Allah. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry again. I'm sorry again. Oh Allah forgive me again.

Forgive me again. And how many times do I have to ask Allah to forgive me? I'll just keep going. Oh Allah forgive me.

And I said I'm not going to do that again, but here I am. Oh Allah forgive me. See that person? With us, humans, me even as a parent, my son or my daughter keeps doing that.

A friend keeps doing that over and over again. What's my reaction going to be? What's our reaction? Right? My God you keep doing that all the time.

You don't deserve anything.

You're a bee. We say all the words under the sun, but Allah جل جلاله He says the one who does that, is my beloved. Obviously it's a sincere person.

But you know young people, they have a lot of hormones. And they keep forgetting, and they got influenced sometimes. But Allah جل جلاله doesn't want to lose them.

He says come back. At-ta'ib means, tawbah means, tawbah, who knows what tawbah means? What's the literal meaning of tawbah? To come back, to return, to return. That's the meaning of tawbah.

At-shaab at-ta'ib habibullah. He is the beloved of Allah. She is the beloved of Allah, who constantly returns back to Allah.

Always return my dear brothers and sisters. And Allah will help you and cleanse you, because He loves you. I ask Allah جل جلاله to make us among His beloveds.

I ask Allah جل جلاله to make us feel the love that He has for us. I ask Allah جل جلاله to give us the patience and the perseverance, to pass through this temporary world, until we meet Him جل جلاله. As Allah جل جلاله said to His Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم Allah, say it to us too.

"The hereafter is better for you than this former life."

Reference: Surah Ad-Duha 93:4

Soon you will come to us. Soon you will come to us. Just be patient a little longer.

A little longer. It's not going to be long. You will come back to us, and the hereafter is better for you than this world.

Trust in Allah, my brothers and sisters. May Allah جل جلاله enlighten your hearts. Thank you for listening.

صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ

Question and Answer Session

JazakAllah khair, Sheikh Bilal Asad, for the beautiful talk. May Allah reward you for your efforts. Just before we move into Q&A shortly, we're going to remind you, there's a clipboard going around for the brothers and for the sisters as well.

So if you have any questions that's relating to the topic, inshaAllah, just write it down. For the sisters, if you can leave the completed clipboard on one of the doors that's closer to the middle of the masjid, inshaAllah, and we'll pick it up. And Sheikh, just a humble request, if you could just quickly, in a couple of minutes, summarize for us the speech.

Yeah, just make two or three points, inshaAllah. JazakAllah khair.

Summary

So in summary, I'll use my notes.

That Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم loves those who believed in him but could not see him. He said, I will miss my brothers. They are the ones who have not come yet. They are the ones who believed in me but never saw me. I will see them on the Fountain of Kawthar on the Day of Judgment because of the wudu and nisalat. Secondly, Allah جل جلاله who sent this messenger, peace be upon him, sent him with mercy.

So what does that tell us about Allah جل جلاله himself? Although Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم has left us, Allah is still with us. So worship Allah and trust in him. There are signs of Allah جل جلاله's love in his worshippers.

Number one, is that you follow the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in your worship and in your character and manners. The word Muslim means on top of the worship when people feel safeguarded from your tongue and your hands. A mu'min is one who people can trust you with their wealth.

A mujahid is one who does striving against themselves in order to continue worshipping. And a person who is a true migrator is one who migrates from their major sins. Allah جل جلاله loves a person who is humble with believers and does not blackmail them or use manipulation against them.

But they're humble to them even though they may be stronger or more powerful than them. They're forgiving, they pardon them for the mere fact that they are their brothers and sisters in Islam. The love of Allah جل جلاله is for a person who focuses on their farad acts, the compulsory acts, and then continues to get closer to Allah with their voluntary acts until Allah loves them a special love.

And when He loves them a special love, their eyes, ears, hands, and legs only enjoy to do the things which Allah loves. And if he asks Allah, Allah will respond to him. And if he sought refuge, Allah will protect him.

And Allah hates to hurt that person and He does not hesitate more than taking his soul at death because He knows that we don't like it and He doesn't want to hurt us. Among the signs that Allah جل جلاله loves you are the ones who love each other for the sake of Allah, who visit each other for the sake of Allah, are the ones who humble themselves for the sake of Allah, and the ones who connect their ties for the sake of Allah. Among the signs which Allah جل جلاله loves you is that He puts you through more hardships which you can handle and He never gives you hardships more than what you can handle.

The more you are patient with them, the more Allah جل جلاله will give you trials. These trials only make you stronger and make you rise and make you more important and make you more content in life if you are patient with them. If you accept them from Allah جل جلاله and think well of Allah, Allah will love you and you will find it easy.

But if you reject it, you will find it hard and you will turn away from Allah and Allah will turn away from you. Among the signs that Allah جل جلاله loves you is that if you are a continuous repenter, you constantly return back to Allah جل جلاله even if it's a thousand times, a million times. If you are a young person with hormones pumping and with your energy really up high and you constantly return back to Allah جل جلاله for forgiveness, then Allah جل جلاله loves you.

Among the things which Allah جل جلاله loves you with are people whose hearts are attached to the places which Allah loves such as the masjids and the gatherings where people whom Allah loves gather. When you see a righteous person or a person reminds you of Allah, you love that company and you love those words and you

find comfort in them. Among the things which Allah جل جلاله gives as a sign of His love to you is that people also accept you wherever you go and people love you.

Even the enemy respects you and this is a sign that Allah جل جلاله loves you. Among the things which you can see in yourself that you love Allah جل جلاله is that you find yourself comfortable in the things which Allah جل جلاله loves and you find that your ears, eyes, hands and legs actually feel great discomfort in the sins and the things which Allah جل جلاله hates. You feel discomfort in them.

Among the things which also show us that Allah جل جلاله loves you is that Allah جل جلاله uses you in this life in a goodly manner. He employs you. He sends good work to you and He is employing you because He loves you and He loves the work that you're going to do and He knows that you're going to pass it.

Allah جل جلاله also shows that those whom He loves are the ones are the ones who do not take for granted the smallest of good deeds and they look at their deen as a holistic thing in their life and not just attached to only the masjid and that's it but rather holistic and they see that their sadaqah can be done everywhere they go and anywhere they go. May Allah جل جلاله make us among them. Ameen.

Question 1: If Allah is Loving and Merciful, Why is There Pain?

Question: If Allah جل جلاله is loving and merciful, why is there pain, injustice and suffering in the world?

Answer: My brothers and sisters in Islam the pain and injustice in the world in itself is a mercy from Allah جل جلاله but to others. Allah جل جلاله if He created a world where there was everything perfect, then number one it does not befit Him to create us in such a lowly world to be a paradise.

That would be cruel. Allah جل جلاله reserved that for Jannah. Number two, this life is actually a test to see who are deserving and who are not.

So there's going to be the unjust and the person who does wrong and Allah جل جلاله is going to sift through these people the ones who protect and defend and the ones who are oppressors. And the ones who are oppressors Allah جل جلاله will punish them and those who defend and stand up for the right of Allah جل جلاله will reward them. If there is no good and bad then you will not know the good from the bad.

As the poet says, without oppression a little bit, without injustice, without wrong, without pain, we will not learn empathy, we will not learn mercy, we cannot learn forgiveness, we cannot learn generosity, we cannot learn any of these things without those negative vices. That's why Allah says, I created you in a world that does have pain.

In fact, the Quran says, we shall put you through certain pain. Pain is how you perceive it. If you perceive pain as bad, then you have created, you have made this life negative.

You think of Allah negative, you think of yourself negative. A person like this cannot be productive. Allah says, pain or no pain, it is no difference between them, except that they are both tests and they both make you grow.

Sometimes, as we said before, we think that when you have a blessing, it's good. But actually sometimes, a blessing can be the worst thing for you. We've heard of people who have absolute health, absolute wealth, absolute everything that they wish for, yet they still go on to drugs, they still commit suicide, they still are mean to people, they're still oppressive.

In fact, the people who have more of these blessings, who don't connect themselves with Allah and don't appreciate these blessings, they are among the worst of the people. So my dear brothers and sisters, there is no balance in Islam of, if there's pain, it's bad and if there's health, it's good. No, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, each one of them has its merits and each one of them has its good.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

"With every hardship, there are many eases."

Reference: Surah Ash-Sharh 94:6

Do you know what that word means? A lot of people misunderstand. They say, after hardship comes ease.

That's the wrong interpretation. The correct interpretation is, with hardship and pain, there is a package of many goodness that comes out from it. So a package comes down with pain, with that pain, so many blessings happen.

That without that pain, the blessings cannot come. My brothers and sisters in Islam, the wisdom of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in doing so is in order to bring about those unbelievable things, those positive things in people that without the negative, they won't come out. And always the example of Adam and Eve, I always think is a really good example.

This is a whole topic on its own. Thank you, Sheikh.

Question 2: How Can We Differentiate Between Allah's Test and Punishment?

Question: How can we differentiate between Allah's test and Allah's punishment?

Answer: That's a good question. My brothers and sisters, Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim rahmatullahi alayh is the first thing that comes to my mind. He addresses this point in his book called Addaa wa Dawaa, the ailment and its cure. And he says, if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala brings down a test, a trial, whether it is good in our eyes or bad in our eyes, for example, wealth or poverty, health or sickness, it depends on how the person receives it.

If they accept it and assume of Allah well and use it to learn from it or to be patient with it, and then they get out of it, then it was either a test or a blessing to save them from something negative in their future. Because they learned from it, they paved a different way in their future. So either good comes out of it or Allah has a plan from it or it's a test.

But if the person receives it with by turning away from Allah, blaming Allah, abandoning their righteous deeds that they used to do, assuming of Allah the worst, changing to bad behavior and losing themselves, then it is a punishment. The actual trial turns into a punishment. So let me repeat, when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala brings down a trial, it's neither a punishment or a test or a blessing.

It's neutral. If you receive it, as Allah says, ana inda husni dhammi abdi bi I will be, I will react to you in the way that you assume of me to be. And al-husn means positive.

Why did Allah use the word positive? Because Allah is not negative. And Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to say, O Allah, from you there is no bad and only good. For the bad and the good is all good from you.

It means what we see as bad is actually good if it comes from Allah. How you react to it becomes either a trial and a blessing, a test or a blessing, or it becomes a punishment, but because of your reaction to it. I hope inshallah that gives you a bit of an understanding.

You can do more research on it, but that's the fundamental that Ibn al-Qayyim uses, the foundation. Thank you, Shaykh.

Question 3: How Can You Tell if Allah Has Accepted Your Tawbah?

Question: How can you tell if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has accepted your tawbah?

Answer: Allah. Well, several of them. That's a beautiful question. I love it.

Number one, straight after your tawbah, you've made wudu, let's say, you've made two rakah. You don't have to do it all the time, let's say you do that. And then you admit it to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala what you have done wrong.

And straight after it, you feel a special feeling in here that rises. Allah says in the Quran:

"The believers are the ones who when Allah is mentioned to them, they shiver. And when his verses are recited upon them, their iman rises."

Reference: Surah Al-Anfal 8:2

So when you mention Allah and repent to Allah, your iman rises. That's the first sign. You feel a good feeling on the inside.

An achievement, a strength, a positiveness. It's like, closest example is, let's say you have a best friend all your life. And then one day you did something wrong to them.

You exposed their secret. And you've almost lost their trust and they're very upset. How do you feel if you love them? You feel terrible.

And then you try everything to try and make it up to your friend. Yes. And the moment they forgive you and your friends again, how do you feel? Or with your parents? Or with your relatives? You feel amazing.

With Allah subhana wa ta'ala it's the same. You feel an iman that is rising, a connection to Allah. That's number one.

Number two, a sign that your tawbah has been accepted is, the wrong that you did before it, you start to hate it every time you think about it. And you hate the things that remind you of it. Because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, a person who's truly repentant is the one who hates to go back to their old sin, just like a person will hate to be thrown into the fire, into a blazing fire.

Another sign, is that the things you didn't like before, that Allah loves, you will start loving them. You'll start liking going to the masjid. You'll start wanting to listen to Quran.

These are all immediate signs. Now I don't know, some people it stays with them, some people it dies out again. But I'm just telling you the immediate signs of them.

So my brothers and sisters, these are three main signs. Number one, you feel a positive energy rising. This is iman, straight after it.

A relief, a happiness. Number two, you start hating the sin. Like really, every time it reminds you of it, you really don't like it.

And number three, the places and things you didn't really notice or didn't like before, you start liking them now. Quran, salat, sadaqah. You actually really enjoy them.

They bring you happiness. And then, it's either temporary, or it continues for people, until the next sin, and until the next repentance. Thank you, Sheikh.

Question 4: Why Does Our Iman Drop After Seasons of Ibadah?

Question: Why does our iman drop after a season of ibadah? For example, Ramadan, Dhul Hijjah, Shawwal, and how to remain steadfast all the time?

Answer: Oh, that's a long question. Yeah, look, very simply, it's very obvious. Our iman decreases and increases.

In fact, it's the hadith of the Prophet, iman, the fundamental of all the scholars, that said, iman rises and falls.

Now, iman rises and falls naturally, because you are a human being. You have desires, you have hormones, you have pain, you have struggles, you have all these things.

In Ramadan, it rises, for example, because the atmosphere is everywhere. And that's the thing that makes the iman rise, when everybody comes together and does it. Why do you think we have Eid? Why do you think Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la makes all these collective things happen? Because the spirit, you feel the energy.

And it's true, I believe energy is transferred. You transfer that energy. The iman does get transferred.

That's what Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, you know, musafah, to shake hands, and your sins drop, because energy also. So when everybody is doing it, naturally you feel your iman rise. People who start thinking, having doubts, they see everybody doing it, they say, man, there's something special about this.

I feel closer to Allah. If this was wrong, why would there be millions of people who are doing the same thing? I'm missing out. SubhanAllah.

So in Ramadan, of course, the spirit, because of your belief as well, that you really do believe in Ramadan, you really do believe in Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, and a sign has happened. Look, there was a sister, young girl who asked me at school the other day, she says, I want to put on my hijab, but something's stopping me. And we tried to ask, and she couldn't pinpoint what's stopping her.

She could find all the reasons to wear the hijab, the fact that she wants to is a sign from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, but she doesn't know what it is that's stopping her. And then from here to here to here, she says, well, you know, my friend and the other friend who put on the hijab, and the other friend who put on the hijab, you know, all of them, they like had a sign. They had a sign in life.

So what's the sign? This one had this sign, and that one had that sign. This one saw a little squiggly thing in the clouds. There was a sign from Allah or something.

This one had a dream. So sometimes signs come to us and our iman rises, and then we forget these signs, and the signs, and then our iman drops again. Sometimes my brothers and sisters, we get distracted.

Just obvious things, we do get distracted. Sometimes we listen to things a little bit more often than what we shouldn't, you know, because in Ramadan, what do we do with our ears and eyes? The majority of us, we restrain them, don't we? The fact that you restrain them automatically has an automatic response on your heart.

It cleanses it.

"Good deeds wipe away bad deeds."

Reference: Surah Hud 11:114

So when I stopped doing these good deeds after I was doing them, obviously the heart becomes dirty again.

Now, some people, they say, why is my iman, what can I do? There's no magical formula. It doesn't work like that. All you gotta do is this.

You ready for it? Just do it. No, Allah, this is our statement. Just do it.

Like it's in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, wuqqu li'malu. Say, do. As soon as you start a step, subhanAllah, another step opens, and then suddenly you find your iman coming back.

Another thing, brothers and sisters, is try, you know how, when you get bored of the same activity in life, what do you do? Find another activity, another hobby, isn't it? And you renew it, correct? Isn't that right? You get married, years passed, what do you do? Change the romance with the same wife. Try something new, right? Maybe go to a gym, halal gym. Maybe you wanna do exercise.

Maybe you wanna change your diet. Do something new. Even in salat, we say, subhanarabbil azeem.

From the moment we die, we're born to the moment we die. Nobody ever changes the word, subhanarabbil azeem, subhanarabbil azeem. But did you know that there are about 50 different other things you can say instead of subhanarabbil azeem? The fact that you change it around, your iman is renewed.

Right? So my dear brothers and sisters, in a very, very simple manner, this is how iman rises and falls. Two things mainly. Number one, you were doing something and then you stopped it and got distracted by something that is of less significance.

Usually materialistic things. Number two, you keep doing the same thing until you got so bored of it and it becomes a routine, like an automatic robot. Change it up a little bit.

Okay? Change it up a little bit. Maybe you wanna go and try and find a new project for yourself about how to help people. You know, I saw a brother today, he says, I gave my qurban, I gave a uthiyah.

I gave an uthiyah. Said, all right. But my father called me from Lebanon and said, son, do you wanna send money over? I'll do a uthiyah here because there's poor people.

He says, but father, I already did the uthiyah. He says, well, okay, it's up to you. Then the brother, he called his father up and says, dad, I'm gonna send you again for another uthiyah just as a sadaqah.

Now, it sounds very easy and simple, doesn't it? But he's never done that before. He's always done one uthiyah. Look how simple it is.

He goes, wallahi ya akhi, the fact that I made that decision, I've never done it before, I felt a surge of iman again. Just by doing that. Why? You changed it up.

You did something you haven't done before. You helped. You know that you've now invested some poor people that you don't know.

Sometimes you might sponsor an orphan through some organization. They send you a picture of them. How do you feel? Amazing when you see things before your eyes.

Isn't that correct? Do something you haven't done before that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loves. Right? Sit with people who you haven't really spoken to before. The only people who have a good sign, alhamdulillah, upon them.

And you learn something from them. Right? So my dear brothers and sisters, there's thousands of things you can do, but these are two main formulas that I told you. Either you were doing something and now you stop, but like Ramadan and then after Ramadan, naturally, your heart gets dirty again.

You gotta do the good things and then it starts washing it away. There's no magical formula. Just do it and watch it wash away.

You actually feel it. It's just a feeling. It'll come by itself.

Number two, change up your acts of worship. Change up your projects and your good deeds. Do something new.

Something that you feel the reward for in a different way. And insha'Allah ta'ala. Now, has anyone done night prayer before? By yourself? People don't wanna say it, I understand.

So night prayer has its amazing things. Tonight, for example, go and make wudu. And just before you go to sleep, just do two rak'ahs that you've never done before.

Heck, you know. Get Hasnul Muslim, fortress of the Muslim, and learn a few phrases you haven't said before. Just make a colorful, something nice.

Right, by yourself. Put your hands up to Allah subhana wa ta'ala and tell him all the bad things you did this week. Try and remember them and say them.

Oh Allah, I did this. I feel terrible. I feel like a cockroach.

I feel bad. Just keep saying these things. And then, ask Allah to forgive you.

Yeah, these are some pointers. And don't worry, if your iman goes less, Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyallahu anhu says, when your iman is low, then focus on stopping yourself from abandoning the fard things. And stop yourself from doing major sins.

And when your iman is high, rush to do voluntary things. Tawba, alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah, we've got the four questions from the sisters now.

Question 5: Marrying Someone from Another Continent

Question: What's your advice on marrying someone from another continent? Is it possible to marry someone that lives separate for a few years until I finish university and he finishes work?

Answer: That's a tricky question, that one. Someone's interested in someone from another continent.

I know that. They want me to make them here. Yes, yes.

Absolutely nothing wrong with marrying someone from another continent. We all know this. Every single Muslim on the face of the earth knows this.

But some of us, it's hard for us to either accept for some reason or maybe, and I agree with the second point, if there is a good reason that they're not gonna be compatible because of drastic differences in their culture. I actually personally agreed with that. But that's my personal opinion.

As for the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and what the Quran says, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says:

"We have created you male and female and many nations and tribes so that you may come to know one another."

Ta'arafu and tafsir means marriage, family, relationships, coming together and expanding your family.

And we all know from the seerah of the Prophet Sallallahu Wa Ta-A'la there was intermarriages galore. And it's very encouraged in the deen to marry, it's halal to marry someone within your family. It's also encouraged to marry outside of your family.

However, the conditions today may be different. What is very important is compatibility. Are you able to get along with that person? What's the likelihood of you being able to live and grow together? Are there too many differences that will get in your way? You gotta use your brain with that.

So, marrying someone from a different continent just like that, obviously we encourage it as the Quran does. But, using your brain and using wisdom and reason is also an obligation on the believer, okay? Secondly, if

there is compatibility, then go for it. And I urge the parents to please help their children not to delay.

Wallahi, my son is now 16. If he is able to get married financially and mentally, he's able, even now, wallahi, I will marry him to any girl that is suitable. Why? Because when we make the halal difficult, the haram becomes easy.

And when we make the halal easy, the haram becomes difficult. Secondly, in this country, Muslims cannot, we can't compare ourselves to the non-Muslims. We can't.

How? If they say, I don't wanna get married, we can't afford to say that. Because they can have relationships at any, whatever. They do what husband and wife do.

They get pregnant, they're in de facto partnerships. We don't do that. We don't believe in zina.

And you shouldn't live like that. Understand? So, marriage is a solution for us. So, my dear brothers and sisters, if they are capable of getting married, they're financially able, and not too much, able to live in a humble home, able to have humble furniture, and able to have a simple income, then let them go.

What do we do then if we're married 10 years later and we become bankrupt? Do we get divorced and just throw our kids away? We don't do that, do we? So, you gotta rely on Allah a little bit here. And not think too much about poverty and richness and materialism. This is not how we are, ya ikhwan.

Allah has never left anyone out. Now, brothers and sisters, marriage is from the sunnah of the Prophet, as you know. So long as there is compatibility, even from a different continent, it doesn't matter.

So long as they're compatible and can get along. Brothers and sisters, secondly, the question, very good question there. It says, are we allowed to live separately after marriage until they are ready or until they're able to open up a home together? Is that what it means? There's a, yeah, so, until she finishes uni and he finishes work.

Okay, so finishes work. That's what it says. Oh, you mean, I think what- It's probably a, you know, like a temporary contract at work.

Until he's able to work. Finishes work. The guy won't have a work, he won't have an income.

That doesn't work. There's no context to these questions. Yeah, go ahead.

I mean, if the sister wants to finish uni to work and he rests, then that's fine. Why not? Anyway, anyway, brothers and sisters, look. The Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, Ya ma'shar ash-shabab, he's talking mainly to the men.

"If he is able to care for a family, to provide a wife and open up a home, simply, even simple, minimally, then get married quickly."

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5066; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1400

Okay, that's the, you've got to be able to look after a family.

Now, living separately is an option these days, I believe. Like, you can do the katb-i-ktab, that's what we call it in Arabic. You might call it nikah contract. That's all right. It's the beard, it's hitting my beard. It comes with the package, guys.

Brothers and sisters, when you do the katb-i-ktab or the nikah contract, it's when you get an imam or the wali is there, the girl's father is there and you have two witnesses and the mahr is agreed upon and there's consent from both parties to marry, then that's called a nikah contract, aqid qiran.

Everybody know what I'm talking about? I'm not talking about the whole legal process when you get it registered and legally married. Now, that katb-i-ktab, Islamically, makes it lawful for the boy and the girl, the husband and the wife, to be physically for each other and go out together.

They can stay alone together and there's no haram upon them. If there is hardship in them living together and they know each other and they love each other and you can see that it's better that they get married but finances stop them, then inshallah, nothing wrong with doing this katb-i-ktab. No need to make it too public, celebrations and weddings and all that.

Until they're finished, they can move in together. No, there's no haram in doing that. Like even if a husband and wife are already married and one day you say, look, you know, how about I'm gonna go work overseas for a little while, maybe it might take me a year, I'll come and go, aren't you allowed to do that? There is a reason for that.

So long as you both agree and the husband and wife, they're in agreement. But my advice is never to prolong this too much because what happens is that people start seeing you and I know some people may say, I don't care what people think. You're lying to yourself, you do care what people think.

It is important what people think. It's important what your family thinks because it affects your life. We don't live on an island by ourselves.

There's other people who are involved. When you marry someone, you marry their whole family. You marry someone, you marry their whole family.

Okay, put that in your mind. So it's not good to keep seeing you going out a lot alone and you're not really living together. People start thinking there's something wrong with them.

Maybe there's something wrong with the girl, maybe there's something wrong with the guy. And God forbid, if the marriage doesn't work out, people might even have that stigma on the person, makes it hard for them to get remarried again or into another relationship. So all I'm saying is don't prolong things like this.

Marriage is meant to be husband and wife living together, supporting each other, growing together, being together, not really separate apart. But temporarily, if they're really not able, I don't see anything in our sharia or in our fuqah, any alim who disagrees with them living temporarily apart.

Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la knows best.

Alhamdulillah, only two questions left after this one.

Question 6: Why is it Halal to Eat Meat?

Question: Why is it halal to eat meat when it involves killing an animal? Are we not indirectly inflicting pain?

Answer: Yeah, of course we are directly inflicting pain. Okay, well, it says indirectly.

I know, the questioner, we are directly inflicting pain on the animal. But the pain that we are inflicting is justifiable and halal. It's not haram.

Brothers and sisters, if we're gonna go by that mentality, really, we can't live, because I can sit here now and use so many arguments about nearly everything in life. Okay, I can tell you not to eat plants, because plants have senses too. They feel, and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la forbids from cutting off branches.

And they are alive. Even the rocks are alive. Organisms are alive.

We're inflicting pain. But obviously this, no one says something like that. So my dear brothers and sisters, the concept in Islam is not that we have been sent to this world and put on this earth to prevent pain.

If we directly inflict pain for no good reason, and we could have avoided it, then that's when the sin is upon us. But it's impossible to avoid pain upon an animal that you slaughter. Now, you might be asking, but if I slaughter this animal, kill this animal in another way, where there's no pain, aren't there other ways? Inject them with something, for example, make them go numb, and then let them die peacefully without slitting their throats, for example.

Then the counter argument to that is, you will then cause harm to the human being when they consume it. It becomes unhealthy to the human being and not good. Because that blood, blood always carries the most diseases.

Blood is the fluid, the heart, the liquid, the house of all diseases of the world. Doctors will tell you that. And that blood needs to be drained along with the adrenaline that comes out from the pancreas of the animal.

And we slaughter it from here because the largest amount of blood is all drained from there, right? And it does a whole lot of other things. It triggers the receptors in the brain, which triggers the heart rate, which triggers other organs of the body to flush all the blood out, right? And the animal is now fit and healthy and good for the human digestion to live. The one who created the world is the only one who has the right to tell us how we can treat his creation and how we're not allowed to treat it, because he owns it.

And he is the one who said, uhillalakum, it has been made halal for you, the an'am, the livestock, but on condition. This is the way you gotta treat it. This is the way you gotta slaughter it.

And so, what's the formula that the scholars use is, la darara wala darar, do everything you can so that you don't cause harm to others and no harm is caused to you. So if I'm going to stop slaughtering animals, stop going about doing these things because I'm inflicting pain on them, then I'm also harming people. At the same time, if I just inject them and don't slaughter them, then I'm also harming people.

So there is a balance. There is a balance. Allahu alam.

Jazakallah khair.

Question 7: How to Give Dawah to Family Without Severing Ties

Question: How to bring the families to Islam, like doing da'wah without severing ties.

Answer: So I think this is- How to give da'wah without severing ties. Yeah, to the family, to relatives. Well, brothers and sisters, that's an open question. It depends on the situation of each person.

So what I would advise is that each individual who has a family of a particular attitude, you need to sit down personally, actually, with somebody wise, someone you trust. It doesn't have to be a sheikh. It can be someone wise and has the way of, you think that they know how to talk and know how to deal with people and try and work out an advice.

Maybe sit with another family member and see how you can communicate with these people. Now, can I just say something about da'wah? Da'wah can be done in many ways. It's not just verbally talking.

Sometimes it's in writing, sometimes by gifting, sometimes just with your attitude and your behavior. Don't we all agree? So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells us that the reason that Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam's da'wah worked with his companions was what? Was it the truth that he said to them? Do you think that the people listened to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam just because he told them the truth? No. Do you think they listened to him because he was eloquent? No.

Do you think they listened to him because he continued to give them da'wah and insist? No. What is the reason Allah said that his people listened to him? That's right, his character, his approach towards them. So Allah says:

"Because of our mercy which we put in you, you were able to attract them. And if you were to be harsh-hearted and rough in your approach, they would have run away from you."

Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, all of them would run away from you, even if you spoke the truth. So brothers and sisters, we need to use wisdom. I think that showing, if you can find out, what is it that your family values the most? And then show them and use that, inshaAllah slowly you can get them, whether it's through gifts, whether it's through nice words, whether it's through just being quiet and showing them good treatment, visiting, talking about things that you both enjoy talking about.

It doesn't have to be religion. Just by doing it sometimes, it'll work. I have a friend, for example.

He is, I won't say which background he's from. His father used to drink alcohol and so did he. And then Alhamdulillah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala guided this friend and he started to preach to his father, his mother, his sister, his family and they kept moving away.

So one day I said to him, brother, stop preaching to them and just do what you have to do and mind your own business. And be good to your parents. But don't bring religion into the picture anymore.

So he says, I started praying. Sometimes I'd pray in the lounge room. At the time I was praying in my room.

I'd help my mother. My language changed. I stopped swearing.

I stopped this. And one day my father, by himself, I come home and I see him spilling all the wine. They're Muslim family, but they were very ignorant.

He's spilling all the wine bottles and the alcohol out in the street. He says, what happened? He says, I watched my son becoming better than me and I saw some peace in you and I felt ashamed. He made dawah to himself.

And now his father does more night prayer than his son. Alhamdulillah, his mother's somewhat guided and his sister, alhamdulillah, and his other members of his family, his brother, his cousin. The point of that is, it's trial and error.

But the golden rule is your character and treatment. You melt someone with your treatment. And the treatment is make them feel important.

Make them feel important and valued. You listen if they're saying the wrong thing. You respect their home if you're not allowed to do certain things.

And approach them from the angle that they love, except for the haram. If you stand a stance of integrity and you say, no, look, it's okay. You guys enjoy yourselves.

I won't take part in that. Now if that's the thing that's gonna sever the ties, you don't obey them. But never cut them off.

You continue to come. Even if you think they've severed the ties. Nuh, alayhi salam, never gave up on his son until the waves came and took him.

The waves. He kept with his son, didn't cut him until the waves. I know a sister whose child, whose son left Islam.

And he said to me, what should I do? I said, don't cut your communication off with him at all. Even if you, minimum, continue to communicate even till his death. Because Nuh, alayhi salam, did not leave his son knowing he's a kafir.

Until the wave took him from him. Like he's speaking to him. Ya bunayyir kam ma'ana, I worship Allah.

No, no, I'll go. But such. Such.

He's talking still. And the waves took him. So we don't give up on him.

That's all I can say. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la assist you and help you. And remember, severing of ties, you're not the one who's severing it.

They're the ones who are severing it. If it's because of religion or deen. But my advice to you is continue to keep contact with them until there's no more avenue like Prophet Ibrahim, alayhi salam.

His father said, I'll kill you if you don't leave me. Then he left. And still as he's leaving, I will ask Allah to forgive you, dad.

He is merciful. And his dad's swearing at him. Get out of my face.

I will still ask Allah to forgive you. And I forgive you, yes? So this is how we live, inshallah. Last question from the sisters.

And then after that, I have a critical question as well, Sheikh. No.

Question 8: How to Cope with Spouse's Iman Dips

Question: How do you cope with the iman dips of your spouse and encourage them to the obedience of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la?

Answer: Yeah. We get this question a lot, subhanAllah. A lot of sisters have asked me this question. How do you deal? My husband doesn't go to, doesn't pray Fajr.

My husband, my husband. Sometimes the husband says, my wife refused. One brother actually said to me, my wife doesn't put on the hijab.

And one sister says he doesn't pray the Fajr prayer. And he cuts his prayers off. So the brother who married the sister without hijab, I said, did you marry her that way? He said, yes.

I said, well, you're going to have to take your time. Be patient. Should I divorce her? You have children? No, don't, no.

No. Now Allah has put her with you as dawah. If you let her go, she's going to get worse.

Does she believe in Allah? Does she pray? Alhamdulillah, then you'll work on it, inshallah. Listen, your wife will see through the way you treat her and how Islam has changed you. That's how women are.

Allah gave him a sixth sense. It's not through talking and yip-yapping. She watches and she wants to feel that she's important to you.

Anyway, the sister says my husband doesn't wake up for Fajr or whatever it was. We say to her, ya ikhti sister, you can only do what is in your control. What is within your control? Within your control is to advise your husband, number one.

If he doesn't listen, then you continue to raise your children in an Islamic way. If he gets involved, you continue to raise your children in his absence. There's divorced people who have a bitter conflict with each other, isn't that correct? But when the children are with the father or with the mother, they raise them.

When they're not with them, they're with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You do what you can.

"Allah will not burden a soul with more than what they can bear."

Reference: Surah Al-Baqarah 2:286

"Allah says, fear Allah as much as you can."

Reference: Surah At-Taghabun 64:16

You can't do more than that.

Secondly, if that spouse does not listen and continues, so long as it's not something that is destructive to the family makeup. And destructive, it's gonna be hurtful and harmful. And the person has not left Islam, so destructive and harmful, dangerous, or Islam, continue to be patient.

That's my advice to you. And I've heard a lot of mashayikh say this too. Until Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala guides them.

You never know wallahi al-azim. You never know where the guidance comes from. It could be just from your patience.

It could be like that friend of mine who just kept praying in front of his father until his father gave dawah to himself. But I can tell you sometimes in family, if you tell people, because you're vulnerable, right? They can

see a lot of your problems. So when you're together, as some speakers, they say, when you first get married, mashallah, you're wearing big armor.

One year passes, a bit of that armor comes off. The helmet comes off. Next year, the leg armor's gone.

Then the back armor, then the front armor. You've got no more armor. What are you gonna do? You're no longer the knight in shining armor.

So they see your vulnerabilities. What can you do then? Sometimes your word is too heavy. You just be.

And when they see that change, they see, what do people look at? They look at how you treat them. They look at your mercy. They look at your peace.

They look at how it has improved you. And when they see that improvement, wallahi, they'll come with you inshallah ta'ala. They'll follow you.

They'll be like that inshallah ta'ala, the way you are. Lasta alayhim bu musaytir. You cannot force them.

And if Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam's daughters, not all of them embraced straight away. It took them time. Isn't that correct? His cousins took them time.

One thing, do not cut them off. Do not put them down. Do not judge them.

Just invite. They don't listen, then you do your part. You do your part.

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Closing

And Shaykh, on behalf of PGCC brothers and sisters, are you willing to become a regular speaker at PGCC? I feel like that brother who I got embarrassed before, now I'm embarrassed. Ya akhi, I, me, I would love to and I'm willing. But being willing and able are two different things.

So if I'm able inshallah ta'ala, like today, we'll come down. Inshallah. Barakallahu feekum.

I give lectures every Thursday nights and it's on, live streamed on my Facebook page. My Facebook page. But anyway, if you wanna watch the lectures every Thursday nights, inshallah, press the mask I give them, because I live on the other side, brothers and sisters.

So inshallah, if you want, we can do that. And brother Tahseen and brother Amr have never left me alone, inshallah. So long as you guys have got them, they're not gonna leave me alone.

You'll see me here again, inshallah. Jazakallah khair, Shaykh, for coming down tonight and sharing your words and motivational piece. We all, inshallah, we all blessed and benefited from it.

On behalf of Pilgrim's Guidance Community Centre, brothers and sisters, it's a small token of appreciation. It is a glass trophy, acknowledging yourself. Subhanallah, brother Abdullah, he went to pick up the trophy.

Who's brother Abdullah? Abdullah Hamim. I think I know why he ran out. Mashallah, his biceps are capable of doing 100 kilograms of dumbbells.

He did drop this very heavy 500-gram trophy. Inshallah, we will get a replacement one. It's a small token.

Jazakallah khair for coming down. May Allah reward you and bless you and protect you. Oh, okay, I get it.

Yeah. Jazakallah khair. Takbir.

Allahu Akbar. Takbir.

Allahu Akbar. Takbir.

Allahu Akbar.

End of Transcript

May Allah accept from us and from you. Ameen.