Illuminating the Path Using Islam to Re balance Our Goals

Illuminating the Path: Using Islam to Rebalance Our Goals

Imam Khalid Latif

Opening

(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)

In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Universe, the Master of the Day of Judgment. I bear witness and testimony to the Oneness of Allah. To His Magnificence, His Omnipotence, His Might, His Glory. To His being the Creator and Sustainer of all things. The Giver of Life, the Guider of Hearts, the Master of the Day of Judgment.

And I bear witness to the fact that Muhammad Ibn Abdullah, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, is a Servant and Final Messenger. May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him and upon all those who choose to tread in his path.

A Hadith on Fasting and Balance

It is said that during the time of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, a man comes to the Beloved of Allah Alayhi Salam and says, Ya Rasulullah, I would want to fast. It is outside of the month of Ramadan and he is asking Him to give him some recommendations on some fasts that he can observe in a sunnah fashion.

And so the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam recommends to him to fast three days out of the month, the middle days of the month. And he says, Ya Rasulullah, I can do more than that.

And so the Beloved of Allah Alayhi Salam, He says that fast on Mondays and Thursdays. And his companion says that I can do more than this as well.

And the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says: And fast as was the sunnah of the Prophet Dawud Alayhi Salam. Fast every other day, but don't do more than that.

And his companion, the narrations tell us that towards the end of his life, he says that, I wish I had listened to the Prophet and done one of the lesser fasts.

Lessons on Commitment and Discipline

And there's a couple of things that we can take away from this within the context of the conversation that we are seeking to have today. That this individual, this sahabi, when he wants to understand how he can achieve an objective in the course of his life, he goes to speak to somebody who he knows can give him the advice on how to get to the place that he wants to be.

And even when it is hard for him to do as he indicates in his own words, he still stays committed and consistent to that action despite how hard it is for him to carry it out.

And in the course of our lives today, we find ourselves in places where when we are looking to reflect upon our goals or we are seeking to motivate and find inspiration in the course of our actions, whether that motivation is based on the principles found within our deen, in our tradition or elsewhere, it becomes hard for us to find that commitment and that discipline.

We don't know how to get to a point where we can be regular, where we can be habitual. Let alone in those actions that are hard for us to achieve, but even in the most simplest of things.

The Purpose of Islam: Reality, Not Utopia

And when we want to understand how Islam can be a source of our inspiration, we have to understand what the purpose of Islam is to begin with. More often than not many of us find ourselves in a confused state because we take this beautiful deen and put it in a place where it's on a shelf full of utopian ideals that are intangible for us on an individual basis.

But what Islam is about, it's about reality. It's about putting the individual practitioner in such a place where they can establish a relationship with the divine. They are not stuck in this disillusioned state where everything around them exists in this very utopian world view.

But it's about, I have this issue, I have this problem. I have this benefit, I have this blessing. How do I engage it in a very real way? And Islam can give you that anchoring in reality. It can give you the techniques, it can give you the tips. It can give you the skills so that you can balance out all of your goals, all of your objectives.

Put yourself in a frame of mind where you know how to appreciate things when you're at your best and you know how to motivate yourself when things are at their hardest.

But if we don't engage the deen in the way that it's meant to be engaged, we're not going to get to the place where these companions were at, where they were able to do things and stay committed to them, even if it made things a little bit tough on them.

The Companions' Framework for Success

Because their objective, their discipline and their dedication stem from the fact that it wasn't about getting something in this dunya. It was about getting something in the next. And they knew where they had their strengths. They knew where they had their weaknesses. But more importantly they were able to function as a resource to one another where they were able to engage each other on a very human level.

They understood that each individual was in fact an individual. Each one came with their own lived experiences. Their respective backgrounds. They were different from one another in the manner in which they approached their goals and their objectives. They were different as well.

And they also existed in a frame of mind where they understood the importance of forgiveness. Seeking forgiveness, being merciful to one another. And having it rooted in the fact that their utter humanness allowed for them to fail. They have the ability to understand that they would make mistakes. They would not always be successful. They weren't scared to be people the way that you and I are when we tippy toe around the fact that we will sin as individuals as human beings.

This is where they were able to reach their objectives and their goals. Because they weren't just good when everything was going well, but they knew how to get back on their feet after they fell on their face.

Learning to Be Human and Let Others Be Human

Many of us, we don't know how to do this. We don't know how to do it for ourselves. And we surely don't let others do it for themselves as well. And it's a hard thing because at certain times we need people to be able to reinforce for us an idea that we can be human. And we will not always succeed in the way that we believe success to be.

Our validation of our action can't come to a place that we believe the end is going to justify everything that we have put into it. Because we ultimately can't decide and define why we are given or why we are prevented from having something. Allah Zawjal Himself knows what is reward, what is punishment, what is purification. It doesn't exist in a realm where we make those determinations. This is why we say He knows best.

And being able to understand how to attain our objectives, we have to be real with ourselves. We have to be able to understand. Because if we don't exist in that frame, we won't let others be real. We'll become harsh, we'll become in such a frame where we won't let people grow at their own pace. We'll put certain restrictions and

benchmarks to be able to say this is somebody who is good and this is somebody who is not good based off of our relative understandings of this.

And it makes life really hard for some people when they are not able to reach their goals.

A Student's Story: The Weight of Judgment

I had a student who was diagnosed with OCD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This young man, he found himself in places where he would take showers for 4 or 5 hours at a time. And sometimes he wasn't motivated to get into the classroom. He had the ability to get a 100 on an exam and get a 0 on the same subject matter.

This young man, he would scrub and wash his hands to such an extent that from the point of his wrist to his fingertips, they were a lighter shade. They were whiter than the rest of his arms because of how often and excessive he would do this.

The people wouldn't let him be a person. They wouldn't help him, they wouldn't say that this is where you're coming from. They would assess based off of where they in fact were coming from. Their experiences, what they went through. Not what he went through.

And so it kept piling up on him, day in and day out. I don't know what to do, I don't know where my resources are. I don't know how to get to a place where I want to be. And it became more and more difficult. He began to spiral downwards in his academic. He got put on probation.

We sat down and had a conversation with his father for about 7 hours straight who wouldn't acknowledge that the fact that his child had this ailment wasn't something that made him less of a person. But hearing it again from somebody who was authoritative in his life, he just started to feel more and more down.

Then we got to a point where the university said you can't stay in this school anymore. He didn't know what to do because his friends were there, his life was there. Everything he wanted to be a part of was there.

When we sat down, he said: Khalid, how does one know? How is one able to tell themselves that they can't succeed at something? How are they actually able to make the determination that they don't have what it takes to get something that they desire so much?

I would say that this young man, his transition to that point would have been easier if the rest of us helped him along the way. That his sense of self-worth, his sense of self-esteem, his sense of self-confidence, it had been affected by the individuals that he had met in the course of this trial that he was going through, both Muslim and non-Muslim alike.

How Your Islam Inspires Others

And our teachers, they'll give you some indication on how on an individual level you can increase your own faith and use your Islam as a source of inspiration for yourself. But for a moment, I want you to reflect on how your Islam serves as an inspiration for somebody else. The manner in which you have an impact and an effect on the development and the establishment of somebody else's faith. Somebody else's Iman.

Especially in a university setting, you find such a discourse and such a rhetoric that is so harsh. It is something that lacks such compassion that we can't even understand whose legacy are we actually following.

The beloved of Allah, peace be upon him, is sent his mercy to the worlds. But you and I, at the slightest of things that seem to be contrary to the way we believe people should be, just unleash:

Why are you listening to what you're listening to? Why are you sitting down with that girl who's not anyone that you should be talking to? I saw you doing X, Y and Z thing. Where is your hijab? Maybe it's where you left your sense of other. Why don't you go look over there?

But we have to start thinking in this frame. Because if we don't serve as a resource to one another and exert a world view that is fueled by mercy and compassion, we will continue to be the harsh and somber people that don't help people reach their life's objectives and their goals.

The Prophet's Experience: Khadijah's Support

When the beloved of Allah, peace be upon him, finds himself in a place where he is stricken by doubt after he receives the initial revelation, what happens? Have any of you ever climbed to where the cave of Hira is? At the top of the mountain? It's a hard climb. The prophet, peace be upon him, would go to seek solitude in this place. He would go to seek refuge so he could contemplate.

And on one day, his solitude is disrupted by a creature that is so massive. Everywhere he looks in the horizons, all he sees is the angel Jibreel, peace be upon him. And he doesn't know who he is. And when the angel engages him, he says, Iqra: read. The prophet, peace be upon him, cannot read.

Imagine you are in this circumstance where you are surrounded. You're just met by surprise by something that comes out of nowhere. And now the thing tells you to do something that you can't do. I am not able to read. I am not a reciter. It takes place thrice. He is left by himself. He has to climb down that mountain. Go all the way back home. And the doubts start popping into his head:

Have I been possessed by demons? Have I been possessed by jinns?

Arguably the most important day in the beloved of Allah, peace be upon him, life, he is plagued and stricken by doubts. When he needs somebody to tell him that he's good, Allah Azawajal puts into his hand the gentle hand

Abu Bakr's Unwavering Support

The Prophet, peace be upon him, he goes on the journey of Isra and Miraj. He goes on a majestic journey that is most vividly described to us in our tradition. He goes from his home to the city of Jerusalem. He ascends into the heavens. He gives us such a great description of everything that takes place. Then he comes back into this world. And he has to tell the Meccans what happened. Many of them start to mock and ridicule.

The Prophet is just trying to fulfill his objective. He's trying to meet his goal. He's doing what he's supposed to do.

Do you know what your Prophet wants us to believe? Do you know what he wants us to understand that he has accomplished today?

Some of the Muslims, they don't get why he's saying this. They don't understand. Then they come to Abu Bakr, radiAllahu anhu:

Do you know what your friend wants us to believe? He wants us to believe that he has gone all the way to the city of Jerusalem, ascended into the very heavens, and came back here all in one night.

Abu Bakr does not hesitate. He does not leave room for doubt. He does not say, oh man, I have to go to take care of what my friend has done. He doesn't exasperate himself. He doesn't breathe heavy. Without hesitation:

If my friend has said it, then it must be true.

And he goes and he sits with the beloved of Allah, alayhi salam. Alayhi salam is narrating what is taking place. And consistently after every detail, Abu Bakr, radiAllahu anhu, he says: He has spoken the truth. He has spoken the truth. He has spoken the truth.

What do we think this does for the Prophet, alayhi salam, in terms of his confidence? In terms of his willingness to engage a population that has cast him out of his home? A population that he has seen not only abuse him, but abuse his followers? They have been boycotted. They have been abused and beaten. Some of them have even been killed. And he has to get to a place where he can still keep going. And Abu Bakr reinforces for him.

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The Angel of the Mountains

Even when there's no human that's there to engage the beloved of Allah, alayhi salam, Allah still doesn't let his beloved feel as if he is by himself.

When the Prophet goes to the city of Taif, thinking the people were welcoming him, he is met with insults and abuses. The chieftains tell their servants and the children of the town to just run him out. Some of the narrations that we have say that that which is on the feet of the Prophet, alayhi salam, becomes hardened to the sole of his foot by the excessive amount of blood that's coming from it.

And he goes to sit now at the outskirts of the city to gather himself. And the angel of the mountains around the city of Taif presents him:

Ya Muhammad, I am the angel of these mountains. If you command me to do so, I will crush these people.

And the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, being a mercy for the world, he does not say yes, go and carry retribution on my behalf. Yes, go and carry vengeance out on my behalf. Yes, go and do any of these things on my behalf. He says:

No, let them be. Perhaps the generations that come after, they will understand.

May Allah give each and every one of us the tawfiq to embody even a portion of the mercy that is prophetic in nature.

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Allah's Support in Our Vulnerability

What's important for our discussion is at that point when the Prophet is vulnerable, at that point when he is alone, when he has been abused and insulted by these people of Taif, when no one else is there to engage him, Allah sends an angel to tell him:

You are not by yourself. You are not here on your own. You don't have to go through this thinking it's just you. I am here for you, Muhammad. Tell me what you want to do. It will be done.

We can use our Islam as individuals to inspire the Islam of others. Or we can be individuals who utilize our Islam to just crush people and take them down to the ground.

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Reflect on Your Impact

Think of yourself and the impact you have on hearts around you. Think about really what the Prophet, alayhi salam, was as a man, as an individual. How he helped young people, old people, male and female, people who

are Arab, people who are not from the Quraysh. Everyone and anyone whom he engaged. Who could speak ill of this man's majestic character and personality?

If somebody was to reflect and remember us, would they have good things to say or not?

Utilize your Islam as a means by which you inspire the lives of somebody else. Not just through rhetoric. Not just through talk. But understand your character plays such an important part in this process. And you most definitely can have an impact on the way somebody else will grow and they feel as if they can reach their objectives and their goals.

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The Nature of Humanity: We Will Make Mistakes

People will make mistakes. We have flaws. It's inherent within us. The word Insan itself is derived from the Arabic root Nasa'a. And again, our teachers who are more qualified to speak about the Qur'an and speak about just the grammar and the etymological roots that we find within these words, they will be able to expand upon it more. But it's rooted in forgetfulness.

And so we as humans, we will forget, we will make mistakes. Open up the Mus'haf and see everywhere the word Insan is used. And then see the qualification. See the characteristic that's associated with it. It speaks of us in terms of our flaws.

You're gonna do things that are wrong. And just as much as you will do things that are wrong, your friends, your families, the people around you, they will make mistakes as well. Sometimes you have to let them. And you have to still be there with them and not treat them in a harsh, obnoxious condescending way.

Because that's not the way the Prophet, alayhi salam, was. He was gentle. He was compassionate. He was merciful. And he was the best of creation. Nobody walked away from him saying that Muhammad treated me bad, alayhi salam. No one walked away from him saying that look at the manner in which he treated me.

The one instance where potentially he does something to someone in this vein, immediately Allah Azawajal says don't do that. So you don't do it either. InshaAllah I won't either. Because that's where things are rooted.

Ihsan: Honoring the Rights of Others

Ihsan. Perfection. Whatever way we want to translate it, it's about honoring the rights of creation. And the rights that individuals and the rest of Allah Azawajal's creation have over you. Not demanding justice for yourself but acting justly with others. And letting people believe that they actually can get to a place where they can be better and they can grow and they have a right to ownership over their own Islam.

Has anybody ever yelled at you? Has anyone ever screamed at you? Has anyone ever told you you're not good enough? How does it make you feel?

Don't do that to somebody. Don't belittle them. Don't elevate yourself by denigrating them. It's not worth it.

And if you are the person who seeks to empower someone else, you don't know to what extent they can go out and change this world.

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The Story of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab

Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, radiAllahu anhu. He was a man, he was an individual. Nobody believed he would do anything good for the sake of the Muslim community. This was a man who, in his own narrations, he speaks about how he would drink alcohol prior to becoming a Muslim.

We all know the hadith that he says that I remember something that made me laugh: That he went on a journey and he forgot his traveling idol. So he fashioned an idol out of the dates that he was carrying with him. And when he got hungry he started to eat it. When he remembered this, it made him smile. And he says in instance it made me cry.

I remember putting my own daughter on the ground and feeling her hand go limp in my hand.

Omar used to have in his servitude a woman by the name of Lubaina. And prior to his entering into Islam, Omar used to beat this woman so hard he would say to her: When he would stop, don't think that I have sympathy for you, I'm just tired. When I get my strength back I'm going to start again.

Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, radiAllahu anhu. The one who the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, says in the hadith: If there was a prophet after me, it would be this man Omar.

No one thought he could do anything good.

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Umar's Transformation

He sees a woman by the name of Layla on one occasion. And she looks like she's going on a journey. And when he asks her: Where are you going, what you are doing?

She says: You've made it very hard for me to be a Muslim here.

And she expects an onslaught from this man. And to her astonishment, he says: Go and have peace on your journey.

She goes and she speaks to her husband, a man by the name of Amir. And when she's telling him everything, he says: What are you saying? You sound as if you believe Omar the son of Al-Khattab will actually become a

Muslim.

She says: Why can't he become a Muslim?

He says that: No, this, not only will Omar never become a Muslim, but the donkey of Omar's father will become a Muslim before he does.

But they didn't think he could be anything.

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The Prophet's Dua for Umar

The Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wasallam, radiAllahu anhu, alone he would make dua:

Oh Allah, bring some Izzah, bring some strength to Islam. And Izzah is a different kind of strength. It's a strength that's rooted in dignity and respect. Bring that kind of Izzah to Islam by the one of the two men who is more beloved to you: Amar Ibn Hisham (the one we know is Abu Jahl) or Omar Ibn Al-Khattab.

This man that nobody thought could do anything good. We know how the dua is accepted. We know how it's accepted. We know how the situation changes by this man embracing Islam.

What if he believed he couldn't ever be anything good because of the way people spoke to him? Where would you and I be?

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A Story from the Maldives

I went to the Maldives and I was engaging some of their local population. And the Maldives, a lot of people, they associate it with a honeymoon spot. I didn't get married and go there for my honeymoon. I'm not married.

And when you go to the main islands, the Maldives, constitutionally reads that it's a hundred percent Muslim country. They follow the Shafi'i Madhab. We help in terms of the development of their constitution. They're transitioning into a democracy right now. And there's a lot of instability in the country. About 60% of the country is addicted to heroin. It's one of the highest divorce rates, if not the highest divorce rate in the world right now. There's a ton of rape, there's a ton of molestation. There's a lot of problems there.

So I went into a drug rehab center. And then I went into a maximum security prison where all the inmates are Muslim because it's a hundred percent Muslim country.

When I'm talking to them and I'm speaking to them, I tell them the story of Omar. And when it's done, they say that:

Nobody has ever told us before that we could have a second chance. Nobody from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and the scholars in Shiuk would have come from any place else where they've come to talk to us about our problems, our issues. They've never told us that we have a right to go back and be better. So we always believe that we were just condemned.

We Condemn People Without Realizing It

That's what we do to people. We do it and we don't even realize it. We become very very arrogant in our interactions. And this is the biggest problem of all because arrogance is the sin that cast Iblis out of Jannah.

May Allah protect us from any arrogance that enters into our hearts. Because if we do that which he did, Allah Azawajal, he is most just. And if Iblis says to him that: Ya Allah, you didn't let me in and you cast me out because I did this, they're doing the same. Why are you going to let them in? What are you going to do?

It's not worth it. It's not worth it to use your Islam in any other way other than it inspires the people around you. It's not worth it to utilize it in the means by which you crush people's hopes and their sense of aspiration. It's not worth it.

The Fulfillment of Empowering Others

But the satisfaction, the fulfillment that you would get by enabling somebody to believe that they can overcome obstacles and impediments in the course of their daily lives, it will give you such a sense of fulfillment like anything else you might have ever experienced. But you won't get it unless you're willing to do that.

And the beautiful part of it is that each and every one of us can actually do it.

I don't have to memorize the entire Quran. I don't have to know hundreds and thousands of hadith. I don't have to be the one who's leading the prayer or standing on the mimbar. I don't have to be male or female. I don't have to be young or old.

Just to be nice to somebody. And to let them believe that inshallah as much as I would want to have a right to Jannah, they too have a right to it as well. And that I can inspire them and I can get them to a place where they can reach their objectives and their goals.

And more importantly, when they fail, when they fall, they don't have to worry about knowing how to get back up on their feet. Because I'll be there with my hand to give them support and get them back to that place that they're desiring to be.

Each and every one of you can do this. You just have to decide whether you want to or not.

The Prophet Cared About People

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was the most unique individual because he definitely cared about the people who were around him. We have to revisit these aspects of our tradition. Because right now, people don't have the best ideas of Muslims.

Think about what you do to change that perception. You enable, you engage, and you empower, utilizing your Islam as an inspiration for somebody else. And in doing so I will guarantee you, you will indirectly inspire yourself to fulfill and meet your goals and your objectives in the best of ways for the sake of Allah Azawajal.

But you have to decide whether it's something that you want to do or not.

Closing Dua

May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala guide us and protect us. May He bless us with knowledge that benefits us. May He bless us with a tawfiq to understand and implement that knowledge into our daily lives. And may He guide and bless us all.