Those Who Perfect Their Deeds - Mufti Menk

Those Who Perfect Their Deeds - Mufti Menk

Opening

We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, his companions, his household, may Allah bless them, bless every one of us, grant us goodness, and open our doors. I'm very, very impressed by the people of Glasgow.

May Allah bless you. I've heard a lot about the people, they say when you come here, it's like drinking water from the Nile, you know, you always keep going back. So subhanAllah, subhanAllah.

I think it is true. I've had an opportunity to interact with a lot of you during the meet and greet and the book signing, and I really believe that there are some warm hearts in this cold city of Glasgow. So alhamdulillah, I really want to appreciate that.

You know, you and I are connected because the same maker made us. So we're all connected, we're all related somehow, some of us distant, some of us a little bit less distant, and some of us perhaps going all the way back to the Prophet Noah, may peace be upon him, but we're still connected, right? So if I say, oh, that's my aunt, I'm not telling a lie, she is. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless you all.

Main Message: Perfecting Our Deeds

My brothers, my sisters, something I want to say. Every one of us loves to do things perfectly. When you attend a function, you want it to be done proper. Sometimes when Muslims make or arrange things, don't you agree they don't do things properly? Don't you agree they don't do things properly sometimes? Don't you agree they don't do things properly sometimes? It's a fact. So we try to please Allah because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us through the blessed lips of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam:

Hadith on Excellence

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

"Allah loves from you that if you are to do anything, do it perfectly, do it properly, be proud about what you're doing, your work, your activity."

Make sure you do a good job, something professional, something when people look at, they want to be a part of. So this should change the mindset. To be a good Muslim, you need to be not a perfectionist, but you need to aim to perfection and we will probably get somewhere near.

Nothing will be perfect, but we need to do a good job. We need to make sure that we make people feel like they are definitely part of a broader family. If we don't, we chase people away from Allah.

Connection with Allah

And today we want to talk about our connection with Allah. We want to talk about what Allah wants from us and how we can perfect that connection, how we can perfect our deeds because the Almighty has definitely chosen for us a certain path. He wants us to worship Him and Him alone, subhanAllah.

He has created us and guess what? We are going to go back to Him. I speak to people who don't have faith at all and every time they get stuck when we say, where did you come from? Before you were born, where were you? Just like you thought when you were in the wombs of your mothers and as you grew as a fetus, that perhaps there is nowhere to go now and things are just going to come to an end. Because I can't even move anymore, right? In the belly of your mom, in the womb of your mother, as time passed and you grew and you became bigger and bigger, all you could see was this world around you known as the womb with this fluid all over.

You used to swim the ocean when you started, but the ocean became not even a river, a little droplet at a time to you because you couldn't even move. And you thought to yourself, did you know what? I am probably going to end here. At that time a huge pop happened and what happened? I just came out into this huge place.

Wow! I didn't imagine it existed. I didn't even believe that there would be such a big existence outside the womb of my mom. I didn't even know it was just a womb.

But guess what? Allah told you that way back. The same happens to us. When we grow older, when we are terminally ill, may Allah give shifa to all those who are sick and ill, say ameen.

May Allah truly grant cure to those who are struggling with sickness, ameen. May Allah have mercy upon those who passed on. As you get older, terminal illness, something happens, you know what? Yes, it's a frustration.

I tell you what, your hope in the mercy of Allah keeps you going and it should keep you going. Your hope in the fact that you are definitely not going to be abandoned should keep you going. Your hope in the fact that you have a merciful Lord should keep you going.

Your hope in jannah must keep you going no matter what you've done. Develop a link with the one who made you in the first place because you know you're going to go back to him. Subhanallah, subhanallah.

And one day as you think it's all coming to an end, I can't breathe anymore, I can't breathe anymore. Pop! What happens? Wow! What a great akhirah there is. Much bigger, much better than the dunya I was in.

Just like when you were in the womb, you transferred into what was known as the earth. For you, it was something amazing. No one could have explained it to you when you were in the womb.

Paradise and Our Relationship with Allah

And this is why I tell people who say that you know when I'm in jannah, I don't want this and I want this and I want that and I say concentrate on getting to jannah. Once you get to paradise, you will love it. And whatever you had on earth, don't worry, don't worry.

To that standard, it's not going to be there. Subhanallah, no way. You want a car? There's no cars, no way. Not these ones. Subhanallah. So you mean I'm not going to get my Lamborghini that I was wishing for all the time? No, unfortunately it's not in jannah.

You know why? When you get there, you're going to see something. It's like the fluid that you have in the womb of your mom and you wish, oh I wish I had that protein, it really helped me. And I wish I had that little piece of sugar, it really helped me.

Once you get out, that protein and sugar is not there the way it was. Completely, totally different. So you start thinking, gosh, was I even thinking of that protein and sugar? The same will apply to us.

You say I want this in jannah and that in jannah. When you get to jannah, you're going to think, gosh, was I even thinking of those things? May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us. But there is a question in our quest to get into paradise and to want certain things.

Sometimes we want them so badly that we forget you need to develop a relationship here with your maker in order for you to get there. That relationship is not difficult. It requires dedication.

Forgiveness and Hope

Perfect your deeds, perfect your relationship with Allah. We read salah, we fulfill our prayer, don't we? We try, T-R-Y, that's a very, very important word. Try is something none of us can ignore.

I must try every day to stay away from what will displease my maker. And to do that which will ultimately please him. I'm weak, I'm a human being, I falter, I make mistakes.

But the Lord above says, do you know what? Don't worry, I'm the most merciful, no matter what you've done. Come, plug in once again.

Quranic Verse on Forgiveness

"Say, 'O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.'"

Never lose hope in the mercy of Allah. Who's talking? Allah. Whose words are they? Allah.

What is He saying? Don't lose hope, we know what you've done. We know what you get up to. We know your weakness, but keep trying.

And come to us, and keep seeking forgiveness. Because we know that seeking forgiveness ultimately means you believe in Allah. If you say, Oh Allah, forgive me, I was wrong, I did bad.

If you felt bad upon a sin, it shows you believe in Allah, that's why you felt bad. If you didn't believe, you wouldn't have felt bad. So if you commit a sin and you think to yourself, Gosh, I shouldn't have done this, what did I achieve by this? That's a good sign.

The good sign is not the sin part of it, but the good sign is the fact that you regretted it. What are you doing? You're perfecting yourself. You're perfecting your relationship with Allah by seeking forgiveness of Allah.

Character and Conduct

And don't let the comments of people make you become further away from Allah, because people will comment. They will say things. They will say everything and anything.

You could be outwardly the most pious looking person, and they will say, Look at her, she thinks she's a little god. Astaghfirullah. A'udhu Billah.

Yeah, they'll pass comments. Look at the guy, look at him, he thinks he's what? Look at this extremist. Those are the comments you get.

If the people's bad comments affect you to become a bad person in your own comments to them, or in your own attitude, then you've lost. But if you can perfect yourself, if you can mend your relationship, not just with Allah, even with others, you will teach them that no matter how badly you have commented, I'm still gonna smile at you. I'm still gonna look at you and say, Hi, or hello, or salamu alaykum.

Subhanallah. Imagine I make dua for peace for you. When you're not in peace, it's a blessing.

I can see you're at war with yourself from your comments. And I'm saying salamu alaykum, which means may peace be on you. You probably need it more than ever before right now.

But we don't look at it that way. We get angry, we get excited. So we become bad, we drop because others have dropped.

Why drop? Are you not high in your character and conduct? When I say high, I mean, you know, of a high level. I hope weed is not legalized here, by the way. And by the way, there's a huge difference between social weed and medicinal weed.

I hope you know that, right? One is Taj weed, that's okay. And the other one is weed weed, as in smoking weed. That's not okay.

But getting to the reality, my brothers and sisters, you develop your character, your conduct. It will show when you're made angry. When people look at you and you think they're looking down on you.

That's the moment when you've got to rise and shine. Right? Yes. And you got to show them, no matter what you think of me, I know who I am.

My relationship with Allah is going to be developed. And I'm not going to be feeling like I'm useless because Allah told me I'm not useless. For as long as I'm trying.

For as long as I'm trying. And that you have to be truthful with yourself. Because you can't say, I'm trying, you know, I'm trying hard.

And you've got the bottle in your hand and you're actually drinking like, I don't know what. That's not a trial. Come on, you've got to drop the bottle and say, I'm trying, really.

And I seek forgiveness in Allah. And I'm going to read, I'm going to fulfill my prayer. I tell you what, prayer is a cornerstone.

The Importance of Prayer

It's a pillar of Islam. Why? I promise you, the Qur'an speaks loud and clear.

Quranic Verse on Prayer

"Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing."

If you fulfill that prayer correctly and properly, it will stop you and create barrier between you and immorality.

It will stop you from sin and evil. That's what the Qur'an says. So if your salah is not in order, you're going to have a lot of other issues.

So perfect your relationship with Allah by perfecting your prayer. Many of us pray, don't we? Wallahi, my brothers and sisters, I went to a certain area, a certain part of Nigeria. And I must tell you, I was so, so impressed by the amount of people who actually get up before Salatul Fajr or Salatul Tahajjud.

And I'm thinking to myself, this is a corner of Africa. This is where there are poor, poor people who probably don't have as much as we do. And their connection with Allah is so powerful, they would embarrass me in my connection with Allah.

And this is what motivates me. Do you know what? I promise you, when I'm sleeping, early morning, I tell myself, No, man, I can't let those guys even do more than I'm doing. And I get up, subhanAllah, because I've seen it with my eyes.

And this is why I say, you want to perfect yourself, look at those who are doing much better. Just tell yourself, I'm going to get there. Just like in business, we have role models.

And we have people who have earned, and they are driving fancy cars. We're becoming so materialistic that we're forgetting Allah. It's not bad to have some good things in life.

No, it's not bad at all, but it must not compromise your relationship with Allah. So if you're trying to fulfill your prayer, to start with, how can I be a Muslim?

You know, I asked someone, do people here pray five times a day? They said, yeah, we're Muslims. I said, but do you guys, he says, what do you mean, do you pray? Are there Muslims who don't pray? And I'm like, okay, sorry.

Sorry, my guy. Meaning, the thing is, they even believe that, are there Muslims who don't pray? And I couldn't even answer that question because I know things. You know things, but there are communities poorer than ours.

And I'm quite certain we're going to see them in Jannah, way ahead of us. May Allah grant us Jannah. May Allah give us paradise.

Say Ameen. We will enter paradise by the mercy of Allah. Allah knows our weaknesses.

He knows the fact that around us, there is a lot of pressure. There is so much happening. Sometimes we are so weak that we falter here and there.

Perfect your relationship with Allah. Keep trying, keep trying. Don't let go.

Don't think for a moment you're useless. And this is why we say, when you have an Islamic event, it's important for us, my brothers and sisters, to give hope. Yeah, to give hope.

I know I could scare people a little bit, but don't worry. My braces are not that bad. We give hope because why? We want you to get closer to Allah.

And we want ourselves to get closer to Allah. And we don't know who is closer. You could be closer to Allah than I am.

That's a fact. I'm not here to judge anyone. But I'm here to tell you, my brothers, my sisters, the message is for myself and for everyone else.

Keep trying, keep trying. Don't lose hope in the mercy of Allah. The verse I read earlier, do you know what it says? Allah will forgive all your sins, for indeed He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Perfecting Our Prayer

But when you fulfill the five daily prayers, we have another issue that people need to be advised about. If I were to ask you who prays five times a day, a lot of hands would go up. But how do you pray? That's a question, right? And the next thing you're down, and you're up, and you're down.

And people who are watching are like, oh wow, what did you just do, man? You know? When they see you, they should see a calmness, a coolness. Perfect your deeds, perfect your prayer. When you say Allahu

Akbar, the brother a little bit earlier was saying, Oh, there is a sister Allahu Akbar, there's a brother Allahu Akbar.

And I'm thinking, you know, if there were non-Muslims hearing the Allahu Akbar, they'd think you've just been terrorized. No, because they don't even know. Allah is the worshipped one.

He's the one who made, the one who we're going to go back to. He's the only one we put our head on the ground for. So therefore, we call him Allah, meaning the worshipped one.

When I say Allahu Akbar, I'm actually saying, He who made me, He who controls every aspect of my existence, He whom I'm going to go back to when I die, is the greatest. That's the meaning of Allahu Akbar, He's the greatest. Whoever made me is indeed the greatest.

But with us, I swear, think about it today. How many of us say Allahu Akbar without ever thinking of what it means? Am I right? You start Salah Allahu Akbar, you haven't thought what you said. Your mind is nowhere near.

That's what we want to change. When we say perfect your deeds, we're talking of starting with the Allahu Akbar itself. When you're starting the prayer, you're supposed to think to yourself, Allah is the greatest.

That's what you just said. Is He really the greatest according to you? Subhanallah. Then what do you say? Then I start off with my little dua al-istiftah, they call it thana, and whatever else we need to read, and we start with surah al-Fatiha.

Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. Subhanallah.

Amazing. What powerful words I'm saying. But our deeds, we don't even concentrate.

Honestly, we don't. We don't even think of what we're saying. And then we say, Subhanallah.

Imagine how beautiful these words are. Allah has chosen to call Himself, Lord of the worlds, the most beneficent, the most merciful, owner of the day of judgement. You alone we worship, you alone we seek help from.

Guide us to the straight path, the path of those whom you have favoured. Not the path of those who are astray, those who have earned your anger. Wow.

Or those who are astray. And then we say, ameen. But we don't think about it.

We just like, Am I right? We're gonna change that. Why? Because we're gonna keep trying. We're gonna keep trying.

Hadith on Concentration in Prayer

Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari

"The Prophet says, if one of you is reading salah, is fulfilling his prayer, and he forgets, he doesn't remember whether he read one or two," he gives you a solution. What does that mean? It happened already at the time. You're not the first for that to happen to.

Get my point? So don't become despondent, keep trying. That's it. And Allah loves you with your trial.

Allah wants goodness. Allah gets so happy when you turn to Him. And when you perfect your deed, you know what happens? You move from a stage of doing something because you have to do it, to a stage of doing something because you want to do it.

What a big difference. Those who pray, for example, the duty is what is called farab. I hope you understand that.

Your obligation. The obligation, that's your duty. You want to get closer to Allah, well you've got to add a little bit more to that.

You've got to do something yourself now. So if I did my duty, I've done what I have to do or had to do. If I go beyond that and voluntary, I read much more or fulfill much more, it becomes something I want to do.

Imagine you meet someone you really love, and they've given you five minutes of their time, and they enjoy it so much, or you enjoy it so much, and you're just sitting for one hour. Wow. And you're just, I can't get enough of this.

It happens. Well, Allah comes first. Allah comes first.

Take your time in Salah, your life will change. Take your time in prayer, your life will change. And what's very important is for you to realize, for you and I to realize, that everyone out there loves Allah.

Every one of us wants to develop a good relationship with Allah. We all do. So stop pointing fingers at others.

Because by pointing fingers at others, and by looking at what they have been up to, you're not looking at yourself. You're not able to introspect. You're not able to correct yourself, because you're bothered about, that person's doing this, this person's clothing is this way, that person's not walking in the right way, this person just did that, that person just did this.

No, worry about yourself. If you want to guide people, say it in a good way. Say it in a lovely way.

Don't make like you're preaching down to them. No, you're talking across to them. You're one of them.

We're all together, by the will of Allah. We're all trying to perfect ourselves, to become better, and to earn the help of Allah. So my message for you today, don't become despondent.

Don't think that, you know what, I'm not getting what Allah has promised me. You will love your prayer when you read it correctly, when you fulfill it, I swear. The day I get up very early, and the day I defy my sleep, and wash myself, and sit on my prayer mat, a little bit earlier than usual, that's the day I feel the spiritual upliftment.

I feel so close to my Lord. SubhanAllah, I'm sure you agree. And I'm sure there have been days when you have done that too.

I'm not the only one. You feel better. But you want to change your life, and you're not prepared to change for the positive, your relationship with your Maker, I don't think your life's gonna change positively.

It cannot. And this is why we say, when you do something, do it genuinely. When you give a charity, don't show people.

Right guys, this is a hundred pounds, take a picture, take a picture guys, quickly, quickly, hundred, hundred, yeah. Come, come, go on your knees, go on your knees. Show me the tatty part of your clothing.

Yeah, yeah, there, take the picture, okay. My charity. The hadith says, a charity that is given in a way that your left hand doesn't know what your right hand has spent, is probably the best.

It is the best. At times, in order to encourage people, you might want to put up your hand for something because you're encouraging others. Your niyyah is not to boast and brag.

You know, if there are a lot of millionaires here, and one guy stands up and says, I give a hundred thousand. Another guy who's a richer guy, then he says, he gave a hundred, I give one twenty, subhanAllah. What did you do? You just encouraged others.

You get a reward for your hundred, and for his one twenty. So in those cases, it's okay to do it publicly, no problem. But when we're boasting, bragging, and when you give a charity, do it with your heart.

Character Development

Give it correctly. Understand, those you are giving, this too, have been placed by the Almighty. Imagine if they were not there, how were your charities going to be accepted? How were they going... When everyone is wealthy, what do you do? You know, in Africa, when we eat, we are so fortunate that, in my country, I'm talking of my own country, Zimbabwe, when we eat and there is a little bit remaining, there is a way of packing it correctly, and we could give it to people, not very far from where we would stay.

Possible. So it's not really wasted. But I visited countries where, when there is remainder, from the food they've been eating, there is nowhere that that can go besides the bin.

In that case, you need to have slightly less, and not waste it, than to have more and throw it in the bin. I'd rather be slightly hungry, because the sandwich I bought was a smaller one, than to have a bigger one and throw part of it away. This is quality.

Do you understand what I'm saying? This is quality. What have you done? You've refined yourself. You've become a person who has better deeds, perfected your eating.

Subhanallah, I didn't even think of that, someone might say. Learn to reach out to others in a beautiful way. But I want to tell you something.

Perfecting your deeds shows in your character. The moment there is a person, and like I always say, even if you're outwardly so religious, but if you don't know how to speak to people, and you belittle them and make them feel small, you're nowhere close to Allah, because Allah don't make anyone feel small. Allah doesn't do that.

Your character should shine. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, look at him. He spoke to people with respect, even those he disagreed with, even those he really disagreed with, those who harmed him, he spoke to them with respect.

There was always that beautiful speech, honor. Why? I'm carrying myself in the most beautiful way. People must know what I stand for.

And guess what? It comes back to you in a good way. You give people that time, the moment, the good words, at home especially. Many of us are struggling in our houses.

I wish we could lay it bare and talk about it. We are struggling because we don't bother to speak to one another in a beautiful way. It's a deed, isn't it?

Smiling is a good deed.

Why can't you improve your speech? Go to your spouse, husband or wife, go to your spouse and say some good words, out of nowhere. Like tonight, just go and say, I love you. And your spouse will be like, without even saying a word, you've already appreciated.

What happened? Something happened here. Oh, I just heard a good speech. I need to improve myself.

Wallahi, wallahi. I need to say good words. Your daughter, no matter.

We haven't even told our daughters sometimes how much we love them. Our sons, we haven't even said, I love you, I appreciate you. How can I say that? I come from Pakistan, we don't ever say that.

Subhanallah. You can come from anywhere. If you come from Pakistan, you gotta say, I love you, subhanallah, to your kids.

Mashallah. So what? It's amazing. You need to show that connection because if you connect to your children and your family members, together you'll be able to connect with the maker.

But if there's no connection, each one tagging along, and each one pulling to a different direction, what's gonna happen? None of us are gonna be able to focus on Allah. Help each other. Your daughter comes to you, your son comes to you, your family member comes to you, brothers, sisters, parents, in-laws.

Oh, that's a topic on its own by the way. But, make life easy for people. Make life easy.

That's when you know that my salah is good. When my connection with Allah is powerful, it shows in the way I speak to my family members. Because the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him says, The best from amongst you are those who are best to their family members.

So definitely if I have my salah in order, I cannot be the best from amongst all the people. If I'm not good to my family members, I become conscious of Allah. So I would love what he loves.

What does he love? He loves you to be an easygoing person with your family, with those around you, with those whom you work with, those who work for you. It doesn't mean they're your slaves. A lot of the times it's because of them that you're earning money.

They work hard, very hard. You probably sometimes pay them peanuts. Subhanallah.

Maybe not here. I think Glasgow is quite a nice place. Alhamdulillah.

But my brothers and sisters, inshaAllah I ask Allah to help us all. Starting with me, to improve ourselves, to be such a beacon of light that when we talk to people, when we interact, just our presence can make people feel uplifted. That's the way it should be as a Muslim.

That's the way it should be as a believer. We have to make people feel like they're valued. Their value will only be appreciated if you're prepared to acknowledge it.

Subhanallah. And you know what? Nearly all of us will improve when we feel good, and when we're made to feel good. So keep trying, don't lose hope.

If you want Allah to have mercy on you, learn to have mercy on others. If you want respect, learn to respect others, and you will be respected. And by the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, I ask Allah to bring us back again and again here to this beautiful, beautiful place.

And really, I hope and I pray that the few words that I've said would actually penetrate deep into the heart, would make a difference, would make a change. Like I said, try and concentrate in your salah, keep trying, and you know, take your time in prayer. Take your time.

It could just be your last prayer. Take your time. Even if you're just reading the farad and rushing, inshaAllah you will increase it one day.

But remember there are two things. One is the quality and the quantity. More important than the quantity is the quality.

Verse on Testing with Better Deeds

"[He] who created death and life to test you [as to] which of you is best in deed."

We love Suratul Mulk, right? A lot of us read it so often, right? You know what the second verse says? He created death and life in order to test you. Who from amongst you has better deeds. He didn't say, who from amongst you has more deeds.

You need better deeds. So let's improve on the quality of our deeds. Let's improve on the quality of our deeds inshaAllah.

And I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala open our doors. May He give us the opportunity to read part of the Qur'an on a daily basis. It doesn't take you much to read a few verses every day a minute or two.

Or you can even play it in your car and just read after it inshaAllah a minute or two. And let's try and spend our time constructively in a way that when we leave this earth we definitely go to a much much better place.

Closing

"I say these words of mine, and may Allah send His blessings and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His blessings."