What You Need to Succeed

What You Need to Succeed

By Navaid Aziz

Opening

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

My dear brothers and sisters, (السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ - assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh)

The Story of Malik ibn Dinar

I want to start off by telling a short story. This is a story of one of the scholars of hadith by the name of Malik ibn Dinar. He says with his own hands, I was 19 years old, and I used to commit every single sin possible. Drinking, stealing, theft, zina, all of it, I had committed it. And this is how I would live my life day to day.

Up and until one day, I was walking on the street, and I saw a beautiful young girl. And at that time, I felt something in my heart, that it was time to change my ways, it was time to change who I was. So I decided that I was going to get married, and I was going to settle down. So some time goes by, I get married. And alhamdulillah, right after marriage, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blesses us with a child.

A beautiful young girl, just like the one that we had seen. And we named her Fatima. And Fatima soon became the coolness of my eyes, the warmth of my heart. So much so, that each and every day, I would look forward to spending time with her. And one day, as she came and she sat on my lap, I was about to take a sip of alcohol at that time. And she took that glass, and she threw it away.

At that time, I felt rage inside of my heart, thinking that had it been anyone else, I would have slaughtered them. But it was Fatima, my beloved. And I couldn't do anything for her, or to her. And I decided that day, that I was going to give up drinking. Time went on, I became a better person, I started praying, I started giving charity, I started fasting.

But when Fatima turned five, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tried me with a test so great, I don't think he's tried anyone in all of humanity with such a trial. He took Fatima away from me. Fatima died. So I went back to the drinking, I went back to the evil deeds. Anything to take away the pain, anything to hide that pain. But it just wouldn't go away. It got so bad, that I used to drink at night, so I would sleep throughout it. And I would drink during the day, so that I could sleep throughout it.

The Vision

And one day, I drank so much in the morning, that I just completely passed out. And when I passed out, I had a vision. The day of judgment had begun. I woke up, people were running, people were furious, they were anxious, they didn't know what was going on. And everyone was just running from side to side.

So I started to run with the people. I started to run towards a mountain. And as I got closer to this mountain, I started to notice that there was a big black snake behind me. With each step, it's getting closer and closer to me.

At the foot of the mountain, I see a beautiful white man with a white long beard. A face of light.

So I tell this old man, for the sake of Allah, please help me against this snake. The old man says, I am too weak, I am too feeble to help you. Perhaps if you run up the mountain, you may find someone to help you.

So I run up the mountain, I'm running and I'm running, and the snake is still behind me. And I see, as I get to the top of the mountain, the valleys of hell are below me. People being burnt, people being punished, people being persecuted. I knew that wasn't what I wanted. So I ran back down the hill and I came back to the old man again.

And I said, old man, for the sake of Allah, please help me against this snake.

This time he says, perhaps if you run towards the hills, you will find someone to help you. So I ran and I ran and I'm running out of breath. My heart is beating faster and faster. The snake is getting closer and closer. But I start to hear something. I start to hear the playing of young kids. And the kids, they're playing and they're saying something. They're saying, oh Fatima, go and help your father.

I think to myself, could it be my very Fatima, the one that had passed away? And as I get closer, I see her in the distance. Her arms wide open, waiting for me to get there. And as I get to her, I embrace her. She holds me with one hand and pushes the snake away with the other. And the snake disappears.

Tears start coming down my eyes. And I ask her, oh Fatima, what is going on? Where are we? What has happened? She says, oh my father, come and sit. Let us sit under the shade. So we sit under the shade. And she came and sat on my lap, just like she would sit in the world.

And she said, oh my father, the day of judgment has begun. That old white man that you saw, those were your good deeds. They had become so few that they were unable to help you on this day. That big black snake that you saw, those were your bad deeds. So many, so powerful that they would have devoured you today had it not been for me. Meaning the calamity that he had gone through.

Oh my father, has the time not come for you to change your ways? She recited a verse from the Qur'an:

"Has the time not come for the hearts of the believers to be moved by the remembrance of Allah"

Malik ibn Dinar, he says, I woke up at that time in a state of panic. And I heard the adhan going off for Salatul Maghrib. So I made wudu. I headed towards the masjid. Lo and behold, as I entered the masjid, I hear the imam reciting the exact same verse. (أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَن تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ - Has the time not come for the believers to be moved by the remembrance of Allah)

From that day on, I knew it was time to change my life. Allah had given me a greater purpose. And that is when love for Islam truly entered into my heart.

The Legacy of Malik ibn Dinar

My dear brothers and sisters, this is the story of Malik ibn Dinar, one of the great scholars of hadith. If you look at his life, he lived a great life. He became known as the individual who would wake up in the middle of the night and stand in the middle of the street and tell the people, Oh people, wake up to worship your Lord. Wake up to your true success. And he was the one who would wake the people up for qiyam al-layl and salat al-tahajjud.

The Story of the Thief

How great was this man Malik ibn Dinar? Let me tell you a story of a thief who tried to rob him. A thief broke into his house one day as Malik ibn Dinar was praying. And it's dark, there's no lights, there's no oil being burnt. So this thief is feeling around, you know, trying to find something valuable. And as he reaches out, he touches Malik ibn Dinar.

Malik ibn Dinar, he grabs his arm, he grabs his hand, and he doesn't let go. As he goes down into ruku, he brings him down with him. As he goes down into sajdah, he brings him down with him. Salat finally finishes.

Malik ibn Dinar, he turns to the thief and he says, Oh thief, what did you come to steal? Did you not know that this is the house of a scholar? And you're not going to find anything but books.

The thief says, I did not know who I was robbing. But I will make a deal with you. Let me go and I won't rob your books. That's what he says to him. Malik ibn Dinar, he says, let me make a deal with you. Pray two rakahs with me and I won't report you to the police. The thief agrees. He gives in.

So you can imagine this thief, he goes, he makes his wudu, he comes back. They start praying. They pray two rakahs. Malik ibn Dinar, he tells the thief, You can now leave. You can disperse. No problems, no trouble. What do you think the thief does? The regular thief, he'd be jumping for joy. I didn't get caught. And he's heading out.

But the thief, he says, Oh Malik, can I stay with you and pray some more? They prayed some more. The adhan for fajr goes.

Malik says, okay, you can leave now. The thief says, do you mind if I go with you to fajr? They go to fajr. And they finish praying. And Malik ibn Dinar, he's like, You can leave now. You don't leave me alone. I need to study. I need to revise.

But the thief, listen to this. He says, the right of a Muslim upon another Muslim is that if he visits him, he can stay with him for three days. Now this part, when I read it, it really got me. I'm like, subhanallah, even the thieves of back in the day, they knew their hadith. They were so educated.

So he says, I'm going to stay with you for three days. Malik ibn Dinar, scholar of hadith, he can't refuse. So for the next three days, he stays with Malik ibn Dinar, fasting, reading, praying. That's how he's fasting the three days. Three days go by, and Malik ibn Dinar literally is fed up at this time. He's like, please go on your way.

So finally the thief leaves. He goes back to his house. And all the other thieves are there that are staying with him. And they ask him, where did you go? What happened? Did you come back with some great amount of loot

that you disappeared? And he says, yes. I came back with the greatest loot you could ever think of. In fact, I went to steal someone's most precious prize and I came back with the greatest treasure I could ever find. I found my lord. I found my creator. And the thief, he changed his ways.

Seven Categories for Success

Now this is the story of Malik ibn Dinar. The reason why I mention this, the vast majority of you are youth. And by the will of Allah, you have very, very bright futures ahead of you. And even though I'm not too much older than yourselves, I consider all of you as my younger brothers and sisters. Even our aunties and uncles. Fine, fine. You guys are still my aunties and uncles. But I'm still like the older brother. And honestly, from the bottom of my heart, I love all of you for the sake of Allah. And I truly wish well for you.

And this is what I want to discuss in our discussion today. How do we get brighter futures for ourselves? Allah has given us so much potential. How do we realize that potential?

Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has created seven key categories in our lives. And all of these categories in our lives, they need to be in balance. They need to be in balance. Why do they need to be in balance? Because all of you are living for one moment in your life. Literally, you're living for one moment in your life. And the moment you are living for is that moment just before your death. That moment just before your death. Because the deed that you die upon is the deed that you will be raised up upon. He who is raised upon a good deed, then bi-idhnillahi ta'ala his hereafter is bright. But he who is raised on a bad deed, then his hereafter is going to be very dim, very meager, very difficult. And that's something none of us want to face.

So how do we get to the level where we die upon that good deed? So these seven categories that we need to epitomize and realize their full potential, they are:

1. Our Deen
2. Our Education
3. Our Careers
4. Our Social Life
5. Our Health
6. Our Finances
7. Our Families

And I'll speak briefly about each of them, hoping to enlighten you in at least one of these categories.

The Wheel Analogy

So now when we talk about reaching a balance in all of them, I want you to imagine that each of these categories is a spoke on a wheel. Meaning that if even one of these is out of balance, that wheel will not go

2. Education

Number two, our education. I remember when I was young, you know education was just something we did out of habit. You know, parents forced us to go to school, so we did it. But as I grew older, I realized subhanallah, what a wasted opportunity.

And you'll notice that when we talk about education, it's not merely just about schooling. There's an excellent quote by Mark Twain where he said, "I never let my schooling interfere with my education." Meaning that when you go to school, yes, you will learn something. But the real education that you get is from life. It is from experience.

Now, education is something very important. It is a lifelong journey. The Prophet ﷺ said (طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ فَرِيضَةً عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ - ṭalab al-ʿilmi farīḍatun ʿalā kulli muslimin) "The seeking of knowledge is compulsory upon each and every Muslim." So it is a lifelong journey.

3. Career

Then we move on to the category of your career. Now, when you go to school, generally speaking, this is how it is in the West. I'm not really sure how it is in Malaysia. But I'm assuming it's very similar. When you go to school in the West, up until university, they train you to become employees. Your ultimate goal is to become an employee of some corporate firm or of some organization.

But in reality, when we talk about careers, as Muslims, we're looking to become leaders. We're looking to become employers. We want to provide job opportunities for other people. So what you want to do is, once you decide something to study, get experience in it for a little while. But then become a leader in that field. Start up your own business in that field and become an employer.

Now, how do you decide what career you should go into? The careers that you decide, it should be based upon one single factor and one factor alone. What do you enjoy doing and what are you passionate about? How do you figure out what you enjoy and what you are passionate about? If you had to do that job for free, you would do it. That is how passionate and enjoyable it should be to you. And that is the career you should go into.

Now once you figure out what your passion is, you then need to figure out okay, how do I make money out of this passion? And that is the career that you decide to choose. Do not let society dictate what you become. If you really enjoy farming and agriculture, don't let society tell you that you have to become a doctor or an

engineer or anything else. But rather do what you are passionate about and you will see that is where truly your success will lie.

4. Social Life

The fourth category that we will be speaking about is your social life. Now your social life, from a sociological perspective, you are the average of the five people you spend the most amount of time with. You are the average of the five people you spend the most amount of time with.

So think about all the people that you spend time with, the five closest of them, you are the average of those five people. So you want to surround yourself with good people, people who are successful, people who have big aspirations. They want to go somewhere in life. At the same time, you want to make sure that these people have a conscious morality. These people have ethics, they have values.

Because the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, he informed us way before any of these studies took place. (الْمَرْءُ عَلَى دِينِ خَلِيلِهِ - al-marʾu ʿalā dīni khalīlihi) That indeed a man, he will be on the deen of his friend. And deen is not just religion, but it is a way of life.

So you know actually this is a line from one of Muna's poems. He's probably sitting somewhere in the audience. I've heard a lot of his poems. But there's this one line that sticks out above the rest. Where he says, if you're hanging around with nine idiots, you're probably the tenth. And that's true in reality. That's the way it is.

So when you think about social life, you want to surround yourself with the best of people. High aspirations, high values, good deen. Those are the people you want to hang around with.

Now what is the social activity you should be doing? Social activity should not just be playing video games, going out to eat, going shopping. It needs to be more than that. It needs to be an experience. And that is why I would suggest that while you're in your youth, you're not married, you're still single, take the opportunity to travel. Nowadays, travel doesn't cost much at all. You can go on a journey for maybe about two or three thousand ringgits. You know, have a good time and experience new cultures, experience new foods, increase your horizons. So social activities that you want to do should be productive. It should not just be a mere waste of time. So think about traveling with your friends.

And you'll see this is one of the ways you truly get to know your friends. Omar ibn al-Khattab radiallahu anhu, he said you will not truly know a person until you've done three things with them. You've traveled with them, you've done business with them, or you've spent a night with them. Meaning you've slept over at some place and you get to know how their true reality is. Are they waking up for fajr? Are they waking up for qiyam al-layl? So on and so forth. So that is how you truly get to know your friends. So your social circle you need to choose it very wisely.

5. Health

Number five your health. The message of Allah told us (نِعْمَتَانِ مَغْبُونٌ فِيهِمَا كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ: الصِّحَّةُ وَالْفَرَاغُ - niʿmatāni maghbūnun fīhimā kathīrun min an-nāsi: aṣ-ṣiḥḥatu wal-farāgh) "The two blessings that most of mankind is heedless of is free time and their health." Your health is very important.

And it takes simple small steps to increase and improve your health. As you grow older you'll see it becomes a lot more difficult to control your health. Either because of time constraints or for just your body aging, it becomes very difficult. So I would suggest that while you're in the prime of your youth, try to spend at least just half an hour a day trying to do some sort of physical activity. Table tennis, jogging, running, basketball, soccer, whatever it may be, at least half an hour a day. And you'll notice that just by half an hour a day you will be 85% more protected from diseases than the person who isn't spending that half an hour.

Now what is that half an hour? Honestly it's not much at all. So rather than taking the elevator try to take stairs. You know simple things, they'll make a huge difference. Likewise, following the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ when it comes to eating. You know making sure you're not eating to your fill. Leaving one third for food, one third for water, one third for air. Times it does get difficult, but it is a reminder for all of us, myself included, that the sunnah of the message of Allah is the ultimate guide for success. So we need to take care of our health.

6. Finances

Number six, our finances. We are often told as Muslims that don't be worried about money, don't be concerned about money. This is true in one way, it is false in another way. How is it true? Actually let's talk about how is it false? It is false from the perspective that we need money to survive. You know this conference it took a lot of money to put together. Educational institutes, they take a lot of money to put together. So we do need money.

Now which angle is it true from? That this money, it needs to stay in our hands and it should never reach our hearts. Who are our examples in this? Think about the ten companions who were promised paradise. There is a particular group of ten companions, they were promised paradise. From those ten, three of them ran all of the trade routes in the Arabian Peninsula. Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu, Uthman ibn Affan, and Abdurrahman ibn Auf. These three companions, they ran the trade caravans.

They were the richest of companions, but they kept the wealth in their hands and never let it reach their hearts. And that's what we need to do. Earn as much money as we possibly can. But don't keep it to spoil ourselves. But spend it in the way of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Help our communities, help our people, educate people, feed them, take care of their needs. That's what we want to do with it. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't earn money. It just means when we earn money, we should spend it in the way of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

7. Family

The last part I'll talk about is our families. Our families are of the utmost importance. And I've divided this into two parts.

Parents and Relatives

The first aspect of our family is our parents and our relatives. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has created such big blessings in our parents. How big of a blessing are they that the middle gate of Jannah is for those people who are obedient to their parents. How big of a blessing are our parents that when our parents make du'a for us, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala answers those du'as. It's a directly accepted du'a.

So you want to make sure you're keeping good ties with your parents. When you're young, you're heedless, you're thinking about your friends, you're thinking about work, you're thinking about making money, you're thinking about doing other things. And you're not fulfilling the rights and obligations and desires of your parents. But I'm telling you, you will notice that successful people, for the most part, they have very good relationships with their parents. And that their du'as, their success, are a result of the du'as of their parents. So make sure you keep good ties with your parents.

Another benefit of keeping good ties with your family members is that the message of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told us that nothing increases one's lifespan like keeping good ties with your relatives. So make sure you give time to your family, your immediate family, your parents, your brothers and sisters, your aunts and your uncles, your cousins. All of those people you want to keep good ties with.

Marriage

The second aspect of families is marriage. That all of you are young, yet I would assume at least one-third of you are not married yet. So you're going to be getting married soon, bith Allahi ta'ala. Now this general concept that we see in the western world is that we'll fall in love and then we'll get married. And this is what happens in our communities unfortunately as well. But you'll see there's a growing trend of divorce. Close to one-third of Muslim marriages are ending in divorce.

Why is that happening? The reason why that is happening is because we're not educating ourselves about marriage. You know last night, Alhamdulillah, I had the opportunity to sit with some brothers and sisters from the University of Malaya. And we were talking about marriage. And I mentioned to them, and Jazakumullah Khair, they brought this point to light for me right now, is that there are ten conversations you need to have with your future spouse. That before you can actually get married, you need to see that you're compatible in these ten fields. They are:

• Your religion
• They are the future
• They are the past
• They are your health
• They are your finances
• They are your kids
• They are your families
• And three others

In fact, if you go to my Facebook page, right now the first post is about the ten conversations you want to have. So check it out at facebook.com/navaidaziz and you'll get all ten points there.

Finding Balance

Now what I want to conclude with is that these seven points, these seven categories, you need to keep them in balance, you need to keep them in check. And start thinking about them, start planning about them. That scale of one to ten, think about what a ten looks like for you in each of these categories, then work out a checklist. How do I get to that point? What are the things I need to do to get to that point?

Conclusion: The Death of An-Najashi

I want to conclude with one last point, and that is a quote from a dear sheikh of mine. And that is sheikh Optimus Prime. How many people have watched Transformers here? Quite a few of you. Okay. Transformers.

So the very first Transformers, there's a scene at the end of the movie. And in this scene Optimus Prime, he's dealing with the humans. He says something so profound. He says, "fate rarely calls upon a people at a time of their choosing. Fate rarely calls upon a people at a time of their choosing."

Let's think about this for a second. Right now, you are in your prime. You could enjoy life to the max. You could go out partying, you could go out clubbing, you could do a whole bunch of things. But later on in life, you'll regret those decisions. That is a convenient route to take. The difficult route to take is to discipline yourself.

Think about these seven categories in life and how you can realize their true potential. And that is the opportunity that fate is calling upon you. That Allah has given you the potential to become a leader. He has given you the potential to die a righteous death. He has given you the potential to achieve a death like Al-Najashi.

And this is what I'll conclude with. Al-Najashi was a Christian king who accepted Islam. But look at the way that he died. When he died, it wasn't one of the companions that went to the messenger of Allah and said that Al-Najashi has died. That's not how it happened. But rather, Jibreel came to the Prophet and he told him (مَاتَ - māta) (الْيَوْمَ رَجُلٌ صَالِحٌ - al-yawma rajulun ṣāliḥ) That today, a righteous man has passed away.

The Prophet ﷺ, he turned around to his companions and he said,

"Pray upon your brother, for indeed today a righteous man has passed away." Think about this.

How did Jibreel find out Najashi was righteous? Allah told him. How did the Prophet find out Najashi was righteous? Allah جل جلاله and Jibreel told the Prophet ﷺ. How about the companions that never met Najashi?

They found out through Allah, Jibreel and the messenger of Allah.

Now the most beautiful part about this, his janazah is prayed by the Prophet and it is the companions who are seeking forgiveness for him. When I think about this, subhanAllah, how many of us envy dead people?

Generally speaking, we would never envy the dead. We want to be alive. We're still young. But I tell you my brothers and sisters, we're all living for one moment. And that is the moment of death. And if we don't contribute towards our civilizations and our communities while we are alive, we will not be remembered after our death. No one will seek forgiveness for us.

Our good deeds will not benefit us if we do not prepare for them while we are alive. This is my last session of this conference. And honestly I truly am sad by this. But I want to conclude by asking Allah جل جلاله by accepting from all of us and rectifying our affairs. And that Allah جل جلاله grants us the tawfiq to learn and to memorize and most importantly to implement all that we heard for His sake and His sake alone.

And remember my dear brothers and sisters, the dua, the message of Allah used to make in tawaf. He could have made dua for anything in tawaf. But he would say (رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً وَقِنَا عَذَابَ النَّارِ - Rabbanā 'ātina fi al-dunyā ḥasanatan wa fi al-'ākhirati ḥasanatan wa qinā 'adhāba al-nār) "That O Allah grant us the best of this world and the best of the hereafter and save us from the hellfire." So make your lives peaceful, make your akhirah peaceful and make dua that Allah جل جلاله saves us all from the hellfire.

وصلى الله وسلم وبارك على نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم

والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

جزاكم الله خيرا