Praying for Success

Praying for Success

Khutba by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan

Opening Praise and Salutations

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، اَلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ خَالِقِ الْوُجُوْدِ مِنَ الْعَدَمِ، وَجَاعِلِ النُّوْرِ مِنَ الظَّلَامِ، وَمُخْرِجِ الصَّبْرِ مِنَ الْأَلَمِ، وَمُلْقِي التَّوْبَةِ عَلَى النَّدَمِ، فَنَشْكُرُهُ عَلَى الْمَصَائِبِ كَمَا نَشْكُرُهُ عَلَى النِّعَمِ، وَنُصَلِّيْ عَلَى رَسُوْلِهِ الْأَكْرَمِ، ذِيْ شَرَفِ الْأَشَمِّ، وَالنُّوْرِ الْأَتَمِّ، وَالْكِتَابِ الْمُحْكَمِ، وَكَمَالِ النَّبِيِّيْنَ وَالْخَاتَمِ سَيِّدِيْ وَوَلَدِيْ آدَمَ، الَّذِيْ بُشِّرَ بِهِ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ، وَدَعَا لِبِعْثَتِهِ إِبْرَاهِيْمُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ، حِيْنَ كَانَ يَرْفَعُ قَوَاعِدَ بَيْتِ اللهِ الْمُحَرَّمِ، فَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَعَلَى أَتْبَاعِهِ خَيْرِ الْأُمَمِ، الَّذِيْ تَبَارَكَ اللهُ بِهِمْ كَافَّةَ النَّاسِ الْعَرَبِ مِنْهُمْ وَالْعَجَمِ، فَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِيْ لَمْ يَتَّخِذْ وَلَدًا ، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَّهُ شَرِيْكٌ فِي الْمُلْكِ، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَّهُ وَلِيٌّ مِّنَ الذُّلِّ وَكَبِّرْهُ تَكْبِيْرًا، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِيْ أَنْزَلَ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ الْكِتَابَ، وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ لَّهُ عِوَجًا، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِيْ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِيْنُهُ، وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ، وَنُؤْمِنُ بِهِ، وَنَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْهِ، وَنَعُوْذُ بِهِ مِنْ شُرُوْرِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَّهْدِهِ اللهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُّضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ ، وَنَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَّا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيْكَ لَهُ، وَنَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُ اللهِ وَرَسُوْلُهُ، أَرْسَلَهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى بِالْهُدَى وَدِيْنِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّيْنِ كُلِّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللهِ شَهِيْدًا، فَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيْمًا كَثِيْرًا كَثِيْرًا ثُمَّ أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيْثِ كِتَابُ اللهِ، وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَإِنَّ شَرَّ الْأُمُوْرِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَإِنَّ كُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ

Recitation from the Quran

يَقُوْلُ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى فِيْ كِتَابِهِ الْكَرِيْمِ، بَعْدَ أَنْ نَّقُوْلَ أَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيْمِ:

"(20:25-28 Quran) O my Lord! Open for me my chest (grant me self-confidence, contentment, and boldness). And ease my task for me. And remove the impediment from my tongue, So they may understand my speech."

بَارَكَ اللهُ لِيْ وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقُرْآنِ الْحَكِيْمِ، وَنَفَعَنِيْ وَإِيَّاكُمْ بِالْآيَاتِ وَالذِّكْرِ الْحَكِيْمِ، إِنَّهُ تَعَالَى جَوَادٌ كَرِيْمٌ، مَلِكٌ بَرٌّ رَّؤُوْفٌ رَّحِيْمٌ

Introduction to Musa's Dua

In today's khutbah insha'Allah ta'ala, I'd like to share with you just two parts of a profound dua, a powerful dua made by Musaalayhi as-salam.

Musa's Prominence in the Quran

One of the things many of you probably know about Musaalayhi as-salam is that he's the most mentioned messenger of Allah in the Quran. Allahazawajal talks about him more than any other prophet by name. And Musaalayhi as-salam, one of his stellar qualities in the Quran is that there are many many duas recorded from him in the Quran. And this is one of them.

And this dua is particularly powerful. And it's on multiple parts. And hopefully through the course of this khutbah, I'd like to share with you some of the wisdoms captured inside at least some parts of this dua.

Background Context - Surah Taha

But a little bit of background just to get ourselves introduced. Musaalayhi as-salam, his story is mentioned in so many places. And this particular ayah belongs to surah Taha, the 20th surah.

And in this surah, Allahazawajal begins the narrative when he left his family and he saw a fire up on top of a mountain in the middle of the night. And he told his family to wait and to go see this fire. And when he gets up there, of course he discovers that Allahazawajal is the one that called him to it.

And Allah introduces himself to him. And he's terrified because he's up on top of a mountain in the middle of the night. He doesn't know where he's even headed.

He's hoping to get some guidance. You know, (لَعَلَّي آتِيكُم مِّنْهَا بِخَبَرٍ أَوْ جَذْوَةِ مِّنَ النَّارِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَصْطَلُونَ - la'allee ateekum minha bi khabarin aw jadhwatin minan nari la'allakum tastaloon) (Quran 20:10) Maybe I'll go get some news there. Maybe I'll get some little fire there. And I'll get some directions there. That's why he goes up there. But all of a sudden, shockingly, he gets called.

When he got there, all of a sudden he was called Musa. Now you go somewhere you don't even know. You've never been there before. And somebody already knows your name. And he's calling you. It's shocking.

You get shaken up. So he's actually pretty shocked as he goes up there. And this beautiful conversation begins between him and Allah Azza wa Jal. This is actually one of the most beautiful places in the entire Quran. But that's not my khutbah today. I'm just giving you the introduction so we can get to this dua.

The Miraculous Signs

Now in the course of that talk that Allah was giving him through the fire, Allah Azza wa Jal told him to throw his stick, his staff, (وَأَلْقِ عَصَاكَ - wa alqi 'asaka) (Quran 20:20) Throw it, Musa. MusaAlayhi Salaam throws it and it turns into a (حَيَّةٌ تَسْعَى - hayyatun tas'a) (Quran 20:20) into a running snake. A poisonous snake in old Arabic is also called a (حية - hayyah). A snake whose fangs are out is also called a (حية - hayyah). So it's running around. The snake is running around.

And then he tells him (خُذْهَا وَلَا تَخَفْ - khuzha wa la takhaf) Quran 20:21) Grab the snake. Grab it and don't be afraid. Now you tell me as a normal human being grabbing a snake and not being afraid. You know, it's almost impossible. And yet Allah Azza wa Jal trained MusaAlayhi Salaam to take this task on. To grab the snake and not be afraid.

And at this point you notice MusaAlayhi Salaam doesn't say (يا رب لا أستطيع - ya rabbi la astati'u) I can't do it, Ya Rabb. No dua to Allah to say Ya Allah help me. He just does it.

(وَاضْمُمْ يَدَكَ إِلَى جَنَاحِكَ تَخْرُجْ بَيْضَاءَ مِنْ غَيْرِ سُوءِ آيَةً أُخْرَى - wadhmum yadaka ila janahika takhruj baydaa'a min ghairi soo'in ayatan ukhra) (Quran (20:22) Put your hand in your pocket, in your sleeve. You take it out. It's gonna be white. Another miracle I'm giving to you. (لِنُرِيَكَ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا الْكُبْرَى اذْهَبْ إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّهُ طَغَى - linuriyaka min ayatina alkubra izhab ila fir'awna innahu tagha) Quran 20:23-24) This is to show you from the greatest of my miracles, of our miracles. Go to Firaun. He's rebelled.

Musa's Situation and Allah's Command

Now so far Allah has asked him for a few things. Some pretty shocking things. He's asked him to grab a snake. He's asked him to, you know, his hand is changed in color entirely. I mean your physical being. This is not just your clothes. It's part of yourself. When part of yourself completely changes, imagine someday you notice a big mole, or a growth, or your skin color is totally changed.

What would you do? You'd be in immediate shock. What's going on? Am I okay? I need to go see a doctor. I need to go to the hospital. Something's wrong. But MusaAlayhi Salaam has no reaction. He's fine to all of this.

Go to Firaun. Go to Firaun. He's the one in fact that has rebelled.

At this point, MusaAlayhi Salaam makes dua. He actually, this is the first amr that AllahAzzawajal gave MusaAlayhi Salaam. This is the first command Allah gave MusaAlayhi Salaam. That he didn't just do it. He said, Ya Allah, before I do it, I need some help.

The Lesson on Seeking Help

And so now we're learning that when Allah tells us to do something, and it's hard. Sometimes we think things are hard, but you know, if you have courage, Allah will let you do it. But you get to a point where you think even I, with all my courage, this is even too hard for me. That is the time you turn to Allah, and you don't say, Ya Allah, I can't do it.

You ask Allah for what you need, so you can do it. You ask Allah for what you need, so you can do it. So let me repeat this point. Because it's of paramount importance. There are people, when they come across the command of Allah, they come across something Allah expects them to do. Their reaction is, Ya Allah, I can't do it.

Ya Allah, I'm not capable. It's above my capability. There are other people, the dua here suggests, Ya Allah, I know I can't do it, but Ya Allah, give me what I need, so I can do it.

I'm going to try anyway, but I think I'm going to fail. I'm going to try anyway. But if you can help me, by your help I will succeed. So we don't start with, I can't do it. Every time you get to a point where you say and I say, I can't do it, we turn to Allah and dua. That's our iman.

We turn to Allah, and we ask Him for help, because actually the realization is, we can't do anything on our own anyway. It is from the help of Allah. It is by the qudra of Allah, by the kun from Allah, that everything comes to be. But we have to do our part at least.

Understanding Musa's Challenge

So now what does he ask? It's incredible. He's going to go to Firaun, and go talk to him. He could have asked for a lot of things. Now imagine what he has to do. I want you to understand what he has to do.

He is a fugitive, alayhis salam. He killed someone by accident, and ran away from Egypt. So the moment he goes back, the first people he has to deal with, is the military and the police. Because they've been looking for him. They've had a warrant out for his arrest. He's wanted for murder.

He's not welcome back in the city. He can't just walk in. And he's not just somebody, who people won't recognize. He's actually, he lived the life of a prince. He lived in the castle. Everybody knows his face.

So he walks in. People go, is that Musa? And word will spread immediately. And when word spreads, obviously the police will find out. And when they find out, their instructions among them, are not to arrest him. (إِنَّ الْمَلَأُ يَأْتَمِرُونَ بِكَ لِيَقْتُلُوكَ - inna almala'a ya'timiroona bika li yaqtulooka) (Quran (28:20) The chiefs, the police chiefs, had already made a plan, that as soon as they see him, they're not going to arrest him. They will kill him.

So imagine, the police aren't looking to arrest the criminal. The police are told, shoot to kill. The kill order has been given. Now Allah is telling him, don't go to Egypt. Going to Egypt may be even easy. Maybe you can hide and get into Egypt.

And not even go back to, you know, see your mother, or go somewhere to see your brother. Go to who? Fir'aun.

Where's Fir'aun? He's sitting outside at the train station somewhere? Fir'aun is up in the castle.

In the most secure building in all of Egypt. So he doesn't, he can't hide. He has to go directly all the way to the doors, of that White House back in the day. And he has to knock on the doors of security. And he has to say, I have an appointment with Fir'aun. And all of these police officers, and all the security guard, what are their instructions? Kill him immediately.

Kill him immediately. So I would expect, that he would turn to Allah and say, Ya Rabb, you want me to go talk to Fir'aun? Can you deal with his army? Can you put them all to sleep, so I can go talk to him? Or can you pull him out of Egypt, so I can talk with him over here? It might be safer for me. Or can you just magically fly me over there, and I'll just end up in the castle, and I can talk to him.

And my problem is solved, you want me to speak to him, I'll speak to him that way. Because I won't even get to him. How am I even gonna get to him? But he asks for none of this. He asks for none of this.

The First Request: Expanding the Chest

Actually in this du'a, what he asks for is remarkable. He says

Ya Allah, my master, expand my chest.

When he thinks about going to Fir'aun, all of these thoughts are going in his mind, and he's becoming nervous, he's becoming scared, he's becoming worried, am I going to be able to do this? Am I gonna get

killed? Ya Allah, the first thing I need to do, to fulfill your command, is I need to calm down.

And sometimes when I get nervous, and I get scared, or I get full of emotion, overwhelmed, depressed even, then sometimes we can't even control our own emotions. Allah is telling us in this ayah, that even the best of us, sometimes we don't even have control over our own emotions, Allah has to give sharh al- sadr.

Allah will calm the heart down. Ya Allah, before I do what you want me to do, I have to be calm in my heart.

Subhan Allah.

The first thing you need is itminan al-qalb. And this heart, later on you will learn, because when he is with his brother Haroonalayhim assalam, when both of them are together, they even say, how am I going to keep my chest calm? How am I supposed to not get nervous? When the police sees me, when everybody else sees me, when people call names, when they point at me, how am I supposed to not worry about any of that?

They even mention together,

And it's coming later in the same surah. So we can do a lot of dhikr of you, tasbih of you, and mention you a lot, because you've been keeping an eye on us all along.

Allah's Protection Throughout Life

In other words, you've been keeping an eye on me since my birth. I should have died the day I was born, because the soldiers were looking to kill him. And he could have died when his mother threw him in the basket.

To throw him in the basket, just throwing a baby can kill him, can't it? Then to throw the baby into the river, the basket could flip over, he could have died there too. Then The basket will hit the shore. When the basket hits the shore, he could get killed again.

Then he goes inside, and when the soldiers see him, they could kill him right on sight. Then he's almost dehydrating, the baby is not drinking any milk. He could have died then too. There are like 10 times he could have died, from the time from back then. So he says, Ya Rabb, You've been keeping me alive all this time, I know You'll keep me alive, but I need to remember that. Sometimes it's easy to say it, it's hard to remember it.

So he says along with his brother

You've been keeping an eye on me all along. Ya Allah, how will You let me go now?

The Source of Calmness

So now what gives calmness of the heart? What gives us calmness of the heart when we have a difficult task in front of us is a lot of dhikr of Allah that Allah is watching.

(Quran )9:

Controlling Emotions for Da'wah

Now, courage alone is not enough. It's the first step though. You have to be calm and you have to have courage. And you have to have inshiraah al-sadr. The other implication of this that I want to mention just of

(Quran 20:25) is when you go, and Musa a.s. we know when he sees injustice, he gets angry. It angers him.

And he takes matters in his own hand, like he did with the two girls and the sheep. So when he sees Firaun, he's one of the worst criminals in all of human history, obviously the kinds of things Firaun says would make anybody angry, not to mention Musa a.s. When Firaun says,

(Quran) (79:24) He says, I am your high master. I am the Rabb.

(Quran 28:38) He says things like, Oh, let me make up my own tower. I'll go climb and talk to Musa's God myself. That's what he says in the Qur'an.

When he says things like that, even it makes us angry. Can you imagine Musa a.s.? And by the way, when you get angry, you cannot do da'wah. When you get angry, you cannot do da'wah.

So even though he's going to go before someone who will make him very angry, he needs to keep his chest calm. He needs to keep it expanded. He cannot get uncomfortable.

So we're learning that the mission of Allah, of talking to those who have rebelled against Allah, has to be carried by people who know how to control their temper. And if they cannot control their temper, if they have an anger problem, then they have to turn to Allah and say,

(Quran 20:25) My master, ease me. Calm my chest.

Practical Application in Da'wah

A lot of young people are excited about da'wah. They go to the university. They see their non-Muslim friend. Or they see a Muslim brother who doesn't pray or whatever. And they start giving them da'wah. And this guy doesn't care about deen.

And he starts saying some ridiculous things that make you angry. Well, the Quran, you know, it has some contradictions. Or, I don't know, I don't really believe in hadith. Or whatever. They say some stupid things. And then you hear them, you go, what? It's kufr, man.

And you get so angry at them. And that's the time to remember,

(Quran 20:25(

If Musa alayhi salam has to speak with Fir'aun Quran) اشرح لي صدري 20:44) And speak to him with soft words, perhaps he will remember or fear.

The guy sitting next to you in the restaurant is not Fir'aun, buddy. Relax. Relax. Take it easy. People can say obnoxious things. This guy used to say he's God himself. And Allah said be nice to him too. Be nice to him also.

So we need to learn to calm down a little bit. This is the meaning of this da'wah. What's the point of these da'wahs if we don't reflect on them? And we don't understand what Allah azza wa jalla is saying.

Understanding Emotional States

(Quran 20:25) Ya Allah, keep my chest calm. I need to have confidence and I need to have calmness. Also, شرح الصدر Another meaning of that is there's discomfort, there's fear, there's depression, there's anxiety.

In emotions, there are a range of negative emotions. There's a range of negative emotions. And what are the positive emotions? Calmness, relaxation, happiness, confidence. These are positive emotions. When somebody, in old Arabic, when somebody experiences positive emotions, then they are said to have شرح الصدر Then their chest is open. And when someone is uncomfortable emotionally, they're stressed out, they're depressed, they're scared, they're angry, then that is called ضيق صدر a tight chest.

Or

He's got he's got tightness or discomfort or uncomfortable feelings in his chest. And so Musa a.s. is saying, Ya Allah, this is a pretty tough job. There are times where I'll be afraid, there are times where I'll be angry, there are times where I might even get depressed because I see no results, this guy is not changing.

Emotional Stability for Islamic Work

I might go through a score of negative emotions. And Ya Allah, you need to give me something that will keep me emotionally stable and positive. The da'i, the one who goes on the mission of Allah, the one who calls others to Allah has to remain positive.

Depressed people, scared people, nervous people and angry people can't carry Allah's job. That's a big job. You have to have people that are happy, that are calm, that exude positivity. When people are around them, they become positive. They want to be around them and not run away from them. That's the kind of people that da'at have to be.

The Second Request: Making the Mission Easy

Now about the mission itself very quickly. He says,

(Quran (20:25) And then he says,

(Quran 20:26) And Ya Allah, you make my mission easy for me. You make my mission easy for me.

You're the one who gave me this mission. But as skilled as Musa alayhi salam is, and Allah's choice is perfect. When Allah chose Musa alayhi salam to take on Firaun and to challenge him, there's no better qualified candidate on the face of the earth at the time than Musa alayhi salam.

So Allah knows what he's doing. He's right for the job. And now we're learning, even if you're the most qualified to do a job, your qualifications, as good as they are, they are never enough. Allah has to make ease on his end. Allah will make ease on his end. And these two things have to come together.

Musa alayhi salam has to make his effort. But his effort alone will not give victory. It will come when Allah makes the task easy.

The Balance Between Effort and Divine Help

You see there are two sides of this that I'd like to explain as simply as I can. For myself and for all of you to remember inshaAllah ta'ala. It's a concept of our book. It's a concept that our messenger taught alayhi salatu wasalam in many different ways. And this is just one example of them.

Two Extremes to Avoid

There are some people who believe that they can accomplish anything. They can accomplish anything. And there are positivity seminars and self-help programs and motivational programs and entrepreneurial programs. And these gurus charge thousands of dollars to come to their program.

And they say, you can do anything man. You can make a million dollars this year. And people say, yes I can. Yes I can do that. You have to believe in yourself. And there are people like, yes I can accomplish anything I want.

And they walk out of there. Everybody walks out like Firaun. Like I can do anything. You know. I believe in myself. Which is actually part of that is a good thing. To believe in yourself is a good thing. It's not a bad thing. But you know what? If you only believe in yourself and if you incorrectly believe in yourself it becomes kibber. It becomes arrogance. It becomes a disease of the heart.

How do you balance that? How are you supposed to have confidence in yourself and humility at the same time? On the other extreme you have people who say, Ya Rabb, You do everything. I am nothing so I can do nothing. Nothing I do means anything. Because You're the one who controls everything.

So this guy doesn't apply for a job. He doesn't go out and get a degree in college. He doesn't pursue an education. He doesn't take care of his family. And when you say, Why don't you do anything? Allah will

provide. Akhi, I am nothing. What can I do? I'm just a miskeen. There's two extremes. One guy says he can do everything. The other guy says he can do nothing.

The Islamic Balance

Our deen teaches us a balance in between. Allah is the one who gave us our capabilities. It is a trust Allah gave you. It is a trust Allah gave me. Your intellect, your physical strength, your talent, your work ethic, your ability to get work done. That ability came as a gift, as an amanah, as a trust from Allah. And then, after He gave you this gift, it is a violation. It is being ungrateful that you don't work to your full potential.

This is why the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, to us, to the believers, that whenever you do something, that you should do it to perfection. Allah made you in the best possible way. Why shouldn't you do anything less?

There should never be a college student who is Muslim, who accepts mediocre grades. It shouldn't exist. There should never be a Muslim running a business who just kind of does business. He should be the best at his business. There shouldn't be an okay Muslim doctor. He should be the best doctor there possibly could be. This is an amanah Allah gave you.

You know. Even if you are a taxi driver, you are the best taxi driver in town. Doesn't matter what you do, you do it the best. Nobody does it better than you. That's the attitude of a Muslim. But, what balances that attitude and what keeps it from turning into arrogance, is that you constantly remind yourself, on the one hand, my ability is not mine.

Allah is the one who gave me this ability.

(Quran (20:41) Musa is told, I crafted you for myself. I made you the way you are. All of your abilities are actually given by me. So you remind yourself of that. And then, whenever you think of a task, a mission, and we think to ourselves, yeah, that's easy man, I've done it a hundred times, I could do this.

Remembering Allah's Role in Success

You know, kids that are good at math, you give them a math problem, they say, easy. Nothing. You know. You tell some kid, you know, I need you to do this work or that work. Yeah, I've done this. I got this man, it's easy for me.

Actually, even when it's easy for you, as a matter of iman, to remind ourselves, that it's not easy for you because you're awesome. It's easy for you because Allah made it easy for you. And you know what happens to people? This is the last thing I'm sharing with you inshaAllah ta'ala.

There are people who Allah makes many things easy for them. Please listen to this carefully. Allah makes many things easy for them. For some of you, Allah made money easy for you. It's just easy for you. For

some of you, confidence is easy. It's no big deal. Other people get nervous, you don't get nervous. For some students of mine, studies are easy.

Like I study, I teach Arabic. Some of my students, wallahi, I can tell Allah made Arabic easy for this one. And the other one

He wasn't made to study Arabic. He's the smartest guy in his field. He will be a PhD in physics. He can't do

. He can't do it. You know? He wasn't made for it. It's tough for him.

Not everybody is the same. Now what happens is, when people get used to success, Allah makes one thing easy, then He makes the next thing easy, and He makes the next thing easy, and the next thing easy. Is everything always going to be easy? No.

Learning from Failure and Success

Sometimes you will fail. There's a student who gets used to getting a hundred the first time, the second time, the third time, the fourth time, and the fifth time he gets a fifty. All of a sudden. And he's used to what? A hundred. So he said, Oh, forget it. I am worthless. Allah is no longer with me. You know, what's the point now? Because you get used to writing so high. That one little failure, one setback, and you're just crushed.

You're completely crushed. What's the point? I'm dropping out of school. I don't want to do this anymore. I hate this. You know what? This is when you didn't remind yourself, at every single success, that that success was a combination of two things. Your effort, and Allah's help.

Every single hundred you got before, wasn't because it was easy. You put effort, and Allah gave His barakah. You put effort, and Allah gave His barakah. And this time when it doesn't happen, two things could be wrong. Number one, maybe you didn't put enough effort. And when you don't put enough effort, Allah does not give His barakah.

And maybe even if you put effort, Allah decided that He will not give you barakah, maybe that's better for you.

A Real Life Example

One of my best friends in life, used to be a Hindu. And he wanted to go to med school. And he was a straight A student. Straight A's his entire life. Perfect scores. Highest scores in the SATs. Applied to med school, he was expecting a full scholarship. He got rejected.

He was completely shattered. He ended up in a different university. He decided to do computer science instead. And he was completely, he's still a Hindu, he's completely depressed. Except he met people in his new college, Muslims. Who he started hanging out with, and within two years he took shahada.

And he looks back now, he goes, thank Allah I didn't make it to med school. When I failed med school, I thought it was the worst thing that ever happened to me. And now I look back at my life, and I say, I failed med school, it is the best thing that ever happened to me.

You know? His kids, his kids are memorizing Quran. Can you imagine? His kids are memorizing Quran. His father, when he became Muslim, they dragged him to, his father got so like, shocked, he took him to India to beat Hinduism back into him. And he ran away from, they came back. You know? Now his kids are memorizing Quran. SubhanAllah.

So we have to, sometimes we have to have trust in Allah. We get used to riding a high wave, and one little setback comes, and we lose our trust in Allah.

The Other Extreme

And then there are others, who Allah gives you one difficulty, then He gives you another difficulty, then He gives you another difficulty, and He gives you another difficulty. And you start believing that I will never accomplish anything. My life is just difficult man. Everything is hard for me. I keep getting fired. I keep failing my test. I keep doing that.

You get depressed. And even this one has to remember, that success, in this world, everything that happens, is a combination of two things. I have to put in my effort, and Allah will make the task easy.

The Eloquence of the Dua

I know I said last, but I have one minute left, might as well use it for something. I'll share this last thing with you. There are two parts of this du'a so far. It's not even the whole du'a. I just wanted to share these two statements with you.

"[My Lord, expand for me my breast (with assurance) And ease for me my task]"

There's a sir balaghi, there's a very beautiful eloquence to this statement.

The Sequence Matters

Allah is teaching us, that if you have a calm heart, if you have a positive attitude, and you have tawakkul in Allah, and you put your work in, then Allah will make your mission easy. But if you start with the attitude, I know it's not gonna work anyway, but I'll try. You already began with a defeated attitude, Allah will not make your task easy for you.

You have to come with sharh al-sadr, you have to have an open chest, a positive attitude, believe that Allah will give you success in what you do. And if He doesn't give it to you, well, you know, you're still saying alhamdulillah, but you don't walk into an effort, you don't start a project, you don't start doing any work, and you begin with saying, I'm probably not gonna succeed anyway, given my track record. You don't begin with that attitude.

Then Allah will not make your job easy for you. So if we have that good heart before Allahazza wa jal, Allah will make our task easy for us. Subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Conclusion

With that, I pray that Allahazza wa jal gives us all the ability to take advantage of the wisdom of the great prophets of Allahalayhimu sallatu wa sallam that is captured in their duas. They said such few words, but they told us so much of how to better our lives as believers, and how to live our lives successfully for Allah'sdeen, and also make the best of this dunya. May Allahazza wa jal make us find the balance between this deen and this dunya as He intends it, and may Allah put all of us to the service of His beautiful deen, and this ummah.

Closing

"Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded."

"Recite, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows that which you do."

"O servants of Allah, may Allah have mercy on you, fear Allah. Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded. Establish prayer. Indeed, prayer prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows that which you do. Indeed, prayer has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times, the Praiseworthy, the Glorious."