Sheikh

Meaning what they are doing, what the Ansar are doing now is life. That's life. A life of restriction for the sake of Allah brings you expanse.

"And from the injustice and transgressions and oppression of other systems to the justice of Islam."

Islam opens it up. Allah says:

"Oh My servants, I have made oppression haram on Myself, and I've made it forbidden between you, so don't wrong one another." Reference: Sahih Muslim 2577

If I have made it restricted on Myself, because usually when a person wrongs another person, they do it out of that false sense of power, that false sense of empowerment.

When a master would beat his slave, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) walked by one time, and a man was beating his slave. And what did the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) say to him? He said to him, Allah is more capable of doing that to you than you are of doing that to Him. Don't think you have power.

You know, husbands that oppress their wives and sometimes vice versa. Don't think you have power. Don't think that because in your home you can act out in a cowardly fashion, which is truly a cowardly fashion, and lay your hand on your spouse and hit her. And that Allah will not hold you accountable for that.

You have no power. When we see the tyrants of the world today, and how relevant with the news that's been coming out of the world in the last few days. When we see the tyrants of the... Don't think that they have actual power.

They're weak. They're cowards. Allah will show them how weak and flimsy their power actually is.

The Power of Prostration

So Ribi makes this statement in front of Rustum, in front of all of his cronies, to show that Islam is a religion of empowerment. Allah knowing Allah brings liberation to the heart, the soul, the mind, and the body in a different way altogether.

And subhanAllah, Rustum wanted to humiliate him. So Rustum made him carry this huge pot of dirt. And he brought it back to Sa'd ibn Abi Waqas. And look at how Sa'd. Sa'd said:

"This is him conceding his land to us."

This means we're gonna win. They saw it as empowerment. Everything was a sense of empowerment.

Now subhanAllah, that was already half of my talk and that was just the first sentence on my page. The point is, dear brothers and sisters, the more you submit yourself to Allah, the more empowered you become, the more you elevate.

And that's why the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, the closest you are to Allah is when? Is when? In what position? In your sujood, in your prostration.

Think about how humiliating of a position sujood is. Think about how humiliating it is. You're putting your face on the ground, kneeling in every way possible to Allah. It's a humiliating position, right? But to Allah, it's powerful.

And Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله) said, the more you lower your body physically, the more Allah allows your soul to ascend. The soul becomes closest to Allah. The more you lower yourself physically, the closer you will be with the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) which is why he told Rabi'a ibn Ka'b al-Aslami (رضي الله عنه):

"Support me in bringing you closer to me by prostrating more." Reference: Sahih Muslim 489

The more you put yourself down to Allah, the more Allah allows you to elevate. The more Allah allows you to rise.

The Story of Malcolm X

You know, some of you might have had the opportunity, obviously we're in Malaysia, but might have had the opportunity to read about Malcolm X (رحمه الله). There's a very powerful autobiography of Malcolm X (رحمه الله) compiled by Alex Haley.

And he talks about Malcolm X was someone that spent his entire life being told that he wasn't good enough. It's very powerful. When he was a child, and he was a bright child, his teacher asked him what he wanted to be and he said he wants to be a lawyer. She said, no, no, no, that's not befitting for a black person. She didn't use the word black, she used a much more derogatory word. Why don't you be a carpenter or something? Why don't you do something that will involve your hands? You people aren't good with your minds.

SubhanAllah, can you imagine a child hearing that? I want to be a doctor. No, no, look. It's okay, Malcolm. Stick to what's in your capability. Stick to what's in your capacity. Experiencing racism his entire life. Experiencing white supremacy his entire life. Experiencing then prison. And you know, prison is a very humiliating experience.

It breaks you down. And that's why most people come out of prison worse than when they went in. It breaks you down mentally, emotionally, physically, everything. They come out worse most of the time. Because it takes a strong will to be able to go through that and to still feel like you can achieve in life.

And so when Malcolm started to do salah properly, he said that he couldn't make himself do sujood. He couldn't make himself prostrate because he felt like that would be belittling. He felt like it would put him down. And subhanallah, can you imagine the man, and this is his honesty, when he would do salah, he would do ruku' and instead of doing sujood, he would fall on his knees.

He wouldn't do sajdah until he forced himself into a position of prostration. And he said, once I went into prostration, I never wanted to get up. I realized that submitting myself to Allah is different than submitting myself to anyone of His creations. It's empowerment. It's liberation. It's growth.

The soul ascends to Allah. And the more you lower yourself to Him, the more Allah will raise you.

The Nature of Dua

And you know, subhanallah, obviously the theme of dua has been running throughout this conference. Dua, dua, dua, dua. And just ask Allah:

"Just call upon Allah with confidence and Allah is going to answer you." Reference: Sunan at-Tirmidhi 3479

Just call upon Allah. Believe in your dua. But before you believe in your dua, are you asking Allah as an agent? Or are you asking Allah as your Lord? Are you talking to Allah in your dua like a businessman that's appointing an agent? Or are you talking to Allah like the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says:

"Like a poor person in need. Like someone who's begging." Reference: Sunan at-Tirmidhi 3556

Have you put yourself into a position of ubudiyyah, in a position of true servitude and slavery before you made the request of Allah? There's a reason why in Surah Al-Fatiha:

"You alone we worship" comes before (إِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ) "and from You we seek help."

The testimony that you alone, O Allah, we submit ourselves, we put ourselves into voluntary servitude, slavery to you, worship to you, O Allah. We completely submit ourselves to you. (وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ) And from you we seek help.

What's the point of going to (إِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ) if you're not going to submit yourself in ibadah first? Allah is not your insurance company. Allah is your Lord. Allah is your Rabb. Allah is your sustainer.

When you call upon Him, you call upon Him in that fashion, in that capacity.

The Example of Zakariya

And when you look at the secret of the Prophets that came before you, when they called upon Allah. You know, one of the biggest problems that we have is when we read the Quran, we read it as if it's the stories of the past, not to benefit ourselves.

When I read about Zakariya (عليه السلام),and I read about a man standing up and asking Allah for a child at that age. You know, before he asked Allah for that child, what did he do for 90 years of his life? Put himself in servitude to Allah. And even in the nature of his dua, in servitude to Allah.

But what does Allah say in the beginning of Surah Maryam?

Listen very carefully to the eloquence of the Quran. "This is a mention of the mercy of your Lord, not the Lord of Zakariya, your Lord to His servant Zakariya." Quran 19:2

You see what Allah is telling you? All these amazing stories that you're about to hear of Zakariya, and then Maryam, and then Isa, and then Ibrahim, and then Musa, and then Ismail, and then Idris. May Allah send His peace and blessings upon them all. All of those amazing stories you're about to hear, that's your Lord that was doing. The same Rabb that you call upon when you say Allahumma, is the same one that Zakariya called upon, and Maryam, and Isa, and so on and so forth.

So He says:

"This is a mention of the mercy of your Lord to His servant, Zakariya (عليه السلام)."

So that you understand, immerse yourself as an abd. He didn't say, the Rasul of Allah, Zakariya, or the Messenger of Allah, Nabiyyah Zakariya. His abd, when he enslaved himself to Allah, Allah liberated him. Allah gave him whatever he wanted.

Because the stations of people are between:

Which is why Ibn Al-Qayyim (رحمه الله) wrote, "The stations of the seekers." His entire work on the stations of the seekers is about those two verses:

"You alone we worship and enslave ourselves to, and from you alone we seek help."

In regards to what? (إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ) I trust you Allah, I'm lowering myself. I'm willing to call upon you, I'm willing to put aside all of this false sense of ego and dignity and to say, Oh Allah, I don't have the answers.

And even when I make dua to you, my confidence is not just in that, you're going to answer the dua, but you're going to answer the dua in a way that you see fit, not in a way that I see fit. Otherwise it would be a disaster.

If every time Allah answered your dua, He answered it the way you wanted it to be answered, it would be a disaster. Because you are not a planner. You can't plan properly, I can't plan properly.

It's like when a brother came to me one time and he said that, I want to marry a sister. I told him, here's how you pray salatul istikhara. He said, yeah, but this one says if she's bad for me to take her away. I don't know if I want to make that dua. Can I just ask Allah to give her to me? I'm like, alright buddy, be careful what you wish for. When she comes in your house and she starts throwing things at you, don't say, I didn't tell you so.

When you make dua to Allah, you understand that Allah's answer is better than the way you think His answer should be. And that's why Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) said, I don't concern myself with the answer to the dua, I just concern myself with the ability to make that dua.

As Ibn Ata'illah (رحمه الله) said:

"If Allah has moved your tongue to ask Him for something, know that Allah wants to give you something."

Allah is the one who moved your tongue. Allah wants to give you something. But you have to immerse yourself in a sense of servitude to Allah. Submit yourself.

Allah Works in Mysterious Ways

You know, subhanallah, we're not willing to admit that Allah works in mysterious ways. There's no doubt that. They say, God works in mysterious ways that the answer is going to sometimes be in a way that we didn't expect. I asked Allah for a promotion and I got fired the next day. Right? I asked Allah to marry the sister and her dad called me that same night and said, don't ever come back to my house.

You know, Allah does certainly work in very mysterious ways. But the crime and the pride and the arrogance is when instead of acknowledging that Allah works in mysterious ways in your benefit, you try

to render Allah incapable. And you try to instead say that either Allah cannot give me what I want or Allah is humiliating me and not giving me what I want.

That is the peak of pride and arrogance. Subhanallah, can you imagine if you don't have that belief in Allah to fall back on when trials and tribulations take place. What are you going to fall on?

And out of our arrogance and our pride, instead of acknowledging that, you know what, it doesn't make sense to you and I. But it does make sense to the only one that it needs to make sense to. Instead of acknowledging that, we'll take it and we'll just say it doesn't make sense. And purge only ourselves into darkness and misery because we will never come to terms with what is happening in the world.

The Example of Gaza

Subhanallah, in Gaza, may Allah protect the people of Gaza and the oppressed all over the world. And I was listening, you guys know the Norwegian doctor that was there and that cried, that was working for the UN. Subhanallah, I had an opportunity to meet him and he told me a story.

He said that there is an atheist doctor that said to one of the Muslim doctors in Al-Shifa, in the hospital that was constantly being bombarded and just piled up with dead bodies. He said, how is it that you people still believe in a God? How is it that you people still believe in Allah? Why are you people even bothering going to the masjid?

And you know what the man responded to him? He said, had it not been for Allah, we wouldn't be enduring the way that we are right now. Our endurance is a sign of Allah. We are an ayah of Allah.

Think about how powerful that is. We are an ayah of Allah. Had there not been Allah, we would have fallen down and stopped resisting and died and surrendered a long time ago. We are a sign of the existence of Allah.

The fact that we continue to endure and that you bomb our houses and we still go to the masjid, even as they're in pieces. And that you can't stop us from answering, hayya alas-salah, hayya alas-falah with the deafening sound of a missile. That's a sign from Allah.

That shows you that those are a people that you cannot enslave. Those are a people that you cannot put under bombardment. Those are a people that no matter what you do, you will never be able to imprison them. Because they have something that you can't take with a missile. You can't take with a tank. You can't take with a soldier. They have Allah. They have that true sense of ubudiyyah, submitting themselves to Allah.

They've truly submitted themselves to Allah. Nothing will faze a people like that. Nothing can faze us collectively or individually when we have that mindset.

The Prophet's Response to Hardship

And you know, subhanallah, if you look at the messenger (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) if you guys can say (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam), how is it that the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) was able to endure what he endured? You know what it was? The Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam), even on that day of Ta'if, as he walked 30 kilometers between those two lines and the people humiliated him and stoned him, and he didn't have the emotional support of Khadijah (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا - radiAllahu anha) anymore, or the physical protection of Abu Talib.

Rasulullah (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) didn't see those people when he called upon Allah at the end of it. He saw Allah with his heart.

What I mean by that is that had any one of us been in that situation covered in blood after 30 kilometers of that type of humiliation and emotional mental torture that's been taking place for the last 14 days as well, we would have been bitter, had vengeance, felt anger. Our entire focus in life would be switched towards how do we get back at them.

And that's why subhanallah, people that hold grudges in life, even when they succeed, if your success is only to get back at the one that you think harmed you, then you've already failed. You've already hindered your success because you've made it about them. You've allowed them to enter your heart and mind.

Rasulullah (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam) didn't see those people of Ta'if. What did he see?

"Oh Allah, as long as this is not a manifestation of your anger towards me, I don't care."

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi 3570)

Meaning, to those people it was about them, and the man that's coming to take their tribal sense of pride. To the Prophet (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ - sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam), there were only two in the equation, Allah and him.

What does Allah want from me through this? Not, I can't believe what just happened to me, and why did this happen to me. And you know what happens when you start making it about Allah, you don't ask, why is Allah doing this to me anymore? Instead you ask:

"What does Allah want from me?"

It's no longer why. It's, how does Allah expect me to rise to the occasion? What does Allah want me to do? Because I know his planning is intact. I know it.

فَهَلْ تَرَىٰ مِن فُطُورٍ

"Look up at the skies, do you see any flaws?" Quran 67:3

I know his planning is intact. I know his plan is proceeding as he decreed it, with absolute precision. Instead of asking why and killing myself over that, I ask myself, what does Allah want from me?

I don't see that Islamophobe that insulted me, or that person that was rude to me. Instead I see Allah, what does Allah want from me here? How does Allah want me to respond to this person?

You know, subhanallah, when someone insults you and tries to put you down, to that person, it's only them and you. It's their ego versus your ego. They're trying to overcome your ego with their own. But to the believer, he doesn't see the person that insulted him. He looks up and he says, Ya Allah, what do you want from me? How do you want me to respond?

Imam Abu Hanifa (رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ - rahimahullah), when there was once... You know, many people used to criticize him and attack him and insult him very rudely. Imam Abu Hanifa... I guarantee you, if the four imams had Facebook pages, their comments would be a lot worse than ours. They'd get trolled beyond trolling.

Imam Abu Hanifa (رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ - rahimahullah) says:

"Oh Allah, for those people who feel constriction in their chest towards us, our hearts have expanded towards them."

Meaning because Allah came into their hearts, their hearts expanded to be able to tolerate all of that. Their hearts are very constricted when they come with those attacks and those insults. I don't see you when you insult me. Instead I see, what does Allah want from me? What does Allah expect from me?

That's liberation, that's hope.

Being Watched by Allah

When I commit a sin, I don't see, Oh my God, what's gonna happen if people catch me? You know, some people live their lives doing good deeds for the sake of people and reputation, and also only abandoning sin when it might cost their reputation. You know, the good deeds obviously it's riya.

It's like there's a story of a man that was praying one time, and he was praying so well that the people said, MashaAllah, look at his khushu. And he called out in the middle of his salah, and he said, I'm fasting too guys. Some people will go above and beyond to show their good deeds.

Why? Because of the reputation. It's not about Allah, it's about you. I brought you into my life. I've made you that which is to be pursued. Your pleasure rather than the pleasure of Allah.

And then also with sin. I'm not worried about Allah seeing me. And think about when you sin in private. It's not about Allah, right? Because when you sin in private, you're essentially saying, it's just Allah watching me right now.

The poem that made Imam Ahmed (رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ - rahimahullah) cry. "I'm afraid my Lord will tell me on the day of judgment, weren't you shy from me and hiding those sins from my creation, but boasting or coming out audaciously with those sins when it was just me watching you. Isn't Allah's sight enough on you?"

And subhanAllah, those people that will hide their sins only for the sake of people. And so if they're alone, they have no problem doing those sins and committing those sins. Allah would humiliate them and they would lose their reputation in this world as well as being exposed on the hereafter.

But for those who sincerely repent to Allah, for Allah:

"when they wrong themselves or when they commit a shameless act, they don't think about, how am I gonna word my press release? How am I gonna explain this to other people? There are two in the equation, Allah and I. They remember Allah right away."

How did I disturb my relationship with Allah?

So when it's in hardship, they brought Allah into the equation. When it's in salah, they brought Allah into the equation. When it's in regards to your intellectual, you know, dissatisfaction with something, Allah knows best.

Liberation Through Allah

When it's in regards to your tawbah, it's about Allah. When it's in regards to an Islamophobe or someone that's attacking you for your religion or doing something to you because of your religion and you're completely innocent, it's about Allah. When it's your repentance and your own wrongdoing to yourself, it's about Allah.

That's liberation because you can never go wrong. My time is up but I wanna leave you guys with just a few thoughts inshallah. I hope inshallah.

In fairness to me, I was supposed to have 45 minutes but it said 30 minutes when I got up on the screen. So I wanna leave you guys with a couple of thoughts which I think are very important.

Number one, when you are running to Allah, you are by necessity running away from something. When you are running to Allah, you're by necessity running away from something.

Which is why when Allah mentions the pursuit of dunya, pursuit of this world. In the Quran, Allah says:

"Walk, walk at a steady pace on the shoulders of this earth, on the mountains, on the surface and pursue what Allah has provided for you."

وَكُلُوا مِن رِّزْقِهِ وَإِلَيْهِ النُّشُورُ

"Eat from His sustenance and you will one day be resurrected in His presence." So walk towards the dunya.

When Allah mentions jannah, Allah says:

وسارعوا

"Rush, run."

"Rush to the pleasure of your Lord. Rush to the jannah that Allah has promised for you that's more expansive than the heavens and the earth."

But when Allah mentions coming to Him, Allah says:

"Flee to Allah."

Run away to Allah. You have to run away to get to Allah. I'm not saying run away from home tonight. Alright. Leave your houses and say, we learned it at Imfest, alright. Run away to Allah.

What does that even mean? Al-Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim (رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ - rahimahullah) he says:

How amazing is it that you taste the hardship, the constriction that comes with having your heart attached to something other than Allah. You've tasted the hardship, the constriction that comes with having your heart attached to other than Allah. How miserable of a life that is when you depend either on your career or on a person or on money or on a certain habit that you have or something, you know, a hobby.

When you depend upon those things or gatherings or parties, when you depend upon that to feed your heart and you've tasted what it's like to be away from Allah and you don't run away from those things to the blessing of being received by Allah and turning towards Him.

You've tasted what it was like. Has turning away from Allah ever given you hope? Has it ever made you happy? Has it ever given you tranquility? How many content and tranquil atheists have you met in your life? I mean, I'm not trying to be offensive here at all.

How many soft, humble, tranquil atheists have you met in life? Have you ever found peace and satisfaction in anything but Allah? Run away from that to Allah and don't be bitter. Don't be bitter.

You know, that hope that we have in Allah should be to an extent that we understand as everything comes to us from Allah that not only is it best for us in this world, it's best for us in the hereafter.

The Example of Ibn Mas'ud

And subhanAllah, I want to leave you all with these two narrations because they're practical. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى عَنْهُ) the great companion, while he was passing away, Uthman ibn Affan (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ) visited him and he saw him very sick.

So he said to him:

"What are you complaining about? What's causing you pain?"

You know, a lot of us, when someone asks you, how is your day? You say, it's horrible. You know, this was terrible about it. I've got some pain in my knee, some pain in my neck. Had a terrible conversation with my spouse today. You know, there was traffic on the way here. The weather was awful. But alhamdulillah.

He just contradicted. He said everything that's in contradiction to alhamdulillah. But you threw in the alhamdulillah to somehow make religious your whining. By saying alhamdulillah, somehow it's like the offensive emails that say, and Allah knows best at the end of it. May Allah guide us all. Like it's somehow gonna make the content religious all of a sudden.

It doesn't change anything. Doesn't change anything about the content. So Uthman ibn Affan (رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ) comes to ask ibn Mas'ud, how are you feeling? What's causing you pain? You know what he said?

"My sins."

He said:

"What do you desire? What do you want?"

"What do you want?"

: قال

"The mercy of my Lord."

"Should I go and bring you a doctor?"

Listen to the answer of ibn Mas'ud. He says:

"The doctor is the one who prescribed my illness."

The doctor is the one who prescribed my illness. I'm content. I'm fine. Subhanallah. He's not saying it in a bitter way. He's not saying, I could have lived longer and read the Qur'an more. I could have taught people more. I could have been a stabilizing factor when fitna breaks out in this ummah. Because he clearly knew about it.

He narrated some of the hadith about the fitna. He says:

"Allah is the one. The doctor prescribed my illness. The ultimate doctor. Allah prescribed my illness."

When you think in that way, you can never be broken. No missile, no islamophobe, no rude waitress, no negative encounter, no traffic, no layoff. None of that will be able to bring you down.

Closing Du'as

And I want to leave you guys with two du'as. One of them, Imam Ahmed (رَحِمَهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى) heard a du'a from Sufyan al-Thawri. And one of his students actually saw Imam Ahmed in a dream. And in that dream, he saw Imam Ahmed strolling in jannah.

So he asked Imam Ahmed, what happened with you? So Imam Ahmed (رَحِمَهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى) said, when I met Allah, he said to me, call me with that du'a that you learned from Sufyan al-Thawri. And you know what the du'a was? It's very beautiful.

Sufyan al-Thawri used to say, and this is also narrated by Ibn Uyayna, Ya Rabb, O my Lord:

"everything is under Your dominion or Your dominion encompasses everything."

So he says:

"Your power upon everything encompasses everything. Forgive me for everything."

"So that you don't ask me about anything."

It's a tongue twister. And you guys are really tired. He said, O Allah, whose power encompasses everything. Everything falls under Your dominion. Forgive me for everything so that you don't ask me for anything. Subhanallah. And I'm not asked about anything on the Day of Judgment.

And a more simple dua, when you left your house this morning, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said when you leave your house, what do you say?

Can you guys say it with me?

"You say in the name of Allah and no power or might except that which is with Him."

What did the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) say happens when you say that? Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, a caller calls out, this authentic hadith in Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi:

"you have been guided."

You said (بِسْمِ اللهِ) in the name of Allah, you've been granted guidance.

"and you have been sufficed."

Allah will be sufficient for you. Because you put your trust in Allah.

"and Allah will protect you from all forms of harm." Reference: Sunan Abu Dawud 5095

Because you acknowledge that Allah's power encompasses everything.

Enslave yourself to Allah and find liberation. We ask Allah with what the dua of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was not to leave us to ourselves even for the blink of an eye. We don't want to be left to ourselves.

"Do not leave me, O Allah, to myself for even the blink of an eye." Reference: Musnad Ahmad 21753

And we ask Allah to not entrust us to our own selves, and to protect us, and to forgive us, and to give us hope in His mercy. While at the same time, making us able to recognize our own faults and fear them to a point that we abandon them out of our awe of Allah.