The Road Less Traveled By

The Road Less Traveled By

By Omar Suleiman

Introduction: Understanding Ghurba (Strangeness)

Usually our idea of being Qareen is walking into an IHOP wearing a Thobe, right? Or wearing Niqab in a place that's never seen Niqab and they think that you're a ninja or something like that. Like that's usually what we take as Qareen, right? And that's it. We limit it to that.

We limit it to that. This is Ghurba. Ghurba is looking weird, Ghurba is not fitting in.

But the concept of Ghurba from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم from the Sahaba, is really so much more profound than that. Especially considering that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

(Muslim)

"That Islam started as something strange, and it will go back to being strange as it started. So there's a valley guaranteed in Paradise for the strangers."

The Story of Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl

And this type of being strange did not just start with the revelation of Iqra, by the way. In fact, I want to take it back to one individual who was so admired, although he never took Shahada in his life. He never took Shahada, but he's an illustrious individual in this deen.

And that is Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl رضي الله عنه. Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl رضي الله عنه Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم talks about him. About what he used to see, the actions that he used to see from him. Before he received revelation, right? And Asma' at Abu Bakr رضي الله عنها has some narrations and things of that sort.

But essentially, Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl, he's the nephew of Al-Khattab, right? Al-Khattab is the brother of his father. Umar رضي الله عنه was his cousin. His son is Saeed ibn Zayd رضي الله عنه one of the ten guaranteed Paradise.

And he comes from a very, very, very powerful family. A very, very proud family. And Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl was from the group of people, a few people that recognized Tawheed, even when Rasulullah صلی الله عليه وسلم was not preaching it.

They recognized that there is absolutely no way that all of these idols that we're worshipping represent God. That there is absolutely no way that calling upon anyone other than Allah جل جلاله is going to do any good. And so they came together.

The Pursuit of Truth

And there's different narrations that mention different people. Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl is obviously always mentioned. Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم Abdullah ibn Jahsh, Ubaidullah ibn Jahsh, right? People that were troubled, right? By this idea of shirk.

Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه never worshipped an idol. Never worshipped an idol. SubhanAllah, from his fitrah, Abu Bakr, when he was young, his father Abu Quhafa رضي الله عنه put him in a room and he told him, you know, you need to make amends with this god of yours.

You need to worship him. So Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه started talking to him. And he said, nothing's coming out of you. You obviously mean absolutely nothing to me. He never worshipped an idol. So these men went off, you know, studying what was the natural religion to study was Christianity.

And Judaism and things of that sort, right? Things that at least represented monotheism in some form. But Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl was of a totally different level. Because not only was he curious, was he studying, but he was so firm in his tawheed that he was publicly reprimanding Quraysh for not practicing tawheed, for not implementing tawheed.

Standing for Truth Against All Odds

And Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم he narrates this about himself. Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم was a young man and he used to attend the festivals but not partake in any of their activities, right? And whenever they would serve to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم meat that was slaughtered in the name of something other than Allah جل جلاله he would simply refuse it. So Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم says, I remember one time, I was sitting down and they were passing around meat.

And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم simply refused it. Then it came to Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl and Zayd ibn Amr stood up. And he said, Allah جل جلاله sends down the rain.

Allah جل جلاله creates the animal for you. Allah جل جلاله provides the animal with the vegetation. And you worship the animal instead of Allah جل جلاله? You slaughter this animal in the name of something other than Allah جل جلاله? Right? Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم is remembering this.

And Al-Khattab, the father of Umar r.a, was always the one to run to torture Zayd. He would always be the one to slap him in the face and kick him, spit on him and tell him to go away. Right? He had that rough character.

A Touching Scene at the Ka'bah

And Asmaa r.a tells a very touching... SubhanAllah, she narrates a very, very touching incident. Think about this. She says that, I saw Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl putting his back to the Ka'bah while they were doing their rituals.

And saying, no one is on the religion of Ibrahim عليه السلام except for me. None of you are on the religion of Ibrahim عليه السلام. And he wasn't being arrogant, but he was preaching tawheed again. None of this is from Ibrahim عليه السلام. None of these idols are from the tradition of Ibrahim عليه السلام. Now something very touching happens there.

Imagine, this man did not hear Iqra. Did not hear the Qur'an being recited. You didn't have Imam Siraj or Dr. Adham Hussain back then. SubhanAllah, no one was telling him about Islam. But, look how passionate he was about it. And look how isolated he was.

The Du'a of a Seeker

Asmaa r.a says, one time I watched him. And after he said this to the people, after he was telling the people, none of you were on the religion of Ibrahim عليه السلام. He said, Allahumma, he made du'a to Allah جل جلاله. He raised his eyes to the Samaa. He said .

"Allahumma, lau anni a'lamu ayyul wujoohi ahabbu ilayka, la'abadtuka bihi, walakinni laa a'lam."

He said, O Allah, if only I knew which way was the best way to worship you, I would worship you with that. But I don't know. I don't know. Right? And in another narration, he cried and he said

"wadiyallahu anhum, rabbi ihdini ila ma yurdeek. Guide me to that which is pleasing to you." SubhanAllah, amazing.

Persecution and Standing Firm

And al-Khattab would beat him, and spit on him, and kick him, and insult him, and humiliate him, and tell him, don't come back, and disown him. You don't belong to this family. You're a disgrace to Quraysh.

And Zayd would keep coming back and saying what he would say. And not only that, without

"waidha al-mawoodatu su'ilat bi ayyi dhanbin qutilat" (Quran 81:8-9). The ayah in the Qur'an that tells you that whenever the girl who was buried alive asks, the young baby girl would ask, would be asked on the Day of Judgment, for what crime were you killed? Without that, Zayd did not just think there was something wrong with that practice of burying the young girls alive.

Saving the Innocent

Zayd radiallahu ta'ala anhu would go to the outskirts of Mecca because the practice was to take the baby girl to the outskirts, dig a ditch, dump her there, bury her, and

"yatawara minal qawmi min soo'i ma bushshira bihi" (Quran 16:59), hang your head in shame and try to avoid talking about it. This was a disgrace. SubhanAllah.

Look what Islam did. Zayd radiallahu anhu, without hearing a single message from the Qur'an or Sunnah, would go to all of those people and would say, don't bury your daughter, I will raise her, I'll take her.

Without any hadith, without any ayah, without any scholar, without any precedent, at least that he was aware of, I'll take her, I'll raise her.

SubhanAllah. And he would take all of these young girls, he would raise them until they would get to a marriageable age and then he would marry them off. Right? Now Zayd became so annoying to the people of Mecca that al-Khattab had had enough of him and had humiliated him and tortured him so bad that Zayd radiallahu anhu no longer was able to speak.

Journey for Truth and Martyrdom

And Zayd went looking for the truth. So he went to Ash-Sham. Right? He went looking in the area of Ash- Sham to see if maybe the Christians and the Jews could give him some knowledge, that if he could figure this out through them and he wasn't satisfied.

When he realized that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was about to come out from the land that he left, Zayd radiallahu anhu headed back that way. Just like Salman radiallahu anhu. But Zayd was heading towards Mecca.

Salman would head towards Medina. Right? Later on, Zayd radiallahu anhu was making his way back on the way there, he was ambushed, he was killed. So his son Saeed says to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم Ya Rasulullah, you know what my dad was like.

You know what my father was like. He didn't say لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله Right? He didn't witness that. You know what he was like though. You know, what's his situation? And what did the Prophet صلی الله عليه وسلم say? Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم said that on the day of judgment, when every prophet will be standing and behind him is his ummah, I have seen Zayd radiallahu anhu he will be standing by himself as an ummah alone, a nation alone. Subhanallah, that's how honored he is in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Source of Guidance

What was it that stirred that up in Zayd radiallahu anhu that gave him that passion? It was fitrah. It was the effort, the intention. I want to be good.

I want to please you, O Allah. As Imam al-Qayyim rahimahu Allah said

"ma uridu illa an urida ma yurid." Subhanallah, I don't desire, except to desire what he desires.

All I want is what's pleasing to you. I could care less about... You're talking about peer pressure? Seriously? Look at Zayd radiallahu anhu. What more do you want? What kind of peer pressure have we faced? Awkwardness, awkward looks, right? Feeling out of place amongst our families and amongst our communities and things of that sort.

What awkwardness have we faced compared to what Zayd radiallahu anhu was going through, right? But he only wanted what was pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so by default he became a stranger. He became a gharib.

And Rasulullahsallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, that Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala is not going to allow all that to go to waste. But the puzzling thing again, how did he know what to do with the girls? How did he know all of these things? Because Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala says what? This is the take-home message.

"walladhina jahadu feena lanahdiyannahum subulana" (Quran 29:69) Those who struggle and strive in our cause, we will guide them to our subul, to our paths.

The Paths of Guidance

And these subul are not like the subul of shaitan, right? The paths of shaitan. There's only sabilillah, we never say subulillah. These subul all lead to sabilillah.

It's not different religions and these types of things. It's not, you know, it's not that, it's not different schools of thoughts, you know, or different schools of creed. No, this isn't what it's talking about.

You're missing the complete point. But Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala will guide a person to ihsan. Ihsan in different areas because we were not all created the same way.

Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala did not create everyone to be a scholar and a da'i. Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala did not create everyone to be a generous person that's always going to cut the check, the big check, right? That's always going to rescue the fundraiser. Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala did not create everyone the same and Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala did not create everyone with the same abilities.

But Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala gave everyone a means of elevation and a way that that person could be elevated in his sight, subhanAllah. There is no person in here who is at loss. In the story of the woman who used to have epilepsy in the time of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, right? She used to fall, she used to have seizures and fall and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would tell her, you know, when she asked the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam to make dua for her cure, the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said to her, what? I can make dua and you will be cured and it will be over.

But if you are patient, you will enter Jannah. If you are patient with it, you will enter Jannah. Dua is permissible.

Finding Your Path to Excellence

You didn't ask for something that's wrong. You can ask for dua, but if you are patient, this could be the best thing that ever happened to you because this is guaranteed Jannah for you. And, you know, someone came to my mind.

Any of you have seen Abdullah from Saudi Arabia who was paralyzed from neck down? The video of what are your three wishes and these types of things. So, Abdullah is a da'iya in Saudi Arabia who, before he became paralyzed, was not a very religious person. He almost drowned and he had to have operations and things of that sort and he lost function in all of his body, neck down.

And now he dedicated his life to da'wah, right? And his videos on YouTube, I don't care if you have the hardest heart in this audience or in the world, you will cry. You will cry. If you watch that alone and you watch the way he answers questions, the way he talks about his life, the way he reflects, it's unbelievable.

And subhanAllah, you know, in the Middle East, he'll have thousands and thousands of people, shuyukh, scholars, in tears, wailing. Why? Because that's how powerful his story is that a person, even in that situation, found a way to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He found his path, right? He found his way.

He found his part of ihsan. He found his role to play in this life and it was to tell everyone else, basically, your hardship is nothing and my hardship, which is much greater than your hardship, is nothing because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us enough to be grateful for. Right? And I was thinking to myself, subhanAllah, I mean, imagine a Muslim who's born in a household, right? Where they've been taught Quran their entire lives and this happened so many times.

The first mini crisis they faced in their lives, they wanted to get married to a person, that didn't work out. They start saying, Allah doesn't exist. Why is God doing this to me? Who is Allah? Why does Allah hate me? This whole, you know, and they throw out everything they've heard their entire lives out the window.

Why? Because they faced a mini crisis, not a crisis on that scale.

"walladhina jahadu feena lanahdiyannahum subulana" (Quran 29:69) Those who strive for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah will guide them. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will guide them to their path of Ihsan.

Multiple Doors to Excellence

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will guide them, either from the door of Sadaqah, either from the door of Dawah, either from the door of Ilm. Whatever it is, they will find their... And you know what? As brother Faraz was mentioning (بِالْمَعْرُوفِ مِنَ الْأَذًى وَبَرُّوا - "bil ma'roofi minal adha wabarroo") They'll find it through their parents. It starts at home, right? Those who are closest to you, those who are in your own household, are most deserving of seeing the religiosity that's affected your life.

This, you know, inspiration in your life. They're most deserving of seeing your Ihsan. Right? You find it through your parents.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave you older, sick parents. You find it through a brother or a sister that was falling. And you were there to help them.

Right? You find it somehow. And that makes you different. You know why? Because you're looking for the pleasure of whom? You're looking for the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

True Ghurba - Being Strange for Allah

And that's what غربة is. And unfortunately, what happens is that we have... You know, sometimes we live lives that are so purposeless that when do we feel غربة? When we're in an environment that actually means something. Right? When you go to the masjid and people are talking about religion too much, you as a Muslim sometimes are uncomfortable.

Right? Like, hey, let's talk about something else. You know? And part of that is the fault of the older generation who turned the masjid into... And by the way, alhamdulillah for America again. You think the vision is bad here? Go to the UK.

Right? Nothing. Nothing like that. But we feel غربة in the masjid. We feel uncomfortable. We feel uncomfortable if we're in an Islamic convention sometimes and people are talking about religion too much. You know? If our friends start talking about deen too much, you're weirding me out, man.

You know? Why are you being like this? Right? It's supposed to be the opposite. We're supposed to feel awkward and uncomfortable with things that are displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But I guarantee you many of us as Muslim youth, let's face it.

We feel more comfortable in a grocery store with the liquor right behind our backs than in the masjid. Right? We feel more غربة in the masjid than we would in the grocery store. We've accepted that.

But, you know, this is weird. This whole talk about akhira and death. Don't talk about death too much.

Right? The days of Umar ibn Abdulaziz rahimahullah Umar radiallahu anhu used to gather the scholars of Medina every single night in his khilafah to talk about death. Very pessimistic, right? That's how we would think. Like, that's too much death.

Don't talk about death. Don't talk about akhira too much. Right? It dampens our moods.

Finding Meaning and Purpose

And that's not the attitude that we should have. The attitude is, what can I do to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? What can I do to have a meaningful life? A meaningful life. Find meaning in my life.

Find a purpose in my life where I'm not just sheep. You know, where I'm not just doing what everybody else is doing. And where I have enough confidence and enough self-esteem to try to build my own identity.

Not because I have pride in myself or my own abilities. But pride in whom? (فَهُمَا عَزِيزٌ بِعِزَّةِ اللهِ - "fahuma azeezun bi-izzati Allah.") Pride in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, what He has given you.

The deen that He has given you. Finding meaning. Once you have that, as al-Ghazali rahimahullah said,

"idha al-mar'u kaanat lahu fikrah fa fee kulli shay'in lahu ibrah."

Once a person is thinking about something, when you're deeply thinking about something, everything lends itself to that thought. Everything around you lends itself to that thought. Right? You're thinking about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, this means something to you all of a sudden.

Right? A person that you would have never looked at, you know, before, means something to you all of a sudden. Things start having meaning that otherwise would have had no meaning whatsoever and would have had nothing to do with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in your mind or your perception. But now you're thinking.

Now your interest has become pleasing Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

"Allahumma ihdini ila ma yurdeek." Right? Guide me to what pleases you.

Three Elements of Happiness

And you know as, subhanAllah, because I don't want to add the very practical talk which was given by brother Faraz or follow up a very practical talk with a very impractical talk. I remember once reading a book about, it was conquering your depression. Something along the lines of conquering your depression.

Right? Finding purpose in life. And basically the author, and I remember his last name was Addison. I remember his last name was Addison.

I was thinking about it all the way here. But the author, what he was saying is that there's this perception that you need people, that you need companionship to be happy. And he said that's not true.

He said there are three elements of happiness. Something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. Something to look forward to.

He said if a person has those three elements, that person will be happy. And every time you see a depressed person, it's because they might have excelled in two of those categories, but totally failed in one. So for example, a celebrity or an athlete or someone who achieves fame and achieves money and lives out all of their livestreams and their lifestyles and things of that sort.

Once they get up there, they have nothing to hope for anymore. My goal was dunya, and I got it. And you know what? It wasn't all that it was made up to be.

I might as well go kill myself. Right? I might as well do drugs until I die. You know? So I'm found dead in a pitiful state in some hotel room somewhere.

Right? Why? I lost something to hope for. I lost meaning. Something to hope for.

That was gone. And imagine subhanAllah, the highest rate of suicide in this country is for the class that earns over $250,000 a year. The highest income earning class in this country has the highest suicide rate.

The Danger of Losing Purpose

I'm done. I've got nothing to hope for. And then we've got other people that, you know, the goal is to work to retirement. MashaAllah, sometimes you meet youth and stuff like that and then they get involved in some pyramid scheme and stuff like that and some marketing gig. Right? And my goal is to be financially, you know, financially independent and to retire by the age of 25. MashaAllah. Good. Good job. Good luck with that, buddy.

You know? What happens when people retire? You know what happens when people retire? They get bored. I need something to do. My life has lost meaning.

You know? I need to start walking around. I need to start getting more, you know, involved. Athletically, I need to do more exercise, fitness.

I need to go play in bingo tournaments or something. Right? But, I can't sit home. Right? Vacations are nice for a week or two weeks but once I'm sitting down, I mean, it's like, you know, all of us, all of us want to be able to have that day where you can just sleep in.

Right? And not have to worry about anything and not answer the phone or at least that's what I look forward to. Right? A chance just to like lay back and okay, I'm going to sleep in today and I'm going to pray fajr and go back to sleep for a little bit. All of us like to do that once in a while.

It's a problem if you do it every day. Right? But once in a while, you want to sleep but imagine what happens when you stay in your bed for an entire week. It's miserable.

When you're in the hospital, you get depressed. You're not doing anything. Right? Even if your condition is over with, you're not doing anything.

That laziness has now turned into depression because you're not doing anything. You're not productive anymore. And at the end of the day, every single human being has to feel like they're producing.

They're doing something in life. Right? My life has to have meaning. And when you look at the Sahaba of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) they always found a way to please Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Sahaba's Dedication

They always found something to do. There was no way that you could tell one of the companions of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) just take it easy and we'll talk about the hour in two weeks or something like that. In fact, when Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) would try to tell them, you know, to calm down, they would insist.

Right? Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) tells Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Al-As (رضي الله عنه). You know, don't read the Qur'an every single day. The whole Qur'an. He's finishing the whole Qur'an. Ya Rasulullah, I can do it. No, finish it in three days.

Some Sahaba, yes, they were capable. But Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) knew he was going to burn out. So finish the Qur'an over three days if you want. Right? Pray one third of the night. Don't spend the entire night in prayer. Fast every other day.

Don't fast every day. Why?

"la takoonu ka rajulin kaana yaqoomul layla fatarakah" Right? Don't be like a person that he would say later on in his life, I used to pray قيام الليل. Right? I got burned out.

Because you always need something to do and Abdullah ibn Amr would insist and say to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) I can do more. I can do more. And with that, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) literally told him, don't go out doing da'wah yet.

You're weak. You don't have any protection here. People are going to beat you silly.

He couldn't help it. It was in his nature. Why? Because he had a purpose.

He had a meaning now. So he went out and he did da'wah and he got beat silly. And you know what? He did it again and again and again and again.

Meaning, purpose. Something was there now. You know, Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) Tell the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) take everything.

Everything. I'm giving everything to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says, no, hold on to some of it. You're not Abu Bakr, buddy. You're awesome, but you're not Abu Bakr. Right? Not many people can do that. Right? So the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said

"amsik alayka ba'da maalik" Keep some with you.

He said, okay, I'll keep some of the spoils from Khaybar. Okay, fine. Just keep some.

Right? Keep something. And subhanAllah, the sahaba constantly had purpose and meaning and it wasn't just the sahaba. It was anyone who followed in their footsteps.

The Example of Imam Nawawi

(الإمام النووي رحمه الله تعالى) This might blow some of you away. If you know anything about Imam Nawawi, you'll know that when you walk into a library, almost half the books are written by him. Right? The work that he's been able to produce in almost every area.

رياض الصالحين Masterpiece. أربعين نووي For those you know أربعين نووي We didn't teach courses on the 40 hadith of Nawawi. We do, right? Right? And All of that.

Do you know that Imam Nawawi (رحمه الله) died in his 30s? In his 30s. Seriously, when you think of someone like Imam Nawawi, you're thinking about the guy with the great beard who was sitting and was barely alive in his wheelchair, right? I've spent all these years putting myself in this position. Now I can write books.

He died in his 30s. He had purpose. He had meaning.

Right? And he didn't have to indulge in the things that are meaningless but unfortunately are being thrown at us and hurled at us every single day from the dunya. Why? Because once you have purpose, once you have meaning, you'll always have something to do. Right? Something to love.

And this was, I remember reading this book. So often, companionship, you know, it fulfills this category. It fulfills the requirement of this category.

But it's not the only thing. If you love something enough, then you don't need anything else. If you love something enough.

When you love Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala enough. And you know, unfortunately, I'm not in the category where I love Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala that I'm completely independent of other things. Right? Independent of other people and those types of things.

And I don't think anyone in this room is. But we should aspire for that. But the more you love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the more you excel in the other two categories.

The more you find to do and the more you find to hope for. Right? And then the third thing was, Al- Jannah. Al-Jannah.

What do you hope for? Jannah. In this life, as a believer, you never lose sight of that. And the more you look for that, the more you will work.

The degree you believe in, the degree of your yaqeen and your certainty in Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala that all this is real, that all of this has meaning and purpose, that I'm going to see the fruits of my efforts. The more effort you will put in. The more you will put forward.

Overcoming Doubts

Right? And it's whenever we have doubts, we start falling back. And subhanAllah, Imam Al-Qayyim rahimahu Allah, he said something very profound. He said the doubts are in two categories.

Doubts in oneself and doubts in Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala. How do you doubt yourself? I'll give you an example. I'll give you an example.

There are many times, I've seen a sister, for example, who said, I don't want to start wearing hijab, but I'm afraid once I put it on, I'm going to take it off. Right? And brothers, for example, sometimes in the Middle East, and I'm telling you, you know, you think that everyone in the Middle East is religious if you don't go there sometimes. But subhanAllah, there are people that are 50, 60 years old, when they come to America, they start praying.

I remember the first time I went there, subhanAllah, you know, I'm seeing people, relatives and things of that sort, grown men, and they don't pray. But not only do they not pray, when Salah Jumu'ah is going on, they still say they're Muslim, they don't pray. It's like, why don't you pray? Well, I'm afraid if I start, I won't be able to continue.

Doubt yourself, right? (نَفْسَكَ تَحْتَقِرْ)

You belittle yourself, and you should not belittle yourself. (لَا يَحْقِرَنَّ أَحَدُكُمْ نَفْسَة) "la yahqiranna ahadukum nafsah" (Ibn Majah) The ProphetSallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, let not a single one of you belittle himself. And the Sahaba were shocked.

(كَيْفَ يَحْقِرْ أَحَدْنَا نَفْسَهُ) "kayfa yahqiru ahaduna nafsah" How can a person belittle himself? We're talking about, you know, this sounds like pride and arrogance, right? That's not what the ProphetSallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was saying. The ProphetSallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is saying that one of you see something that he should speak about, but he doesn't speak about it. He doesn't say anything, right? And when Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la asked him on the Day of Judgment, why didn't you say anything? You saw people disobeying me.

You saw all of the stuff that was contradicting Islam. Why didn't you say anything? What would he say? (خَشِيتُ النَّاسَ) "khasheetun naas" Ya Allah, I was afraid of what people would say about me. He was weak.

He doubted himself. And the ProphetSallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, AllahSubh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la would say to him, AllahSubh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la was more worthy of you fearing Him. Subhanahu Wa Ta-A'la is a people.

Right? So, when you doubt yourself, and when you doubt AllahSubh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, when you have the shaykh in AllahSubh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, you know, you're really getting involved in something, and then you think to yourself, is this really all worth it? Is this really going to get me anywhere? I'm not getting paid for this. Right? I don't have to put up with all this. This is frustrating.

Is it really worth it? And that doubt can kill you right there. It can kill your Islamic work. It can kill your meaning in life.

The Promise of Excellence

It can kill your purpose. And I'll just leave you with one thing inshallah ta'ala, then I'll stop. Because this is the essence of it all.

"For those who have done good is the best [reward] and extra."

And this is what it all comes down to. AllahSubh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says in the Qur'an, for those who excel, Brother Faraz was talking about ihsan, for those who excel, they will have a return of excellence. Right?

"Is there any reward for good other than good?"

You put good forth for AllahSubh'anaHu Wa Ta- A'la, AllahSubh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la will return good to you.

Your everyday life, lives will change. Right? You have ihsan with your parents, you'll start noticing that they have better treatment towards you. You have ihsan towards people, you're courteous towards people, you'll start noticing that more people will be courteous towards you.

Right? Things will change, right? But what is AllahSubh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la talking about?

And husna is jannah, paradise, something to hope for. But what is ziyadah, and more, and extra? What's possibly more than al-jannah? So the sahaba asked the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), we understand the husna, what is ziyadah? And what did the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) say in the authentic narration of Ibn Khiddam,

"an-nadharu ila wajhillah" To be able to see Allah, to be able to look at the face of AllahSubh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, to stare at the face of AllahSubh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. Why?

Because these categories, something to do, something to love, something to hope for.

If you are weak in one category, you will find that the other two will fall apart eventually. And your happiness is gone, and then you're in depression, and then you're thinking to yourself, why am I even here in the first place? I'm contemplating suicide now. And that's one of the signs of the Day of Judgment.

When a person walks into a graveyard, he points to the person in the grave, and he says about that person in the grave, I wish I was in his situation. I wish I could be dead. Why? Because of a minor crisis.

The Story of Khabbab ibn al-Aratt

Minor things that happened in his life, actually in his life, it might not have even been a crisis. And when we're talking about (غرباء) and the concept of being (غریب) Who I mentioned, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, just earlier, just a little bit (خَبَّابٌ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ تَعَالَى) The Sahabi who was burnt, his skin of his back was completely burnt. He was dragged by his hair through the sands of the hot desert of Mecca, consistently.

He was sold into slavery as a child, after coming from an honorable tribe, from Bani Tameem, from Najd. He was an Arab, right? And his master, when she saw him, whenever she purchased him, she was shocked. Right? Why are you here? She bought him, put him into work.

When he became Muslim, the amount of torture that he went through was so much that he came to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) one day. After being burned, having all the skin, his master used to take hot coal and molten and put it down his back, let it run down his back. And later on, when Umar (رضي الله عنه) saw that on his back, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, whenever Umar was asking him, in the glory days, when Islam was no longer gharib, right? When Umar is a khalifa now, and Khabbab is an honorable person from a societal standpoint.

You know, tell me about what used to happen to you in the days of Jahiliyyah. Tell me what happened to you when you first became Muslim. Umar didn't experience that.

Umar (رضي الله عنه)mashaAllah, was a big powerful man from a big tribe. Right? And Khabbab didn't even say anything. He just showed him his back.

And Umar (رضي الله عنه) the narration does not say he was shocked. InshaAllah, he yelled. He said,

"ma ra'aytu mithla hadha qablu" I've never seen something like this in my life before.

What happened to you? Right? And the torture that he went through, and he endured, and he came to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and he says,

"ala tad'u lana ala tastansiru lanallah" (Bukhari)

Aren't you going to make du'a for us? Aren't you going to seek the help of Allah(جل جلاله) for us? Right? Both of those things were halal requests. But Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) sensed a giving up in him. He sensed that he was, you know, he was giving up and he was losing hope.

The Prophet's Response

And that's why the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)'s face color changed. And that's when he told him in the narration of Al-Bukhari, there were people who came before you that were sawed in half, that they were sawed in half, subhanAllah, because they said, (لا إله إلا الله) because they held on to this.

And Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, Allah(جل جلاله) will fulfill this message to the point that the (راكب) that the person will be able to ride all the way from (صنعاء) to (حضرموت) fearing no one but Allah(جل جلاله) Right? That it will prevail, that the deen will prevail, that you will see the fruits of your efforts even in this life.

Right? You'll see it even in this life.

"walakinnakum tasta'jiloon" (Bukhari) But you're too hasty. You're too hasty.

And Imam al-Qayyim (صلى الله عليه وسلم) elaborated on this, and you know, He said.

"al-'aasi yasta'jilu 'alath-thamar" You know, when a person disobeys Allah(جل جلاله) it's because he's hasty for the reward that he thinks that the sin will give him. Right? Hastiness.

I want to see it now. Don't lose hope. Right? You're losing sight of what you're supposed to be hoping for.

The Fruits of Patience

Now look at Khabbab (رضي الله عنه) later on in his life, and this is also in Bukhari. What if you see the fruits of your efforts in this life? What if mashaAllah all the stuff that we're talking about one day coming back and the glory of Islam being restored, what if we see it in our lifetime? What if we see all of this happen now? What if, you know, those of us who face some sort of persecution from our families, not persecution but awkwardness and things of that sort, what if we see that mashaAllah everyone comes around and everyone starts to respect us and everything starts to go good in our lives? You know what Khabbab (رضي الله عنه) said? And this is from Qais ibn Abi Hazm in Bukhari. When he was coming close to his death, Khabbab (رضي الله عنه) had a lot of money in his eyes.

And he used to have a portion of his house where he would keep money that the beggars knew where it was. He wouldn't even give it, he would just leave it there and they would come take the money from him. He'd leave the food there, they'd come take it from him.

And as his life was being extended, prolonged, and he was outliving other companions, he was crying. And he said, that the people that suffered with me, you know the early sahaba, the early Muslims, none of their reward was given to them in this dunya. Right? They did not lose any of their reward in akhira through reward in this dunya.

They lived in struggle, they lived in persecution, and a lot of them died while they were still struggling and poor and these types of things. He lived long. He lived in the glory days of Islam.

He had money, he was a respected member, right, of the government, the Islamic government. And he's saying, but here I am, and I'm afraid that this is all Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala decreasing my reward in akhira. And he said, if it was halal to ask for death, I would ask for death.

Not because he was depressed, not because he lost meaning, because what he was hoping for was al- jannah the whole time. Subhanallah, so he was afraid that the good he was seeking in his life was actually a manifestation of the punishment of Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala because he realized that if the reward for his efforts was all in the akhira, it would have been better off that way. This is how the sahaba thought.

Conclusion: Find Your Purpose

Something to do. You want to be productive, you will find a way to be productive. You're not going to need some shaykh to tell you how to be productive and what to do.

You can seek advice, but when you want to be productive, you will find a way to be productive. You will find a way to serve Allahsubhanahu wa ta'ala and serve your community. Something to love, you always

have Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala something to hope for.

As long as your certainty in jannah is there, then you're not going to need the appreciation of people, you're not going to need to see the fulfillment, to see everything you've achieved in this dunya. You'd rather see it in akhira. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala

"Rabbana atina fid-dunya hasanatan wa fil-akhirati hasanatan wa qina 'adhaban-naar"

Allah, give us good in this life and in the akhira and protect us from the hellfire.

Jazakallahu khayran.