Not Everything that Shines is Gold

Not Everything that Shines is Gold

Introduction: The Knowledge of Allah

As-salamu alaykum everybody. Alhamdulillah, as we, those of you who attended the course at the knowledge retreat the last few days, one of the qualities of Allah that we talked about was His knowledge. And we know that He is, His knowledge is something which is transcendent, is all-encompassing, has no weaknesses, has no shortcomings.

As Allah says in the Quran, that nothing is hidden from Allah. And as Allah mentions in the Quran, Allah is with you wherever you are by His knowledge. Having a relationship with the knowledge of Allah really allows us to scaffold our faith in a number of very powerful ways.

Two Outcomes of Understanding Allah's Knowledge

First Outcome: Staying Away from Sin

Number one, when I understand that Allah's knowledge encompasses everything and is completely aware of everything I do, it's going to help me stay away from sin. That's why one of our teachers used to say, you know, knowing that Allah is there, the fruit of that will cause you to stay away from evil. The second thing is knowing that Allah's knowledge is transcendent, is whole, has no shortcomings.

The second thing that that will cause is trust and reliance on Allah. That's why the Quran says, the outcome of knowledge is turning to Allah, trusting to Allah, especially in things which are not clear to us. And this is where we see the mistake of Iblis, who initially, he assumed that Allah's knowledge was deficient.

"I'm better than him. You made me from fire and You made him from clay."

When Allah ordered the malaika to prostrate, every one of them prostrated. He refused because he did not trust the knowledge of Allah. So now in my life, when I'm going through difficulties or success, when I'm faced with hard times, I trust in the knowledge of Allah. So if I have the choice between good and evil, I choose good.

Even though maybe the evil looks good to me. The Quran says, even if good is popular, even if evil is popular, excuse me, you trust in Allah and you do what's right. So I'm not moved by trends in society, but I'm anchoring myself in my relationship with Allah because I trust His infinite knowledge.

That's why Allah says in the Quran (تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ الْمُلْكُ - tabārakal-laḏī biyadihil-mulk) - "Blessed be the one who controls all things." (Quran 67:1)

Trust in Allah's Knowledge Through Success and Tests

And that's why in the Quran, when you see the believers and the prophets and the righteous people, whether it's success or whether it's through tests, they're with Allah because they trust Allah's knowledge. If success comes to me, I trust that it was by Allah's knowledge and power that I was blessed with that success.

So success doesn't blind me. And if I'm faced with hardship and difficulties, I trust that the test is from Allah so I don't become despondent and depressed. And that's why in the Quran, when people enter paradise, they don't get it twisted.

(وَقَالُوا الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي هَدَانَا لِهَذَا وَمَا كُنَّا لِنَهْتَدِيَ لَوْلَا أَنْ هَدَانَا اللَّهُ - wa qālū al-ḥamdu lillāhi allaḏī hadānā lihāḏā wa mā kunnā linahtadiya law lā an hadānā allāh). They stay humble and they attribute their success to Allah.

"And they will say, 'Praise be to Allah who has guided us to this; and we would never have been guided if Allah had not guided us.'" (Quran 7:43) It will say, praise be to Allah. If it wasn't for Allah's guidance, we wouldn't have reached Jannah.

And on the other end, hardships and tests. Those people in Suratul Ahzab, when they were with the Prophet ﷺ, and they saw all those armies (وَلَمَّا رَأَى الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الْأَحْزَابَ قَالُوا هَذَا مَا وَعَدَنَا اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ وَصَدَقَ اللهُ وَرَسُولُهُ - wa lammā raʾā al-muʾminūna al-ʾaḥzāba qālū hāḏā mā waʿadanā allāhu wa rasūluhu wa ṣadaqa allāhu wa rasūluh), "When the believers saw the confederates, they said, 'This is what Allah and His Messenger had promised us, and Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth.'" (Quran 33:22) What did they say? This is the promise of Allah. This is the promise of the message of Allah ﷺ.

So the signs of someone who really understands the attribute of Allah, Al-Alim and Al-Hakim, is that they're going to be tranquil. They are not going to be moved by the trends of this life. They're going to be with Allah.

And whether it's good or bad, as Shaykh Lubna mentioned, they're with Allah. That's why Sayyidina Ali (radiyallahu anhu) used to say (لَا تَفْرَحْ بِالْغِنَاءِ وَلَا تَقْدَعْ بِالْفَقْرِ - lā tafraḥ bil-ghināʾi wa lā taqdaʿ bil-faqri) - "Don't be happy if you're rich, and don't get sad if you're poor." Ali used to say like, don't be happy if you're rich, and don't get sad if you're poor. Everything is from Allah.

Second Outcome: Leaving Sin Through Choice

The second outcome of someone who understands the knowledge of Allah is that they're going to leave sin. As I mentioned earlier, because sin is based on a choice. And that's why in the Quran it says (لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَعَلَيْهَا مَا اكْتَسَبَتْ - lahā mā kasabat wa ʿalayhā mā-ktasabat) - "For it is what it has earned, and against it is what it has earned." (Quran 2:286) You and I chose to do evil.

So in the face of that choice between good and evil, if I trust in the knowledge of Allah, I'm not going to allow my heart to be swerved by anything else. Because I'm clear in what Allah has taught me (يس وَالْقُرْآنِ الْحَكِيمِ - yā sīn wal-qurʾānil-ḥakīm) - "Ya Sin. By the wise Quran." (Quran 36:1-2) The Quran makes things clear. (وَنَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ تِبْيَانًا لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ - wa nazzalnā ʿalayka al-kitāba tibyānan likulli shayʾ) - "And We have sent down to you the Book as clarification for all things." (Quran 16:89) The Quran is very clear about what is right and wrong.

Eight Situations in Life

The third is that when I encounter hard times and difficulties, because you know, our scholars, they actually said that there's really only eight situations you can find yourself in life. That's why the poet he said, (لَا بُدَّ لِلْإِنسَانِ أَن يَلْقَى الثَّمَانِيَةَ كُلَّهُم تَجْرِي عَلَى النَّاسِ - lā budda lil-ʾinsāni an yalqa al-thamāniyata kulluhum tajrī ʿala al-nās) - "It is inevitable for a human being to encounter all eight situations that occur to people." My wife tells me I'm a fob because I quote Arabic poetry.

But I like Arabic poetry. But this poet he said there are eight situations that human beings will always find themselves in. (حُزْنٌ وَفَرْحٌ - ḥuznun wa farḥ) - "Sadness and happiness." The first is sadness or happiness.

Sadness and Happiness

If I trust Allah's knowledge in the face of sadness, even though it's harmful, and it hurts me, and it's difficult, I know that there's wisdom in it. And that's why the Prophet ﷺ when he lost Sayyidina Ibrahim, his son, he cried, he was moved emotionally, but he didn't say anything against Allah's qada. In fact, he said, the eyes shed tears and the hearts break, but we never say anything counter to what Allah has decreed. (Sahih al-Bukhari 1303)

And often sometimes we tell people very irresponsible things. We tell them like you can't be sad, you shouldn't be emotional, you know, you shouldn't be moved if you're watching cute cat videos on Instagram or whatever, you know, and your heart is breaking. But we see Sayyidina Fatima (may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ and the sound narration when the Prophet died ﷺ, she wept, she cried, she even said to the Sahaba, how can you put dirt on the body of the Messenger of Allah? And nobody rebuked her for this, but she didn't say anything against Allah's plan.

So in the face of sadness, it's okay to react emotionally, it's okay to be moved, but if I believe in Allah's knowledge, I'm not going to say anything against His plan. In the case of happiness, I understand, (وَمَا رَمَيْتَ إِذْ رَمَيْتَ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ رَمَى - wa mā ramayta ʾiḏ ramayta wa lākinna allāha ramā) - "And you did not throw when you threw, but it was Allah who threw." (Quran 8:17) (كُلٌّ مِّنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ - kullun min ʿindi allāh) - "All is from Allah." (Quran 4:78) Nothing came from me, the success isn't from me, the success is from Allah. So if I believe in Allah's knowledge, I won't get arrogant.

Gathering and Separation

The other two that he said after (فَرْحًا وَحُزْنًا وَاجْتِمَاعًا وَفُرْقَةً - farḥan wa ḥuznan wajtimāʿan wa furqah) - "Happiness and sadness and gathering and separation." The other two things that happen in our lives is we gather and we're separated, either by death or by distance.

And the etiquette of gathering to one another with one another for someone who believes in the knowledge of Allah is to have the adab of sohbah, is to be a sincere friend and to be an honest person. And when I split with someone, also to have adab and belief in the knowledge of Allah, I don't backbite them when they're not around me.

I don't slander them or speak ill of them. If I know that Allah's knowledge is there, I'll be good with people in front of me as I'm good with them behind me. Meaning I'll be as good with them when they're not there as I am when they are there because I know that Allah sees and knows everything.

Health and Sickness

The other things that he mentioned in his poem which are very powerful is (صِحَّةُ وَالْعَافِيَةُ - ṣiḥḥatu wal-ʿāfiyah) - "Health and wellness," is that a person will find themselves either healthy or sick. So he mentioned now six situations. A person is going to be sad, happy, with people, separated from people.

The other two, sick or healthy. And if I'm sick or healthy, and I believe in Allah's knowledge and I trust in His knowledge, when I'm healthy, I'm going to use my health in the right way. (نِعْمَتَانِ مَغْبُونٌ فِيهِمَا كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ الصِّحَّةُ وَالْفَرَاغُ - niʿmatāni maghbūnun fīhimā kathīrun mina al-nāsi aṣ-ṣiḥḥatu wal-farāgh) - "There are two blessings which many people fail in: health and free time." (Sahih al-Bukhari 6412) The Prophet ﷺ said there are two blessings most people fail to appreciate: their health and their free time.

And the hadith of Sayyidina Muhammad (لَا تَزُولُ قَدَمَا ابْنِ آدَمَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مِنْ عِنْدِ رَبِّهِ حَتَّى يُسْأَلَ عَنْ خَمْسٍ - lā tazūlu qadamā ibni ādama yawma al-qiyāmati min ʿindi rabbihi ḥattā yusʾala ʿan khams) "The feet of the son of Adam will not move on the Day of Resurrection until he is asked about five things." (Sunan at-Tirmidhi 2417) That no one will move in the hereafter until they're asked about four things. And one of those things is how they use their time.

So health is a blessing. Health is a (نِعْمَة - niʿmah). The Prophet ﷺ said (اغْتَنِمْ خَمْسًا قَبْلَ خَمْسٍ - ightanim khamsan qabla khams) - "Take advantage of five before five." (Al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak) Your health before you become sick. So if I believe in Allah's knowledge and I have a relationship with Allah's knowledge when I'm healthy, I'm going to use my health. I'm not going to wait.

I'm not going to delay. Because one time Hasan al-Basri, he saw a young person. And he said to that young person, man, why don't you do good? He said, you know, I'm gonna do good when I get older.

He said, you don't know if you're gonna get older. If you die tomorrow, you're a senior citizen now. So if I trust in the knowledge of Allah, I know that I don't know the unseen or the future.

I do know that one day I will die. So I'm going to act with urgency. My age and my youth is not a liability to be used or an alibi to be used to excuse me from religious responsibility.

Don't let shaitan play with your youth, man. And the other one is sickness. If I'm sick and I believe in Allah's knowledge there are so many ahadith of the Prophet ﷺ that mention the virtues, the forgiveness, the rewards, the blessings that Allah gives to someone who's patient when they're sick.

For example, the Prophet said, anyone who loses their eyesight, may Allah protect us, and they're patient, the reward is Jannah. Because of time we'll just mention the six, we won't mention all of them, but those are really the six kind of moments we find Allah's knowledge interacting in our life. (حُزْنٌ وَ فَرْحٌ وَ اجْتِمَاعٌ وَ فُرْقَةٌ - ḥuznun wa farḥun wajtimāʿun wa furqah) - "Happiness, sadness, being together, being separate," sickness, and health.

Istikhara: Seeking Good from Allah

But there's one other time that we'll talk about and there's a very important tool that the Prophet gave us to use. And those are times when we have to make decisions about things when we're not sure what we should do. And

the dua, the Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ, he taught us as related by Sayyidina Jabir Ibn Abdillah (radiyallahu anhu).

The Prophet ﷺ used to teach us (كَانَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يُعَلِّمُنَا الاسْتِخَارَةَ كَمَا يُعَلِّمُنَا السُّورَةَ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ الْكَرِيمِ - kāna al-nabiyyu ṣallā allāhu ʿalayhi wa sallama yuʿallimunā al-istikhārata kamā yuʿallimunā as-sūrata mina al-qurʾāni al-karīm), He said istikhara just as he would teach us a surah from the Quran." (Sahih al-Bukhari 1162) Is istikhara. Salatul istikhara. You know this is a really, really awesome dua to use in showing that we trust Allah.

That we rely on Allah's knowledge. Because when we start to believe that Allah's knowledge is deficient or that Allah is not aware, then we are consumed by a false sense of autonomy that lends itself to sin and evil or arrogance. And that's why Allah when He describes Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, He said (وَأَنَّهُ لَمَّا قَامَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ يَدْعُوهُ - wa ʾannahū lammā qāma ʿabdu allāhi yadʿūh) - "And when the servant of Allah stood up calling upon Him." (Quran 72:19) He describes the Prophet as Allah's servant.

He has submitted to Allah's knowledge. As the poet he says, (وَكُنْ مُسْلِمًا لَهُ كَيْ تَسْلَمَا - wa kun musliman lahu kay taslamā) - "And be a Muslim to Him so that you may be safe." You know, Sheikh Ahmad Dardiri said, with Allah's plan, submit so that you'll be safe. Like stay humble, right? The song says, stay humble.

But when someone believes that Allah's knowledge is deficient, they become consumed with their own sense of hubris and autonomy. And that's why when Allah talks about Abu Jahl, He says (أَن رَّاهُ اسْتَغْنَى - an raʾāhu istaghnā) - "Because he sees himself self-sufficient." (Quran 96:7) He sees himself as free. So the more that someone performs istikhara, and the more someone observes istikhara, this is a sign that they have trust and a relationship with the knowledge of Allah.

The Etiquette of Istikhara

And Allah's knowledge is infinite. So what we'll talk about in the remaining few minutes is istikhara. You know, every act of worship has etiquette. That's why one of our teachers, he said, (فَأَكْثِرْنَ بِذِكْرِهَا بِالْآدَبِ - faʾakthirna bi-ḏikrihā bil-ādab) - "So increase in remembrance of it with etiquette." You know, make dhikr, but make dhikr with etiquette. Every act of worship has an etiquette. Those etiquettes are divided into three, before, during, and after.

Istikhara, of course, is a prayer that we make, mentioned by the hadith of Jabir ibn Abdillah, where we pray two rak'ah outside of the fard. So like, we shouldn't be lazy. I remember once there was a brother, he was like, man, I'm too lazy to pray istikhara, can I just do it with isha? And the sheikh was like, if you're this lazy about it, how can you expect an answer? Like, this is something with Allah.

Are you lazy about the new Bugatti? Or are you lazy about going to Sephora? Are you lazy about eating like really good food? Are you lazy about playing ball? But you're lazy about salah. Subhanallah. So Jabir ibn Abdillah, he said that the Prophet used to teach us this prayer.

It's a prayer that we use when we're not sure what we want to do. It's a prayer that we outsource the decision to Allah's knowledge. And that's why it's rooted in the sifat of Allah al-'ilm and the action of Allah al-'alim.

How to Pray Istikhara

How do we pray it? Two rak'ah outside of the obligatory prayers. Unless you're a menstruating person or you're a woman who's going through postpartum bleeding, in that situation you can just make dua. You can make istikhara without the two rak'ah.

But in any other circumstance, we should make two rak'ah. Then after we finish those two rak'ah, we should praise Allah. We should send peace and blessings upon our beloved messenger Muhammad.

And then we make istikhara. The word istikhara is a form of a noun, istafala. As Ibn Malik said, (وَبَعْدُ فَالْفِعْلُ مَنْ يُحْكِمْ تَصَرُّفَهُ يَحُزْمِ الْأَبْوَابَ لِلُّغَةِ وَسُبُولًا - wa baʿdu fal-fiʿlu man yuḥkimu taṣarrufahu yaḥzum al-ʾabwāba lil-lughati wa subūlan) "And after that, whoever masters the verb masters the gates and paths of the language." Right? If you understand the words, the Arabic language opens up to you.

So this word, the secret of this word istikhara is from the same word as khayr. What does khayr mean? Who knows? Khayr means what? Good. So when I'm saying istikhara, I'm seeking good.

That's why when we make a mistake, what do we say? A what? Astaghfir. The same word, astagh. That opening sound asta is seeking.

So I seek God's pardon. I seek Allah's forgiveness. So astaghfirullah ay atlub maghfiratullah - I seek Allah's forgiveness. When I say astaghfiru or istikhara, it means in the face of this situation, I seek good from you. I seek your guidance.

Imam al-Nawawi, and we'll talk about it later on, he gave some signs when to understand the istikhara has happened. We'll get to it in a second. But the dua, the supplication of istikhara is super important.

For those brothers and sisters who can't say it in Arabic, it's okay to say it in English. The differences in languages as mentioned in the Quran are a sign from Allah. And as a young person, you know, istikhara is like really important.

I remember when I was 20 years old, I converted. And sometimes, you know, you struggle when you're young to stay away from evil. You know, you sometimes may experience some loneliness.

You've got to make a lot of decisions in college. It's like the whole world's about to come down on your head. Wallahi, istikhara is like a great anchor, reminding you that you have this unique, special relationship with Allah.

The Context of Istikhara

So the dua starts really, really beautifully. He said, after you pray two rakah, you praise Allah in dua, you send peace and blessings upon Sayyidina Muhammad and the salihin. Then you start this dua, istikhara.

Again, we started today talking about the knowledge of Allah and how our engagement with Allah's knowledge really dictates the level of piety and commitment we have religiously. He's talked about how Satan, he doesn't

have that, his knowledge, there's fasad in his knowledge, there's corruption in his knowledge, so he gets arrogant. Then we talked about six situations where we're going to need Allah's knowledge to keep us strong.

Happiness, sadness, being with people, separating from people, sickness and health. And then we talked about times in our life where we've got some things to do, but we're really not sure what we should do. And it's during those times that we go back to the knowledge of Allah and we pray this prayer, the prayer of istikhara, which means asking God to show us what's good.

When to Make Istikhara

Now, before we start to explain the dua and I finish, I need to make a really super important point. There is no istikhara in the obligations. You know what I mean? Someone's like, should I pray fajr tomorrow? I don't know, let me pray istikhara.

Should I join the MSA? I don't know, let me pray istikhara. There's also no istikhara in the sunnah. So for example, someone asks you, can you give the khutbah tomorrow? Oh man, I gotta pray istikhara.

No, there's no istikhara here. Istikhara is only in life decisions which are outside of the obligations and the sunnah and the haram and the makruh. So you're like, yo, you wanna go to the club tonight? Oh no man, let me pray istikhara.

You're not gonna pray istikhara to do haram. Like makruh, yo, let's eat some onions and go to the masjid. Man, let me make istikhara first.

Are those whole food onions or TJ onions? Istikhara is only made in those things for which there is no guidance from religion. Remember this. Or there's guidance from the religion but the decision is left to you, like marriage.

So marriage has a ruling, it's a sunnah but it's your decision if you wanna marry someone. So remember this, people make this mistake a lot, man. They're like, you know, I think I'm gonna make hajj but like, let me make istikhara.

Are you crazy? Go to hajj. So we make istikhara in what's called the mubahat. The permissible things like where I should go to school, what kind of car should I have, you know, should I take this job, should I move to this city? These are things for istikhara.

The Dua of Istikhara Explained

So it starts and it says, Allahumma. Yeah, man, Allahumma is awesome. You know, Allahumma is translated as, oh God, oh Allah, but Allahumma actually means all of the names of Allah in that phrase that you know and you don't know.

So you say, Allahumma, oh Allah, it means, oh Allah, I'm here calling on you by every single name and attribute that you have that I know and that I don't know. Subhanallah. (اللَّهُمَّ إِنِّي أَسْتَخِيرُكَ - Allahumma inni astakhiruk) "O Allah, I seek Your guidance."

Oh Allah, by all of your names. We learned something here that it's important when we make du'a to call on Allah by His names. (وَلِلَّهِ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَى فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا - Wa lillahil asma'ul husna fad'uhu biha) "And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them." (Quran 7:180)

As the Quran says, call on Allah by His names. Oh Allah,(إِنِّي أَسْتَخِيرُكَ بِعِلْمِكَ وَأَسْتَقْدِرُكَ بِقُدْرَتِكَ - Inni astakhiruka bi'ilmika wa astaqdiruka bi qudratik) "I seek Your guidance by Your knowledge, and I seek power through Your power." Oh Allah, I seek your guidance on this issue. I seek you to show me which is good between these two issues. By your knowledge and by your power and authority.

(فَإِنِّي لَا أَقْدِرُ - Fa inni la aqdir) "For I have no power." Because I don't have any power. I don't have any authority. (وَلَا أَعْلَمُ - Wa la a'lam) "And I do not know." And I don't know, but you know. (وَإِنَّكَ أَنتَ عَلَّامُ الْغُيُوبِ - Wa innaka anta 'allamul ghuyub) "And You are the Knower of the unseen." And you are the one who knows the unseen. The unseen to us. Nothing is unseen to Allah.

So how does the du'a start? Oh Allah, I call you by all of your names and attributes. And I seek good from you by your knowledge and by your power. Because I have no knowledge and I have no power.

The Etiquette of Dua

We learned something about the adab of du'a, the etiquettes of du'a here. Calling on Allah by His names and attributes and being humble and weak. I don't have power.

I don't know. Basically the opposite of anything you would do to get likes on Instagram. Right? We live in a curated world where we're taught to portray ourselves as being the coolest thing since heat and eat kunafa.

Whereas in reality, and this is a problem, if you look at what's going on on the online world and on internet and Snapchat, these are good things also. But you see people competing in a way that constantly presents themselves in ways in which they're really not. Like, we filtered out everything so much that there's no more reality.

Whereas in du'a, Allah wants us to be vulnerable, wants us to be humble, and wants us to be honest about who we are. (لَا أَعْلَمُ وَلَا أَقْدِرُ - La a'lam wa la aqdir) "I don't know. I have no authority."

(وَإِنَّكَ أَنتَ عَلَّامُ الْغُيُوبِ - Wa innaka anta 'allamul ghuyub) "And You are the Knower of the unseen." You're the one who knows all. And this is one of the secrets of du'a, that the more humble we are with Allah, the greater chance our du'a, insha'Allah ta'ala, will be accepted. Allahumma, then you say it again to emphasize, and you should be saying it like, Allahumma, with humility.

(اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ خَيْرٌ لِي فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي - Allahumma in kunta ta'lamu anna hadha al-amra khayrun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa 'aqibati amri) "O Allah, if You know that this matter is good for me in my religion, my life, and the outcome of my affairs." If you know, meaning in your knowledge, whether this is good or bad for me, that this thing is good for my deen, and my life, and my religion, then make, and then you should mention it. Oh Allah, if you know that this thing is good for me, in my deen and my hereafter, فَاقْدُرْهُ

(لِي وَيَسِّرْهُ لِي - Li wa yassirhu li) "Then decree it for me and make it easy for me," then decree it for me. And when you say that, you should feel like I have no power to even blink my eyes.

I have no power even to take one step. (وَمَا رَمَيْتَ إِذْ رَمَيْتَ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ رَمَى - Wa ma ramayta idh ramayta wa lakinnallaha rama) "And you did not throw when you threw, but it was Allah who threw." (Quran 8:17) I have no power to do anything. So decree it for me, I beg you, if it's good for these three things, and bless me in it, and you should mention it.

(إِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ - In kunta ta'lamu anna hadha al-amr) "If You know that this matter..." Oh Allah, if this thing is good for me, and you should say, going to NYU, you know, going to UI, taking a job with the government, marrying Abdul, whatever. And here you have the chance to be honest and you're begging Allah, you're pleading with Allah that if this is good for me in my life, in my deen, in my hereafter, give it to me. And here we learn something, that anything we do in our life should meet these three criteria.

Three Criteria for Decisions

It should be good for our deen, should be good for our dunya, should be good for our hereafter, should be good for our life, outside of religion, our religious life, and the hereafter. That's why some people, they confuse the hadith about marriage, that says you should marry a woman, also a man, for four reasons, right? :تُنْكَحُ الْمَرْأَةُ لِأَرْبَعِ

(لِمَالِهَا وَلِحَسَبِهَا وَلِجَمَالِهَا وَلِدِينِهَا - Li maliha wa lihasabiha wa lijamaliha wa lidiniha) "A woman is married for four things: for her wealth, for her family status, for her beauty, and for her religion." (Sahih al-Bukhari 5090) You know, for her family, for his family, for his or her wealth, for his or her beauty, and then for his or her deen.

Then the Prophet said (فَاظْفَرْ بِذَاتِ الدِّينِ تَرِبَتْ يَدَاكَ - Fathfar bi thati ad-deen taribat yadak) "Then choose the one with religion, may your hands be in the dust (may you be blessed)." (Sahih al-Bukhari 5090) then choose the one that has religion, may you be blessed.

Some people means that you should forget the other three and only marry someone for religion. That's not what the hadith means. The hadith means if you can get two out, one out of the four, that's good.

If you can get two out of the four, mashallah. If you can get three out of the four, subhanallah. If you can get four out of four, alhamdulillah.

And that's why Sayyidah Khadijah, the Prophet didn't need to marry anyone else when he was with her because she was wealthy, she had a good family, she was beautiful, and she had a great religion, subhanallah. Same for men. So if you marry John Snow and he has no deen, don't blame anyone but yourself.

(وَإِنْ كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُ أَنَّ هَذَا الْأَمْرَ شَرٌّ لِي فِي دِينِي وَمَعَاشِي وَعَاقِبَةِ أَمْرِي فَاصْرِفْهُ عَنِّي وَاصْرِفْنِي عَنْهُ وَاقْدُرْ لِي - Wa in kunta ta'lamu anna hadha al-amra sharrun li fi dini wa ma'ashi wa 'aqibati amri fasrifhu 'anni wasrifni 'anhu waqdur li) And then the dua continues

(الْخَيْرَ حَيْثُ كَانَ ثُمَّ رَضِنِي بِهِ - Al-khayra haythu kana thumma radini bihi) "And if You know that this matter is bad for me in my religion, my life, and the outcome of my affairs, then turn it away from me and turn me away from it, and decree for me what is good wherever it may be, then make me content with it." And if you know that this affair is bad for me in my religion, in my life, and in my hereafter, turn it away from me and keep me away from it and make me content with not having it. That's dua al-istikhara. It's a super important dua.

Understanding the Answer to Istikhara

You know in Egypt, some people, maybe this is going to scare them. We had one sheikh, he used to go to a place called (سُوقُ مُسْتَعْمَلَةٍ - suqu musta'malatin) "used goods market," you know like used goods. And he was looking for an iron.

So he had a choice between two irons and suddenly he was gone. I said, man, where did he go? They said he went to make istikhara. I said, for an iron? Man, I'm horrible.

I just make istikhara for like big things. This guy is making it for irons. But often people get it twisted and they think that there has to be some kind of special sign to tell them what their istikhara is.

And oftentimes, I want you to pay attention to this. The expectation of a special sign specially delivered to you is a sign that you're selfish. You know, I made istikhara.

I'm just waiting on this really awesome dream. It's going to come in 4k. It may even be in 3D.

I'm super uber excited. And when the dream comes, I'll tell, you know, Sumeya what my plans are. Meanwhile, Sumeya is waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting.

And you're like putting her through it. Or Abdul. His nails are gone because he's so nervous.

But you're waiting on your special 600 pixel dream. That's going to look like the movie Avatar. First, the best sign that your istikhara has been answered is that you try and it works.

Signs of Accepted Istikhara

So that's why it's istikhara. You got to put some work into it. So you decide, mashallah, I'm going to take this job.

You go and apply. You accept the job. You work there.

That's a sign that the istikhara was accepted. That doesn't mean there might not be any challenges. Because some people say, what if I feel good about something, but I keep doing it? And Abu Sumeya keeps saying no.

As long as you have the feeling in your heart to do something, that is from Allah. That encouragement in your soul, as long as it's realistic, like if you're five two, don't come and tell me like, I'm going to dunk like LeBron. I made istikhara.

I feel good about it. I can't dunk. Come on, man.

That takes us to the third thing. Istikhara should be done within things that are in your sphere of influence. That you have a realistic opportunity to affect.

So for example, if I say, you know, I made istikhara. I want to play Fajr. I want to pray Fajr on Pluto tomorrow.

That's ridiculous. The fourth, a dream is not a condition of istikhara. Wallahi al-azim, man.

People sound like Biggie Smalls around here waiting on a dream. It was all a dream. Look, you don't have to see a dream.

The Prophet ﷺ didn't say it. The Sahaba didn't say it. If you see a dream, mashallah, fatabarakallah.

If you don't see a dream, it doesn't mean you're a bad person. Or that you should wait. What you feel in your heart is what you should move to.

Repeating Istikhara

And the last, some people say, I made istikhara, but I'm still confused. Then keep making istikhara. So people ask like, can I make istikhara more than once for an issue? The answer is yes, as long as it's not compulsive.

And this sometimes is a problem with people in our community who may suffer with OCD or ADD, that they become compulsive on an issue. So if something lends itself to compulsion, you should pull away from it. But the Prophet in one hadith, he said at least to make istikhara, although the hadith is questionable, seven times.

Conclusion: The Beauty of Allah's Knowledge

So what do we talk about today, mashallah? The beauty of Allah's knowledge. Allah knows everything about us. And our relationship with that knowledge will be calibrated in our practice, staying away from sin, being a good person, being internally humble.

Then we mentioned certain times in our life when that knowledge will play a role, right? Happiness, sadness, poverty and richness. Those are the other two that I didn't mention. (فَقْرِّ وَالْغِنَى - "Poverty and richness," health and sickness, and being with people and not being with people.

Those are eight situations we'll always find ourselves in one of the other. We can never escape them. And then we said there are those times in non-religious issues where we have to make decisions or things that are religious but don't have a clear ruling or things that are religious but the decision is left to us like marriage, for example.

And this is where we rely on the knowledge of Allah and we make istikhara. And believe me, brothers and sisters, istikhara is really like such an important tool to have in your repertoire of weapons against your own lack of self-esteem that you may be going through as well as dealing with shaitan. Because through istikhara, you're directly surrendering everything to Allah.

So may Allah bless us, inshallah, with the best choices. And may Allah bless us to learn more about Him so that we can be humble and truly submissive servants to Him. Barakallahu feekum wa sallallahu ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa sallamu alaykum