A Transaction with Allah

A Transaction with Allah

Yusha Evans

Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters, it's my pleasure to be with you here in Nashville, Tennessee. And I want to, insha'Allah, as a guest, I want to leave you a gift, insha'Allah ta'ala. And this gift is something that every single Muslim throughout the world, at least at some point, has most likely asked for this.

And all of us around the world are asking for this now. As I travel around the world, I hear this so many places. It is a very famous du'a that I've heard ever since accepting Islam.

And the gift I want to give you today is the answer of this du'a. I've heard this in so many countries, from so many Muslims, so many places, so many times, that I began to wonder why so many people are asking for something that was not coming. All of you have probably heard this du'a or made it.

It goes a little something like:

Or:

Or:

Oh Allah, give help to the Muslims, to Islam and Muslims. Oh Allah, give help and dignity.

And I'm sure if I ask for a raise of hands, how many of you have heard this du'a, every hand in here would go up. And everyone would say they've made this du'a or they've said ameen to this du'a. And this is a du'a that has been made all over the world by the rich Muslims, by the poor Muslims, by the strong Muslims, by the weak Muslims, by the traveling Muslims, by the parents for their children, the children for their parents.

And a few years ago, when I had the chance to be in Egypt, I was praying Fajr Salah, and the imam began to say this du'a during Salatul Fajr. And we said ameen, and then he said it again:

And again we said ameen, and he continued to say it again, and again, and again, until we were all crying, including the imam. And then after the Salah, I started to think about something. I said, Ya Allah, we know that You are As-Sami'ul Du'a. You're the one who hears the du'a.

And we know, Ya Allah, that You are the one who will respond to the du'a, and You have given us some assurances. That there are three groups whom You have promised to answer the du'a.

The traveling Muslim, the traveler, their du'a is heard and responded by You. I know travelers who make this du'a. I travel for a living, and I know people who make this du'a. You said that You would answer the du'a of the oppressed, and the oppressed are making this du'a to You. You said You would answer the du'a that the parents make for their children. Well, Ya Allah, I know as a parent, we are making this du'a for our children.

So what is it that we are doing that displeases You so much that You are withholding this Nasr from us, and this Izzah from us? What is it that we're doing that You are so displeased with, that You're withholding from us? Or, Ya Allah, what is it that we are not doing, that we should be doing, that You are so displeased with that You're withholding this du'a?

Because for sure there has to be a reason for so many people to be making this du'a, and for the answer to not come, because we know that the Nasr of Allah has not been given to this ummah as of yet. Because if it's given to the ummah as a whole, then the ummah would be a place of dignity and honor. So there has to be a reason. There has to be some wisdom behind this.

Seeking the Answer

So I went and I asked the imam of the masjid. I said, Ya imam, why are we making this du'a so much that the answer is not being given? First and foremost he told me, he said, sometimes Allah likes to be asked a lot. This is one of the first things he told me. Sometimes Allah loves to be begged by His slaves. And then he told me, there has to be a reason, so be patient, and maybe Allah will show you the reason.

I said, okay, patience, I understand, but is there something that we're not doing right? He said, be patient. So I began to think about this problem that we face. And you know, at that time it was 2007, but now mashallah we live in 2012, and we have so many advances of technology and science that we completely overcomplicate our entire lives.

And that's just somewhat of how we've been trained. You know, I'm studying psychology as a secular study. You know, we have been trained to think in such jargoned, systematic ways that it's almost irrational how the human mind behaves in our new age.

For instance, all day long we're involved in, anyone who has any idea about technology, you're involved in emailing people, or you're involved in text messaging, or you're involved in IMing, or Facebook chatting, or whatever kind of social media or instant message that you use to get back and forth to each other. And it causes us, unfortunately, we began to think in these parameters. Our thoughts are very jargoned.

We don't take deep thought that much anymore. And that is something that has been studied upon, that we don't take deep thought very often, as opposed to people of the past who used to have great thoughts, deep thoughts,

they could ponder upon one subject for such a great period of time. But we have gotten so used to multitasking, and our entire life is revolved around multitasking, that we think from one thing to another.

If you take and just sit for one five-minute period of your day and become cognizant of your thoughts, you'll find out that your thoughts are mostly racing. Different ideas, different things. I need to do this, I need to do that, that has been done by this, that. There are so many things going on, that we don't take as much thought.

And also we overcomplicate many things of our lives, because of the advances that we have gained, that we think that everything has to have this, you know, grand process to accomplish anything. And when it came to this problem, I overcomplicated it. I started to think of all the problems that we find within the Muslim ummah, and all of the things that we probably should be doing that we don't do. And I said, there's no way that I'm going to be able to come up with this idea.

The Answer in Surah As-Saff

So a couple of days later, after Fajr, we were sitting with the imam again, and we were reading through the Qur'an as was our normal after Fajr. And this day he wanted us to read for him from Surah As-Saff. And subhanAllah, Surah As-Saff is a very beautiful surah. I love this surah very much.

And as we were reading to him, he was telling us, just be, reflect on what Allah Azawajal is telling you. Don't think so much about, you know, all of the scientific points of tajweed or anything. Just listen to what Allah Azawajal is telling you.

And we know that Surah As-Saff begins with Allah Azawajal praising himself. And then Allah asks a very beautiful question:

Why is it that you say a thing that you don't do? Why do you say something which you don't do? Most hateful is it to your Lord that you say a thing which you do not do.

SubhanAllah. And then Allah reminds us:

He loves those who strive in His cause as if they were one solid structure.

And then Allah tells us the story of Musa (peace be upon him) when he came to his people and told them that he was the messenger of Allah unto them. And indeed their hearts deviated from amongst themselves. And Allah says that he does not guide those people who are rebellious.

And then Allah tells us about Isa, Jesus, peace be upon him, how he came to his people and said that I am the messenger of Allah to you proclaiming that which came before me, confirming the Torah and I've been sent with the Injil. And then it says when the clear evidence came to them, they said this is nothing but plain magic.

And then Allah reminds us that... Most hateful is it to Allah that... Who is worse than one who invents about Allah while he has been called to Islam? And Allah does not guide those people who are wrongdoers.

And then subhanAllah, Allah says:

He is the one who has sent his messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevalent over every other way of life no matter how much those who are opposed to it or disbelieve may hate it.

Then comes a very beautiful question. An ayat or two later. And this is the subject that we're going to ponder upon in the next 20 minutes inshaAllah.

The Beautiful Question

Out of all of this comes a question that is so beautiful that I didn't realize it until that morning. Allah asks:

Allah, who has power over everything that exists, the one true creator of the heavens and the earth asks, O you who believe, can I guide you to a transaction that will prevent me from having to give you a painful punishment?

Now you have to think about this question. Allah is asking you, can I show you a tijara, a business you can get into with me that will prevent me from ever having to painfully punish you? When I think about that question, I start to think that, ya Allah, you know, how merciful Allah is to his creation that he goes so far to ask you, can I show you something? You can do it, and I will never punish you.

Of course this question is rhetorical because no one with their faculty of mind wants to be punished. No one in a right sense of mind wants to be punished, especially عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ a painful punishment.

So the answer of course is yes. Yes, ya Allah, please, show us something that will avoid us a painful punishment. And in the next verse is the answer to so many problems, so, so, so many problems that we as Muslims face.

And also it becomes the answer to this du'a:

It also becomes the answer to the du'a of how to obtain everything that you want in this life and everything you desire in the next life.

The Three Things Allah Asks For

And the next verse only gives you three things. There are three things that Allah asks us for. And out of those three things, He, as a default, has already given you two, if you are a Muslim. Two of them have already been given to you. The third one is the one that we miss so much.

And I divide these three into two categories before I get into them. I want you to understand this very clearly. The first two of this formula, the first two ingredients to this formula are inactive ingredients in and of themselves. And the third one is the active ingredient or the active part of this formula.

What do I mean by inactive and actives? If you go to any pharmacy, you go to CVS, you go to Walgreens, whatever you have here in Tennessee, and you get some cold medication off the shelf, and you turn it over, there's going to be two sets of ingredients. There's gonna be active ingredients, there may be one active ingredient, two active ingredients, and then they're going to be inactive ingredients.

And those inactive ingredients are only compounds and other things that make it possible for you to take the active ingredient. Because the only way to take the active ingredient in and of itself is most likely intravenously, directly into the blood system. So the inactives help that active ingredient get into the body.

But if you were to take the inactives alone and leave the active ingredient out, you would get no benefit. It is the active of that medicine that is what you need. And in this formula, the three parts, all three of them need to go together. If we leave the active out, it becomes a dead formula.

Allah tells us in the next verse, the three things that He wants to avoid as a painful punishment:

Number one, تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ. Allah says Believe in Me, believe in Allah. And most of you in here, believe in Allah. If you're a Muslim, this is the first point to be entering Islam. To believe لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ. There is nothing that has the right to be worship except the one true creator of all that exists.

So that one has been given to you as a default. If you are those whom Allah is addressing, and Allah is addressing يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا those who have belief.

What is the second part of the formula? وَرَسُولِهِ. Believe in His Messenger.

تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ

So believe in Allah, and believe in the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). And these two things are the key to entering into Islam. You cannot be a Muslim without لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ

So the first two parts of this formula, Allah has already given you as a default. As a default Allah has already given you two-thirds of this beautiful formula. But again these are the inactives. These are the inactives.

Because just saying, I believe in Allah and His Messenger, when you do nothing else with it, it is an inactive, it is intangible. You can't see it tangibly, it is iman, it is belief.

The Active Ingredient: Jihad

The third part of the formula is what I believe that we are missing the most throughout the entirety of this ummah, is the active ingredient.

That you struggle, you strive, you make effort, you make sacrifice. All that that word جِهاد means تُجَاهِدُونَmake effort for me, strive for me, struggle for me. Whatever you have within you, use it for me.

That you do this solely for the sake of Allah. This is what Allah is asking for this ummah to give effort. And this is what this ummah is missing, is the effort. The effort that becomes behind our iman is something that we see so lacking, our actions. And this is what Allah is asking us for.

And you know, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he was known as, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) described him:

[Sahih Muslim, Hadith 746]

That he was the Qur'an in his character. He embodied and lived the Qur'an. This didn't mean that he recited the Qur'an. As Ibn Kathir said it is بِالنَّهْيِ وَالْأَمْرِ that he was the Qur'an in its prohibitions and its commandments.

He lived it to the best of his ability and to the best of any human being. And when the Sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them all), Allah Azawajal referred to them in the Qur'an as:

(Quran 2:285)

They were people who responded to Allah with سَمِعْنَا we hear you,وَأَطَعْنَا and we obey you. This was their norm.

When Allah commanded something, they did it. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) told them to do something, they did it. When he said, stay away from something, they stayed away from it. When Allah prohibited something, it became prohibited for them at that moment. They lived according to the command and prohibition of Allah. This is why Allah says about them:

(Quran 3:110)

They were the best of us. And that is the best that we can seek to obtain, is that attitude of سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا . Whatever you say, ya Allah, we are here to do it. And that is the best example.

And then on the other end of the spectrum, we have a people whom Allah Azawajal referred to them as سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا they hear and they disobey. They would say to Allah, we hear you but we're just not going to do it. We hear you but we're gonna do something else. We hear you but we're just going to absolutely ignore it. Or we're going to change it. Or we're going to question so much that we can get out of it. And this is the worst end of the spectrum.

And we know the promises that Allah have given to those on that end. The good and bad thing about this ummah, and when I say this ummah, I'm referring to all Muslims. As Allah says:

This ummah, your ummah is one ummah. I'm your Lord, therefore worship me.

This ummah is not on any one of those ends. As a whole, we're not on the end of سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا or we would be in a much greater disposition than we're in now. And we're not on the end of سَمِعْنَا وَعَصَيْنَا. We don't hear Allah and blatantly disobey Him, most of us. We have a little bit more consciousness of Allah jalla wa ala than to completely blatantly continue to disobey Him as a whole. We fall somewhere in the middle.

The Ummah of "We Hear But..."

And what I like to coin is that we have become the ummah of سَمِعْنَا وَخَلَا We hear but that's it. سَمِعْنَا وَخَلَاصْ We hear but we don't do anything. We hear the book of Allah recited to us, and we say, mashallah, what a beautiful recitation.

We hear the sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and we say, mashallah, so beautiful. But we don't take it as a direct command. We hear the book of Allah recited and we don't question ourselves, what is Allah telling me to do? What is Allah telling me to stay away from? No, the book has become a recital. It has become a beautification for us. And that's it, it adorns shelves. It is in the hearts of those who have recited it and we want to hear them recite it beautifully, but that's about it.

That's about it. It has not become something that is a guide book to how we live our lives. And that is our huge problem, is the problem of inaction, of no movement for Allah.

Even though we're moving, yes. We're striving and struggling everyday of our lives, yes. We're on the grind as they say in the streets. But that grind is only for what we can get out of this dunya. That effort is only for that

paycheck that comes at the end of the week. That effort is only for that house that I just built, or that beautiful car that I just bought, or for whatever it is, that vacation I want to take, whatever it is.

That becomes our effort, striving for what we can get out of this life. And you'll never get enough, so stop wasting your effort. Allah jalla wa ala is saying:

Now work for Me. Your effort becomes for Me. Your struggling becomes for Me. No matter what it is that you're doing. If you go to work, you go to work for Me. You go to work to please Me. At the end of the week you get the paycheck because of Me.

Allah jalla wa ala, He's the one who presides the sustenance. This is an idea that this ummah has lost. The work for Allah jalla wa ala. The effort for Allah. And Allah is very clear about what He wants:

Allah says, He wants your wealth. Yes, Allah wants your wealth. He doesn't need it. Allah is free of need from anything of the creation.

Allah says in the end of Surah Muhammad, Allah is free of need. You are the one who is in need to give in the way of Allah jalla wa ala. You're the one that needs it.

But Allah is asking in the Qur'an, who will lend to Allah a goodly loan? Who will give to Allah from His wealth? That is only a trust to you. Every single dollar that you make in your life is because Allah jalla wa ala provided it to you. And it is only entrusted to you for a period of time until it leaves you.

And then when it leaves you, it is either going to be for you or against you. If it is spent only for worldly gain with no intent to please Allah jalla wa ala whatsoever, then it is only for you in this life. Whatever you bought with that money, you got it. You better enjoy it.

But the money that is given for the sake of Allah jalla wa ala, Allah jalla wa ala says, you will find it with Him. And it will be returned to you manifold over. It is a return process. So Allah jalla wa ala is asking for your wealth. Yes, without a doubt.

Allah wants you to return to Him that which He gave you, so that He can multiply it for you and then give it back to you. Subhanallah. What a great transaction that Allah is asking us for. It is of our benefit. Yet Allah is telling us these are one of the things that will prevent us from Him having to punish us.

And then what else does Allah want from us? وَأَنفُسِكُمْ . And yourselves.

You put your greatest commodity at my disposal. You put your greatest commodity yourself at the disposal of Allah. That means when I have time, I dedicate some of my time to Allah jalla wa ala. I dedicate some of my time to my ibadah of Allah. I dedicate some of my time to help out at the masjid. I dedicate some of my time to teach my children the book of Allah and the sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). I take some of my time to help the poor, to help the needy, to help the indigent, to help the orphans.

I put my effort, some of this life that Allah gave me, some of this health that Allah gave me, some of this breath that Allah gave me. I use it to please the one who gave it to me.

If we gain this attitude again, dear brothers and sisters, we will see Allah jalla wa ala come on our sides. And I'm gonna show you very clearly that Allah says this. But this is what we're missing. We're missing the effort. Allah wants the effort.

You need to ask yourself when you leave this building today, what am I going to do for Allah today? You need to wake up every morning asking yourself, what am I going to do for Allah today? For indeed if you don't have a plan to please Allah today, then you might as well go back to bed. Because you're not gonna do any good for yourself, or you're not gonna do any good for anyone else.

The Rewards Allah Promises

But Allah says if you do these three things:

These are better for you if you only knew. And when Allah says better for you in the general sense, that means they're better for you than anything else. They're better for you than anything else if you only understood it.

And what will Allah give us for these things? And this is what I'm going to finish with. Subhanallah. Brothers, sisters, if you only understood what Allah wants to give you for that little bit of effort, wallahi you would jump over each other on your way out of the masjid to do what you can for the sake of Allah.

Number one, Allah says, I won't painfully punish you. And if that was all that Allah wanted to give me, khalas, that is more than enough for me. That all of the sins that I did against you, ya Allah, you will not punish me for them? All of the times I disobeyed you, you'll forget it? All of those times when I should have done something for you but I did not of laziness, you let it go? I'm in for that. Where do you want me to sign? That's it.

There can be no more greater gift from Allah jalla wa ala than to not punish us. But Allah is الرَّحِيمُ الْغَفُورُ who is intently merciful and graciously forgiving. He says, I'll give you more. I just won't punish you. I'll also do something else.

And in the next verse we find Allah says:

Ya Allah, Allah says that He will forgive your sins. What does that mean? Didn't Allah just say He won't punish us? No, of course, Allah says He wouldn't punish us. But Allah could not punish us and then cause us to stop existing. Just like animals. Allah could do justice between human beings. He could forgive us for what we did

from Him. And then He could say, you know what? Just go away. That's it, be done. And no one could complain to Allah that He was unjust to you.

No one could complain that Allah was unjust. But Allah says above not punishing you, I will forgive you. I will forgive you.

What does forgiveness bring? Because there is a difference. What does forgiveness do?

I will forgive you and then give you and enter you into My Jannah. Subhanallah.

It is the forgiveness of Allah that gains us the entry into Paradise. That's it. No one goes to Jannah without Allah's forgiveness.

As the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says and narrated by Abu Hurairah in the collection of Imam Muslim:

[Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2816]

Let none of you think that by doing good deeds you will go to Paradise. Let none of you think by doing good deeds you'll go to Paradise. They said, not even you O Messenger of Allah? He said, not even me unless Allah forgives me.

Unless Allah forgives me, not even I will enter into Paradise. So know that ثَمَنُ الْجَنَّةِ the price of Paradise is the forgiveness of Allah Azawajal. This is what we strive for. This is what we struggle for. For Allah to tell us in the day of judgment, I have forgiven you. Because when Allah forgives you, Jannah comes next.

If that's all Allah said, if Allah stopped there, and said, I will not punish you, I will forgive you, and I will give you Jannah. We would all say, and I'm sure you would agree with me to say, okay, that's enough. I don't need anything else. I'm okay with that. I'm happy with that. I'm more than happy with that.

But Allah Azawajal is not satisfied with that alone. Subhanallah. Allah Azawajal, your Lord, your Rabb is not satisfied with that alone. He says:

Allah says, not only will I give you Jannah underneath which rivers are flowing, but I will give you beautiful good homes in جَنَّةِ عَدْنٍ Jannah of Adn. Allah says, I will give you Jannah, and then I will give you prime real

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2. UNDERLINE <u> - Use for: - Direct commands and imperatives - Critical warnings - Call-to-action statements

3. HIGHLIGHT <mark class="bg-yellow-100 px-1 py-0.5 rounded"> - Use for: - Key takeaways and main points (1-2 per section) - Memorable quotes or wisdom - Important definitions - Powerful statements that summarize a concept

4. ITALICS <em> - Use for: - Transliterations of Arabic words - Book titles - Emphasis on specific words

INLINE ARABIC WITH TRANSLITERATION (CRITICAL FOR BRACKETS)

When Arabic text appears INLINE with English (not in emerald boxes), wrap the entire Arabic + transliteration in a span with dir="ltr" to fix bracket direction:

CORRECT FORMAT: <span dir="ltr">(Arabic text - transliteration)</span>

Example: Alright everyone, <span dir="ltr">(بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ - bismillahir-rahmanir-rahim)</span>

This prevents the parentheses from appearing inverted like )( instead of ().

RULES

1. FORMAT 100% of content - do NOT skip, summarize, or truncate 2. Return ONLY HTML - no markdown blocks, no explanations 3. Preserve ALL Arabic exactly as it appears with full diacritics 4. Always use dir="ltr" spans for inline Arabic with parentheses

estate in paradise (جَنَّةِ الْعَدْنِ - Jannati al-Adn) the home of our forefather Adam and his wife Eve, the originator of humanity. Allah will give us real estate, prime real estate in Jannah.

Subhanallah. And then Allah says:

This is the greatest achievement you will ever have in your life. Not that degree that you get in college, not that doctorate, not that master's degree, not that six-figure paycheck, that maybe six-figure home, that beautiful car, that beautiful wife, those beautiful children.

Allah Azawajal never in the Qur'an says that these are an achievement in and of themselves. Allah says, yes, they are (زِينَةُ ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا - Zeenatul hayaatid dunya). But then Allah reminds us, your wealth and your children can become a fitna for you as well. But Allah says:

This is the greatest achievement.

For Allah to forgive you, to give you Jannah, to give you prime real estate is the best achievement. And how does Allah say that you can get that achievement? Three things:

Just believe in Allah and His Messenger and put a little effort for the sake of Allah.

Now, if that were it, again, when Allah wouldn't punish us. But that's not all. Allah Azawajal is not done. Subhanallah.

The Promise of Victory

Allah is not done. Because Allah Azawajal is speaking now of Akhirah. Everything is in Akhirah. Forgiveness in Akhirah. No punishment in Akhirah. Jannah in Akhirah. All of that is coming next in the next life. And Allah Azawajal knows that sometimes for us it is hard to comprehend Akhirah. It's hard for us to comprehend something that we have very little knowledge of.

So Allah Azawajal says, in the last verse that I'm going to use today, the second to last verse of Surah As-Saff:

I'll give you something else which you love. I'll give you something else which you love, which you desire, which you are begging Me for. Every single Muslim begging Me for during the month of Ramadan, you're

begging Me for.

Allah says, I will give you help from Me. Help from Allah and a clear victory. Help from Allah and a clear (فَتْحٌ قَرِيبٌ - Fathun Qareeb). A clear victory, something that is clear.

What are we asking Allah for? (اللَّهُمَّ انْصُرْهُمْ - Allahumma ansurhum). We're asking Allah to help us, and Allah is saying:

My help has already been given to you 1400 years ago. You just need to fulfill the action plan.

So it seems very odd now, when I hear this du'a:

And I know that Allah answered that 1400 years ago. That du'a, Allah has already given it to us. So how do we look now as Muslims? Asking something from Allah which He has already given to us, but we're not willing to do that which He gave as a requirement.

It's just like someone who has a hundred thousand dollars in the bank, and they're standing out on the street corner begging for money. Standing out on the street corner begging for money. And you ask them, What are you doing? Because I need to pay my bills. Don't you have a bank account? Yeah, but I forgot the pin code.

Well then go find the pin code, go get it, go change it, go get your money. Allah Azawajal has left a huge deposit for us in the book of Allah Azawajal. Just sometimes we need to know the code, we need to know the access code.

And Allah is telling us for all of this good that Allah wants to give us in Akhirah. All of this beautiful help that Allah wants to give us. And then on top of that Allah says, not only will my help come to you, but my help will result in fatahun qareeb. It will result in a victory that is clear for you. A victory that everyone will know it is because Allah Azawajal has facilitated this for you. No one will be able to attribute this victory to your own merits.

This victory will come from Allah Azawajal alone. But Allah says the access code is three things:

Are You Serious About That Du'a?

The question I have for you is are you serious about that du'a? When you say:

Are you sincere about that? Do you really mean it? Because if you really mean it then you will back that du'a up with the action that Allah asked for.

You will back that du'a up with the effort that you show to Allah that I'm not just asking you for something and expecting you to just give it to me foregoing the requirements that you've already given me in your book. No, I'm asking you for something, ya Allah and I want to show the effort.

Because Hassan al-Basri (may Allah have mercy on him) the imam at-tabi'een he said what it means in English that iman, iman is not the substance, it is not the substance of your hopes and your desires. Iman is not the substance of your hopes and your desires. Just saying (تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ - Tu'minuna billahi wa rasulihi) that is not the essence of iman.

He said iman, true iman is that which will settle on your heart and then it will become manifested in your actions. You will practice what you preach. Something that you believe in you will live by that belief. If you believe that you walk out in the middle of the highway you will get run over by a car then that belief will show in your actions.

If you come to the highway you look both ways. That belief is apparent in your actions. If you believe that fire is hot you will avoid it, you won't touch it, you'll get burned by it. Your belief will show that through your actions.

But for us to say we believe in Allah and His Messenger but we don't give the actions that Allah asks us for, fulfill the commands of Allah, avoid the prohibitions of Allah and the prohibitions and commands of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then we are only bearing a witness against ourselves that there is something wrong with our iman.

So inshallah ta'ala I'm asking you today when you leave this place ask yourself what are you going to do to become involved for the deen of Allah. All of us have a responsibility today. All of us have a responsibility towards this ummah to put some effort forward because a little bit of effort if we just give a little bit of effort for Allah then we know that Allah jalla wa ala will come and make up the slack.

We don't need to do everything perfectly. We're not perfect. We don't need to make sure that every single person is doing everything at perfect place, perfect time. No. Just make a little bit of effort that is sincere.

One thing that I do know and I finish with this because a lot of people usually ask, what should we do? If I knew everything that we should be doing then I would probably handing that out like, you know, ration tablets. But one thing that I can tell you without a doubt is that anything that you do with ikhlas for Allah with sincerity to please Allah and that is in accordance to the book of Allah and the sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), it is a good action that will be rewarded.

Even if you make some mistakes, it is an action that will be rewarded even if Allah jalla wa ala rewards you by putting you in the right place, sending someone to you to correct you, sending someone to help you, etc. Allah will reward sincerity. Allah gives for sincerity that which He doesn't give for anything else.

So have sincerity, ikhlas for Allah jalla wa ala and try to find out what you can do for the sake of Allah today. Inshallah. And may Allah jalla wa ala make us all of those who listen and obey.

Closing

End of Lecture