Purification of the Soul

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You see, this is the solution. This is the process to understanding our soul. Is you have to understand that yes, your soul was created pure as Allah says:

"It was created in that perfect mold and fashion."

Reference: Quran 95:4

But Allah designed you with a free will. Designed you with the capacity to choose. And that capacity made it certain that you would fail at some points.

Made it certain that you would make mistakes. Made it certain that you would make the wrong decisions. You may even go down the wrong road.

You may even live the wrong life for a very long time. But Allah designed within that system a very simple means by with which to fix it all. To fix it all.

Big or small. Allah has designed a system to fix it all. There are only a small, small, minute, minuscule number of things which can prevent you from fixing the mistakes that you have made.

Understanding Allah's Love for Repentance

So when we look at our lives and we see ourselves everyday struggling to do good and we fail over and over and over and over again. We need to remind ourselves that look, this is part of the plan. Not that Allah loves the sin, but Allah knows the sin is gonna come.

Even if I try to do my best, I am going to fail. There's not a perfect human created, not even the first of us. But Allah has designed the system as such that He wants me to return to Him.

Do you understand brothers and sisters that Allah جَلَّ وَعَلَا loves your repentance more than He loves almost anything else you can give Him. Because Allah جَلَّ وَعَلَا doesn't need your salah. Doesn't need it.

Your salah to Him doesn't increase Him. It doesn't make His grandeur anymore. And your refusal to give it to Him does not decrease Him in the least.

Your sadaqah doesn't add to His kingdom. He is Al-Ghani. He is the one who is perfectly wealthy, who needs nothing.

He creates means. So nothing you can do or not do is going to increase or decrease Allah in the least. But when you fail as part of your human nature, when you fail and when you make mistakes and when you sin and you do the wrong thing and you realize that and you return to Allah and say, My Lord, I have indeed wronged my own soul.

If you don't forgive me and have mercy upon me, there is no doubt in my heart that I will be a loser in this life and in the next life. You know what? This is something that Allah loves beyond your ability to understand.

Because now you really signify to Allah how much you need Him.

Yes, ya Allah, I need you. I need you more than you can understand. Because if you don't forgive me, I have no hope.

If you don't forgive me, I have no hope. Maybe if you never give me any money in this life, I still might have some hope in the next life. You can be poor all this life.

You can be homeless in the streets. You can be eating out of trash cans. You can be oppressed.

You can be suppressed. You can be tortured. You can be maimed.

You can even be killed in this life and still be blissed as one of the highest ranks of Jannah in the next life. It can happen. Very possibly so.

The Reality of Success

But one thing I will assure you of, if you're not forgiven if Allah جَلَّ وَعَلَا is not pleased with that soul that He created in you, and you don't rectify with your Creator the mistakes that you have made, you will never be successful. I don't care how much of this world you are given. I don't care how much of this world is laid in your lap.

If Allah is not pleased with you, you will never achieve success. You will be like someone, and Allah جَلَّ وَعَلَا described this to us some of the عِلْمُ الْغَيْبِ through the Prophet ﷺ, that there will be a man on the day of judgment who was given the best life, the best life, better than anyone else.

He was a baller like no other.

But Allah is not pleased with him. So Allah will take him and dip him in hellfire for one second. Just dip him.

Just let him taste it. For a moment, taste it. Pull him out and say, My slave, did you ever have any good in your life? That person will say, By Allah, I never experienced any good.

Nothing. Because when he sees the recompense for what he had, it falls into nothingness. I never had a single good in my life.

But then there will be brought the one who suffered the most in this life, who had it harder than anyone else. But Allah is pleased with them. He will take that person and dip them in Jannah.

For only a second, just a dip in Jannah, pull them out and say, My slave, did you ever experience any hardship in your life? They will say, By Allah, my Lord, no, I never experienced any hardship. You see, this is the reality. This is the truth of the matter.

Is it doesn't matter what you possess in this life, it doesn't matter your status, your status, your stature, it does not matter. What matters is whether Allah جَلَّ وَعَلَا is pleased with that soul He gave you when you return it to Him. Because we all know:

We belong to Allah. We are owned by Allah. We are His property. He created us, He deals with us, and He can dispense with us as He wishes.

Reference: Quran 2:156

And we must return to Him. That soul that He gave you, you will return it. It will go back to its origin.

And how you deliver it back will decide its position in the next life. That's what life is all about. Me trying to fix this and give it back to Allah the best way that I can.

The Beautiful Dua for Laylatul Qadr

And there is no better way to fix that soul and put it back in the closest original form you can give it than the tawbah that you give to Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ . Aisha رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهَا She once asked the Prophet, Ya Rasulullah, if we find Laylatul Qadr, if we find Laylatul Qadr by some chance, what should we say? What should we do? SubhanAllah. Very beautiful.

Anybody know the dua that he told her to say? Anybody? Raise your hands. It's interactive, interactive.

Verily, my Lord, You are Oft-Forgiving. You are Oft-Forgiving. You are very forgiving and You love to forgive. So forgive me.

SubhanAllah. My Lord, You are very forgiving and You love to forgive. So forgive me.

The Problem with Teaching Fear Alone

SubhanAllah. You know, how many of you in here were born and raised Muslim? Raise your hand. MashaAllah.

You know, and I've been Muslim almost 14 years now. So I feel like I'm pretty much a lifer so far. You know Allah has been taught to our young generation for so long at the end of a stick.

Yes or no? You were taught Allah at the end of a stick that if you do this, Allah is going to punish you. If you do this, Allah is going to punish you. Oh, hellfire.

Oh, this and that. And we grew up, you grew up with an idea that Allah was just ready and just waiting to crush you and toss you into the deepest darks of hell. That is just some of the psychological brainwashing that comes from our countries, from our Muslim countries.

We've been under despots so long that have ruled us with the stick that we even have taken our deen through the stick. When this is not the way Allah جَلَّ وَعَلَا designed our deen. The stick is the last resort for Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى

Punishment is the last resort and He never ever gives it to anyone unless they themselves walk right into it. Unless they themselves walk right into it. The Prophet was once around a fire and there was a child playing

near this fire.

And every time the fire would flame up, the mother of that child would reach and grab it and pull it back. And the Prophet began to weep. And the companions asked him, why are you crying Ya Rasulullah? Because they knew he cried for a reason.

He said, do you see how much this mother loves her child? Do you see how much this mother loves her child? She doesn't want it to be burned by the fire. He said, of course. It's part of the innate nature of mothers to protect their children.

He said, know that Allah loves every one of His creation more than this mother loves her child. But yet they are so adamant of going into the fire themselves. You see, this is the real relationship that Allah has with His slaves.

He loves every single one of them. He created each one of them perfectly. The way He designed it to be.

And His purpose for creating them was to dwell in Jannah. This is what Allah wanted for them, to live in Jannah. But He already knows there are going to be some who will make it and who are going to not make it.

But it is all based upon that free will and that choice of decision that He gave them. And all of them are going to make mistakes. They're all going to fall astray.

They're all going to choose the wrong way. They're all going to make wrong choices in their life. The only ones that are going to make it are the ones who return to Me and repent to Me and ask Me to forgive them.

The Two People on the Day of Judgment

There will be two people on the Day of Judgment. I want to show you how much Allah wants to forgive you. I want you to realize that. So when you go home tonight, you fix your relationship with Allah. Because if you fix your relationship with Allah, let me tell you something, your relationship with everything else changes. When you fix your relationship with Allah, your relationship with your husband or your wife changes.

When you fix your relationship with Allah, your relationship with your parents or your children changes. When you fix your relationship with Allah, your relationship with the rest of humanity takes another level. And you begin to see things completely different.

Completely different. Because when Allah loves someone, as in the hadith of Qudsi, when someone returns and repents to Allah, not someone who is sinless, because we've already agreed that doesn't exist. But when Allah loves someone, the Prophet said, he becomes the eye with which they see, the ears with which they hear, the mouth with which they speak.

SubhanAllah. This is a relationship that every one of us want with Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ . For Allah to love us.

The Prophet said, when Allah loves someone, he says to Jibreel عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ Ya Jibreel I love fulan fulan, so you love him. And Jibreel says to the angels, O angels, Allah loves so and so, so you love them. Until the entire creation begins to love them.

Till the entire creation loves that individual. This is a blessed life. And this cause is a blessed death.

And a blessed hereafter. The Prophet said, there is no life. There is no life.

Except for the life of the akhirah. There is no life except the life of the akhirah. This life is not really a life.

He said, there is no life here. The life is the life of the akhirah, the next life. And that life is dependent upon what you do with that soul in this life.

The Story of Two Being Dragged

Now there were two people that will be being dragged to hellfire on the day of judgment. One of them, Allah is telling the angels, drag them, take them, toss them in it. They're being dragged away.

One of them, as he's being dragged towards the hellfire, the hellfire will recede from that person. And Allah will ask that hellfire, what's wrong with you? What is the matter with you? And the hellfire will say, Ya Allah, he's seeking refuge in you from me. He's seeking refuge in you from me.

Therefore I'm backing up. And Allah will say, release my slave. Release my slave.

And there will be another man being dragged and he will say, Ya Allah, I didn't expect this from you. I did not expect this from you, my Lord. And Allah will say, what did you expect from me? You the one that made all these choices, did all these mistakes, what did you expect from me? He will say, I expected that even your mercy could reach me.

That your mercy was so great, it could reach even someone like me. And Allah will say to the angels, release my slave. Let him go.

The Story of the Man Who Killed 99 People

We all know the story of the man who at his deathbed, he told his children, burn me. And my ashes, take half of them and spread them into the ocean. And the other half spread them on the earth.

Because I know if Allah catches me, he's going to punish me. The man understood this, that I did not give Allah what he deserved, therefore I'm going to try to avoid this reality of standing in front of him on the day of judgment. Now Allah caught him and put him together, easier than he put him together in the first place.

And Allah asked him, Ya Abdi, my slave, why did you do this? Why did you do this? And this person will say, Allah, you know why I did it. You know very well why I did it. I was afraid that if you caught me, what you were going to do to me.

Allah said, for that, I've forgiven you. Forgave him. This man goes to Jannah, just for this fear of knowing that his soul wasn't right.

The Worshiper Without Knowledge

So they sent him to a man, who was known for his devout worship. He was an abid. He was known for his devout worship.

There's so many lessons you can learn from this story. He sent him to a man, who was known for his devout worship. And this person was probably close to Allah, for his devout worship.

The man went to him and said, Look, I've killed 99 people. Can Allah forgive me? Can I be forgiven? Now this abid was close to Allah. But he didn't have a lot of knowledge.

He didn't have a lot of knowledge. And this is part of the problem, of speaking without knowledge. When you speak without knowledge, you can cause great detriment.

Great, great detriment can come from speaking, when you have no knowledge. So this worshiper said, No, there can't be any forgiveness for you. You've done too much.

You've done too much. So what did the man do? Well, if I can't be forgiven, then I might as well just kill you too. So he killed him.

Make it an even 100. An even 100. So he killed the man.

Speaking without knowledge can cause you a lot of detriment. But there was still something inside of him, that was itching. That fitrah was still itching at him.

The Scholar with Knowledge

And he went and said, Okay, send me to the most knowledgeable of you. Let me fix that. Let me ask the right question.

Send me to the most knowledgeable of you. I have a question to ask him. So they sent him to the scholar.

They sent him to the man of knowledge. He went to the man of knowledge, and he said, I've killed 100 people, including your best worshiper. Can Allah forgive me? The man said, the scholar, who has knowledge, said, there's nothing that can stand between you and the forgiveness of Allah.

There's nothing that can stand between you and the forgiveness of Allah. You know the Prophet ﷺ said, that the door of tawbah is open, and it will never be shut, until the day the sun rises from the west. That the door of tawbah is open, and it can never be shut, until the sun rises from the west.

So he told him, there's nothing that stands between you and the forgiveness of Allah. He said, but you need to make some effort for this tawbah. You've done a pretty decent amount of bad things.

You need to make some effort for this tawbah. Leave this city. Go to another place, where you can be a better person, and you can be away from these influences.

Show Allah that you're truly repentant. You've done the first step, and acknowledging the mistake, and seeking the repentance. Now you need to back that up with a little action.

So leave this town, and go to this town, because in this other town, there are people who can help you. It's a better town, it's better people, it's a better environment. So the man left on his way to that town, and Allah legislated that he would meet the angel of death.

The Mercy of Allah's Physics

So he met the angel of death along the way, and he died. Now, as he was laying there, two angels came down. The angel of mercy, and the angel of wrath.

And they began to debate with one another. The angel of mercy is saying, look, no, no, he made tawbah. He was on his way to fix the problem, therefore I should take him.

The angel of wrath is saying, no, no, no, no, no. He never went, he never showed, he never made it. Therefore, we don't know what he could have done.

He could have turned around, went back to the town and killed everybody. Who knows, he could have been fooling everyone. I need to take him.

He didn't do anything. All we know of him is bad. So Allah جَلَّ وَعَلَا sent angel Jibreel عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ and told them that Allah said, decide the matter like this.

Measure the distance from the town he left to where he is now, and then measure from where he is now to the town he was journeying to. Whichever distance you find to be shorter, that angel will take him. Meaning that if he is closer to the town he left, the angel of wrath should take him.

Because he hasn't done anything. If he is closer to the town with which he is going, then the angel of mercy will take him because he made a serious commitment. Now, in reality, which town did he die closer to? The one

from which he just left.

And had they measured like that, the angel of wrath would have taken him. Now, question. Could Allah have just legislated for him to die anywhere along that path? Closer to where he was going? Allah could have designed for him to be anywhere.

But Allah legislated that he would die closer to the town from which he left. And then as they were beginning to measure, Allah commanded the earth to shorten its distance. He commanded the earth to fold itself in and changed physics.

You know Allah جَلَّ وَعَلَا created physics. Physics are changeable. They are changeable.

Allah can change physics at any time and He has done so. He changed the very physics and shrunk the earth.

And when they measured, they found him closer to the town to which he was going and the angel of mercy took him.

Now, why is this story important? Well, because number one, this story could have happened quite differently. The man could have died closer to the town he was going and the angel of mercy just took him. Secondly, this story could have never made it to us.

It's a story about one man. Allah جَلَّ وَعَلَا legislated that this story would make it to us. And that this man would die closer to where he was going from.

And Allah would go so far as to make the entire earth change its parameters and its dimensions just so He could show you how much He loves to forgive. How much He loves to forgive. This man had killed 100 people including one of Allah's devout worshippers.

And Allah is still trying to show you and I that He loves more than anything to forgive. To forgive. And it doesn't matter how much you've done.

It doesn't matter how bad you've been. How far off the path you've gone. The door of tawbah is never closed until the day the sun rises from the west.

And you can meet Allah with as much sin as you want. The Prophet ﷺ said, whoever has a repentant heart, he will find Allah with the likeness of forgiveness. He will find Allah with a likeness of forgiveness to the amount He has sent.

Even if his sins were to amass the earth and everything that is in it. And I don't think there's a person that sinned that much yet. SubhanAllah.

Stop Seeking Perfection

Brothers and sisters, we have to realize something. It's not about whether or not you're gonna make a mistake. Quit fooling yourself upon that.

Quit trying to achieve perfection. You can't, there's nothing perfect in this life. Nothing is perfect in this life.

There's not a single thing that exists within this world that is perfect. Love isn't perfect in this life. Love can be tainted and twisted in many forms and fashions.

Relationships are not perfect in this life. Even the things that we enjoy are not perfect in this life. The relationship that a husband and wife enjoy are not perfect because they need to go and purify themselves.

They create a najasa from it. Even when you eat, it's not perfect in this life because you're going to defecate it out. There's nothing perfect in this life.

Stop fooling yourself. The only perfection in this life is to stand in front of Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ on the day of judgment and hear the words from your creator, My slave, I have forgiven you. That's it.

That is when that soul reaches its perfection. That is when and only when your soul will reach perfection and reach that state that Allah created it for which makes it worthy of dwelling in a place called Jannah. That's it.

There is no other goal in life. There is no other reason for you being here. And if you're doing anything else with your life beyond this, it is extra.

May Allah bless you. You're in school trying to get a degree? Alhamdulillah. Go use that to benefit yourself, your family and the Muslims.

But if you are using that as a means to keep yourself from purifying that soul, then you are wasting your entire life. And I am guaranteeing you, when you stand in front of Allah on the day of judgment, you will beg and beg and plead for only one thing. One thing.

And Allah says it in the Quran, they will say:

My Lord, send me back. Send me back. I want to go back.

Why? Why? Do they want to go back to see their family and their children and their homes? No.

So that I can do some good with that which I left behind. Just so I can do some good with what is left behind.

And Allah will say, No. It's too late. There's a barrier now between you and that.

It's over. You had your chance. I sent you guidance.

I sent you messengers. I gave you a book. I gave you everything you need, the recipe by which to purify your soul, and you neglected it.

So it's your own fault. And if you go to hell, if you end up in hell, Allah didn't place you there. Allah only opened the gate and let you walk in.

Allah only opened the gate and let you walk in. It's a very simple process in Islam. Islam is a beautiful religion by this aspect.

The Beautiful Islam I Found

One of the most beautiful things I saw about Islam was this concept of forgiveness. Because I saw something very different and I was fortunate. الحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ The first glimpse I saw of real Islam was about the forgiveness of Allah.

And I was at a point in my life where I didn't think forgiveness was for me. I thought that I had done so much and I was only 18. But I thought I had lived so recklessly and so carelessly, and had said so many evil things to my creator that there was no hope for me.

Until the imam stood there and told me that the door of repentance is never closed until the sun rises from the west. And if you haven't worshipped something other than Allah knowingly, and committed outright blatant shirk, associating a partner with Allah, then walk through that door of repentance and you will find a Lord who is ready and loving to forgive you. How much more beautiful can a relationship between a creator and His creation be? It is a relationship of love.

Allah جَلَّ وَعَلَا loves everyone of His creation. Loves them more than your own mother loved you. More than your own mother loved you, He loves you.

He loves you and He wants you to dwell in Jannah. But that soul that He gave you can only enter into Paradise if it's clean. Dirty souls can't go to Jannah.

They have to be clean. But they can't be clean by you being perfect. It's impossible.

Won't happen. Never has happened. The only way to clean it is through the repentance and mercy of Allah جَلَّ وَعَلَا

The Three Things Allah Asks

Allah says this in Surah As-Saff very beautifully. Allah says:

O you who believe, can I guide you to a transaction from a painful punishment.

Reference: Quran 61:10

And Allah tells you to do three things. Three things.

تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ

How many of you in here believe in Allah?

How many of you in here believe in Allah? Raise your hand. You believe in God that created everything that exists.

Number two.

وَرَسُولِهِ

You believe in His Messenger. How many people in here believe in the Messenger Muhammad ﷺ? If you don't, it's fine. Keep your hand down. So guess how many you have already. Two out of three.

There's only three. There's only three things Allah is telling you to do. Two, you've been given as a default if you're a Muslim.

The third one:

And then make some effort for Allah. Do some effort. The word (جَهْد - jahd) the word jihad is not an evil word. It is a struggle for (خَيْر - khair). It is a struggle to be a better person.

It is a struggle to make a better place. It is a struggle against injustice, against tyranny, against evil, against oppression, to make sure that no woman is ever harmed, no woman is ever abused, no child is ever taken advantage of, no one's property is ever stolen, the weak are taken care of, the rich give to the poor what is their due, the poor always have a place to lay their head at night, they have food on their table. And if you want me to apologize for that, I'm quite sorry, I will never do it.

This is what Allah is asking for you. Believe in Him, His messengers, strive for Him, and that for you:

It's better for you if you only understood it. Better for you than anything you can do in this life.

And then Allah says something very, very beautiful next. That what He will give you for this is:

He will forgive you your sins. SubhanAllah.

Because Allah says, I will forgive your sins, and then enter you into Paradise. Because you can't go to Paradise without the forgiveness of Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ . I don't care how much good you've done.

If you're trying to enter Jannah with your good deeds, guess what? Give up. Give up now. Give up now.

If your intent to go to Paradise is through your good, you're wasting your time. You are wasting your time.

Because Abu Hurairah رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ narrated for us, and Imam Muslim collected it, that the Prophet ﷺ said, Let none of you think that by doing good you will go to Paradise.

The Prophet's Love for His Ummah

Let none of you be deceived or fooled into thinking that your good will get you entry into Paradise. They were astonished. They said, Not even you, O Messenger of Allah? He said, Not even me, unless Allah forgives me.

Not even me. I will not even go to Paradise unless Allah forgives me. Unless Allah forgives me.

SubhanAllah. So it is the mercy of Allah, the forgiveness of Allah, that is the key to Jannah. Why do I do good? Because I want Allah to forgive me for the bad.

I know I'm doing the bad, therefore I want to do the good to overcome it. I return to Allah. I repent to Allah.

I ask Him to forgive me. There's nothing special you need to do, brothers and sisters. You sinned against your Creator.

You go and you deal with Him with it. You deal with your Creator. You acknowledge yourself.

You acknowledge your wrong and you ask Allah to forgive you. And then guess what? You move on. You move on.

It's life. You move on. You know the biggest hurdle to us getting forgiveness from Allah is learning to forgive ourselves.

Is learning to forgive ourselves. This is what prevents us from Allah's forgiveness so much. Is that we ask Allah to forgive us, but we fail to realize that we have to forgive ourselves.

Yeah, I've done wrong, but it's not the end of the world. I can fix it. Yes, I have wronged you.

Akhi, sister, please forgive me. I'm human. We can fix it.

This is our life. This is how we're going to live. This is how we're going to interact with each other.

And this is what's going to decide it all on the Day of Judgment. Not whether or not you made mistakes.

Because every son of Adam is going to be standing on the Day of Judgment going nuts over the mistakes they made.

And I will finish finally, round it up with this. For you to understand how serious this is. For you to understand how guaranteed and serious it is that you will make a mistake.

That the process is not about whether the mistakes are going to happen, but how you fix it. And I'm going to finish by letting you know as a final snippet, how much the Prophet Muhammad loved you all. How much he loved you all.

SubhanAllah. Humanity on the Day of Judgment will be running around like mad men and mad women. We're going to be going crazy.

We're not going to know what to do. But one thing we are going to know, we're in trouble. Every single human is going to acknowledge, today I'm in trouble.

When you get that book and start thumbing through it, you're going to realize, this is OMG. This is going to be a real OMG moment. I have a problem.

So all of humanity is going to realize they need some help. So what are they going to do? They're going to run to someone. Do you know who they're going to run to? This is an authentic narration from the Prophet ﷺ.

They're going to run to Adam عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ . Ya Adam, you were the first one that Allah created with his own hand. Please go to Allah and fix this for us.

Because if we go to Allah like this, it's over. We're done. You know what Adam عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ will say? My Lord has never been angry like this.

And he will never be angry like this again. Because Allah will be angry on the Day of Judgment. Absolutely.

And I disobeyed my Lord in the garden. Guess what, I got my own problems today. I can't help you.

I can't help you. I have my own problems to deal with. Yeah, I'm OMG now.

Who can we go to next? So he will say, you know what, go to Ibrahim عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ . Nuh can help you. So we'll go to Nuh عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ and say Ya Nuh we need some help.

We need some help. Nuh will say, My Lord has never been this angry before. Nor will he ever be this angry again? Allah gave me one dua that was assured to be answered and I used it on my people.

I used it on my own people. You know the flood was because of Nuh's dua. Nuh destroyed his own people.

So Nuh's gonna say, look, I got my own problems today. I have my own issues today. I can't help you.

Go to Musa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ or go to Ibrahim. He'll go to Ibrahim عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ and tell the same thing and Ibrahim will say the same thing. Look, Allah is angry.

I can't help you. I lied. I had to.

I got my own problems today. I can't help you. Go to Musa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ .

Musa, I killed a man. I'm sorry. I can't help you.

Go to Isa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ . Isa is the Masih. He is the Masih.

He is the Kalam from Allah. He is the word of Allah. Go to him.

So we'll go to Isa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ . Isa will say, sorry, they worshiped me like I was Allah. I have no help for you today.

I'm sorry. Just go away. But Isa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ will actually give us the answer.

And this just shows you how everyone is worried. Everyone, even the best of us, are worried on this day whether or not that soul that Allah gave them, they're gonna return it right. And these are the best of us.

MashaAllah. And they say, I can't help you. I'm not gonna help you.

But Isa عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ will say go to Muhammad ﷺ. And this ending gives Muhammad no divinity. No divinity.

He was a human being. He was just a man and a messenger. But he had a special status with Allah.

And he had a special status with humanity. Special relationship with humanity. And he sacrificed quite a bit for us.

One thing he sacrificed more than anything was one gift that Allah gave him. So we will go to Muhammad ﷺ. Say, Ya Rasulullah, we've been to everybody.

They've all turned us away. Can you help us? And he'll help us. Because Allah gave every prophet and messenger that one dua.

That if you ask for something, I'll give it to you. Whatever. Whatever it is.

And the Prophet ﷺ said, every messenger and prophet used that dua in their lifetime. They all used it for something. He said, except for me.

Mine, I saved to the Day of Judgment. And he will go in front of Allah and make sujood. And worship and praise Allah as long as Allah wills.

Who knows how long it may be. And then Allah will say to him, get up and ask me. And you will not be turned down.

Ask me whatever you want. You won't be turned down. He will only have one word for Allah.

He will say, Ummati, Ummati. My nation, my nation, my people, forgive them. Forgive them.

And Allah جَلَّ وَعَلَا will accept this dua. And that mercy that we've been asking Allah for for so long in our life, Allah will give it to us. But let me tell you one thing right now.

If you haven't tried to fix that relationship with you and Allah on the Day of Judgment, don't think that dua is going to be for you. Because you didn't even seek a means. You didn't even seek a way.

Allah gave you a path. Allah gave you a choice. Allah gave you a system by which to fix your relationship with Him.

And you denied it. So don't think you deserve anything special from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the Day of Judgment. But know one thing, we love the Prophet ﷺ more than we love our own souls.

Because look at him, all the things he went through, all the struggles he suffered in his life. The many times where he needed a way out and he could have taken his way out, he decided not to. Because he loved each and every one of you so much that he knew you would need something special on the Day of Judgment.

And he decided to hold on to that for you. So when we mention the Prophet ﷺ, we should say, we should ask Allah to give him the shifa'ah on the Day of Judgment, the wasila, the position of rank and honor that he is

deserving. And one other thing you have to realize is, be a little bit easier on yourself.

Be a little bit easier on yourself. You're not going to be perfect. Striving perfection is an idea that exists in many other religions, but not in Islam.

Not in Islam. Perfection in Islam is forgiveness. Perfection in Islam is forgiveness.

That's where you find perfection. Not in nirvana, not in reincarnation, not in sacrifice, no, in forgiveness.

Perfection of the soul and purification of that soul in Islam is found in forgiveness.

And any other system of purifying the soul that you find, go and read as many books, as many manuals as you want, you will find that the end result is the same. You're trying to gain forgiveness. You're trying to purify that soul enough so that Allah can be pleased with it and forgive it for its mistakes in the next life.

Final Advice: Fix It Today

So, don't be too hard on yourself. Realize you're going to make mistakes, but don't wait either to fix it. If you have a problem with Allah, fix it today.

Don't wait for tomorrow. My grandfather once told me something. He wasn't a Muslim, but mashaAllah, very wise man.

He told me, people who plan for tomorrow are wise, but people who count on it are fools. People who plan for tomorrow are wise, but to count on it is a fool. Do today's work today.

Leave tomorrow's work for tomorrow. So, if you have a problem with Allah today, fix it today. Don't go to bed tonight without having your relationship with Allah in place.

Because no one guaranteed you that there is a tomorrow for you, for me, or for anyone. But one thing I do know, is that there is a yawm al-akhir. There's a last day.

There might not be a tomorrow, but there is going to be a last day. And that is going to be the day where you will wish, with everything that you own and possess, you will be willing to sell your own children. You will bring your own children up and be willing to ransom them.

You would give them a way to come back to this life and ask Allah to forgive you just one time. Wallahi, you will. So please, fix your relationship with Allah today.

Fix it. And if you've made problems between people, fix that today. Fix that today.

Don't wait for tomorrow. Don't stand in front of Allah on the day of judgment, having to deal with a problem that you could have dealt with right here, right now, understanding that we are humans and we are going to make mistakes and we have to learn to forgive each other. And at last, the Prophet ﷺ told Aisha رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا that Allah rewards mercy like He rewards nothing else.

Question and Answer Session

We're going to take some Q&A, inshaAllah. And I'm probably going, I'm going to be leaving directly after the program. Please forgive me.

You can just give me the question. I'm leaving directly after because I'm actually supposed to be live on Islam Channel in 40 minutes. So we're going to attempt to make it inshaAllah.

So please forgive me if right after I just kind of disappear. Any questions? Based on the topic inshaAllah. If there's no questions, guess what happened? Either you understood everything and you have absolutely no question about it whatsoever or you didn't understand a bloody thing I said and you don't even know where to begin questioning me about it.

Is it the first one? Any questions whatsoever? Going once? Questions going twice? Well, this will be a first. We have one question. Which...

Question 1: Allah's Reward for Mercy

Allah rewards for mercy that which He doesn't reward for anything else. That Allah gives as a reward for being merciful, that which He rewards for nothing else. And if you don't show mercy, you won't be shown mercy. And he said this to her when she responded to a Jew who greeted the Prophet saying, death unto you.

And she said, unto you too. He told her, calm down, chill out. Allah gives for mercy that which He doesn't give for anything else.

And if you don't show mercy, you won't be shown mercy. So we don't always have to act with aggression. We don't always have to respond angrily.

We don't have to. We can do it. And lastly, I'll give you a little snippet since there's no questions.

How many of you heard about this film? Yes, and then I'll give you a little snippet.

Question 2: Signs of Accepted Repentance

Yes. One of the signs that forgiveness have been accepted in this life is that you become better. You improve. You don't repeat the sin repeatedly. The scholars say that for someone who seeks tawbah, like they've done tawbah, but yet they fall right back into the sin, then the tawbah has not been accepted.

But they can go back and make tawbah again. But there should be some improvement. Like for instance, if you go to Hajj, Hajj forgives all sins except the major sins.

The scholars say if you come back from Hajj and you become again immediately the same person you were before Hajj, you should realize that maybe your Hajj had some problems. Maybe Allah didn't accept it the way you wanted to. It doesn't mean you can't fix that again.

So the tawbah needs to be sincere. It has to be sincere. You have to have some remorse and you have to try to avoid the sin.

You can't play a game with Allah that okay, I'm gonna make tawbah and I'm gonna do the same thing tomorrow and make tawbah again, same thing, same thing. Or play the game of I'm gonna sin and sin and sin and sin and then ask for repentance on my deathbed. Because nobody is guaranteed that you're gonna see your deathbed.

It's not guaranteed. Life ends like this. It's very fragile.

Question 3: From Christianity to Islam

Yes. Coming from a Christian background with a family background, what do you think Islam added not to that concept of forgiveness that you already had perhaps in Christianity and your family already? Islam taught me that forgiveness from Allah is endless. It's beautiful.

But that I need to make some effort for it. That there needed to be some action on my part. Some continual action.

I need to live a life that proved I really wanted to be forgiven. You understand? Not that I could just ask to be forgiven and it was over. No, I needed to make up and show and do some action.

Just like if I slap you and then you say, I forgive you and then tomorrow I slap you again. You're gonna be like, wait a minute, this doesn't really work like that. But if I slap you and then I say, forgive me and tomorrow I'm trying to make up for it.

I'm giving you a ride. I'm showing some effort. So I'm trying to show some effort and fix my relationship with Allah by living a good life.

That's what kind of Islam brought me a little bit closer to Allah with that. Yes, brother.

Question 4: Multiple Sins

There's a difference of opinion. If you've made two or three major sins, you make tawbah for it, mention all of them, Allah can forgive you. You can make tawbah for every single one as you go but it's better to make tawbah immediately. Tawbah should never be delayed.

Repenting to Allah should never be delayed for any reason whatsoever. You should make up for it immediately. But if you've done so many sins and you return to Allah, return to Allah and ask Him, He knows what you've done.

There may be things you've even forgotten. You may have to make tawbah for things you don't remember you did. But Allah knows and you can tell Allah, ask Allah, you know what I've done, forgive me for it.

If you're sincere with it, Allah can forgive you.

On the "Innocence of Muslims" Film

Lastly, how many of you have heard of this movie, Innocence of Muslims? This film depicting the Prophet Muhammad very despicably. How many of you hate the movie? Raise your hands.

Alright, now I'm gonna be a little bit tough. Why do you hate the movie? I've never seen it and I'm not gonna watch it. I'm not gonna give him the satisfaction of me watching it.

I never looked at the Danish cartoons. I never looked at the Swedish cartoons. I avoid them by all means necessary.

Why? I'm gonna tell you why. One day the Prophet Muhammad was walking home and his daughter had passed by some of the Meccans and they were calling him the insulted one. Rather than calling him Muhammad, they were calling him the opposite of Muhammad.

Rather than calling him praised, they were calling him insulted. One of the most negative connotations a man can be called. She began to cry and when her father got home, he said, My daughter, why are you crying? She said, Oh father, you're the messenger of Allah.

You're the messenger of Allah and they're calling you this name. He laughed. You see how he dealt with it? He laughed.

And he said, Daughter, they're calling me the insulted one when Allah has named me Muhammad. So I don't know who it is they're talking about. They must be referring to someone else.

You see this cartoon does not depict the man Muhammad I know. The man Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Muttalib is not depicted in that cartoon. These movies don't depict the messenger of Allah that I follow.

So why do I care about this Hollywood fictional character that they have created and named him Muhammad? Don't really care. You can call a dog Muhammad, doesn't make him my messenger. My messenger was:

وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَى خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ

Upon the most noble character.

Reference: Quran 68:4

So say what you wish. You only show your own level of ignorance when you depict a man that you don't know anything about because the facts are very clear in black and white whom he was. And anyone who's taken a logical and unbiased look has admitted the fact that he was probably one of the greatest and most influential and most powerful and most beautiful human beings to ever walk the face of the globe.

So I don't need to respond to your movie because it's a Hollywood fiction. It should be in a theater. Make people pay to watch it.

Get some money out of it and go on about your business. Don't expect me to be upset about it because it's not the person whom I know. This is how we deal with these things because if we give in to the pressure then we're only proving the very fact that they want to know that it's very easy to antagonize Muslims.

It's very easy to get us riled up. You see, you poke them and they go crazy. They're like animals in a cage.

This is what they want to depict you as. We are not like this. We followed a messenger who was upon the most noble manners and we deal with it that way.

He laughed it off. Laugh it off. Laugh it off.

You don't live in a Khilafah where you can deal with it the way it's supposed to be dealt with. Laugh it off. It is what it is and that's all it's going to be.

We carry on with our business of showing people. You can say Muhammad is this. I'll show you who Muhammad was.

Walk with me for a day or a week or a month and you'll see a different story.

Closing

So inshallah ta'ala I hope something I have said has been of some benefit. If it has been of benefit, know that it's because all good comes from Allah. Not from any human being. All good is from Allah and He's the only one that ever deserves to be praised for it. And if I have made mistakes, which I guarantee you I have, it's because I'm a human and I am full of mistakes and have no knowledge and forgive me for it now, inshallah, and make dua for me and acknowledge or rectify my affairs where you find and advise me when you see fit to do so.

جَزَاكُمُ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا

وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

End of Khutbah