The Good Person - On Hope (Raja)

Reflections from The Risale-Nur  a Qur'an commentary by Bediüzzaman Said Nursi

The Words - Second Word

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
A'udhu Billahi Minash Shaitanir Rajeem

(00:25):
Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem Thesecond word is, I'm sure many or

(00:46):
some of you or many are familiarwith the second word, but it's
something so crucial and at thecore of especially in this time,
always, actually.
But I come to this segmentoften.
And it's always a powerfulreminder how to cultivate a

(01:12):
sacred outlook on life.
And basically, it's this littleinterpretation of the verse in
Surah Al-Baqarah, which youknow, goes, الَّذِينَ
يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِالَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ
بِالْغَيْبِ Those who believe inthe unseen, those who believe in

(01:35):
the unseen and the ghayb are themu'minoon.
الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَبِالْغَيْبِ So, inshallah, our
prayer is that we are countedamong those mu'minoon, those
believers, those who affirm,those who and a conviction in
the ghayb, in the unseen.

(01:56):
So this idea that we need toconstantly internalize that
there is more to this world thanwhat we see, that there is a
reality that is not seen.
That's the world of the unseen,the ghayb.
That alhamdulillah, we are sograteful that we can live with

(02:19):
this dual lens.
this Quranic glass, this Quraniclens, this Quranic outlook, that
the best is yet to come.
And this is, of course,something that is hard to do
when things look so evil aroundus, so much suffering, so much

(02:40):
injustice, so many crimes, somany atrocities.
But this is what the mainfeature of of a Mormon, of a
believer, is to cultivate thesacred outlook in the ghayb, in
the unseen.
There is more than the eyes cansee.

(03:02):
And to constantly cultivate thatsacred outlook, to be informed
by the Quranic vision on life,that we will not have it all in
this world, and that This dunya,as Allah has described it for
us, is not a place of ultimatehappiness or absolute

(03:23):
satisfaction or paradise onearth.
It's never been, even during thetimes of the Prophet peace and
blessings be upon him.
It has never been the case.
So we have to give up on thisutopic idea or notion that we
will have it all in this world.

(03:43):
And this is enshrined, ofcourse, in constitutions, the
pursuit of happiness.
And this is, of course, a noblegoal.
We all want to strive to behappy and content.
But there is also a failure toacknowledge the reality of our
experiences, which is we allexperience loss.
We all experience pain.
We all experience sadness.

(04:05):
We all experience suffering.
So what do we do when weexperience loss of wealth, loss
of health, loss of beauty, lossof children?
And how can we be happy whenhalf of the globe is suffering,
starving, being entrenched inatrocities?
How can I ever say I have it allthen?

(04:26):
So that is what is problematicabout such an outlook on the
dunya.
And Going into communityconversation and listening to
some of the members in thecommunity, I see there is a
sense of disappointment,disillusionment and despair.

(04:47):
And frankly, that is somethingthat is the greatest threat.
If the despair, if thehopelessness gets so strong in
your heart, you can see as muchbeauty and kindness and goodness
in the world, still you willfeel always unhappy and
miserable because it has gottento your heart, which is your

(05:09):
spiritual core.
So we have to make sure thespiritual core, the heart is
nourished, is strengthened, isstrong in the midst of so much
anguish and pain, but alsoalways keep it realistic that
this dunya will not give useverything.
Alhamdulillah, there are so manyblessings we should count and we

(05:31):
should acknowledge, but alsoaffirm the other side of the
coin saying, you know what?
To live a full human life meansto also experience suffering, to
also walk the prophetic path ofloss and pain and anguish and
adversity and hardship.

(05:53):
So cultivating a sacred outlookon life that acknowledges, that
pain, loss, suffering, evil ispart of this dunya.
It's not going to go away.
And that perfect government andthat perfect savior and that
perfect leader and that perfectreligious figure will never

(06:14):
appear and save us.
And so there will never beparadise on earth.
There will never be that certaincharismatic figure who will come
and save us all or provide ushappiness or restore justice,
this will not happen.
So we have to have this outlookon life that is focused on the

(06:38):
unseen.
And hope is tied to this sacredoutlook, to iman.
Iman is not just belief.
That's a very, very limitedterm.
It's an affirmation, aconviction, a commitment.
cultivating hope and hope is amuscle that we need to

(06:59):
strengthen and nourish.
It's not coming out of the blue,especially not coming by
inaction.
Hope is a spiritual discipline.
Hope is getting up every day andsaying, yeah, Allah, open up
opportunities for me to servebecause this is why I'm here.

(07:22):
I'm here to honor you, toglorify your name, to serve you,
to be involved in sacredworship, to elevate your name,
to be a voice of justice, to bea vessel for compassion.
That is hope.
And by being present in themoment is basically building
that future that we anticipate.

(07:44):
We are voting every time when wewake up, when we are fully
invested in the present, throughour choices that we make daily
in the moment, we areanticipating and we are building
that promised future.
So this is why we need to beinvested in the now by fully
being present, invested,engaged, being hopeful, not

(08:11):
surrendering into darkness anddespair and just thinking that
there's only suffering in theworld.
No.
There's not.
So we need to be mindful ofthat, that to live a full human
life means to also experiencepain and suffering.
And Allah doesn't fool us.

(08:31):
Allah says, Allah promises youwill be tested.
And tested doesn't mean that youare being punished.
Please, let's go away from thisnotion that we all see trials in
our lives as punishment.
No.
Trials and tests meanpunishment.
Now it's your moment to shine.
What do you have inside you?

(08:52):
What is your potential?
What is your capacity to dogoodness?
What is your potential to showpatience in the face of
adversity?
How can you show resilience inthe face of How can you
cultivate hope and offer healingin the face of anguish and pain?

(09:13):
That's our moment to shine.
Allah shakes us up throughthings that are happening around
us or even in our own individuallives.
I told a sister who was very,very unhappy and frustrated
about certain things that thisworld is not a place of comfort
for us.

(09:34):
We have this NFC notion, thisvery egocentric notion, and our
nefs wants comfort.
We don't want to have any kindof discomfort.
We want to drive comfortably,travel comfortably, have
everybody be happy and be infull satisfaction.
And we don't want any hardship,any difficulty.

(09:57):
But that is not the reality ofthe human experience.
If you go into a room and ask,who has it all?
Nobody will raise their hands.
Who has experienced crisis andcatastrophe in their lives?
Everybody raises their hand.
So we should not assume thatthis world is a place of
ultimate happiness, of absolutehappiness and satisfaction.

(10:20):
When we accept that, When weembrace that reality like the
Quran presents it to us, and weare focused on the akhirah, that
doesn't mean that we deny thisworld, but we are fully engaged.
We understand its reality.
We know that this me, you, weare each part of this holy

(10:42):
caravan of humanity that comesinto this world, stays for a
moment, briefly, and thenglorifies Allah, serves Allah
for this very brief, limitedamount of time, and then we will
ultimately depart.
We will return to our celestialhome, our heavenly origin.
That is our destiny.
So right now, in this turmoil,in this moment of anguish, in

(11:07):
this moment of discomfort andbeing shaken up, can we shine?
Can we shine on that divinestage and show Allah what we've
got?
how much he has endowed us withbeauty and goodness and skills
and abilities and faculties.
And alhamdulillah, byanticipating the ghaib, by

(11:28):
knowing and being hopefultowards that beautiful future, I
don't see darkness in thefuture.
I see light.
I see goodness.
I see life.
I can't wait for that, but I'mstill present in the moment and
I do what I can with the nowthat I have.
because tomorrow is notpromised.

(11:48):
And so we need to alwaysreinforce each other, this view
that this dunya, we will neverhave 100% peace.
Wars, disasters, catastrophes,crises is part of the human
story.
It's part of our human journey.
And when we are collectivelyaffirming that, when we are

(12:09):
uplifting each other in momentswhen we are low, when we have
the two, three people around us,who pick us up when we are down,
then we are in a good place.
And this is what the whole storyhere is about.
It's about good fellowship, goodsuhba, two, three people around
you who reinforce you, checkwith you weekly, check in with

(12:34):
you weekly, consistently, andmake sure that each other is,
everybody is watching out foreach other and uplifting each
other.
And there will be moments wherewe are low, but we have these
two people who share the samevision, the same sacred vision,
the same holy values.

(12:55):
With them, we can launch intothe future and we can be steady
in the turmoils of life.
So here, it's very interesting.
These two people are going on ajourney, which basically, we are
these people, right?
We are in this world, like theProphet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam says, be in this world.
like a traveler or a stranger.

(13:17):
Be in this world.
It refers to a mode of being.
How am I being present in thisworld?
If I'm in the mode of atraveler, that means that I
display my best self, display mybest version.
Like usually when we are guestssomewhere or travelers, we are

(13:40):
curious, we are open for theexperience.
But we are also not fullyinvested or obsessed or overly
concerned with things that donot concern us.
We know that we are in thisdivine guest house and Allah
looks at our performance.
Allah looks how we perform.
The Quran says this world is aplay.

(14:00):
Imagine you are on stage and youare now performing.
And everybody is watching.
The angels are watching.
The prophetic souls arewatching.
The arwah are watching.
The high spirits are watching.
How is Zayna performing now?
What is her response in the faceof anguish and adversity?

(14:23):
Is she surrendering into despairand hopelessness and passivity
and cynicism and pessimism?
Or is she saying, no, I will notsurrender into darkness and
anguish and despair.
That's not the prophetic path.
I'm here for a very, very shorttime.
I want to honor my Lord.

(14:44):
I want to elevate His name.
I want to uplift.
I want to heal.
I want to be constructive.
Those are the characteristics ofthe moment.
That's why I shared thisbeautiful quote that prophetic
grief acknowledges pain butdoesn't give in to cynicism,
pessimism, or despair.
Yes, we make space for the painand the grief, but we are never

(15:07):
hopeless.
Because Allah says, do notdespair of Allah's mercy.
And always cultivating thatoutlook that the best is yet to
come.
Allah will give better than whathe has taken.
That's his promise.
I find comfort in the promise ofmy Lord.
That's what keeps me going everyday.
But also hope, like I said, is aspiritual muscle.

(15:28):
It's a discipline.
And I shared that before, thatbeautiful hadith when the
Prophet ﷺ was about to die.
Very painful moment of dying,sekarat.
When you're in the process ofdying, it's very painful.
Many of us go through verydebilitating pain, chronic pain.
You feel bedridden, you'reparalyzed, you can't move.

(15:49):
When you're hospitalized, justgetting up is an act of courage.
You know, there are moments youcan't even breathe so much, the
pain is swallowing you up.
And then you read the Hadith ofthe Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam, when he's dying, heasked for his miswaq.
He asked for his toothbrush.

(16:11):
Even you think, why in themoment of dying, is he asking
for his miswaq?
Because even that is an act ofhope, is an act of service to
Allah.
When you are in suchdebilitating pain, And you get
up that one step or even justgoing to the bathroom and

(16:32):
washing and brushing your teeth.
It's an act of life.
It's a service to life.
It's honoring Allah's life.
It's serving your body.
If anything, if nothing, you canserve your body, which is an act
of service, which is taking careof that amanah that Allah has
given you, that trust, thatsacred trust.

(16:52):
Taking care of ourselves must betop priority.
That means, to keep ourspiritual core strong every day,
to make an effort to, like theprophet says, even if I'm in
pain, I will make that step,that one step, to just get up,
to breathe, to sit maybe on thebalcony outside, you know, have

(17:15):
a walk in the neighborhood.
Those are acts of hope.
And when we do that, then theblood is flowing.
Energy is coming back.
Life is coming back.
So that's a very powerfulelement in the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam'slife.
Even when you're about to die,even if you know judgment day is
happening, you plant that seed.

(17:36):
You plant that seed.
You're always up for life.
And when you plant that seed,that's an active dua.
It's an active prayer to say, YaAllah, I have not lost hope.
You call me for hope.
And if nothing, I will embodyhope.
by getting up, by brushing myteeth, by dressing, by taking my

(18:00):
ablution, by taking care ofmyself and my hygiene, by taking
care of my health.
Those are important steps.
We should never diminish them orunderestimate, especially when
we are in such intense pain andgrief and anguish.
Those are huge moments ofopening, huge moments of sacred
service because it takes so muchenergy.

(18:23):
to just be able to stand andbreathe at times.
And so for us, the greatest testis to not lose our sacred
outlook of hope and not neverlose the sight on the ghayb, on
the unseen, because it's there.
Allah promised, all the prophetspromised, all these trustworthy

(18:45):
scholars, they promised, piouspeople testified.
This is not a lie.
This is not somethingfabricated.
This is something that has beentestified throughout religious
traditions, across religioustraditions.
So I encourage everyone to holdon to hope, not to surrender
into despair and darkness.

(19:06):
That's not an option for amu'min.
A mu'min always stubbornlybelieves in the goodness of
Allah.
Hope is tied to having a goodassumption about Allah.
Allah is not there to tortureus, to punish us.
to discriminate us.
Allah wants us to reach the bestversion of ourselves.

(19:29):
And we can do that by holdingonto the unseen, by affirming a
conviction in the unseen, bymaking every minute count.
And like these people here, whenwe are in this mode of being
travelers in the world, thatkeeps us steady because we
realize This is a journey, ajourney of humankind.

(19:54):
People come, people leave.
I'm not bound to stay.
And when I know I'm a travelerand stranger in this world, I'm
also not overly obsessed.
The fate of the world is not onmy shoulders.
I'm not going to solve all themacro events.
Yet, I'm also not denying myrole or neglecting my role as an

(20:16):
important trustee and caretakerin this world.
And to keep it local, to keep iton the micro level, to take care
of myself, my family, mycommunity, that's all where we
can make a difference.
So it says here, if you want tounderstand what great happiness
and bounty, what great pleasureand ease are to be found in the

(20:39):
conviction in Allah, in beliefin Allah, listen to the story
which is in the form of acomparison.
One time, Two men or two peoplewent on a journey for both
pleasure and business.
One set off in a selfish,inauspicious direction and the
other on a godly, propitiousway.
I thought a lot earlier aboutwhat does that mean to set out

(21:02):
on a journey.
The first one has this Nia, theintention is directed from an
egocentric perspective.
He has a certain worldviewalready.
A very egocentric, narrow,limited, self-centered
perspective.
And I think that's the ultimatefailure that many of us, the

(21:26):
trap that we fall into.
We have certain expectations ofthis world.
When we come in, we have thischecklist and it has to play out
the way we want on thechecklist.
It's a very egocentricperspective.
approach to the dunya and life.
And I'm the first one, right?
Like I'm the first one whoadmits that they have fallen

(21:46):
into inconstancy.
I have a certain checklist and Iexpect Allah to create outcomes
according to my own nafsi, myown self-centered perspective.
But Allah says, I'm not creatingoutcomes according to your
standards.
I'm not creating the worldaccording to your expectations.

(22:08):
I do not operate according toyour reasoning.
See, this is how the nafs, nowwe want all peace, we want
justice.
And there's nothing wrong withwanting that.
But Allah's wisdom in the worldoperates differently.
What if that when we are shakenand the purpose is for us to,

(22:31):
our characters to be formed,right?
Allah wants to transform us,wants to change us.
wants to invite us to be betterand improve ourselves and
elevate us.
But because I come into thisjourney of life and have a
certain checklist, I wantperfect children, the perfect

(22:52):
husband, the perfect job,perfect health, perfect wealth,
prosperity, perfect government,perfect leaders.
But then I look around, theworld is not like that.
So already my direction is...
taking me into a very, verywrong destination.

(23:12):
So here, that's why it describesthe person as a self-centered.
The universe should operateaccording to my interests and
needs.
No, and it starts with peoplecomplaining about weather.
It's too cold, it's too hot,it's too this, it's too that.
I'm not comfortable with this.
I'm not comfortable with that.

(23:32):
So see how egocentrism alreadyplays out.
And because I start with that,that's my starting point.
Like I serve Allah and I expectcertain outcomes.
Ya Allah, I pray.
Ya Allah, I do this.
I want a certain outcome.
Well, Islam is nottransactional.

(23:53):
Islam is not a religion thatsays you do things and then
Allah responds according to yourself-centered interests.
That's not how it works, right?
And so already, When we comeinto this world, or from today
on, to make the intention tosay, like the first hadith in
Imam Nawawi's collection, whyare you doing the hijrah?

(24:17):
And hijrah doesn't mean physicalmigration.
It means, what are you settingout to do?
What is your intention as youdepart into this day, as you
start into the day?
If we wake up and having thisintention, Ya Allah, my
intention is, is to migrate orstart this day or serve this day
in your name.

(24:39):
Create opportunities for me toserve, to elevate your name, to
honor your name.
That's a very beautiful, broadgoal with no specifics.
Ya Allah, allow me to show thebest version of myself, to be a
good khalifa on this earth, tospeak truth, to work for

(25:01):
justice, to take care of thevulnerable and the marginalized,
those are amazing, beautiful,sacred goals.
But if I come into the world orinto the day already having 10
items on my list, and if I don'taccomplish them, and if Allah
doesn't create that outcome forme, then I feel like a failure

(25:25):
because already my direction isselfish.
How about maybe the day unfoldsin ways that you haven't
expected, right?
And Allah creates opportunitiesfor you, but because we are
stuck with this notion that Ihave to get to this, have to
focus on this one agenda item,we miss out on the other
opportunities.

(25:47):
That can be, you know, go outfor a walk in the neighborhood
and glorify Allah's name, bearwitness to His justice.
Be a witness to his adalahoutside in the creation.
Allah says, don't they look atthe birds who keeps them up in
the air, in the sky.
Allah invites me to be awitness, to glorify him, to

(26:10):
honor him, to elevate his name.
That's the greatest sacredservice I can make.
But we see it as not a worthygoal.
It's not on our agenda.
But it's mentioned in theQur'an.
Allah wants us to remember,Allah wants us to glorify him as
we are looking at the creation,pondering his majesty.
Are we able to testify, to bearwitness to his glory?

(26:36):
That's why I'm here.
That's one example of how thenthe day unfolds in beautiful
ways and how then that nourishesus because we do not set out our
hijrah, our travel in this worldis not for a selfish reason.
We say, Ya Allah, I want thisday to unfold in your name, to

(27:00):
serve your glory, and thencreate opportunities for me
where I can shine and serve youin the best way.
And that then is success.
That's a success.
And then I'm not, you know, Idon't feel overburdened by the
things that I haven't donebecause I say it was not the
time today, right?

(27:21):
I don't feel like a failure ifthat, checklist is not fulfilled
so the other person he goes hishis direction on the journey is
godly he says my goal is toserve god my goal is to honor
allah in all these differentcircumstances that he will put
me in at my workplace in myfamily in my neighborhood in my

(27:43):
community in the creationwherever i am wherever allah has
placed me i will respond in holyways I will honor his name.
And God is notcompartmentalized.
Allah is not in one area and inanother absent.
I show up as Al-Amin, thetrustworthy voice in all of

(28:06):
these places that Allah haspositioned me.
I try to speak truth.
I embody goodness andcompassion.
And that is my sacred service.
And that is success.
That is how the day unfolds.
And this is then how ourdirection is towards Allah.
It's not about worldlyaccomplishments only.

(28:27):
Those are, if they are given,they are beautiful blessings,
byproducts, but they are not myend goal.
I'm not here to solve the macroproblems of the world.
I'm here to respond in a waythat honors Allah's name.
If he wants me to be patient, Iwill be patient.
If he wants me to be resilient,I will be resilient.

(28:50):
If he wants me to expressforgiveness, I will express
forgiveness.
If he wants me to be in action,I will be active.
If he wants me to be giving tomy neighbors, to my community, I
will do that.
So this is our ultimate goal.
And by doing that in the now, weare affirming the ghayb, And we

(29:10):
are hopeful for the future.
But we are not setting ourselvesup for disappointments when
things don't play out the way wewant.
The way we want will never come.
And the Prophet SallallahuAlaihi Wasallam also did not
solve all these macro problems,right?
I mean, so to be realistic inthat regard and to always know

(29:36):
that this dunya will alwayscontain elements that challenge
us.
But those challenges, we decideif they're opportunities for
growth and transformation, or ifwe see ourselves as victims.
That's the ultimate choice wemake.
Since the selfish man, andselfish doesn't mean selfish in

(30:00):
like, I mean, think of it asegocentric, as nefsi, as
self-centered, because when weapproach life and the world and
the universe in an ego-centeredperspective, we want things to
play out the way our nefs want.
And like I said, this is a verywrong departure point.

(30:20):
But we have to set out into theworld.
Can you please turn off themicrophone?
Somebody's microphone is onagain.
Since the selfish man was bothconceited, self-centered and
pessimistic, he ended up in whatseemed to him to be a most
wicked country due to hispessimism.
So we perceive the world the waywe are.

(30:43):
So if my inner spiritual core isweak, if I see the world just
being embedded in suffering andevil, that means that that heart
needs to be strengthened, thatiman.
Because it's not true that theworld is only...
going down in injustice and eviland suffering.

(31:05):
Count the kindness and thegoodness and the blessing that
you encounter in your life.
Be a witness to the justice andthe balance and the harmony and
the order and the arrangementand the perfect measurement in
the universe.
And then you will be nourishedby Allah's name, Al-Adl.

(31:25):
Because that's there.
That's what we see.
It's self-evident.
Self-evident.
I come On the minute 6.48, thesun rises up.
That's adalah, that's justice.
Somebody arranged in perfectmeasurement, perfect precision,
perfect order.
The universe, the sun, the moon,the galaxies.

(31:48):
Yes, the human being has thepower to choose imbalance and
chaos.
But the galaxies and universeare testifying that Allah's
justice prevails.
The human being has no authorityover this divine program and
plan and this arrangement.

(32:09):
And when I see that justiceexemplified and displayed and
manifested in the universe, thenI say, yes, I affirm Allah's
justice.
It's deferred to the SupremeTribunal.
I don't see it here because somecrimes are too big to take to
any human court.
They will be taken by AllahHimself.

(32:33):
And that's what gives me comfortand peace.
And that's where I find mystrengths.
By being immersed in the book ofthe universe, I find strengths
and the affirmation of theuniverse that Allah's justice
exists.
Things are deferred.
They are not, you know, they arebeing judged upon.

(32:59):
And Allah records and He says inthe Quran that He delays a
little bit.
He delays, deferred to theSupreme Tribunal, to that
Supreme Court.
And human beings, they are inthe delusion that they are
ultimately absolutely free, butthey are not.
Everything is preserved.
I see some flowers blooming nowin the winter season.

(33:23):
These very special plants, theybloom in the cold season.
It's still growth is alwayshappening.
Nothing is forgotten.
Nothing is neglected.
But the problem here with thisperson, and we can all relate to
this, is the way we are inside.
If our inside, our internalworld is in turmoil, or if we

(33:46):
are falling into pessimism, thenwhatever happens around us, we
will interpret according to ourown inner lens.
We will see always darkness.
So we have to be careful thatthe spiritual core is
strengthened.
And so he looked around andeverywhere saw the powerless and

(34:07):
the unfortunate lamenting in thegrass of fearsome bullying
tyrants, weeping at theirdestruction.
He saw the same grievous,painful situation in all the
places he traveled.
The whole country took on theform of a house of mourning.
This is beautiful.
Probably the moment where wefind ourselves, this collective
grief and sadness and anguish,this house of mourning where we

(34:32):
feel we only see corpses aroundus every day.
Every day we see people dying,witnessing a genocide.
Apart from being drunk, he couldfind no way of not noticing this
grievous and somber situation.
So what is the person doing?
Because The heart, the humanheart, cannot take so much

(34:54):
suffering, cannot witness thatmuch suffering.
It's too much for the humanheart.
It's too much for the humanspirit to witness so much
anguish.
And so we are unnaturallyaffected.
For everyone seemed to him to bean enemy and foreign.
And all around, he saw horriblecorpses and despairing, weeping

(35:17):
orphans.
His conscience was in a state oftorment.
So easy, especially in thismoment, to fall into this state
and numbing ourselves withthings and trying to be in
denial.
I mean, how can we cope withthis?
We can't do it alone, right?
And so it's, especially in thismoment, to affirm, to say, I

(35:45):
affirm your goodness.
I know that justice takes place.
I see it testified in thecreation.
I will not allow pessimism toaffect me and my lens.
Because there's another reality,and we see that in that other
man.
And the other man, the otherperson was godly, devout,

(36:05):
fair-minded, and with finemorals, so that the country he
came to was most excellent inhis view.
In his view, so...
Nazar, the look, is determinedby our inner state.
But how do we make sure thatinner state is in a state of
peace and goodness and hope anddoesn't see everything just in

(36:28):
despair?
This good man saw universalrejoicing in the land he had
entered.
Everywhere was a joyfulfestival, a place for the
remembrance of Allah overflowingwith rapture and happiness.
Everyone seemed to him a friendand relation.
See, he doesn't distance himselffrom the creation.

(36:51):
With everybody, he tries to seea connection.
Everything seems friendlybecause he understands he
departed in the name of Allahand he's a godly person, that
everything has something toteach him, something to elevate
him, something to foster hisjourney.

(37:12):
Throughout the country, he sawthe festive celebrations of a
general discharge from dutiesaccompanied by cries of good
wishes and thanks.
He also heard the sound of adrum and band for the enlistment
of soldiers with happy calls ofAllahu Akbar, God is most great,
and there is no God but God.

(37:32):
Rather than being grieved at thesuffering of both himself and
all the people like the firstmiserable man, This fortunate
man was pleased and happy atboth his own joy and that of all
the inhabitants.
Furthermore, he was able to dosome profitable trade.
He offered thanks to Allah,offered thanks to God.
So this is the paradigm of kufrand iman.

(37:58):
We decide every moment if youwant to fall into kufr, into
darkness and pessimism anddespair, or if you want to
upwork.
Iman and hope and life and thatfuture.
So we live these two paradigmsand it takes energy to stay in

(38:21):
the light.
I'm not saying it's easy, butthere are strategies, things
that we can do proactively totry to stay in the light and not
to be in a constant state ofdespair and pessimism.
That is not the prophetic pathfor us.
That is not an option for us.

(38:43):
And see, what are some of thestrategies?
I think here we see that again,after some while, he returned
and came across the other man.
He saw his condition and said tohim, you were out of your mind.
The ugliness within you, theugliness within you must have
been reflected on the outerworld so that you imagined

(39:05):
laughter to be weeping.
and the discharge from duties tobe second pillage, come to your
senses and purify your heart sothat this calamitous veil is
raised from your eyes and youcan see the truth.
For the country of an utterlyjust, compassionate, beneficent,
powerful, order-loving, and kindking could not be as you

(39:30):
imagined.
Nor could a country whichdemonstrated this number of
clear signs of progress andachievement.
The unhappy man later came tohis senses and repented.
He said, yes, I was crazythrough drink.
May God be pleased with you.
You have saved me from a hellishstate.
What stands out to me here isagain, good sohba, good

(39:54):
fellowship.
You need those two, threepeople, community, and I'm not
saying a crowd of 200 people,but two people who share with
you that godly vision on life.
that iman, that affirmation andthe hype.
And when you are low, when I amlow, this sister will reinforce
and remind me of that truth.

(40:17):
And tomorrow she'll be low anddown.
I will encourage her andmotivate her and strengthen her.
We are social creatures.
We cannot do this alone.
This is too big to carry alone,this collective grief and
anguish.
So we must find ways to findlike-minded people, with the
shared vision, shared ideals.

(40:39):
Not people who are involved inthe dunya and are not interested
in it.
I'm meaning people who have asacred vision on life, who come
regularly, who are on the samejourney, weekly check in with
each other and make sure thatthey are uplifted, that they can
be raw and share their pain andstruggles.

(41:01):
So many people are alone.
So many people are suffering insilence.
We have to invest in healthysocial connection and healthy
social relationships.
And that means two people arecommunity, three people are
community in Islam.
Community is something that isin the spiritual DNA of a

(41:22):
movement.
And sadly, what I'm witnessingis, A lot of people do not have
that healthy social support.
It will not help us if we dothat once in occasion, mental
health therapy session.
That will not get us throughlife.
And that is important, yes.

(41:43):
And if there are complicatedfeelings and issues, we need to
seek our professional help.
But we need people around us whoknow our experiences, our daily
struggles, who know mychallenges.
who are around me, who are closeto me.
Those are the two, three peopleI can rely on.
And traditionally, there will beone, two sister who are more

(42:07):
learned or more experienced inthat moment who will lift you
up.
We need that fellowship, thathealthy travel companion who
helps us on the journey.
Like here in this analogy, hewas reminded by his dear
brother, by his dear sister,What life is about.
He said, wait a minute.
There's something that is notright.

(42:30):
There's another reality that youhave forgotten.
And we fall into that trap.
We forget.
We become heedless.
We fall too deep into thedarkness and the despair.
And then we need somebody whoholds our hand and tells us,
remember what our destinationwas about.

(42:52):
What our journey was about.
So number one thing, everysecular studies now shows, we
don't need to mention all ofthem, that just talking to a
stranger is healthy for ourmental well-being.
But imagine checking regularlywith a good moment.

(43:14):
Somebody who looks at life in aholistic way, fair-minded, as a
pious person, being in theirpresence, how will that nourish
you, strengthen you?
Consistently, weekly, I mean.
That is the social support weneed, that suhba, that
fellowship, that companionship,like the Prophet Sallallahu

(43:35):
Alaihi Wasallam exemplified,companions on that journey to
Allah, going through majorstruggles in their lives and
reinforcing each other.
So that is something that wemust invest in, must cultivate.
Today you might be in a goodsituation, you know, situation
or good moment.

(43:56):
Tomorrow I'll be low and I needthat sister.
I need that social support.
Social support is critical intimes of adversity.
This is too gigantic to carryalone.
Life is too big to carry alone.
And there are other things.
It's not just the macro events,but a place where you can be
raw, fully belong, share yourinner world, your pain and be

(44:20):
uplifted.
So number one, healthyfellowship, healthy sisterhood,
sacred sisterhood.
And alhamdulillah, I have seenthe endless benefits.
We all know that the endlessbenefits of this, how much of a
difference that makes in ourlives when we have this
community of caring people, oftwo, three sisters around us,

(44:43):
how this will carry us throughthe storms of life.
The other thing is, he pointshim to the creation.
The book of the universe is sonurturing, so strengthening.
Let's not deny ourselves ordiminish the importance of being
immersed in the book of creationbecause everything Allah tells

(45:06):
us in the Quran reminds us abouthis beautiful names.
He says, look around you.
That beautiful sister or thebeautiful brother says, look
around you, this country.
How is this universe designed?
by an utterly just,compassionate, beneficent,
powerful, order-loving, and kindking.

(45:29):
Somebody rules.
A high power rules.
A high rationality rules.
A genius rules.
This precision, this exactarrangement, this perfect
measurement, the galaxies, thestars, the way everything is
prepared for us, amazing,extraordinary order, our

(45:53):
generosity.
Okay, then now I see clearly.
Now I'm coming out of that darkplace.
Wait a minute.
I've forgotten to read the bookof the creation.
Now I'm coming back to this.
So yes, every day I'm going outto walk.
That's my hope discipline.
I'm looking at the bird nests upin the tree and I say, The

(46:19):
amazing Lord, the amazingcreator who has protected these
little birds in that moststable, most perfectly
engineered bird nest will surelynot abandon my needs.
That is where I get comfort.
Because my need is that, yes, myfellow human beings should also

(46:41):
live in happiness, in peace, inprosperity, experience justice.
Yeah, Allah, that is my greatestneed right now.
And when I look at the creation,look at these bird nests being
protected by Allah's mercy andHis power and how He endowed
every being with the ability andthe skill and the wisdom to

(47:04):
build these nests to protecttheir loved ones, then I'm sure
I affirm that Allah will notneglect my greatest needs, which
is to be reunited with my lovedones, with my children, to be
reunited with all these amazingpeople that I witness who are

(47:24):
suffering.
I want them to have ultimatehappiness.
Allah will not deny me that.
So when we are out in the bookof the creation, when we are
taking these active steps, whenwe are witnessing to his power,
his generosity, his order, love,and his justice, then we know

(47:46):
that nothing will be forgotten.
All needs will be answered.
Allah answers to the needs of mystomach in endless ways with
endless blessings.
How can He then deny my greatestneed, my desire for eternity and
immortality, my desire forjustice, absolute justice?

(48:10):
I can't live knowing that theseatrocities will stand.
No.
But by engaging that muscle ofhope, that spiritual discipline
of immersing myself in thecreation and bearing witness to
Allah's justice, that is whatAllah loves.

(48:31):
See?
Now you're reading the creation.
اقرأ بسم ربك الذي خلق Read, readin the name of your Lord, and
then you will find certainty,you will find hope, you will
find peace, you will find thelight, and you can get out of
that dark place.
So I urge everybody, always,that healthy fellowship, that

(48:57):
healthy sisterhood, and thatsisterhood or cosmic brotherhood
and sisterhood with thecreation.
The tree and the birds, Theclouds and the rain and the
stars all remind us of theglory, the justice, the
generosity, the love and mercyof Allah.
Allah will not forget our needs.

(49:17):
Allah will answer.
Allah will restore justice.
Allah will bring perfect,absolute justice and happiness
for all.
But our test now is how werespond.
What's our outlook?
And if we don't have a goodassumption about Allah, Then we
need to go back and strengthenthat core.

(49:41):
Like this person, we'veforgotten.
We're falling into this hellishstate and think there's just
suffering in this world.
No.
And Allah now looks at what'sour response.
How do we think about the world?
What's our outlook?
And if we are not careful, wecan fall into very, very
problematic, consistent despair.

(50:02):
And this is something that I'mI'm very worried about in this
moment.
I see that and I understand.
But there are steps we can takeproactively, right?
Huddling together, being incommunity, social support,
Quranic affirmations daily wherethe Quran tells us every day.

(50:22):
This world is finite.
It's transitory.
We are here for service.
It's not a place of happiness.
It's not a place of absolutesatisfaction.
It's not where we will have itall.
All around me, I see people,loss of health, loss of wealth,
loss of children.
Nobody has that ultimatehappiness.

(50:44):
And when we realize that, whenwe hear each other's stories, we
are reminded, wait, that was theuniversal human journey.
So our destination, our ultimatedestination is the akhira, is
the afterlife.
And that's what we are workingfor in the now.
So to finish up, oh my nefs, ohmy soul, know that the first man

(51:09):
represents an unbeliever orsomeone depraved and heedless.
I fall into heedlessness.
I have a lot of moments whereI'm low and where I forget,
where I feel depraved and say,what doesn't make sense anymore?
What's this for?
Why am I even bothering?
But then I pick up myself.
I say, no, that's not an optionfor me.

(51:31):
to be in despair.
In his view, the world is ahouse of universal mourning.
All living creatures are oftensweeping at the blows of death
and separation.
Man and the animals are aloneand without ties, being ripped
apart by the talons of theappointed hour.
Mighty beings like the mountainsand oceans are like horrendous

(51:52):
lifeless corpses.
Many grievous, crushing,terrifying delusions like these
arise from his unbelief andmisguidance and torment him.
This is a very, very dangerousstate to fall into.
Seeing life as meaningless.
So many, I go into classes,sometimes I talk to college
students.

(52:14):
Everybody struggles with that.
What's the meaning and purposeof life?
Is everything meaningless?
Why am I in this world?
Why am I here?
Where am I headed?
Are these mountains justlifeless beings, these oceans,
these clouds, these trees?
And then we see the Prophetpeace and blessings be upon him,

(52:35):
entering this world and look atthe light and the mercy he
brings.
He says the mountains are notcorpses, the trees are not
lifeless.
Everything is alive.
Everything has meaning.
Everything has purpose.
For everything there arereasons.
There's wisdom.
I'm not just thrown into theworld for some meaningless

(53:00):
endeavor.
No.
He comes and he explains throughthe Quran, everything becomes
alive.
Imagine, in that time, in thejahiliyyah, ignorance, and even
now, where people tell us, orthis subtle atheism tells us,
that everything is meaningless.
Everything is lifeless.
Everything just has amaterialistic meaning.

(53:22):
existence.
That's it.
We are bodies.
We come, we enjoy, we die.
That's it.
We decay under the soil.
But he tells us, no, the humanbeing is the crown of creation,
endowed with the spirit, withthe ruh, which is the divine
spark.

(53:42):
And you are an honored servantof Allah sent into this divine
guest house to shine for amoment, to display your amazing
abilities, potentials andfaculties and skills, to dream,
to imagine, to build, toconstruct, to heal, to create,
to write, to innovate, to build,and then you'll return to Allah.

(54:07):
That's our purpose, our godlypurpose.
Allah has endowed us with somany blessings.
He talks to us, not to animals.
He talks to me, to you.
He choose the human being as hisaddressee.
He honors the human being.
Look at my voice, unique.

(54:28):
Your voice is unique.
He put on everyone a stamp ofAhadiya, the oneness of Allah.
The oneness of Allah, Allah isAl-Ahad.
Your voice is unique.
Your DNA is unique.
Your face is unique.
Your wrinkles are unique.

(54:48):
The way you move is unique.
There is no second like you.
You are a unique, originalcreation of Allah, the greatest
piece of art He has created.
You are not just a material,bodily, physical existence.
You carry that ruh within you.
What is it for?

(55:10):
Is it simply for dunya andworldly and physical and
material existence andenjoyment?
Or is it for some higherpurpose?
So that is the ultimatequestion.
What is my meaning?
What is my purpose?
Why am I here?
And how do I live this life?

(55:31):
And we have the greatestblessing, which is the Quran and
the Prophet's teachings who showus the way how to even in the
midst of suffering and pain, Wecan thrive, we can grow, we can
make a difference, we can heal,we can uplift, we can be wounded

(55:52):
healers.
Alhamdulillah, this is amazingwhat the Prophet ﷺ brought to
us.
And it's not the outercircumstances, but the outer
circumstances made him shine,showed his beauty actually.
His moral character, his moralstanding, his jewel, that jewel

(56:14):
inside him came out throughpressure, hardship, fire,
stress, ridicule, rejection,torture, starvation, you name
it.
All of it made him, made usappreciate that moral jewel.
That's why we look up to him.

(56:35):
He didn't leave us a materiallegacy.
He showed us his spirituallegacy.
And those are the people we lookup to.
Those are the people who inspireus.
Those are the people who made adifference in life.
And that's why we are here.
We are here to display Allah'sbeautiful qualities.

(57:00):
We are here to display Allah'sglory.
Ya Allah, I'm an honoredservant.
I want to elevate your name.
I want to remember you in allstates and modes of life, in
pain and pleasure, in sorrow andjoy.
You will find me as your trustedservant.

(57:21):
And the Prophet ﷺ is the way.
So as for the other man,inshaAllah, may Allah allow us
to be that person.
He is a mu'min.
He is a believer.
He affirms.
He recognizes and affirms Allah.
In his view, this world is anabode where the names of the
All-Merciful One are constantlyrecited, a place of instruction

(57:44):
for human beings and theanimals, and a field of
examination for human beings andjinn.
All animal and human death are ademobilization.
They are all leaving, aredemobilized.
Those who have completed theirduties of life Depart from this
transient world for anotherhappy and trouble-free world, so

(58:08):
that place may be made for newofficials to come and work.
The work of this world will notbe finished with me.
Alhamdulillah, I find so muchcomfort.
The fate of the world is not onmy shoulders.
I am here for a little glimpse,a little moment.
The work will continue.
It doesn't end with me or you.
It doesn't end with us.

(58:30):
Allah will send the sacredofficials.
And even if I did not check offall that agenda item on my list,
alhamdulillah, I know the peopleafter me will follow and will
carry on that sacred work.
There's so much comfort in that,so much relief and liberation
knowing that.
We sometimes stress out thinkingthat we need to solve

(58:54):
everything.
We need to finish the task.
No.
Alhamdulillah, I'm honored to bepart of this caravan, this
sacred journey.
But it's not upon me to finish.
It's not upon me to accomplisheveryone's task.
And this is wonderful.

(59:14):
And Allah rewards you as if youintended to finish it.
Even if your intention was toserve 400 years, Be at every
good place and remember Allah.
Allah will give you that rewardwhen that intention is there.
And if our lives areshort-lived, even if we just
live a year or two years or 40years, Allah will give us

(59:37):
endless reward if we have thatsincere intention.
Ya Allah, I wanted to serve youmore, more spaces, more
opportunities, but I fall short.
But Allah will, according tothat sincere intention, give us
the reward and the ijr.
The birth of animals and humansmarks the enlistment into the

(59:58):
army.
They are being taken under armsin the start of their duties.
Each living being is a joyful,regular soldier, an honest,
contented official.
Alhamdulillah.
Allah has chosen me, you, as hissacred official, as his
caretaker, as his representativeon this planet.

(01:00:19):
And all voices are eitherglorification of Allah, and the
recitation of his names at theoutset of their duties, and the
thanks and rejoicing at theirceasing work, all the songs
arising from their joy atworking.
Yes, we see people leaving,crying, but what do we know in
the reib, what their state is,what their degree is, what their

(01:00:42):
high spiritual status is?
They might have suffered so muchpain here, but who knows how
that pain worked on the otherside?
And then they enter that otherworld, that other realm, the
world of the unseen.
And then they experience thatjoy, that high status, that high
maqam.

(01:01:03):
Allah elevated them.
We don't see that here.
In the view of the believer, allbeings are the friendly
servants, amicable officials,and agreeable books of his most
generous Lord and allcompassionate owner.
Everything has something toteach me.
Every obstacle, everydifficulty, every pain is here

(01:01:26):
to transform me to a betterversion.
If I can see that, if I can seeevery event, every illness,
every pain, every sadness, everyanguish, every injustice as an
official, Allah has designed,allowed this to take place, then

(01:01:46):
this means that there are somevery important lessons for me to
take.
to be transformed, to learn, andalso then support others in
their journey.
Very many more subtle, exalted,pleasurable, and sweet truths
like these become manifest andappear from his belief.
That is to say, belief in Allah,belief in God, bears the seed of

(01:02:11):
what is in effect a tuba tree ofparadise, while kufr, unbelief,
conceals the seed of a zakumtree of hell.
We carry it in us because we area microcosmos.
Microcosmos means that wealready carry the seed of

(01:02:31):
paradise and hell in us.
We decide how this is going tomanifest on the other side.
Which seed are we wanting togrow?
Which tree do we want to bringinto existence on the other
side?
That's our ultimate choice.
If I want to feed, may Allahforbid, prevent us from that,

(01:02:55):
but if I feed that seed of thezakum tree, which is constant
despair, constant pessimism,constant feeling foreign and
alien in the world, constantfeelings of negativity,
destructive thoughts, then I'mfeeding that seed, which is
nothingness, which is darkness.

(01:03:17):
So I have to make, I'm still anagent.
Allah gives me choices.
I can feel that.
And what is there on that side?
That doesn't lead to nowhere.
There's nothing there feedingthat seed of a zakum tree.
But feeding the seed of a tubatree, yes, let's feed that with
healthy Quranic affirmations,with healthy sohbah and

(01:03:40):
sisterhood, healthy fellowship,with immersing myself in the
book and the creation.
That's feeding it.
It makes you grow in prayer, inglorification, in eskar.
And then, inshallah, it willmanifest on the other side.
Nobody, everybody is free tochoose their path.

(01:04:02):
Allah has given us the ultimatefreedom to choose what we want
to bring into existence on theother side.
He knows what our ultimatedestiny is.
But we don't know.
And so that we don't end up onthe other side and saying, yeah,
Allah, why did you put me here?
They'll say, here, these are thechoices you made.

(01:04:25):
Nobody forced you.
You were not a victim.
You choose.
In every situation, you knewthese two paths, these
alternatives.
And so we have ultimate agency.
We can make choices.
I choose how to look at theworld.
I choose how to move and be inthe world.

(01:04:49):
Allah knows in His foreknowledgewhat choices I will make, but He
doesn't force me to do them.
Allah doesn't force anybody.
In His knowledge, pre-eternalknowledge, and because He
created us, He knows, but theissue is, do we know us so that
we can be firm later when weface our Creator, that we say,

(01:05:11):
yes, those were my choices.
Those were my choices.
That means that salvation andsecurity are only to be found in
Islam and belief, in which casewe should continually say,
praise be to God for thereligion of Islam and perfect
belief.
So true.

(01:05:34):
I think in my own experience ofsuffering and tragedy, the only
thing that has kept me throughThis is like my deen.
That amazing blessing of thisreligion that has given us so
much spiritual sustenance tocarry through so much English.

(01:05:58):
It's the greatest blessing.
It's the greatest blessing inour lives.
So may Allah allow us to makethe right choices, to stay in
the light, to embrace thecharacteristics of a movement,
to live with hope and positiveanticipation in this world to
never surrender to darkness anddespair to always see his

(01:06:22):
overarching justice and kindnessand benevolence and generosity
and love and to always affirmstrong conviction in the
afterlife and in the world ofthe unseen.