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Talk · al-Sirat al-Mustaqeem | 2024 Ramadan Series, part 16 of 32

The Enemy Within | Al-Sirat Al-Mustaqeem EP.14 | A Journey With Shaykh Alauddin ElBakri

Shaykh Alauddin ElBakri

Transcript

  1. Assalaamu 'Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh
  2. And welcome back to this journey of Ramadan,
  3. As-Sirat al-Mustaqim "The Straight Path"
  4. I ask Allah SWT to keep you
  5. and I on the straight path. Ameen Ya Rabb Alameen
  6. Now we reached to a station where we have to know the enemies on this Sirat
  7. The enemies that will stand in the middle of the Sirat
  8. and would want you to deviate, right or left, up or down, in any way.
  9. It is very important to know which enemies we're dealing with
  10. so that we can prepare ourselves properly.
  11. The first enemy that we want to start with is actually none else, but our own self.
  12. This self is not a permanent enemy.
  13. It's a temporary enemy
  14. that if we train it and discipline it,
  15. we can move it from an enemy to a friend and a supporter.
  16. This Nafs "self"
  17. Believe it or not, Allah SWT
  18. swore by it in the longest Qasam in the Quran,
  19. this longest oath, back to back that was taken in the Quran
  20. As you know, Allah in the Quran swears by his creation.
  21. To emphasize its importance
  22. in Surah "Ash-Shams"
  23. Allah SWT tells us after I seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan,
  24. In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful:
  25. (By the sun and its brightness,
  26. and the moon as it follows it,
  27. and the day as it unveils it,
  28. and the night as it conceals it!
  29. And by heaven and ˹the One˺ Who built it,
  30. and the earth and ˹the One˺ Who spread it!
  31. And by the soul and ˹the One˺ Who fashioned it,
  32. then with ˹the knowledge of˺ right and wrong inspired it!
  33. Successful indeed is the one who purifies their soul,
  34. and doomed is the one who corrupts it!)
  35. Beautiful Ayahs from The Noble Quran in which Allah swears by the sun
  36. you know the sun is what million times bigger than earth
  37. (By the sun and its brightness) by the light
  38. it brings in the early morning (and the moon as it follows it)
  39. and when the moon comes
  40. after the sun at night it's like a cycle.
  41. Subhanallah, because the moon is orbiting earth and earth is orbiting
  42. the sun, (By the sun and its brightness, and the moon as it follows it, and the day as it unveils it)
  43. and when that day brings clarity
  44. and you can see and go to work
  45. and earn a living, (and the night as it conceals it!)
  46. and when the night covers up
  47. and spreads everywhere, the darkness
  48. (And by heaven and ˹the One˺ Who built it)
  49. And by the sky, and Who uplifted it and built it.
  50. Imagine when we see the sky, we're talking right now
  51. about 2 trillion galaxies in the observable universe.
  52. Each galaxy has 200 to 400 billion stars.
  53. Subhanallah, (And by heaven and ˹the One˺ Who built it,
  54. and the earth and ˹the One˺ Who spread it!) by the earth
  55. and the one who made it easy for us, flatten that for us.
  56. It's not all mountains, mountains, mountains.
  57. There's certain areas.
  58. There are mountains and certain areas that are flat and valleys
  59. so that we can move from one place within ease.
  60. Look, these are major signs, sun, moon,
  61. day, night, sky and earth.
  62. Imagine that after all of these great signs, Allah
  63. talks about your Nafs and my Nafs
  64. and by the human self and the One who made it,
  65. which means it was made complex.
  66. It's not easy.
  67. (And by the soul and ˹the One˺ Who fashioned it) this Nafs, Allah inspired it,
  68. put sensors in it to know what is right and what is wrong for
  69. (then with ˹the knowledge of˺ right and wrong inspired it!) knows what is wrong, openly wrong like.
  70. Subhanallah, the word "Fojour" is from "Fajr" (dawn) and it means to commit sins in the open
  71. and to be proud of it and, you know, not ashamed of of yourself.
  72. Subhanallah, (then with ˹the knowledge of˺ right and wrong inspired it!) what you are, you know, what is for you.
  73. You know what is destructive to the society, you know what is sin
  74. and you know what is "Taqwa", what you know what is righteousness and which is good.
  75. This basic it's part of the Fitra "innate" that we talked about.
  76. Half of your Fitra is knowing what is right and wrong and the other half
  77. knowing that Allah SWT, God Almighty, exists One and only.
  78. This is the package that you came to life with. This Nafs
  79. Also, believe it or not, that when Prophet PBUH used to give Khotbat
  80. Al Juma'a "Friday Prayer" he used to say: And we seek refuge in Allah from the evil of ourselves,
  81. and from the consequences of our evil deeds)
  82. Subhanallah, imagine in the beginning of the Khotba,
  83. the first time I was young and I was asked to give Khotba
  84. I read this, they told me, you have to start with this Duaa "prayer"
  85. And it caught me that it's not saying: "We seek refuge in God from the accursed Satan"
  86. No, the Prophet was focused in the beginning of the Khotba
  87. from the evil of the self.
  88. Therefore, this self is very important and it's very complex.
  89. Sometimes the scientists in the past talked
  90. about the self as a separate entity, one of the entities
  91. that Allah bestowed upon us and made our creation complex.
  92. And sometimes they say the self means all of you, the complexity of all of you.
  93. It's not only one part, it's the whole.
  94. So when we only see in the Quran that Allah tells us that He gave us a body
  95. "Jasad" "Badan" "Jesm" three words for it in the Quran,
  96. Allah SWT gave us also "Al Nafs"
  97. Allah gave us a heart, but and He refers to as deep consciousness
  98. and understanding (They have hearts they do not understand with)
  99. Allah said, some people have hearts that they don't have deep
  100. understanding with it. When Allah speaks that he gave us "Aqel"
  101. (Surely in this is a sign for those who understand)
  102. When Allah SWT says that He bestowed upon us a heart, hearts
  103. in its multiplicity, when Allah tells us in the Quran
  104. that he bestowed upon us a spirit, Subhanallah
  105. so this whole thing could be considered a Nafs or one of them
  106. talking about the Nafs, it is a specific entity
  107. the Nafs hosts two
  108. important things that are detrimental, in these two things
  109. could be your righteousness and your good relationship with Allah
  110. or in these two things could be your demise
  111. and falling in the path of Satan, May Allah save us from that.
  112. What are these two things?
  113. Number one, recognizing yourself
  114. the I, me, myself. This I, me, myself.
  115. If you go wrong with it, you'll become so arrogant,
  116. so boastful, so full of yourself
  117. and they say the first sin that Allah was ever disobeyed
  118. with, when He created Adam and told the angels to prostrate
  119. to Adam out of respect and Satan refused:
  120. (I am better than he is)
  121. This is the "I"
  122. I am better than him.
  123. (You created me from fire and him from clay)
  124. Then you created me from fire and you created him from clay.
  125. This first "I", this "I" Satan will attack your Nafs
  126. to build on this me, I myself.
  127. It is very okay and healthy in Islam to be confident,
  128. to be satisfied with what Allah gave you.
  129. You're satisfied with your looks, you're satisfied
  130. with your smartness, with your family.
  131. You know, satisfaction is the key to happiness, right?
  132. It's called contentment,
  133. you know, you are content with what Allah SWT gave you.
  134. So the "I" if it's approach in a healthy way,
  135. it could lead to so much goodness and righteousness.
  136. But if it's approached in an evil way, it could make out of you a tyrant,
  137. someone like the Pharaoh, someone like Hitler,
  138. someone like God knows which oppressors, the Namrod at the time of Prophet
  139. Ibrahim PBUH
  140. This is something that we have to be aware of.
  141. The second thing that your Nafs hosts
  142. your needs and your wants.
  143. So when you're hungry, your body tells your Nafs, I'm hungry.
  144. You feel hungry.
  145. When you are thirsty, your body tells your Nafs I'm thirsty.
  146. So you get thirsty when you're sleepy, your body tells you Nafs
  147. I'm sleepy and tired so you have to rest.
  148. This is okay.
  149. But then what does your Nafs do?
  150. You're Nafs has a need and has wants.
  151. And needs can never be haram.
  152. Like eating, drinking, sleeping, mating, resting cannot be haram.
  153. As a matter of fact, Islam came to fulfill them.
  154. But you fulfill them in a Halal way.
  155. Meaning, if a person feels the physical urge
  156. they need to go and get married, there's nothing wrong with that.
  157. The fulfillment in the Halal way, a need has to be fulfilled.
  158. And that's why you'll find in Ramadan, if your health
  159. will be effected by fasting, because you're traveling
  160. or you're sick or you're pregnant, or else, Allah says break your fast
  161. because a need is a need, survival is a need.
  162. Subhanallah, now also you have a want and not all wants are haram
  163. Like, a man told the Prophet PBUH
  164. one of us likes to see his shoes looking good.
  165. His clothes looking good.
  166. Is that arrogance Prophet?
  167. You know, Prophet said "No"
  168. Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty.
  169. Not all wants are haram, but some wants are haram for sure.
  170. And where does your Nafs play
  171. a trick on you? It's when it turns a need into a want.
  172. For example, you need a car, but do you need $100,000 car?
  173. Now that's a want.
  174. You need a phone,
  175. but you do you need the most expensive phone out there every year?
  176. No, that's a want. You're Nafs
  177. start playing on the side of needs and wants.
  178. Until what?
  179. Until it brings you down to an animalistic level.
  180. May Allah the Mighty and the Majestic protect us from that.
  181. So it's very important when we talk about the Nafs that we realize that our Nafs
  182. hosts these two things. May Allah SWT help us through fasting,
  183. through charity, through worship at night,
  184. through denying ourselves in the month of Ramadan.
  185. Do you know why fasting is huge on the Nafs?
  186. Because Ramadan says "No" to the needs, right?
  187. In the days of Ramadan, no eating, no drinking, no mating until Iftar
  188. So if you can say "No" to your needs, you're good.
  189. You can say "No" to your wants.
  190. If you can say "No" to Halal, then you can say "No" to Haram.
  191. And that's the beauty of Ramadan and how it disciplines
  192. then Nafs through the act of fasting. Insha'Allah Exalted,
  193. we will visit this topic of Nafs again when we come to the topic of Tazkiyah
  194. so that we know how to discipline ourselves
  195. and grow and become better.
  196. Insha'Allah. For now, Ramadan
  197. is the best time to do Tazkiyah for our Nafs
  198. We thank Allah for the grace of Ramadan because it purifies us
  199. and it makes us grow every year.
  200. May Allah accept your fasting and your worship Ameen
  201. Assalaamu 'Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah

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