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Talk · al-Sirat al-Mustaqeem | 2024 Ramadan Series, part 25 of 32

Transforming Yourself | Al-Sirat Al-Mustaqeem EP.23 | A Journey With Shaykh Alauddin ElBakri

Shaykh Alauddin ElBakri

Transcript

9 moments mention “Quran”:

  1. Assalaamu 'Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh
  2. and welcome back to Ramadan's series "As-Sirat al-Mustaqim"
  3. This episode is one of the most important and sensitive episodes in the whole series because it's talking
  4. about you and a disclaimer in the beginning of this episode.
  5. By the end of this episode, if you find yourself,
  6. that you've gained a certain amount of knowledge,
  7. it does not mean you have applied it and you have it.
  8. Tazkiyah is a very elusive thing
  9. that people think they're doing it when they're not doing it.
  10. Having said that, we all know that this Nafs
  11. was born from the soul and the body becoming one
  12. when Allah sends an angel to blow your soul in your body inside your mother's womb.
  13. You're born with that Nafs.
  14. As a child, you're born pure, sinless, innocent,
  15. good with what we call the Fitra that has basic instructions
  16. about right and wrong, and that has the acceptability
  17. and ability to receive that Allah SWT
  18. is your Creator and He is One.
  19. Now, once you hit puberty, your body now is moving to the next stage.
  20. It's literally evolving within your lifetime
  21. and the hormones are kicking.
  22. There's fireworks going inside you.
  23. And the only way to keep you from harm is to follow Islam
  24. and to start that journey of purifying your Nafs
  25. The word Tazkiyah and Zakat, as I mentioned in another episode, means
  26. purification that leads to growth, it has both meanings,
  27. and Allah SWT tells us in the Quran that if we purify ourselves,
  28. not only we will succeed in the hereafter, but we will succeed here too
  29. (Successful indeed is the one who purifies their soul, and doomed is the one who corrupts it!)
  30. Successful is he the one who purifies himself, and Loser is the one who hides himself
  31. And that's the first thing that you don't want to do.
  32. Don't try to hide your mistakes and pretend you don't have anything wrong
  33. with you and your perfect, but rather expose your mistakes to yourself
  34. and go and find the solution for these mistakes.
  35. Where are you going to find the solution?
  36. In the Quran and in the Sunnah. Purification,
  37. Alhamdulillah, Allah made it easy for us because He showed us in the Quran
  38. how to purify ourselves.
  39. For example, the halal and haram, forbidden things versus permissible things.
  40. The Haram in itself, by staying away from haram
  41. and following the Sharia, you are disciplining yourself.
  42. So now the first discipline, you do it
  43. by reading the Quran, understanding the Quran, implementing the Quran.
  44. The second stage is when you ask your teachers
  45. and the wise people around you how to do this? How to change yourself?
  46. How to transform yourself? And they will give you wisdom.
  47. But here is the good news.
  48. Do you know that Allah SWT in the Quran said:
  49. (It is Allah who elevates whoever He wills)
  50. It is Allah that will perform Tazkiyah on you.
  51. So even though Tazkiyah is the hardest thing to do in life,
  52. which is to transform yourself, grow yourself, develop yourself,
  53. fight with yourself, face your worst fears and your worst nightmares.
  54. Even though it's one of the most difficult things, it also
  55. could become one of the easiest things because Allah promised you
  56. to help you in that regard. To see how important this topic is.
  57. Allah SWT, in the Quran
  58. give us the example of different types of Nafs, different selves.
  59. One self is Nafs Hayawaniyya, it's just animalistic self.
  60. It just wants pleasure, food, eating and mating
  61. and that's all what it cares about.
  62. But then there is enough worse than that, which is Al Nafs Al Shaytaniyya
  63. when the person keeps on doing evil, evil, evil, evil.
  64. Until they become used to it, they lose their Fitra,
  65. their pure in nature, and it becomes replaced with Satanic Fitra
  66. that Satan becomes in a complete
  67. control of the person
  68. (Satan has taken hold of them, causing them to forget the remembrance of Allah)
  69. Satan has full control over them.
  70. So he made them forget the remembrance of Allah.
  71. Now then there is Al Nafs
  72. Al Ammara Bel Sou'a, the Nafs that asks you to do evil,
  73. which means your base is good, but it's nagging on you.
  74. Let's do this evil, that evil, this evil, that evil.
  75. Now you need to use the Quran again and the teachings of Islam to limit
  76. it, and say to your Nafs "No, no, no"
  77. That elevates you to another level, higher level, Al Nafs Al Lawwama
  78. which is the blaming self, that self now become your good side,
  79. become so strong that when you do evil, actually
  80. it blames you and you feel guilty and you feel down and you regret.
  81. That's when you repent to Allah
  82. and ask for His forgiveness and move on and move forward.
  83. Replace a bad deed with a good deed.
  84. The higher level of Nafs is the one Allah SWT talks about
  85. Al Nafs Al Motma'enna, and this Nafs reached
  86. the satisfied, pleased, secured, and at peace self.
  87. It's because it is Radiyah and Mardiyyah
  88. It is pleased with Allah and Allah is pleasing it.
  89. It is at peace with whatever destiny brings whatever Allah does in your life
  90. and that's the high level.
  91. Subhanallah, that Nafs Al Motma'enna enables you
  92. to even have a different type of Nafs, which is Al Nafs Al Molhama
  93. in which Allah SWT starts inspiring you to do good things in life.
  94. As we mentioned in another episode, this excites
  95. us to take this journey, from wherever we might be in life.
  96. It doesn't matter where your starting point,
  97. you start aiming for the stars and start aiming for Al Nafs Al Motma'enna
  98. Insha'Allah Rabb Alameen
  99. In their beautiful writings, our scholars gave us 3 techniques to discipline ourselves.
  100. Number one, when you think of a good deed, do it right away.
  101. Do not wait. Do not procrastinate.
  102. You will discipline yourself to take initiative always.
  103. Number two, when you do a good deed, belittle your own good deeds in your own eyes.
  104. Otherwise, you're going to start looking great in your own eyes.
  105. And number three, hide the good deeds between you and Allah SWT
  106. And not all of them, but certain of them, put a secret between you and Allah,
  107. praying at night, giving charity, and make sure
  108. that no one knows about that good deed except Allah SWT
  109. Alhamdulillah, now you see, when our scholars wrote
  110. that, what do you do in the process of Tazkiyah?
  111. You do Takhliyah
  112. You remove all the bad characters from yourself, and you do Tahaliya
  113. You bring all the good characters.
  114. Because at the end of the day, Tazkiyah is to change your character
  115. from an evil or bad or wrong or moody
  116. character to a steady character
  117. that follows the Quran and Sunnah and the guidance of Allah SWT
  118. If you got all the above, now it's time to give you some few tips
  119. that will help you to discipline yourself.
  120. Number one, do you know that Allah SWT knows
  121. you before you knew yourself?
  122. because it is Allah that will help you to discipline yourself.
  123. You have to trust Allah
  124. Do you know that for every individual Allah decided, this body
  125. with this look, with this soul, with this heart, with this born
  126. on this day, dying on this day for these parents, with these siblings?
  127. Allah designed your entire life, so He knows you before you know yourself.
  128. Remember that when you make prayer to Allah next time.
  129. The second,
  130. do you know that Allah knows you more than you know yourself?
  131. Every believer knows that.
  132. But let's bring that into action.
  133. Allah knows me more than I know myself.
  134. Therefore, let me tell myself to follow Allah
  135. and not to keep on arguing with the truth.
  136. Just to find a loophole or a break.
  137. No, let's take the hard way, not the easy way.
  138. The third tip, talk to yourself
  139. and tell yourself that Allah knows what is good for me more than I know
  140. what is good for me, and that Allah has my long interest in mind.
  141. You know, when we make prayer, we make it for tomorrow
  142. after tomorrow, one year from now, ten years from now?
  143. But you know, when Allah looks at you, He's looking at you now,
  144. in your grave, on the day of judgment, and in Jannah "heaven"
  145. and based on that, He's designing your life and designing your destiny
  146. and deciding which prayers to answer for you and which prayer not to answer.
  147. So trust Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala
  148. Finally, realize that
  149. the Allah SWT is protecting you from your own self.
  150. Sometimes your own demise and your own death is in your own wishes.
  151. Trust Allah and let Him discipline you and grow you.
  152. Now, the final advice for all of us is an Ayah in the Quran,
  153. Allah SWT said:
  154. (And as for those who were in awe of standing before their Lord and restrained themselves from ˹evil˺ desires,
  155. Paradise will certainly be ˹their˺ home)
  156. But whosoever fears the status of his Lord and he forbids his Nafs
  157. from its whims and lusts, stops it
  158. truly, Jannah now will be his final destination.
  159. There is no self-discipline without the fear of Allah,
  160. and that fear is a positive fear that will change your life
  161. and make a believer out of you.
  162. Wa Assalaamu 'Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh

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Transforming Yourself | Al-Sirat Al-Mustaqeem EP.23 | A Journey With Shaykh Alauddin ElBakri · Tawasaw Institute