0:00:01.82 – 0:02:05.20: Muqaddimah

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰه
اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰه خَالِقِ الْوُجُودِ مِنَ الْعَدَمِ،
وَ جَاعِلِ النُّورِ مِنَ الظُّلَمِ
وَمُخْرِجِ الصَّبْرِ مِنَ الْأَلَمِ
فَمُلْقِيْ التَّوْبَةِ عَلَى النَّدَمِ
فَنَشْكُرُهُ عَلَى الْمَصَائِبِ كَمَا نَشْكُرُهُ عَلَى النِّعَمِ
وَنُصَلِّي عَلَى رَسُولِهِ الْأَكْرَمِ
ذِيْ الشَّرَفِ الْأَشَمِّ وَ النُّورِ الْأتَمِّ
وَالكِتَابِ الْمُحْكَمِ
وَكَمَالِ النَّبِيِّنَ وَالْخَاتَمِ
سَيِّدِ وَلَدِ آدَمِ
الَّذِيْ بَشَّرَ بِهِ عِيْسَى بْنُ مَرْيَمِ
وَدَعَا لِبِعْثَتِهِ إِبْرَاهِيْمُ عَلَيهِ السَّلَامُ
حِينَ يَرْفَعُ قَوَاعِدَ بَيْتِ اللهِ الْمُحَرَّمِ
وَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَعَلَى أَتْبَاعِهِ خَيْرِ الْأُمَمِ
الَّذِيْنَ بَارَكَ اللهُ بِهِمْ كَافَّةَ النَّاسِ
العَرَبَ مِنْهُمْ وَ الْعَجَمِ
والْحَمْدُ لِلّٰه
الَّذِي لَمْ يَتَّخِذْ وَلَدًا وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ شَرِيْكٌ فِي الْمُلْكِ
وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ وَلِيٌّ مِن الذُّلِّ
وَكَـبِّـرْهُ تَكْبِـيْـرًا
وَالحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَنزَلَ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِ الْكِتَابَ وَلَمْ يَجْعَل لَّهُ عِوَجًا
وَالْـحَمْدَ لِلّٰهِ الَّذِي نَـحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِيْنُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ
وَنُؤْمِنُ بِهِ وَنَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْهِ
وَ نَعُوذُ بِاللهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا
وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا،
مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ،
وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ
وَنَشْهَدُ أَن لاَّ إِلَهَ إِلاَّ الله وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيْكَ لَهُ
وَنَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُـحَمَّداً عَبْدُ اللهِ وَرَسُولُه
أَرْسَلَهُ اللهُ تَعَالَى بِالْهُدَى وَدِيْنِ الْحَـقِّ
لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّيْنِ كُلِّهِ
وَكَفَى بِاللهِ شَهِيْدًا
فَصَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْـلِيْمًا كَثِيْرًا كَثِيْرًا
أَمَّا بَعْدُ: فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللهِ
وَخَيرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيهِ وَسَلَّمَ
وَ إِنَّ شَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا
وَإِنَّ كُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ
وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ
وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ
قَالَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِي كِتَابِهِ الْكَرِيْمِ
بَعْدَ أَنْ أَقُوْلَ أَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ
يَا بُنَيَّ أَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ وَأْمُرْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَانْهَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ
وَاصْبِرْ عَلَىٰ مَا أَصَابَكَ ۖ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ الْأُمُورِ (QS. 31:17)
رَبّ اشْرَحْ لِيْ صَدْرِيْ وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي
وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِيْ يَفْقَهُ قَوْلِي
اَللّٰهُمَّ ثَبِّتْنَا عِنْدَ الْمَوتِ بِلَا إِلٰهَ إِلَّا الله
اَللّٰهُمَّ ٱجْعَلْنَا مِنَ الَّذِيْنَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوْا الصَّالِحَاتِ
وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ
آمين يَا رَبَّ العَالَمِينَ
أما بعد

0:02:05.20 – 0:03:32.55: We Expect the Highest Manner from Our Kids When the Adhan is Given

Before I start my khutbah. Boys, I want you to be sit over here, so I can see you. You too. You too. Hmm… Also, I know many of us are not attending Jum’ah in masajid. But when you do, and you attend Jum’ah with your children. Then it’s important that you make sure that they aren’t leaning on a wall, and they aren’t sitting on the side. They’re sitting right in front, and they’re sitting respectfully.

Hmm… a lot of times parents let their kids be bunched up together in the masjid. And so the parents are attending, and the kids are… It’s okay for them to be distracted, and be talking to each other, and things like that. We expect the highest manners from our kids. They can move around all they want, but once the adhan is given, we have to set certain guidelines.

And those guidelines are once the adhan has given. All the conversations about video games, playing, all the conversations about school, friends, you know, what fight you watched? What movie? All of that it’s gone. All of that disappears.

Once the adhan happens, then there’s no difference between you and an adult inside the masjid. This is Allah’s time and you have to respect that. And part of that is you have to make the most of every moment you’re here.

You’re not there to relax. You’re in the presence not of the Khatib. You’re not the in presence of the Imam. You’re in the presence of Allah, and you came to Allah’s house, and Allah invited you.

And the adhan actually means… part of what it means, اللهُ اَكْبَرُ (Allahu Akbar). Allah is a greater priority than everything else. And once that announcement is made, you acknowledge that, and you repeat it after the muadhin.

0:03:32.55 – 0:04:15.66: The Meaning of Adhan

Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. Allah is greater. Meaning greater… Part of the meaning is… greater than everything else I was doing. Greater than anything on my phone. Greater than any conversation I was having. Greater than any joke. Greater than everything else.

So that means that we have to… And I’m taking time to say that because I want the kids that are listening, to know the next time you go to a masjid, – inshaAllah, this crisis is over, and we’re going to resume our life back inside the masajid, then we’re going to go back, and be able to spend time in Allah’s house. –

When you go to the masjid doesn’t matter which prayer it is, before the prayer, you want to goof of with your friends, totally cool. But once the adhan is given, then it’s Allah’s time, and you have to have the highest form of discipline.

0:04:15.66 – 0:05:41.88: Where Else in the World Do You See that Perfect Row Like the Muslim Prayer?

By the way, the muslim prayer is in perfect row, isn’t it? And all the movements are completely synchronized. Everybody’s completely synchronized, moving at the same exact time. Where else in the world do you see that kind of organization? That kind of organization is in the military, right?

In military, soldiers march in unison. They take steps in unison, they stop in unison, they move in unison, they speak in unison, isn’t it? And that kind of military because the military is considered the highest form of organization. And in the military, there’s a chain of command.

And the chain of command is the general, the commander, you know, whoever it is, he speaks and the soldiers immediately follow. There’s no room for conversation or anything else, right? Everybody lines up when the commander is there. Everybody lines up and everybody’s disciplined, right?

Because they are… they teach you something in the military about chain of command and discipline. And nobody’s messing around when time comes for that, okay? Because to them, that’s a matter of life and death when the actual battlefield comes.

So no military in the world will have loose discipline because that’s the same as death. And if they understand chain of command from a commander, a general, a captain, whoever.

On our side in Islam, the chain of command is Allah Himself. Allah just said, “Line up.”

Allah just said, “Come and drop everything!” Right?

So we have to demonstrate that when we are in His house, we’ve been in His presence at that time.

0:05:41.88 – 0:06:56.29: The Subject of the Khutbah Today is the 17th Ayah of Surah Luqman

Now, not just a tangent from the khutbah that I wanted to give you today because the subject of the ayah… The subject of the khutbah today is the 17th ayah of Surah Luqman. This is again continuing Luqman (رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ) advise to his son.

And this is where we got to, probably the heart of the matter. Everything up until now was built up to this. These few concluding ayah are actually, I consider them the juiciest part of the conversation. This is the most real part of the conversation.

He says, “يَا بُنَيَّ”

“My beloved son.”

“My young son, my little boy.”

“أَقِمِ الصَّلَاة َ”

“Establish the prayer.”

They commonly translate that as establish the prayer. Let me tell you something about “إِقَامَةٌ”.

“إِقَامَةٌ” in Arabic comes from the word “قِـيَامٌ”.

“قِـيَامٌ” means to stand.

And when you put it as “إِقَامَةٌ”.

This is from the “إِفْعَالٌ” family.

What that does is, it’s to make something else stand, right? So if somebody building a tower, they made the brick stand on top of each other and they built a tower, right?

So they did “إِقَامَةٌ” of a building. That’s “إِقَامَةٌ” of a building. To make it erect, to make it stand.

“إِقَامَةٌ الصَّلَاةِ”, you can think of it… because we use these words, establish the prayer.

0:06:56.29 – 0:08:01.01: What does Establish the Prayer Mean?

What in the world is establish the prayer mean? One of the ways you can think about that is preserve the prayer. Make sure it stays standing.

When you do “إِقَامَةٌ” of something, it’s as if you put in a pillar in, or you put a pole, or a pillar on the ground, and you make sure, you check in that it doesn’t what? It doesn’t lean, right? You keep maintaining it. And you keep… So you maintaining the prayer and preserving the prayer.

That’s actually within the meaning of “إِقَامَةٌ الصَّلَاةِ”.

So Allah didn’t just say, “Pray!”

And the father is not telling his son, “Pray!”

He’s saying, “Preserve the prayer.”

“Maintain the prayer.”

You know what that means? That means the prayer is something that can get damaged very easily. Because when something is delicate and they can get damaged easily, then it needs to be maintained, and it needs to be preserved.

Like a delicate plant, you have to make sure some plants, you know, they can’t stand on their own. So you have to put a stick in the ground and then the trellis, it wraps around the stick, and you have to keep checking on it because if the winds were too high or the sun was too harsh. The plant might burned out, right?

0:08:01.01 – 0:10:01.81: Tarbiyyah

So this tarbiyah of the plant, this making sure that it grows. Making sure that it is preserved and taken care of. That’s the kind of thing you have to do with prayer.

Now, there are some things we have in our life that don’t require that kind of care, right?

So if you have a car, for example, for you, don’t have to change its oil for a while and it’s running, and it doesn’t matter, right? And sometimes people won’t take care of it for a long time until they find it’s falling apart, right? There are other things you have to make… check on them constantly. And if you don’t, it’s gonna, you know, it’s not going to last.

Like ice for example, if you need an ice for something, you have a limited amount of time. And if it’s starting to melt, you have to put it back in the freezer again because if you don’t maintain the temperature, it’s going to melt away, right?

By using the word, ” أَقِمْ “, what Allah is teaching us and what the father is teaching his son is, “It’s not just enough that you pray because you could have like a busted broken-down building called prayer.”

“And you just kind of got it over with, and that was your prayer.”

And your parents could come and say, “Did you pray?”

“Yeah, I prayed. I prayed.”

“Remember Maghrib?” -“Yup.”

And when you actually, you know, secretly record your son or daughter praying. You find out that it looks more like a… you know, cardiovascular exercise, rather than it looks like a prayer. Because the ruku was done in light speed, you know, and the sajdah looked more like bird pecking the ground than a sajdah. Why? Because the prayer was just something you get it over with. You just get it over with.

You ever see people like a friend of mine loves cars, right? He’s always fixing cars. And what does he do? He’s constantly looking inside the engine, “Man, that part is getting a little rusty.”

“I need to loop this part up.”

“I need to loosen this up.”

“I need to fix this.”

“I need to fix that.”

“Your car’s perfect, man!”

“No, no, no. You don’t understand.”

0:10:01.81 – 0:11:49.02: A Different Level

That’s where the deep… It’s at a different level, isn’t it? When you have love of preserving and protecting something, then you’re constantly fixing fixing it.

There are people that are fixated on the inner decor of their home, or people that are really into gardening, checking on every flower.

“Oh, this one’s getting a little weak.”

There’s a delicate care that goes into it. Right? There were some of you… You know, “Kids, I’m you telling about gardening.”

“I’m telling you about taking care of the car,” you can’t relate to that.

But if I tell you about things. Your collection of whatever, cards… Your collection of certain kinds of toys, and, “Who touched my collection?”

“Who touched my shoes?”

Some people have shoes that are liked to keep them like theirs… they belong in a museum on display, right?

“My left shoe is slightly a little bit too much to the left. Who touched it?” Right?

Because you want to preserve it perfectly. You want to… just looking at it makes you happy. Well, you know what?

“Prayer,” the father is giving the son advice, “Is something you have to go out of your way to preserve.”

“And if you don’t preserve it, it’s going to fall apart.”

And it’s going to be like… here’s the analogy.

“It’s going to be like a tree, that looks like a tree. But it’s just a hollow bark, there’s nothing inside.”

You know, a tree that’s a full tree, a car could run into it. The tree’s not going to tip over, the car’s going to be destroyed, right? But if a tree is hollow on the inside, and a car smashes into it. What’s going to fall apart? The tree is going to fall apart, cause there’s nothing inside. It looked like a tree, but it wasn’t one.

Well, what the prayer does, it actually fills you on the inside. It strengthen you and me on the inside, but it won’t do that, if we don’t maintain it. If you don’t maintain it. So that’s going to be a conversation by itself.

0:11:49.02 – 0:12:54.30: How Do You Maintain the Prayer?

How do you maintain the prayer? And for some people, you know, it’s one thing, that you are not healthy to begin with, right?

And then somebody says, “Maintain your health.”

No. Well, if I’m not healthy to begin with. I need to fix certain things, and go through certain therapy, and have medical treatment, or you know, some kind of process before I can actually get healthy.

Then once I get healthy, I have to maintain it, right? So you can’t just say, “Maintain your health.”

Well, I’m not healthy to begin with. I got to get to a healthy place. So the harder question, when the father says to the son, “Maintain your prayers,” is the son has to ask themselves, the daughter has to ask herself, “Is my prayer actually the way it’s supposed to be to begin with? That I should maintain it, cause maintained means keep doing what you’re doing.”

But if you’re doing the wrong thing, and you say, “Maintain the prayer.”

“Okay, I’ll keep maintaining it.”

You’re not making anything better. So first what needs to be identified is the prayer the way it is supposed to be or not?

0:12:54.30 – 0:14:54.00: The ” صِلَةٌ” in Arabic

The word salah actually comes from ” صِلَةٌ” in Arabic, which is why we call it the prayer, right? But there’s another word for prayer too, “دُعَاءٌ”. Du’a is also a word for prayer. Okay? And actually, ” عِبَادَةٌ” (‘ibaada) can also be considered as prayer.

But Allah specifically uses the term, “salah”, and “صَلَاةٌ” comes from “صِلَةٌ”, And “صِلَةٌ” or “وَصْلٌ” actually mean connection. Connection.

The prayer isn’t just words you say. Isn’t just movements that you make. It’s not just specific direction that you follow. It’s not step-by-step process.

All of that stuff you learned. Either you learned it from your parents or somebody. Your parents hired somebody to teach you, or you went to a Sunday school, or Islamic school. You learned that stuff. Fine. That’s the form of the prayer.

But all of that, the purpose of all of that was one thing: to establish and to preserve the connection to Allah in the prayer. So let me just remind myself and you, what the prayer is. The moment I say, “اللهُ اَكْبَرُ” (Allahu Akbar).

Can I talk to anybody? – No.

Am I supposed to be looking around? – No.

Is everything in the world, whether your phone goes off or somebody’s calling you, right? Or you’re late for a meeting, or you know, anything going on outside other than life threatening emergency. None of that exists when you are what? Praying.

Everything came to an end. Everything halted. You, for those few minutes that you’re praying, the rest of your life did not exist. No other priority existed. In fact, you weren’t even control, in charge of your own body at that time.

You can’t just walk, the way you want to walk. You can’t just put your feet where you want to put your feet. You can’t just put your hands where you want to put your hands. You can’t move your mouth the way you want to move your mouth. You can’t move your eyes the way you want to move your eyes. Isn’t it?

Everything has been completely surrendered over to Allah since you say, “Allahu Akbar.” Until the time you say, اَلسَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ

Yes or no?

0:14:54.00 – 0:15:33.50: One Way You Can Think About the Prayer is It’s a Rehearsal

You know what that is? That’s a rehearsal. And one way you can think about the prayer is, it’s a rehearsal. A rehearsal of what? A day is coming when we will not be in control of our bodies

Allah will truly show us, how much greater He is than us. We’re not going to be able to speak what we want to speak. We’ll only speak what Allah wants us to say. We’re not going to be able to move the way we want to move.

Allah will have control over our limbs, and the remote control that’s living inside this cranium right now, is going to be disabled. And our body will function in a way that we never imagined before. It’s doing things that we didn’t want it to do. It’s testifying, it’s speaking the way we never wanted it to speak.

0:15:33.50 – 0:17:04.44: The Prayer is a Reminder

The prayer is a reminder of how to, how we’re going to all end up surrendering ourselves in front of Allah on judgment day. Now think about that.

On judgment day it didn’t matter what clothes you still own. It didn’t matter what car you had. It didn’t matter where you lived. It didn’t matter how much money you had.

All the arguments you had. All the people you liked. All the people you hated. All of that disappeared. It’s just you and Allah, that’s it! It’s just you and Allah. And you’re just standing in front of Allah, isn’t it?

By the way, it’s called, “يَوْمُ الْقِيَامَةِ,” (yaumul qiyamah)

“The day of longstanding.”

And what is the longest part of our prayer?

“قِيَامٌ” (Qiyam)

There’s a reason for that. We start the prayer by reminding ourselves standing in front, ’cause when somebody is standing in prayer they’re standing in front of Allah, right?

They have to connect themselves to judgement day, and they have to connect themselves to Allah as if I am in front of Allah, and judgement day has already started for me.

It’s a recap. It’s a small preview of what’s going to happen on judgement day. And on judgement day, I want to be able to say the things that will benefit, because I won’t have control over my tongue. I want to be able to say the right things. And the best things I can say are the truth.

And Allah tells us His words Himself to say when we stand in front of Allah. That is not something you can just automatically get. If you say, “Allahu Akbar.”

“Subhanaka allahumma wabihamdika…”

Quickly run through that. And then,

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿2﴾ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ﴿3﴾ مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ ﴿4

If you do that, you can finish the prayer.

0:17:04.44 – 0:18:37.64: You Prayed but Didn’t Connect to Allah At All

And in terms of fiqh, you prayed, but you actually didn’t. I didn’t connect to Allah that way, at all! I didn’t connect with Allah. I didn’t remind myself what this prayer is for. Maintain your connection to Allah through the prayer, is “أَقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ”.

Allah is now telling us people feel, people say things like… and you might say things to yourself like, “I want to feel closer to Allah.”

“I want to feel spiritually connected to Allah.”

Allah has given us the best program to connect to Him That’s the prayer. When the prayer is not doing what it supposed to do, then you’re trying to find some other alternative way to feel spiritual. Because you’re not giving the actual connection it’s due, right?

If you’re not eating the actual healthy food, then you’re going to feel better eating junk food and say, “At least, I’m getting some nutrition.”

Yeah, even junk food has nutrition. But it’s not what you needed. It’s not what was going to truly nourish you. You still feel good about it for a few seconds. You get something out of it.

The same way the first advice he gives to his son is maintain, preserve the actual prayer, the actual connection to Allah. That’s what salah is for. That’s the goal of salah. So actually taking the time when somebody says, “I want to learn about Islam,” right?

“I want to learn more about my religion.”

I would argue you can learn about your religion, and you can learn a hundred different sciences in Islam.

0:18:37.64 – 0:19:40.94: If Your Goal in Learning Islam to Connect Closer to Allah

But if your goal in learning Islam to connect closer to Allah. Everybody would say that. Anybody who’s a muslim would say that, “I want to be closer to Allah,” then your first priority should be the prayer itself.

Whoa! What do I know about the prayer? And I’m not just talking about the form of the prayer. How do you make wudu? How do you, where do you stand? You know, the technicalities of the prayer How do I use the prayer to connect to Allah? That’s actually the conversation you have to have with yourself.

Learn that stuff. Remind yourself of that stuff. And even if you learned it, took a course on it, read material on it. Guess what? It still needs maintenance.

You could be a scholar and know all the Arabic of the prayer, and have studied everything, and you can write an article about every component of the prayer, and you’re still not connected to Allah in the prayer because that’s all up here (the heart).

But when you say, “Allahu Akbar.”

This (the heart) needs to be connected. This needs to let go of every other preoccupation. And this needs to be overwhelmed and occupied with Allah. That’s what needs to happen in the prayer.

0:19:40.94 – 0:21:11.55: Parental Advice for Their Children

He gives his son advice, “Listen, I know your feelings are going to go in every different direction.”

“There’s going to be all kinds of things you’re going to be hit with.”

“There’s going to be, when you… as you get older, you’re going to start thinking a lot about how you look.”

“You’re going to think about your hair a lot.”

“You’re gonna think about whether your mustache is too big or too small, or should you shave or should you not shave?”

“You’re gonna think about which T-shirt looks good with jeans?”

“Should I get those shoes or these shoes?”

“You got to think about that stuff.”

“You’re going to think about the opposite gender.”

“Those thoughts are going to come to you.”

“You’re going to think about your friends.”

“You’re gonna think about who your friends are, and who your friends are not.”

“You’re going to think about entertaining yourself.”

“This is just, your mind is going to be spinning with thoughts all the time.”

“You’ll be connected to people, to devices, to things, to your own feelings.”

“You’ll be connected, connected, connected, and it will become so easy for you to be disconnected from Allah, cause you’re so busy connecting with everything else.”

And so he tells his son, “This is something that doesn’t automatically happen.” “The more you connect to those other things, the easier it becomes to disconnect from Allah.”

“أقِمِ الصَّلَاةَ”

“Maintain your connection to Allah through the prayer.”

Preserve that connection, protect that. And why is he telling him that? He’s telling him that because he didn’t say, “Son, let me preserve the prayer for you.”

“You better pray!”

Because the father could just say, “Pray!” Right?

“You better finish your Maghrib!”

“You better…!”

0:21:11.55 – 0:22:04.15: The Parents Realize Something

Ah, the father realizes something. My little boy, he’s not going to a little boy for that long. He’s going to be a young man. And when he’s a young man, and when she’s a young woman. I will have no say in their choices, even if they pretend that they have a say.

I become my own person. I have my own thoughts. I have my own feelings. I have my own world that I live in inside my head.

And he says, “Listen, I won’t be able to preserve it for you.”

“I can teach you what to do, but if you don’t maintain it and you don’t preserve it.”

“Nobody else can help you.”

“Now that, if I can give you that, if I can make you feel that you will connect to Allah in the prayer, then you will have certain superpowers.”

“You will have an ability that other people just do not have.”

“You will have a gift and a strength that other people do not possess.”

0:22:04.15 – 0:24:50.20: The Only Thing that’s Going to Matter

And so next khutbah, I’m going to talk to you about that strength. But I’ll give you just one small tidbit of it. One piece of it. When you’re standing in front of Allah on judgment day, are you going to be afraid of anyone else? No.

You’re only going to be afraid of Allah. When you’re standing in front of Allah on judgement day, are you going to be thinking about anybody else’s actions? Anybody else’s, what they think of you? Or what they don’t think of you? And whether they like you? Or whether they don’t like you? Or whether you’re popular? Or whether you’re not popular? Or whether you’re loved? Or whether you’re hated?

Will any of that be mattered to you on judgment day? No. All of that will disappear. The only thing will matter is… Is Allah happy? Is Allah not happy? Yes or no? That’s the only thing that’s going to matter.

When you truly stand in front of Allah in Dhuhr, in Asr, in Maghrib, in Isha. You will live not caring about what anybody else thinks or expects, except who? Except Allah.

And then when you come out of that, then your friends expect you to be a certain way. Your culture expects you to be a certain way. Your family expects you to be certain way. Your society expects to be certain way. Your inner feelings expect you to be certain way.

And you’ll learn to put all of them in their place, and say, “Wait, I know all of you want to have your demands.”

And even your body has its own demands. But you will say, “No wait, I want to meet Allah’s expectations first.”

“And if I meet Allah’s expectations, and that means I disappoint some of you.”

“I’m okay with that because I got to stand in front of Allah.”

“And I don’t even have to wait until judgement day to stand in front of Allah. I have a meeting with Allah in about two hours in Asr.”

“I got to stand in front of Him again.”

“How am I going to face Him if I’d listen to you and not listen to Allah?”

You see what that does? It empowers you to not be afraid of people anymore. It empowers you to not be concerned about anybody. You can care about people, but so long as you’re not violating what Allah wants.

It makes you stronger. It makes a person truly truly strong to stand by what’s right. And you don’t say, “Man, how am I going to answer Allah on judgement day?”

You start thinking, “How am I going to answer Allah at Maghrib?”

“How am I going to answer Him, I have to stand in front of Him, don’t I?”

“I’m going to stand in front of Him and I’m going to promise Him something.”

“…إِيَّاكَ نَعْبُدُ وَإِيَّاكَ نَسْتَعِينُ”

“We worship only you.”

Oh yeah? What mouth am I going to take before Allah and say that, when I was doing what I was doing? When I was saying what I was saying? When I was acting the way that I was acting?

When you really connect to Allah, then that connectings, or you start seeing it affecting everything that happens between the prayers. It affect your speech, it affects your actions, it affects your priorities, it affects what you’re afraid of, it affects what you’re hopeful of. Everything starts changing.

0:24:50.20 – 0:26:06.82: The Father Gives the Most Powerful Advice

So he gives his son the most powerful advice, because at the end of the day the father is letting his son know, “You don’t have to live to my expectation, but you’re definitely gonna have to live up to Allah’s expectation.”

A father and a son, and a daughter, and a mother. All of us are human. We can be alive one day. We can be gone the next. We can be alive one hour. We can be gone the next.

So your father used to yell at you to pray, and he’s not there anymore. May Allah preserve all of our parents. Right? Your mother used to be there, she’s not there anymore. Your son used to be there, they’re not there anymore. Allah can take. It’s Allah’s life. He can take, He can give, and He can take. Right?

But you know what? Whoever comes and goes, you can say, “Well, now nobody’s telling me do not stay up late.”

“Nobody’s waking me up for Fajr, I can sleep in peace.”

“I don’t live with my mom anymore.”

“So I don’t have to be worry about it anymore.”

And the father is telling his son, “It’s not about me.”

“It was never about me.”

“Wherever you are…”

(QS. 2:115) فَأَيْنَمَا تُوَلُّوا فَثَمَّ وَجْهُ اللَّهِ ۚ

“Whichever way you turn your faces, that’s where you find Allah.”

That’s where you’ll find Allah. This is about us facing Allah (عَزَّ وَجَلَّ). And that’s the first advice that he gives his son before he gets into what kind of things he’s going to face in life.
0:26:06.82 – 0:26:35.70: Closing

So that’s the first priority that I wanted to highlight. InshAllah we will be on this ayah for couple of weeks. QS. 31:17 (Luqman verse 17)

And my advice to you, those of you that are keeping up with the series for your own personal benefit. It’s not that long of a passage. It’s surah number 31, and this is ayah number 12, all the way to 19. That’s actually pretty much one page and it’s not that hard to memorize. It would be good for you to memorize it and to rehearse this teaching, inshaAllah ta’ala for yourself and your family.

0:26:35.70 – 0:27:30.80: Closing Dua

بَارَكَ اللهُ لِي وَ لَكُمْ فِي القُرْآنِ الحَكِيمِ
ونَفَعَنِي وَ إِيَّاكُمْ بِالْآيَاتِ وَالذِّكْرِ الحَكِيمِ
اَلْحَمْدُ لله وَكَفَى
وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى عِبَادِهِ الَّذِينَ اصْطَفَى
خُصُوصًا عَلَى أَفْضَلِهِمْ وَخَاتَمَ النَّبِيِّينَ مُحَمَّدٍ الْأَمِيْنِ
وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِيْنَ
قَالَ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِي كِتَابِهِ الْكَرِيْمِ
بَعْدَ أَنْ أَقُوْلَ أَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَمَلَٰٓئِكَتَهُۥ يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى ٱلنَّبِىِّ ۚ
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ صَلُّواْ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيمًا
اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ
كَمَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ
فِي العَالَمِيْنَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ
كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَعَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ
فِي العَالَمِيْنَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ
عِبَادَ الله، رَحِمَ كُمُ الله، اِتَّقُوا اللهَ
إنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ وَإِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ
وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ
وَلَذِكْرُ اللهِ أَكْبَرُ، واللهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ
أَقِمِ الصَلَاةَ إنَّ الصَّلَاةَ كَانَتْ عَلَى المُؤْمِنِينَ كِتَابًا مَوقُوتًا