Mallah welcome everyone we can do a little Better masallah beautiful so welcome everyone it’s my privilege and my pleasure to welcome you all to Al maid’s weekend retreat titled on the duties of Brotherhood a study of Book 15 of the of imali and what we can think about as we enter uh this blessed weekend is that upon reflection after
The blessing of Islam and the blessing of faith that enters our hearts one of the greatest blessings that we’ve been given in this life and in this experience this journey is the blessing of community and of companionship of of having each other’s uh blessed companionship and one of the principles
That we have within our faith is that when we’re given a blessing it actually becomes mandatory to preserve and safeguard that blessing within our lives and to of course utilize that and enact it for uh the glorification and the service and the worship of Allah so however we may
Define community whether we delimit it or Define its parameters by geography and proximity whether we Define it as shared principles and Common Ground uh whatever sets of intentions or uh definitions or circumstances that bring us together the building block and the for this companionship and this community is individuals and the
Relationship and interactions that ensues from again the coming together of those individuals and within this is a blessing that again thus requires preservation and safeguarding it now for some of us uh this may not be the case for many of us but for some of us the
Fact that we encounter this day in and day out this relation to other people this aspect of community that it becomes almost mundane almost taken for granted or even on the other end of the spectrum or extreme that some of us even may have negative experiences as a result of
These relationships we may not consider it to be as weighty of a blessing as it truly is but we have to look no further than the absence of the blessing to see its proof that we always value or we know the value of water of course when
The well is dry and so for many of us this became evident and very clear in the days and weeks of the hardest parts of the pandemic or in the lowest points of our social lives or other aspects of of Our Lives when we have to face and
Come to this loneliness and in those moments the smallest gesture of humanity of kindness of Brotherhood and Sisterhood of fraternity and sorority becomes like a beacon of light it really is uplifting and in that is the proof and so in this blessed or one could even say sacred context and relationship
There are many many many deep meanings uh which abound and the conse consequences of which are Everlasting and we’ll hear about many of these teachings inshallah throughout this weekend and so with that it should be no surprise to us that in categorizing the various Hadith the great IM Abu da he
Said that I preserved or I comment I wrote down 500i from the messenger of Allah s Alam and 4,000 of those wereit were uh firmly established and he said all of those the meanings of all of those could be derived or they stemmed from for and the fourth of them is the
Well-known and there are other Renditions of the Hadi that none of you truly believes or a person shall truly believe or attain faith if and when they love for their brother what they love for themselves from goodness and so with that it should be no surprise as a
Logical extension thatl imali the proof of Islam IM gazali in his uh magn Opus in his great work one of our greatest works on spiritual purification and the refinement of character that an entire chapter is dedicated to the etiquet and the adab and the manners related to this sacred companionship this this building
Of the prophetic community and so as we go into this weekend inshallah and as we are about to hear many of the lofty uh the lofty meanings and uh ideals many of which may Allah forgive us starting with my poor self we fall extremely short of inshallah we enter
With an intention that we benefit by the grace and the mercy of Allah from every single word and that even if we rise only a few degrees from where we are whatever our context or our situation may be that it be a step forward or many steps forward on our path to him
Subhanahu wa taala and so with that inshallah again we welcome you all we encourage everyone to participate fully and toing bring to heart every intention uh that can be uh beautiful and Illuminating for this uh Retreat on such an important topic and so before we proceed with the first
Session we’ll just mention as as our want a few of how a few of the typical housekeeping issues um the first of which is that all of the retreat uh contents all of the materials can be found online at a very simple URL it’s al.org www.mid.org on the duties of Brotherhood and each
Word is separated by hyphen so on hyphen The Hyphen Etc the duties of Brotherhood and there is also on that page a retreat telegram so a group uh that you can sign up for that you can receive live updates and Communications from our volunteer team many of whom are wearing yellow
Lanyards and uh all of whom are here at your service to make this a most uh inshallah comfortable and beneficial stay with us inshallah tal a couple of notes about registration alhamdulillah registration is full and so we do ask that everyone uh do their best to check in at the respective brothers and
Sisters stations uh here in theat it’ll be open tonight until and inshallah tomorrow morning for anyone who did not get the chance to do so and if there’s not a chance to register again tonight please make sure you stop by until tomorrow with regard to facilities alhamdulillah we are again
Beyond honored and grateful that you all join us and bring light and Baraka to this space with us uh a few points to keep in mind uh as always parking is somewhat limited especially here close to the building and so we do ask that everyone uh give preference to Sisters
People with families uh our elders and therefore that especially single Brothers if you can prefer uh or preferentially park at the Stonehouse and leave this lot inshallah for uh those mentioned and if a volunteer directs you uh to a certain parking location we ask that you humbly and
Kindly please uh oblige uh we will have of course all of the sessions here and all of the meals in the white tent adjacent to the green barn that many of you had dinner in um notably we will have a bookstore open in the Stonehouse which we can guide you to inshallah and
We’ll mention when that bookstore will be open uh there are restrooms of course on site in the sister section there are sisters facilities and on the brothers the same and with regards to Children uh we do have a Child Care Program that is ongoing uh throughout the program
Starting tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. with the first session so if you have children in the program please there’s a bit of logistical detail here the children Age 3 to 5 are going to be in the basement of this building and the children age 6
To 8 will be in the green barn so 3 to five in the basement here 6 to8 in the green barn the boys age 9 to 14 will also be in the green barn and then the girls 99 to 14 will be in the Stonehouse and again our volunteers are happy to
Direct you all inshallah if you need uh guidance about where to go the sessions for which child care will be active are basically limited to the sessions the the teaching s sessions here so it starts 10:00 a.m. tomorrow and goes till 1: and then from 3: to 6:00 and on
Sunday from 10: to 2: so it’s really important that as soon as we’re dismissed from these sessions to go and retrieve our children from the child care and for those children that are under the age of three they can stay with their parents and if they need to
Uh get a little bit of energy out there is dedicated space in the basement for mothers uh and their young children we just ask that no one leave their children unattended inshallah and then finally uh but definitely not least importantly this program as with everything Alid is designed to be
Comprehensive and so al- maid’s core principles are what are known as Al and knowledge devotion and service and that same model is incorporated into this weekend retreat which inshallah will be comprehensive in itself and so there will be sessions dedicated to knowledge sessions dedicated to devotion and group remembrance inshallah and
We’ll highlight those as well as service to one another especially with a topic as fitting uh as this uh regarding Brotherhood Sisterhood and companionship so with that inshallah without further Ado we will begin with the first session Session One introduction and the virtues of companionship of with situated
Can everyone hear me okay all right ald alhamdulillah to Echo Dr yaser’s beautiful sentiments it is an absolute joy and pleasure and privilege uh to be here here with you all on this weekend retreat where we’re dedicating ourselves to seeking sacred knowledge and to seeking knowledge that restores the bonds of
Brotherhood and Sisterhood and love between the members of the umah this is some of the time that will be weightiest inshallah tal if it is accepted on the scales when we meet Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala so when inshallah over the course of the weekend we’ll be covering this beautiful book by
IM Al gazali which is part of his this masterpiece of 40 books where he has really given us an entire map and blueprint of the religion and how to put it into practice and to really live this Dean at the highest levels ofan and Excellence may Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala
Have mercy Mercy on him and reward him with the greatest of rewards aan so in this book inshallah and I encourage you all to look closely at the outline and actually even just study those points in the outline before each of the sessions it will give you a good
Conceptualization of what it is that we’re going to talk about but we’re going to look at the Merit of loving one another for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala in session uh the second session he’s going to talk about the different types of love and what it means to love for
The sake of Allah subhanahu wa tala which is a question that often comes up what does that really mean so inshallah we’ll get a really comprehensive answer tonight in the second session and also looking at the understanding of those things that are not deserving of our
Love and that part of our Iman part of our love of Allah subahu wa ta’ala and love of all things that are good dictates that we don’t give our love to other things that contradict that and will cover that insh we’ll also look at the traits to look for in a
Companion when you are seeking friendship or companionship what is it that you really need to seek in that person in order for that companionship that Brotherhood that Sisterhood that friendship to be the most beneficial in your coming closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and then we’ll
Look at uh the rights and the duties that we owe our brothers and sisters and then finally the rights that all Muslims have over us so inshallah it will be comprehensive but we wanted to begin this session and the entire Retreat really setting the framework and the foundation there is a beautiful book
By where he talks about various intentions we should have so just looking out at the room and seeing people I know who’ve come from distant places from Chicago and from Atlanta and from Houston and from Canada and maybe even further than that that people have come from all
Over and this is a a sign that Allah subhanahu wa tala is preparing great good for the umah despite what we see in the world there are things that are absolutely heartbreaking there are difficulties and challenges that the umah is facing that cannot be ignored nevertheless when we see
Especially I’m just looking at the room how many young people are here young brothers and sisters and not just young brothers and sisters but when we see this type of concern across the board within the Muslim um for seeking knowledge and bringing about the restoration and the Revival of This Dean
Is something that makes a person very optimistic Allah subhanahu wa tala is preparing great good for this umah and we always have a good opinion of Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala and we ask him to bring relief to the entire umah of the Prophet Muhammad sallallah especially our brothers and
Sisters inaz may Allah protect them so uh before we get into the material just seeing people come from different places we thought it would be worthwhile to talk about intentions for visiting one another so one of the intentions that we should have when we are visiting one another is out of reverence and
Veneration for the status that Allah gives to a Believer every single person of is someone worthy of respect someone that we need to respect and have a reverence for for Allah subhanahu waala the prophet s he stated that the sanctity of a Believer is greater than that of the
KA I mean people come from all over the world we all yearn to gaze upon the Kaa we all recognize the sanctity and the majesty and the beauty of the Kaa and the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said that every single Muslim has an even greater sanctity and an
Inviolability greater than that of the K so to go visit someone with that intention in mind it magnifies the ACT it’s not just about going out it’s about what it is that you’re seeking from Allah subhanahu wa taala another intention is to strengthen the bonds of
Love and we’re going to talk about that in depth inshallah but to go visit other people to strengthen those bonds of Love within the umah which is extremely important another intention is to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet s he’s the one who taught us that this
Is a spiritual act and is going to define the different types of love when it really is for Allah but when it’s for Allah it’s something that transcends all of these other worldly things another intention is to have one’s sins be forgiven as has come in narration there
Are that when two brothers meet or two sisters meet and they smile at each other that Allah subhanahu wa tala to remove sins from them or when they shake hands with one another that sins fall away from them while they’re shaking hands with one another just as the
Leaves fall off the trees in in autumn in Fall so to have one’s sins be forgiven in visiting your brother or your sister another intention is to seek counsel to to seek from a loyal friend that you go to your brother or your sister and this is one of the most
Important things this cannot be underestimated it cannot be underemphasized that when you go to see your friend you actually seek advice from them and when you’re really close and you can open up about the areas that you need to improve on that’s a true friendship that you’re able to be
Vulnerable You’re you’re able to say to that person tell me how I can be better one it means they really care about you and that you’re close enough to accept that so when you go out to a friend maybe there’s a flaw that’s within me that’s displeasing to Allah subhanahu
Wa’ta’ala my brother or my sister will make me aware of that so to seek that counsel and and another intention is to look upon the face of someone righteous in the case of having a righteous friend which is an added benefit and we really want to have those friendships we
Don’t want it to just be something that we attend their Gatherings we want to be close with people who are close to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and be like them and then become them inshallah tal to look upon the face of someone right in the case of a righteous friend going
Out and there’s narrations about the benefits of that and some of the Sal the earlier Generations even when they were dying they said I want to see the face of Hassan albas before I die because it does something to my heart I’m so doing going to see that
Person who you believe is righteous and benefiting from looking upon them and then lastly seeking Allah’s love subhanahu waala through this visit seeking Allah’s love through this visit and we’re going to cover these in the opening chapter of Imam Al gazali’s book where he highlights many of these
Things I didn’t want to elaborate too much on the intentions because you’re going to see the basis for them in many of theith that we’re about to cover inshallah tal but before we get into that is really just contextualizing and understanding ing where we’re at in the world and I
Think we all know the modern world is not a place that has produced deep and meaningful relationships if anything it’s put a lot of those relationships at risk it’s jeopardized the depth that we have so many people are focused on quality quantity rather so many people are
Focused on quantity that they lose sight of quality and even when we talk about loving someone for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala if you have even just a few people if you have even one person where it really meets that criteria consider yourself fortunate it’s not something
Insignificant but a lot of people have you know thousands of friends online but how many of them are really deep how many of them are really close and what has happened especially in the last century is that we’ve become a much more selfish society that the self has become the
Center and the goal of many people’s lives their own self and we know from Islam that that’s just damaging that’s completely destructive but it’s affected us at a spiritual level without a doubt but it’s also affected us at a societal level our social relationships the way that we interact
As neighbors it’s affected people at the level of family and we’re going to even talk about those rights in the later sessions inshallah T it’s affected us at every level and loneliness along with other mental health problems that can be associated with loneliness and associated with this fragmentation
And this fracturing of deep meaningful relationships has become more widespread I remember when I was a chaplain at a university this is something that everybody knew they wouldn’t talk about it out loud that much but everybody knew what was going on that the administration they wanted to put in
Place all of these different programs and part of the reason in a very it was in Canada it was in Toronto was a very secular University part of the reason why they tolerated us as Muslims and particularly in the form of chaplaincy was because they knew that our
Programs would lessen the risk of suicide and it was known and there would always always be this nervous energy just waiting for the next bad bit of news especially when it related to that issue because universities are very lonely places a lot of students come from tight-knit
Families they have even in high school or whatever it may be they have a close circle of friends then they’re thrown into this huge world where they’re just a cog in the machine nobody cares your professor doesn’t care about you other students don’t have the Liberty to even care
About you because they’re just trying to get good grades and they’re worried about their own selves so we see all of these problems arise when we shifted the focus and purpose of our lives so the irony is the more that we’re talking about me me me and the
Self and self- fulfillment and self- admiration and selfesteem and self hyphen you can attach it to so many words the more we focus on the self the more damaging it is for the individual it’s ironic but it’s true now obviously everything has to be balanced there
Is your body your self has a right over you you balance all of these things and this is the beauty of Revelation and the beauty of prophets and Messengers Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala the creator of the human being knows everything and knows all of those things
That are in the best interests of the human being at every level things that studies have never even begun to think about and they’ll never discover maybe that relate to your well-being at the ultimate the deepest level of your essence but when we became people who cut ourselves off from that and started
Focusing on the the exact opposite of Revelation it started to create a very imbalanced Society there was a study where they asked Millennials their major life goals it just shows how pervasive this mentality is so they ask Millennials what are your major life goals over 80% said it was to get rich
Over 80% I’m surprised it’s not 100% to be honest with you I mean that’s like the that’s what they’re taught from a young age it’s all about getting rich but over 80% said to get rich and 50% said to become famous that’s what’s in people’s minds it’s all these external
Goals it’s all about setting yourself apart it’s all about feeding that black hole inside of you which is the nefs with things that will actually never give it Wholeness there’s the longest known study of human happiness and human development it’s called The Harvard study of adult development the director the current director at least I think as of you know a few years ago the current director of the Harvard study of adult development his name is Robert
Waldinger he said that those who kept warm relationships deep meaningful loving relationships got to live longer and happier and then he said these are his words loneliness kills it’s as powerful as smoking or alcoholism when we talk about even physical health deep meaningful relationships play a role in your physical
Health now what we’re going to talk about is the highest level your spiritual health your connection to the Heavenly realm to Allah subhanahu wa tala at the highest levels but if you understand it at the highest levels then everything beneath that comes with it inshallah tala but
This is just to give us an understanding and a lot of these studies and a lot of this conversation about loneliness was long before Co and maybe Co and and Dr Yesa uh referred to this in the opening statements you know what did that do to our
Relationships what did that do to our social connections now alhamdulillah seems like a lot of it has come back but some people there might have been some really formative years of learning how to interact with others that some people might have lost and then you add to that
That who cares just do what you feel like anyway you have a really big problem at the level of society according to the study this Harvard study of adult development those who lived longer and enjoyed Sound Health avoided smoking and alcohol in excess researchers also found that those with strong social support experienced
Less mental deterioration as they aged one of the questions that they would ask people in the study it’s a really powerful question and the way that men and women deal with this especially in adulthood is different that young boys are very good at making friends they enjoy socializing and
Interacting even with kids that they they don’t even know if you just look at kids they’ll just kind of like wave at another kid pull out a Pokemon card and then that’s it they’re they’re friends or they’ll just go run around and play tag and they’ll find a way to
Bond once especially men not just men but especially men once they get into adulthood and if they get married their ability to form friendships with other men deteriorates significantly and it affects them it affects us and okay so they would ask these men to and this was a marker
Of what would be a source of good health they’re not looking at the Spirit and the soul and the and what is beloved to Allah subh they just want to live in this world as best as they can and all of it just aligns with what we know from the prophets and
Messengers they would say to these men who would you call in the middle of the night if you were sick or afraid think about that I I think a lot of men would be like nobody I’ll try to take care of it myself if I could maybe just
911 if you had a major life crisis is there’s someone who pops into your mind I can call this person he’s got on my back the Harvard study of adult development that’s the question they’re asking to gauge people’s well-being across the board so all of this tells us what deepening these bonds of
Brotherhood and Sisterhood for the sake of Allah subhana tala is essential for life people who had deep meaningful connections they lived longer and they developed diseases of middle age later than others and when people throw themselves into their careers they lose that capability so I got too many
Responsibilities now I don’t have time for my friends I don’t have time to hang out with other people and especially when you become an adult and you have a family and you have community and people respect you and you have all of these responsibilities I’m going to show people my vulnerability
Now that’s exact we need that we absolutely need Avenues to show our vulnerability to our brothers and our sisters when we need it but how many people will just suffer in silence for years because they can’t open up to another person so having these connections it is part of our
F it’s part of our human nature and it’s actually very therapeutic and it’s also an essential part of our spiritual apparatus our ability to appreciate and recognize and internalize things related to Iman related toan related to the highest degrees of nearness to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala they’re rooted in our ability to
Love and one of the greatest crimes that has ever taken place I would argue in human history is equating love with lust this is what happens when you put the self the nefs at the center of everything is now they equate love with lust absolutely not and this is why we have always
Known we have always known as Muslims that deeply loving one another as two brothers or as two sisters is of the most noble and beauti beautiful of relationships and bonds that two two human beings can have and now the modern world can’t even make sense of it but this is what we
Have we have this beautiful balance we’re not telling ourselves as grown men to be emotionally numb and that if you are anything but emotionally numb something is wrong with you or you are a deviation from what it means to be a man and then if you’re emotionally sensitive and you do have
Deep bonds of Love they want to twist that into something sick absolutely not we will not allow that to happen this is something that is part of the spiritual apparatus of a healthy heart and it is something that will help a person Ascend in the degrees of nearness to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala
So the bonds of Love Are therapeutic and they’re essential I just want to read a couple more quotes and then we’ll get into im’s book this is a quote from a professor at the University of Chicago John Copo if I’m saying his last name correctly he says loneliness isn’t the physical absence of
Other people and this is where social media and all the devices that we have and the screens that we have are altering our reality loneliness isn’t the physical absence of other people a person could be in a room with a crowd crowded room and still feel lonely it’s the sense that you’re not
Sharing anything that matters with anyone else and how many people might open up to a stranger online and not even open up to the family member who’s right there and loves them because of this warped sense of connection if you have lots of people around you to continue the quote perhaps
Even a husband or wife or a family or a busy workplace but you don’t share anything that matters with them then you’ll still be lonely so it’s not just being around other people it’s about the connection and once again quality is more important than quantity if you have even just a few
People if there’s someone you could call in the middle of the night if there’s someone if you had a major mistake that you made in your life and there’s a person who will help you work through that and you can call them you’re very fortunate and this is uh uh extremely
Important and there are so many things in the world today the way that we live our lifestyles this perception this veneer of perfection of not having any flaws of not having any fears of not making any mistakes also on the opposite end as a community or as brothers and
Sisters recognizing the humanity of other people and not holding them to unrealistic standards that they can never meet so that if they do ever make a mistake they would never open up to you if you look even at the the best generation of human beings
To ever walk the face of the Earth they went through these experiences which teach us that working through those situations in order to do what is most pleasing to Allah subhah wa ta’ala only elevates you but we just want to appear perfect even if things on the inside are in turmoil and that’s
Unhealthy this is why it’s so essential to study Brotherhood and Sisterhood through the lens of Iman and spiritual excellence and cultivation it’s something that is part of our part of our F and love as we studied when we did book 36 which feels like so long ago now love
Is the Pinnacle of all spiritual virtues so even cultivating it in these various ways seeking to attain that pure love for Allah subhanahu wa tala and working towards that is everything that we’re doing on the spiritual path anyway so we’ll get into IM Al gazali’s book now that was
Just to sort of of uh set the frame and allow us to really understand that we as Muslims have a very important duty and responsibility before us and the first step in that responsibility and duty is recognizing the Beauty and the goodness and the healing in our Dean and in the
Way of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam putting that into practice in our own lives and then offering it to everyone else who is seeking a better way cuz there are so many people who are hurting there are so many people who maybe their entire lives never felt that anyone ever gave them
Genuine love and we have the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam we have this beautiful Dean which is lifegiving so we have to put it into practice and honor it so IM gazali said says all praise belongs to Allah subhanahu wa taala who immersed the elect of his servants in the gentleness
Of his choosing them out of his grace and his favor and what did he do and he brought their hearts together and reconciled between them so they became through his favor and Grace brothers and sisters and Allah subhanahu wa tala removed any enmity between their hearts so they became friends and intimate
Companions and in they Hereafter they will be companions as well and may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon the best teacher the one who brought us all of this goodness the prophet Muhammad sallallah alaihi wasallam and upon his family and Companions and all those who who follow
His way in speech and in action and in all that they do to proceed that loving one another for the sake of Allah and having the Brotherhood and The Sisterhood of Islam is one of the greatest means and most virtuous means of drawing close to Allah subhah wa tala and it is the
Easiest of Acts of obedience related to interactions now we’re on the we are on the quarter of of the that relates to the rights of others and personal interactions and so forth right so we looked at earning a livelihood we looked at the Halal andam and so forth all of that relates to
Interactions with other people so he says that this is the easiest of all of the acts of obedience as it relates to dealing with other people and there are certain conditions associated with this that then make friends actually if they fulfill these conditions they become not just friends
But those who love one another for the sake of Allah subh so we need to know what those conditions are we’re going to cover them in and there are certain duties that we owe to our brothers and and sisters so that it protects our love from ever becoming polluted or ever becoming
Affected by the whisperings of the devil the Shan hates it when people love one another for the sake of Allah like all of the work that he’s doing is completely undermined when people love each other for the sake of Allah the entire Dean is goes back to
Loving one another for the sake of Allah and loving Allah subhanahu wa tala and his messenger sallallah alaihi wasallam that is the that’s the result of putting your religion into practice and all he focuses on is hatred that’s where it all stems from so this is extremely important so when
Believers establish these rights they draw closer to Allah subhah wa tala in great ways and when a person preserves this love and cultivates it over the years a person attains High degrees of nearness to Allah so there are three chapters to the book he says the first is the virtue of
Loving one another for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala which we’re going to cover now inshallah so Allah subhanahu wa tala says in Thean the Believers are but one Brotherhood so make peace between your brothers and be mindful of Allah so you may be shown Mercy that we have this Bond of IM Allah subh says we have this Bond of IM that actually transcends in many ways the bonds of blood and kinship which are extremely
Important nobody in any way is disregarding that but there’s something that binds us something that we have together that connects us that is greater than any worldly relationship greater than any other Bond and any other uh uh connection which is IM and if you look at the it’s amazing how they were people
Who were accustomed to tribalism and in a very short amount of time when they tasted the realities of IM and the sweetness of IM they became closer with people from other tribes than their own immediate family doesn’t mean we turn our backs on our family but it’s something worth
Noting that there is this transformation and that this closeness that comes with Iman that nothing else can compare to Allah subhanahu wa taala says inah Al IM verse 103 and hold firmly together to the Rope of Allah and do not be divided and remember Allah’s favor upon you when you were
Enemies then he United your hearts now he’s speaking about the sahaba specifically but it applies to all of us I can guarantee you there are very few places in America probably outside of mid that have the diversity that we have in this room people just stay in their own
Groups but there is something deeper and the prophet sallallah alai wasallam he mentioned how beloved this is to Allah subhana from different lands and from different tribes they come together out of love for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and they’re rewarded for that subhanahu wa tala United your
Hearts so you by his grace became brothers and you were at the brink of a fiery pit and he saved you from it with IM this is how Allah makes his Revelations clear to you so that you you may be rightly guided and then the last verse that we’ll look at Surah 59 verse number n and it’s about the m and the an the migrants and the Helpers as for those who had settled in the city those were the ansar the people who were natives of Medina they’re from Medina okay as for those who had settled in the city and embraced the faith before the arrival of the migrants the M they love whoever migrates to Them these are people who before were just strangers they didn’t know them now we have the bullet train it’s just like a couple hours from meca to Medina but back in those days it was a long distance to travel they weren’t close they didn’t have very close tribal affiliations with the people in
Mecca and the prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam had not even arrived to Medina just yet and because of Ean they love the people who migrated to them this is an indication that the success of the umah that really beautiful and consequential things really happen when we as Believers are
Able to have enough IM in our hearts to really love other people even if we know nothing about them but based on their Iman and that they are from the um of the Prophet Muhammad s. Wasallam they love whoever migrates to them never having a desire in their hearts for whatever of the gains is given to the migrants any money that’s given to the muaj they don’t even have a desire that they want that they are completely content and they’re happy at what Allah gives other
People look at how this Dean elevated their souls they are very few human beings you can think of who fit this description in a short amount of time believing in Allah and his messenger this was their state it doesn’t end there that’s just the the the the first level you love for
Your brother what you love for yourself alhamdulillah that’s beautiful that’s IM they give the Mig rants preference over themselves even though they may be in need oh that’s a high level of M is that you love more for your brother than you do for yourself and for the the Western mind
This is super foreign love more for someone for myself but it’s if it’s beneficial I should benefit more this is something that’s deeply spiritual is that you recognize the gifts that Allah gives someone else and because you love them for the sake of Allah you love what Allah has given them
And you love their drawing closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and if I hadn’t seen this with my own eyes I might not even believe it I remember one of my someone who was I I hope we friends I feel like he’s like an angel and just trying to to keep
Up there were people people that I studied with descendants of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam people who were deeply committed to spiritual purification they fit these descriptions remember one of my friends he said said I hope that you have more from Allah subh than I want from my own
Self and I was like how is that possible but I know without a doubt he meant it because people who have that intention see him it doesn’t mean that they fall short that they fall behind they strive but they’re happy when they see other people gain more and what ends
Up happening is their happiness their genuine happiness at seeing that means that Allah subhana T gives them a portion as well they asked one of the great people of Allah they said how you started studying in your young years and there were so many of your peers who were with
You how is it that you became came so far ahead of them that you’re so clearly Superior to those other people who were your equals at one time and he said I wanted them to be better than me genuinely it’s not just lip service I wanted them to be better than me so
Allah subh loved that that’s what came out of that and then what does Allah subhana tell us the solution for all of the modern problems of the self and whoever is saved from the selfishness of their own Souls it is they who are truly successful selfishness doesn’t bring you
Success being saved from the selfishness of your NS is what brings you success they are the ones who are truly successful so in now we’ll look at some of the associated with loving one another for the sake of Allah subhanahu waala the prophet s he said the closest of you to me in
Position on the day of resurrection and in the Hereafter are those of you who have have the best character those who are loving and bring love between others that they reconcile and try to nurture and cultivate love between other people and think about the world today and the opposite people will often share
Other people’s negative qualities you hear about so and so they did this and this and how many people go around actually trying to cultivate love between people’s hearts oh you know I was with so and so they said such nice things about you they really appreciated the gift that
You got them and so forth and wow Subhan Allah I didn’t know that it mattered that much and you actually nurture that love between people’s hearts you mention people’s good qualities those are some of the people who will be close to the prophet in another Hadith the prophet sallallah Alam
Said whoever Allah Wills good For that Allah subhanahu wa tala gives him in another narration Allah gives him a close friend who is righteous or an advisor who is righteous in if that person forgets his righteous friend reminds him and if he remembers what is good he assists him in doing that good
Thing that’s a sign that Allah has willed good for someone and this is why we have to seek out righteous friendship we have to seek out people the most significant ch change in my life personally speaking was when I changed who my friends were I was in college and it was
Literally like in my mind’s eye literally at a Crossroads you could go this way and God knows what that way would would take one towards or you can make a serious change and improve and it all came back to the people I was around and having to make a concerted effort to
Be around people who were devoted to the who were devoted to Allah subhanahu wa taala and from that significant wasn’t an easy decision but from that decision everything changed everything changed so if Allah Wills good for someone he puts that person in the company of righteous people that remind you when you forget
And help you when you’re doing the right thing and support you along the way in another Hadith the prophet sallallah wasallam said that two brothers who love one another for the sake of Allah when they meet one another they’re like two hands that wash each other you can’t wash your hand well if
You’re really flexible you might be able to wash your hand with one hand but it’s not the most effective way to do it when you wash your hands you need both hands right that’s how two brothers are they wash each other and that whenever two Believers meet Allah subhanahu wa taala truly
Gives one of them to benefit from His companion or he receives some good from His Companion in another Hadith the prophet said that whoever takes a brother for the sake of Allah and obviously this applies to the sisters as well or a sister for the sake of Allah Allah raises him a rank in Paradise that he would have never received with any other actions of his
Own this is why M it’s an action of the heart and the actions of the heart are greater than the actions of the limbs doesn’t mean that the limbs don’t matter that outward physical actions matter but the actions of the heart are much greater this why two people can do the
Same thing one person has a better intention it’s much weightier CU it relates to the actions of the heart one of my favorite one of my favorite and it only becomes even sweeter because we recently were in Jordan and we got to visit the noble and illustrious companion of the Prophet Muhammad s
Wasam who narrates this Hadith one of the he tells this story and there’s so many layers to it we we we don’t have a whole lot of time but he says that he was in sham and he came to the Masid and he saw this young man he died in his
Mid-30s and the prophet Sall wasam said that he is the most knowledgeable of my of theal andam he is a scholar and he got his seal of approval and his from the prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam himself and he passed away in his mid-30s so he sees this young man he doesn’t
Know who it is radiant beautiful and that there are people around him who are even more advanced in years than he is who whenever they disagreed about something they would go and ask him and whenever he spoke everyone would listen attentively and he just had this dignified bear bearing that AB he said
This is someone who was in the presence of the prophet he asks he says then when he knows that he’s the prophet’s Companion now it’s no mystery why he’s so radiant and magnetic so abani he says I’m going to come early to the Masjid tomorrow because I want to talk to him oneon-one
Before all these other people arrive he says I got to the Masjid early and he was already there praying so after he was done praying he says to him I love you for the sake of Allah they just met this is proofed that it’s spiritual
It’s based on IM you have the new of the Prophet Muhammad was you absorbed directly from the messenger of Allah you were there when verses of Quran were being revealed I love you the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam loved him and swore to that so anyone with even the slightest bit of IM
Would fall in love with him so he says so he takes him by his he says by Allah do you really mean that that man says Allah by Allah I mean it he asks him a second time Allah Allah I mean it said I’m not asking you that because I’m a accusing
You of lying but I just wanted that confirmation because I have good news for you I heard the messenger of Allah s say that Allah the Glorious and Majestic says my love is guaranteed for those who love one another for my sake my love is guaranteed for those who love one
Another for my sake and for those and those who visit one another for my sake and those who sit together for my sake and those who spend on one another for my sake who sacrifice to help one another and support one another and serve one another for my sake and we ask
Allah subhanahu wa taala that all four of those conditions are actualized and realized in our weekend retreat and that Allah subhah waa guarantees us his love there’s still many more and many more sayings if that was the only one it would be enough that Allah subhah wa T guarantees his love
I remember that same friend I was talking about earlier he was saying he said look at the other of you have to do a lot of that my servant continues to draw closer to me through through voluntary acts of devotion until they reach the point where finally I love him he said look
That’s a long road said but here in this Hadith boom immediately my love is guaranteed for those who love one another for my sake and it’s not in any way to disregard the other path we take every means available to us everything that the messenger of
Allah came with we take advantage of it and we expose ourself to Allah’s mercy so that we be included in his love it’s not in any way to disregard that but it’s to pay attention to the Difference in another Hadith he narrates that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam said that surrounding the throne there will be pulpits of light standing at those pulpits will be a people whose garments are made of light and whose faces are radiating with light they are not prophets or Martyrs because that’s a high
Rank and the prophets and martyrs wish that they were them in other words they want that particular distinction that Allah has given these people so the companions asked describe them to us who are they oh messenger of Allah and he Said they are those who love one another for the sake of Allah and sit together for the sake of Allah and visit one another for the sake of Allah in another Hadith and this Hadith is narrated by IM not in his and by in his that the prophet sallallah wasam Said that whenever two people love one another for the sake of Allah the one of those two now there’s two people who love each other for the sake of Allah the more beloved of the two is the one who loves his brother more intensely is more beloved to Allah which
One is more Beloved the one who loves his brother even more this is beautiful this is not something that we just cons it is part of our Natural State and is going to talk about that in the next session but it’s not something to be disregarded it’s be it’s something that
We need to direct and we need to make sure that it is perfectly aligned with the teachings of our Prophet sallallah wasam so that when we actually perfectly align it with what Allah loves that we’re able to take off we’re able to make great amounts of
Progress but if we just think it’s just about me you’re missing out you’re missing out on one of the the fast tracks to nearness to Allah subahu wa taala there there’s so much more uh to to to cover inallah we’ll do our best in the time that remains another Hadith
Which is also narrated by bukari and Muslim in their that the prophet sallallah was said that there are seven categories of people who are shaded by Allah on the day that there is no shade say his a just leader or if he that a young man who grew up serving and obeying Allah
Subhanahu wa taala because of how volatile youthhood can be that he had the integrity and he had the wisdom and the determination to dedicate himself to Allah even as a a young person or as a young woman and a person whose heart was attached to the
Masid from the time he leaves the Masjid his heart is attached until he comes back for the next Salah in other words he always yearns to be standing before Allah in prayer he always looks forward to the next time not like most people speaking of even my own self right you
Just want to oh got to get it done and then move on to other things no yearning to be standing before Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala yearning for the next opportunity looking forward to it seeing everything else as a distraction until you have that moment where you’re standing with Allah subhanahu wa tala and before
Allah and and two people who love one another for the sake of Allah that they came together upon that and went their separate ways upon that a person who remembered Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala in solitude by himself and his eyes flowed over with tears and a man who was called by by a
Woman of uh status and beauty and he refrained and he said I fear Allah the exalted and another man who gave and he did it so secretly that his left hand didn’t know what his right hand gave so these are the seven categories of people the reason IM Al gazali is mentioning it
Here specifically is because of the two people who love one another for the sake of Allah subhana tala that part of the reward for that is being granted Allah subhanahu wa tala’s shade another Hadith states that whenever a man goes to visit another man for the sake of Allah and yearning to meet
Him and hoping to sit with him an angel calls out from behind him that you are good and Paradise has become good for you and has prepared itself in a most excellent way for you because someone wants to go visit another person for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa tala this is another
Believer what then if you want to go visit someone who is righteous what if if you want to go visit someone who is of the aah what does Allah subhanahu wa tala give us when we go visit the prophet sallallah alai wasam this is for your brother or your
Sister then what then of those higher degrees of honor and higher degrees of love the prophet sallallahu alai tells us in another Hadith narrated by Muslim that a went to go visit his brother who he loved for the sake of Allah so Allah had an angel descend to
Him he said where is it that you’re going the man said I want to go visit my brother so and so so the angel asks and he’s in the form of a man is there any need that you have that he’s going to fulfill for you is there something that
You need from him and he said no said are you relatives is it just the the bonds of of kinship and relations he said no he said do you owe him a favor is that why you’re you have to go see him and he said no he said so why are
You going to visit him and the man said I love him for the sake of Allah no worldly Gain No benefit in a worldly sense that I’m going to get out of this other than I love him for the sake of Allah and I want to see him so
Then the angel says to him Allah has sent me to you to inform you that he loves you because of your love for your brother I mean just imagine that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam is not telling us that because it’s a story from a bygone Age The Prophet sallallahu alaihi
Wasallam is telling us that because when a person really loves someone for the sake of Allah and they don’t have any other motive the same thing happens even if the angel doesn’t appear to you even if you don’t take part in this conversation the result is the
Same we’ll just look at a couple more inshah and then close and then in the next session inshallah is going to talk about what it really means to love for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala and there’s so many beautiful narrations I just wish we had time to go through them
All there are some from the and from the pious predecessors that he says I counsel you to have have many brothers and many sisters for the sake of Allah in the case of the sisters because they are a support in the life of this world and in the
Hereafter do you not read the words of the people of the fire we don’t have anyone to intercede on our behalf nor do we have any dear friend that’s what the people of the fire say so he says you should have dear friends you should have close friends and brothers and
Sisters because they might intercede for you they might be a means of asking Allah subhanahu wa tala to raise your rank and as one of my my my dear friends would tell me he would say that there are two brothers who loved one another for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa
Ta’ala one of them enters Paradise at a higher agree than the other one so he says oh Allah my my brother he’s not with me and Allah subhanahu wa tala says to him you’re of a higher degree than him he’s not that’s why he’s not with
You and the man says oh Allah I refuse to enter Paradise without my brother I have to be at the same level I won’t go into it without now this is high level spiritual realization this is not something that’s like love in a very fanciful sense that
People in the world today this is deep I’m never going to leave my brother behind and one of the things that we’re going to look at is loyalty and the highest manifestation of that virtue is the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam himself I’m not going to leave my umah behind this
Is my brother for the sake of Allah I’m not going to leave him behind and then Allah subh he loves that so he raises his brother to his degree and they enter the higher degree of paradise together so be friends with people who are much better than you there’s a lot
Of benefits in that and also the prophet s the famous he said that a person is with those he loves or she loves and IM Al gazali he says that if you really love those people you should strive to be like them don’t just let it be lip service
Love but if it’s real real love you want your entire being to be saturated by those things that you love within them which is why when we love the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasall it’s not a condition that just following him necessarily equates loving him but if we
Love him the highest degrees of loving him include following him s and his and he said If you experience some love from your brother hold on to that because it’s very precious If you experience love from of your brothers hold on to that cherish that respect
That because it is a very valuable and precious thing and then finally he said said said for a man to look at his brother’s face with love and mercy is an act of worship is an act of worship this is the type of Brotherhood and masculinity and femininity and relationships and true
Love that we are in dire need of we ask Allah sub waala to give us the highest realities of Love That Allah subhanahu wa taala makes us love one another for his sake and that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala places immense blessings and benefit and knowledge and openings in our weekend together
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