Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center

We came to give, not to take.

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  Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center

  Live the Seerah

  Aug 18, 202620 min

  Auto-generated transcript: In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to God, the Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the honour of the prophets and messengers. Muhammad, the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, and upon his family and his companions. Tasliman kaseeran kaseera. My brothers and sisters, we have been talking about the solution that we have in Islam to the difficulties that Muslims are undergoing all over the world. And as I reminded myself of you, the solution lies in the seerah of Rasulullah ﷺ. Allah ﷻ sent his Prophet ﷺ to be emulated, to be followed, to be used and seen as a role model on which to mould ourselves and our lives. Rasulullah ﷺ was not only a teacher in the normal sense of transfer of information from the one who knows to the one who does not know. Rasulullah ﷺ was a teacher not only in transfer of information, but in the entire gamut of understanding that and implementing that in our lives. And that's why Allah ﷻ gave him his mandate and mentioned it very clearly and said, "يَتْلُوْا عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةِ". Allah ﷻ said, transfer the information, tell them what has been revealed to you, recite for them what has been sent to you, purify them, and teach them the book and wisdom, which is the application of that knowledge. Right? He did not simply say, tell them what you have received, and then after that, at the end of the term, take an exam. What do they remember? No. The exam is on the Day of Judgment. Allah ﷻ said, teach them in the sense of, you tell them something, then you enable them to practice it. Allah ﷻ said, أَقِمِ السَّلَاةَ لِذِكْرِ. Establish the salah for my zikr. Right? So if the meaning of teaching was the same as what we have today, when you send your child to school, what is happening in the school? يَتْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ. So, أَقِمِ السَّلَاةَ لِذِكْرِ. This is what is taught to the student. I mean, I'm not exaggerating. Go and see it. If you want, I'll take you and show you. أَقِمِ السَّلَاةَ لِذِكْرِ. This is what is taught to the student. And what is he examined on? Whether he can pronounce أَقِمِ السَّلَاةَ لِذِكْرِ. Is he saying أَقِمِ السَّلَاةَ or is he saying أَقِمِ السَّلَاةُ or أَقِمِ السَّلَاةِ? Is he saying ذِكْرِ or is he saying ذِكْرِ or ذِكْرِ? You are examining him on pronunciation and you are examining him on memorizing that ayah. أَقِمِ السَّلَاةَ لِذِكْرِ. If the child pronounces this ayah correctly, zikri, you pass it. Have you asked the child, did you establish salah? Did you pray? Do you know how to pray? I mean, to me this seems so obvious that either I am crazy or somebody else is crazy because how do you call this teaching? Allah is saying, establish salah for my zikr. So if I say this in English, what is it? Is it a hukam? Is it an instruction or not? It's an instruction. So now if I say, I am giving you the instruction and then you are telling me, establish salah for my prayer, for my remembrance. Sir, you crazy man. Do it man. I am telling you do this. And you are saying, I am telling you do this. So you are making a mockery of me. You are making fun of me. You are simply repeating my instruction. I am giving you an instruction. Do this. You are not doing it. You are only repeating that instruction back to me. What does it mean? This is the level and nature of our teaching. Rasool ﷺ did not teach like this. Please understand. He did not teach like this. Allah has sent him, number one. What is the ayah that was revealed to you? Very good. So now what should you do? Repeat the same ayah? No. Do it. How do you do it? Start by purify. Where does Salah start? Salah starts with Tahara. So teach them taharah. When should you make Voodoo? Are you liable to make Voodoo? Or maybe you need to make Ghusal. So teach the Masalah of Ghusal. Teach the Masahil of Ghusal. Teach the Masahil of Voodoo. Then after that Purification of the place. Where you are going to pray. Adab of the Masjid. All of this is part of Salah. You can't come Singing and dancing to the Masjid. No. You come with Adab. You come with Ihtiram. You come with respect. You can't just come wearing a pair of shorts to the Masjid. No. Wear proper clothes which are Sharai which have been prescribed. All of this is part of Salah. The person has not started his Salah. But he has to do all of this first. He has to make sure his Taharat is correct. He has to make sure his clothing is correct. Both in shape and form as well as in cleanliness. He must understand his own Adab as far as coming into the Masjid is concerned. He can't come into the Masjid having eaten onions and garlic and you know stinking and smelling. All of this is part. He has not started Salah. All of this is part of Salah. This is what Nabi Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam taught them. He was a key him. Then the heart. This is the external Taharat. Then internal Taharat. Is my heart full of envy, hatred, jealousy, and all kinds of negative things? Or am I at least making an attempt? Even if we have not completely succeeded but at least some attempt to remove all this garbage from the heart. So we come to Allah ﷻ with the intention of standing before Him in submission. Then my mind: Is it full of all kinds of thoughts, anxieties, depression, "what will happen here", "what will happen there"? At the same time I am saying how will I be able to... Either Allah ﷻ is in control or Allah ﷻ is not in control. But first decide this: Who is in control? If Allah ﷻ is in control then whatever Allah wants will happen. What else can happen tell me? If Allah is not in control, if that's what you believe then Assalamualaikum, I mean I don't have anything more to say. So Allah ﷻ is... This all of this He is a key. And then how is this Salah to be done? Ta'aleem of the Kitab. Aqim Salat al-Dhikri is the Hukum. This Hukum has to be taught. There is a whole Ta'aleem of the Hukum. Aqim is Salah Kaifa. Ma'a ma'ana Iqamati Salah. How is it to be done? What is the meaning of Establishing Salah? Allah did not say Read Salah, Pray Salah, Observe Salah, Perform Salah. We use all of these terminologies. I am not saying it is haram but I am saying this is not what Allah ﷻ says. Allah did not say Perform Salah. Offer Salah. This is a laddu. To overdo. This is really strange. Why don't you use the word which Allah used? Why must you invent some other word? First please. I am not telling you people who are Allah used the word. Allah did not leave it to you say okay call it whatever you like. No there is a word. What is the word? Establish Salah. Aqim Salah. So what is wrong with saying establish when Allah ﷻ has said establish? When does establishing have a particular specific meaning? Establish it so it doesn't move from its place. It has strength. It has power. It does something. You are not offering it. You are not performing it. It is a drama show. You are dancing. What are you doing? You are dancing. Did you perform Salah? What do you perform? Establish Salah. With power. Aqim Salah. So You Allimumul Kitab Wal Haikmah. Then the whole how of it: The Qiyam, The Rukoo, The Sujood and all the states of it. The internal state of it, the external state of it. This was the meaning of teaching. And this applies to everything. So the meaning of teaching, the reason why the seerah of Rasulullah ﷺ is the best example for us is because this model is visible in his entire life. Salah. He did not simply tell us be like this in your home. He was like that in his home. So you could see those who were part of his home. They felt it and they experienced it. Our mothers, the children of Jesus, the Khuddam, the people who were Anas bin Malik and others who were there who served him. His relatives who stayed with him like Abdullah ibn Abbas and others. They experienced it because they lived in his house. Others heard from them. Some of this they saw. Like you know if you have to look close friend with somebody, you go "I come to your house", you come to my house. You see how the house is. So People saw these things. And then they practiced it in their own lives. So today when we say how do we deal with a world which is apparently hostile? You deal with it in the same way that Rasulullah Sallallahu alaihi wasallam dealt with it. Because he also lived in a world which was very hostile. Alhamdulillah we have... We are not in a stage where somebody is trying to kill us. But in his case he was in that situation. He was in a situation where there were people trying to kill him. But his yaqeen on his Rabb was such and his yaqeen on the kalam of his Rabb was such and the promise of his Rabb Jalla Jalaluhu and our Rabb was such that there was a time when the threat on his life Sallallahu alaihi wasallam was so severe that the Sahaba used to kill him. Used to take turns in guarding him. So they between themselves they created like a shift system and they would be around him and they would guard him. Right. One day Rasulullah was in his house and he heard somebody walking outside. And from the sound he could make out it was an armed man because you know the armor and the sword hitting on the armor, the clink of metal. So he called out. He said who is it. So the person said Ya Rasulullah I am Saad bin Abi Waqas. What are you doing there? He said I am here to guard you. So they were... They were the Sahaba used to guard him. And then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed Quran, the ayat of Surah Al-Ma'idah where Allah said Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will protect you from the people. So Rasulullah called these people and he said to them: From today you need not guard me. Go home. He said Ya Rasulullah your life is in danger. He said My Rabb has promised to protect me. That's it. My Rabb has promised to protect me. Sheikh Shahravi Rahmatullah May Allah ﷻ fill his khabar with noor and grant him Janatul Firdous says that there was a woman,...

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  Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center

  Look for solutions in the Seerah

  Aug 17, 2026—

  Auto-generated transcript: Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Alhamdulillahirrabbilalamin. Wasalatu wasalamu ala ashrafil anbiya wal mursaleen. Muhammadur Rasulullah ﷺ, wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajmain. Tasliman kaseeran kaseera. Fahmanni wadhu. My brothers and sisters, alhamdulillah. We have been given a religion by Allahﷻ which is good for all time. Allah sent His book. Allahﷻ revealed His Kalam, which is good for all time. And He sent His messenger Muhammad ﷺ, whose life is an example for us, also for all time. Because Rasulullah ﷺ was sent as a messenger to all of mankind till the end of time. This is the difference between the Rasulullah ﷺ and the other prophets before him. Because the other prophets were sent to specific people. Inna arsalna nuhan ila qawmi. To his people. And so also other messengers. Musa alayhi wasallam was sent to the Bani Israel. Isa alayhi wasallam was sent to the Bani Israel. And so forth. But Rasulullah ﷺ was sent for all of mankind. All of humankind until the end of time. The reason I say this and I remind myself of you is because sometimes we forget this. And sometimes we make what Allahﷻ made ghair mahdood (unlimited). We make it mahdood (limited) because of our aqal (intellect). What Allahﷻ made without boundaries, we confine it within boundaries because of our brains, our intelligence. And we say this is for this time, that time, and that was an older time, and this is a newer time, and so on. None of this is true. It's all false. And if we actually believe that, it's a major issue as far as the Aqidah of Islam is concerned. So that, the life of Rasulullah ﷺ is an example for all people of all time. Now today we, ideally speaking, we should take examples from the life of Rasulullah ﷺ for our lives, whether we are living in so-called good times or bad times. Right? Because the life of the Rasulullah ﷺ is not an example only for hardships. It's also an example for the blessings of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. If Allah has given you wealth and health, and He has given you influence and families and what not, and if you ask how should I live in all of this beauty, and all of this peace and harmony, and all of this wealth that I am surrounded with, where will you look for the example? In the life of Rasulullah ﷺ. Right? The example of the Rasulullah ﷺ is an example for all times. But may Allah, there are many examples for us; we only think of Allah when there is trouble. If there is trouble, we remember Allah. If we have plenty, we are too busy enjoying that. We don't think of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we don't think of the Rasul. We think of Him only when there is a problem. So that is why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala also sends us problems. So we keep Him, we always keep remembering. But think about it like this also. If we did not, if we remembered Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in times of goodness, then maybe times of hardship would not come to us. Because, remembering Allah all the time draws us close to Him. And if you are far away, then Allah removes the reason you are far away. You are far away because of well-being, so remove that well-being, then you come back to Allah. May Allah have mercy on us so we come to the time of Nisa Salam. So today again we say okay, we are living in difficult times. I've said this many times before, I'll say it many times again: these times of so-called difficulty are nothing; they are less than nothing compared to the difficulties that this Ummah, the Muslims, have gone through. Alhamdulillah and come out. If you read history right, if you read history, there have been times which are compared to today—I mean, there is no comparison. They are so terrible. Yet, Alhamdulillah, Muslims lived through them, and Muslims came out of those times victorious. And the reason is because of following the Sunnah of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So, even for these times, the life of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is the best example. So, if you ask, what shall I do today? Look in the Seerah of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Now, one of the periods of the Seerah, the other day also I mentioned this, that we can compare—not compare directly as in point by point, but compare in terms of conditions and so on—and how Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam handled those conditions. It is the Makkan period of his life, 13 years. 13 years is not a small period. 13 years is a very long period. 13 years, 13 years of hardship, of difficulty in Makkah, where Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam went through this. And as I mentioned, if you read the Seerah, you will see that those 13 years were a time of escalating difficulty. Each year in those 13 years was more difficult than the other, until it came to practically the last year. During that period, the two people who were dearest to Rasulullah ﷺ passed away: Our mother Khadija al-Kubra and Abu Talib, the uncle of Rasulullah ﷺ, who loved him and who supported him throughout his life. These two people who were closest to him, who were the most beloved, they both passed away. And to the extent this affected Rasulullah ﷺ so severely and he was so sad that in history, this year is called Aam al-Huzan. It's called the Year of Sadness. The year itself was given a name, Aam al-Huzan, the Year of Sadness. And that was the year in which Allah ﷻ also called Rasulullah ﷺ to Himself, where He gave him the miracle and the blessing of Miraj. One of the... Of course, Allah ﷻ knows the reasons, but from what the Mufassirin and the scholars tell us, one of the reasons was to relieve the sadness in the heart of Rasulullah ﷺ. That Allah ﷻ called him on this celestial journey and He called him to Himself, and He showed him His signs. سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسَرَىٰ بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا مِّنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَى الَّذِي بَارَكْنَا حَوْلَهُ لِنُرْيَهُ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ (سورة الإسراء: 1) Allah ﷻ mentioned this in the first Ayat of Surah Al-Isra, Surah Bani Israel, and mentioned this miracle and the incident of Mi'raj. So we look in the life of Rasulullah ﷺ and we say during this whole period—and then of course through his entire life—but I'm saying specifically to this period. A period when he was personally persecuted, he was physically harmed, he was emotionally harmed where his followers, some of them were actually killed; there were many of them who were tortured, they were in a state of great hardship. What is the central theme in their lives if we look at it? Because they were following Rasulullah ﷺ, so if you see the theme in the life of the Prophet ﷺ, he ﷺ was in a state of great hardship. So if you see the theme in the life of the Prophet ﷺ, you're looking at the theme in the life of Muhammad ﷺ. What was the central theme in their lives? And that central theme was the complete and total Yaqeen on Allah ﷻ. Now think about this in this sense that to have Yaqeen when things are going your way is not difficult. We say Allah is all-powerful and everything is happening according to how I want, and I believe Allah is very powerful. Alhamdulillah. But if I say Allah is all-powerful, nothing happens without the will of Allah, la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah, and I find that in my life there is difficulty after difficulty, there is illness, there is sadness, there is accident, there is loss, and I'm saying Allah is all-powerful, I believe in Allah, but my life is going upside down, then is the test. Then is the test because what does logic tell? Logic tells us: if I believe that Allah is all-powerful, I believe in Allah, whatever challenges there are, but that does not mean the mind is not divine. The more you believe that Allah is all-powerful, the more you should realize He is by nature free from any imperfections like a knife; that is His perfection. Do you believe this is the story that we are getting at? You do not believe upon yourselves that Allah or people are better than Him. This is what seems to be reflected in our lives. Where, when difficulties come, we start running here and there. Either we go materially and personally to try and solve issues, going to this person or that person, or we go superstitiously to this place or that place. This is what we have to understand. The Sahaba did not do this. The Prophet did not do this. Their continued focus was on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alone. I mentioned the issue of the incident of Taif and how the Prophet's dua after whatever happened in Taif—his dua is what? His dua is, "Ya Allah, if You are not pleased and the whole world is pleased, it doesn't matter. I will continue to work until You are pleased." If You are pleased and the whole world is not pleased, I don't care. Because You are pleased. Ridha of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So I remind myself and you: let us focus on that. So therefore what must we do? We must look at our lives and say, what is it, what is there in my life which is perhaps displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? And it's not so much a question of perhaps we know what it is. We don't need any fatwa from the Mufti to know what is going wrong in our lives. Let us look at our own lives and say, what is going wrong in my life? What am I doing in my life which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not like? Which is displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, which is against the Sunnah of Rasulullah s.a.w. And correct that. This is what a Sahaba is. What is to do? If anything went wrong, they would make Istighfar and Tawbah. Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentioned this. Surah An-Nuh, Nuh alayhi salam is telling his people, "Go make Istighfar to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He is the one who forgives you." He will send you rain. You are suffering from drought. You are suffering from hardship. Allah will send you rain. From the skies: Yursilus-sama'a 'alaykum midrara. Bayum didukum bi amwalin wabaneen. And He will do Madad for you....

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  Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center

  Begin with thanks

  Aug 16, 2026—

  Auto-generated transcript: Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm. Al-Ḥamdu lillāhi Rabbil-'Ālamīn, wa salātu wa salāmu 'alā ash-sharafi al-anbiyā' wal-mursalīn: Muḥammadur Rasūlullāh ﷺ, wa 'alā ālihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. Taslimun dhikrun wa dhikrun. And after that, my brothers and sisters, Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā began His words with the word of praise, the word of shukr, the word of glorification of Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā and thanking Him. Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā began after His name, Bismillāh ar-Raḥmān ar-Raḥīm. Al-Ḥamdu lillāhi Rabbil-'Ālamīn. All praise and all thanks are due to Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā who is the Creator, the Protector, the Sustainer, the Maintainer of the entire universe. Ālamīn—all worlds. Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā began with this. And this is a ḥukm for us; this is how we should begin and live our lives in thankfulness to Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā. The word *ḥamd*, and when we pronounce it, just make sure you pronounce it with the correct tajweed of *ha*. It means a combination of thanks and praise: Shukr and Tajweed. Al-Ḥamdu lillāhi Rabbil-'Ālamīn. Rasūlullāh ﷺ used to say, "Al-Ḥamdu lillāhi 'alā kulli ḥāl." He used to say, "Praise to Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā, thanks to Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā in every condition that we might find ourselves in." So we thank Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā not only when things are going our way, not only when things are happening the way we want them to happen, but also in the opposite situation. When things are not happening the way we want them to happen, we still thank Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā. We still praise Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā. Imām Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawzīyah said, "Al-Ḥamdu lillāhi 'alayhi." He said that if you knew—if we knew how Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā plans our lives for us—then we would thank Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā for every prayer, every *du'a* that was not answered. Okay? Every *du'a* that was not answered. And I can tell you, certainly in my life, there have been things that I asked Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā for which Allāh did not give me. Okay? And I know how I asked Allāh, how much I asked Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā. I begged and pleaded. But today when I think back, I thank Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā. I say, "Alhamdulillah, Yā Rabb," You knew better than me, obviously. And You did not give me. Because if Allāh had given me what I asked Allāh for, today I would be crying. Today I would be weeping; I would be saying, "Yā Allāh, take it away." And it cannot go away. What has come has come, right? So, Alhamdulillah, we make *du'a*, and of course there is nothing. Allāh said, "Ud'ūnī astajīb lakum"—ask Me, I will give you. So, there is no limit on or any condition on what you can ask. Obviously, I don't have to say it. Anyone with any sense knows that. You do not ask for something ḥarām. Right? But anything. Anything ḥalāl, you can ask. You can say, "O Allāh, give me a gold-plated car." Nothing wrong with that. I mean, you may not get it, but, you know, *du'a* is *du'a*. Alhamdulillah, if you can make any *du'a* you want. But Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā gives what Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā knows to be good for us. You know? Allāh said: وَلَوْ بَسَطَ اللَّهُ الرِّزْقَ لَبِغَوۡا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۖ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ "Allah said, 'If Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā had increased your rizq, if Allāh had given you wealth in excess, then surely you would have rebelled on the earth.' And so Allāh gives you in measured quantities. Right?" And therefore Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā sends down, "Biqadarin mā yashā'u"—in measured quantities, according to His will. So therefore when we get our wealth, just think about this. In the world today, if you look at the people who are creating so much fitna, so much problem, all of them are people who have an excess of wealth. There is no poor person doing anything. The poor person is struggling for his own sustenance, to fill his belly. Where does he have the resources? The people who are creating all of the fitna are millionaires and billionaires and trillionaires. They have enough; they have money, so they do. And Allāh says, the Qur'an says this. The Qur'an said this 1500 years ago. Allāh said, "If We give you more, this is what you will do." So Alhamdulillah, we ask Allāh never to make us dependent on anybody. Muhtār ji is not a good thing. So we are not saying, "Don't give me money, make me poor." No. But at the same time, we ask Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā not to give us wealth which will become a fitna for us, which will become a problem for us, a test for us. Right? People have wealth, and then that wealth becomes a problem. If they did not have that wealth, they would not have this problem. We ask Allāh not to put us in that situation. So we thank Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā. In every situation, this is what we must train ourselves to do. Unfortunately, today, we live in a world where almost the *taqiyyah*—as we say in Urdu literature—which is something that you constantly keep on saying—is almost the opposite: words of thanklessness. You know, you ask him, "How is it?" What's the weather like? What to say? "Brother, it's so hot; I can't say anything." Okay. Then, "It's so cold." My mother says, "May Allāh grant you success." In winter, it's so cold. What to say? In summer, it's so hot, she says. Never say good. Either it's very hot, or it's very cold, or it's raining a lot. We never say anything is good. Either it's too hot, or too cold, or too much rain, or too little rain. Allāh, Allāh, Khawater. So, Alhamdulillah. What is the weather like? Alhamdulillah. Very good. Allāh's Karam. The benefit of this is, first of all, obviously, there is benefit in terms of thanking Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā, and Allāh rewards this thanks. The other benefit is that psychologically, when you like something, when you say you like something, it makes you happy. Right? It makes you happy. So, Alhamdulillah, you create your own happiness by being thankful. Whatever it is. Now, if you look at the lives of the Anbiyā' 'alayhim as-salām, Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā gave us, described for us the lives of the prophets, so that we learn from this. The Qur'ān al-Karīm is not just a book of stories; it is a book where Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā described and mentioned stories so that we learn from them. Now, if you take the lives of the Anbiyā' 'alayhim as-salām, right? These are lives which are, if you think about it, very difficult. Difficult lives. Not easy. Now, take Mūsā 'alayhi as-salām, for example. He was born, and then the whole story of how he came into the palace of Fira'un. But after that, once he leaves the palace of Fira'un, his life is a series of difficulties. He's walking literally across the desert, out of Egypt, and then he's coming back into Egypt, right? And then he takes his people out, and then he's facing the sea, and difficulty after difficulty. So, Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā is showing us—and similarly other Anbiyā' 'alayhim as-salām—not only Mūsā 'alayhi as-salām, right? Nūḥ 'alayhi as-salām before him: 950 years of giving *dawah*, of calling people to Islam. Now, we get tired in weeks; we get tired in months. 950 years of what kind of steadfastness he must have had. And Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā himself mentioned him and praised him. And then we have Rasūlullāh ﷺ: 13 years of persecution in Mecca. And literally from the minute he said, he called the people. He stood on the hill of Safa and he called the people, and he said, "If you continue to worship idols, if you continue to make shirk, if you continue to join partners with Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā, Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā will punish you." If you leave this, *La ilāha illallāh*—there is no one worthy of worship except Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā. Don't worship anyone other than Allāh. From the minute he made this announcement, right? His life turned from being the most beloved person, the most influential person in Mecca, he became the opposite. People got after him; they tried to kill him; they tried to... So, his life became a series of difficulties. Life in Mecca became difficult. He went to Ṭā'if. Life from Ṭā'if. You know. You know the whole story of Ṭā'if, what happened. Then eventually, he had to leave his birthplace. He had to leave Mecca and go and settle in Madīnah. So, a series of... And even in Madīnah, it's not as if as soon as he went to Madīnah, everything became hunky-dory. No. All the battles happened in Madīnah. Badr happened in Madīnah. Uhud happened in Madīnah. Khandaq happened in Madīnah. You know, the Khaibar. All of this, these things happened in Madīnah. Suwayd al-Hudhaybiyyah happened in Madīnah. One after the other. So, the life in Madīnah also was not an easy life. It is a whole life of difficulty. Alhamdulillah, Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā gave *fataḥ* Makkah. Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā then turned the hearts of people. So, in two years after Suwayd al-Hudhaybiyyah, more people came to Islam than all the 13-15 years before that. Right? In those two years. 13 years before that. In two years, more people came to Islam than in 13 years before that. This Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā gave the *Fath*. So, the point I'm saying is that we need to always thank Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā and not... And remember, that's the reason why we read the Qur'ān al-Karīm. We must read it with understanding. And that's why Allāh Subḥānahu wa Ta'ālā told us these stories of the Anbiyā'. So that we learn from this and then think to ourselves: which one of us, may Allāh have mercy on us and keep us in His special protection—has the kinds of hardships that Rasūlullāh ﷺ faced? Nobody. Yeah? Nobody. So what is there to complain about? I mean, the Nabī 'alayhi as-salām never complained. I want to end with a very beautiful ḥadīth I read the other day. Anas bin Malik radhiAllāhu 'anhu—the Khadim of Rasūlullāh ﷺ, one of his closest companions. He was a man who lived the longest among the Sahaba....

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  Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center

  War with shaytaan

  Aug 15, 202616 min

  Auto-generated transcript: بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلاة والسلام على أشرف الأنبياء والمرسلين محمد رسول الله ﷺ صلى الله عليه وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم تسليمًا كثيرًا. My brothers and sisters, I remind myself and you that we, human beings, and we as Muslims are living in a state of war. By "war," I do not mean war with this country or that country, nor with this person or that person. The war is with Shaytan. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said: إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ (inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un). Allah said, verily the Shaytan is your enemy, so become his enemy. Allah did not say ignore him. Allah did not say don't listen to him. Allah said, "become his enemy." There is a big difference between ignoring somebody, not listening to somebody, and being an enemy. Ignoring, not listening, and so on—we should do with whoever is telling us things which are wrong—but that just means that you are passive; you just walk away. You don't listen to that person and so on. But being an enemy means you will try to harm that person; you will try to fight. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us: فَاتَّخِذُهُ عَدُوَّةً ("fat-takhidhu 'aduwwatan"). Become the enemy of Shaytan because he is your enemy. So we are in a state of war; we have to understand this first. For example, if you went yesterday, one of my young friends was telling me we were talking about African wildlife and so on. He told me, "I read in one book that leopards are harmless; that leopards will not attack human beings." I told him, "The leopard did not read the same book." So you read the book, but the leopard did not read the same book. Don't think that the leopard will not have you. As far as the leopard is concerned, you are like Mars ice cream or a Mars bar walking around. As far as the leopard is concerned, you are food. So don't think the leopard will not eat you. If you go into the forest, the reason I am giving you is that I am giving you the example. If you go into the forest and say, "Oh, it's so nice and very beautiful; I am going for a stroll," that is fine. But there are things in the forest which also like you. They like you. Like biryani—that's how they like you, right? You should be careful. You have to understand who is there. Similarly, as far as Shaytan is concerned, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ادْخُلُوا فِي سِلْمِي وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا هَوَىٰ شَيْطَانٍ ۖ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ ("Ya ayyuha allatheena amanu udhkhulu fis silmi kafafatan wala tattabiyu huta alayhi shaitan innahu lakum adhoom mubeen"). Allah said, "O you who believe, enter into Islam completely, fully, and totally." Right, and Allah is saying this to whom? Allah did not say "ya ayyuha alkafirun" (O disbelievers) or "ya ayyuha alnaas" (O people). Allah said, "ya ayyuha allatheena aamanu" (O you who have believed). We may Allah have mercy on us; we think that we say "la ilaha illallah," but what more do you want? It's not a question of whether Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying it to everyone. This Ayat came to those who believed. It didn't come to me; it didn't come to you. It came to Rasulullah ﷺ and the Sahaba radi allahu anhum ajma'in, who are the ultimate example today. If we ask, "Who are the examples of the believers, who are the mu'mineen?" When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Quran everywhere says "mu'mineen" (believers), "muhsineen" (doers of good), who are those people? They are the Sahaba of Rasulullah ﷺ. And this Ayat is coming to them: "Ya ayyuha allatheena aamanu." Allah is saying, "Enter into Islam completely: udhkhulu fis silmi kafafatan." Not partially. I am in Islam as far as the masjid is concerned, but when I go out of the masjid then I have my own law. No, this is not right. That is why you see this beauty of the Quran al-Karim. Allah said: لَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِهِ ("la tattabihu khutuwati shaitan"). Allah did not say "la tattabihu shaitan" (don't follow Shaytan). Why "khutuwati"? Allah did not say don't follow Shaytan; He said, "Don't follow the footsteps of Shaytan." There is a difference between following somebody and following the footsteps. When you say "don't follow so-and-so," it means that person is there, don't follow him—this one who is here. But when you say "don't follow the footsteps," it means that the one who made the footsteps is not there; he is gone. So now if I follow the footsteps, whose responsibility is it? Mine. I am responsible. I can't say, "No, no, what can I do? I am helpless; Shaytan caught me and took me." Shaytan didn't do anything. Shaytan walked on this path, and you also are not mistaken—you did not follow the footsteps by mistake. Allah told you these are the footsteps of Shaytan; don't follow them. Then you can't say, "I did not know." Right, you have to understand. When Allah says that Shaytan is the enemy, then how does Shaytan deceive us? How does Shaytan tempt us? The sign of Shaytan's enmity is that Shaytan tempts us and puts waswas in our hearts and minds. That's all he does. Shaytan cannot physically harm you. Shaytan cannot physically force you to do something. Shaytan can only tempt you. Shaytan can whisper: Why don't you do this? Why don't you do that? Here is this fantastic scheme. Heights! Okay, some riba is there. So what doesn't matter—times have changed. We are living in modern times. You know those are 7th century things; this is the 21st century. The reason Muslims are depressed is because we don't go for interest-based banking. People say all this nonsense. So we say, "No, no, sorry. We follow the footsteps of the Nabi alayhi salatu wasalam. We follow the footsteps of Rasulullah salatu wasalam, not the footsteps of Shaytan." So Shaytan tempts in two ways. One is by helping us do things which are our own shahwat (desires). Whatever it is, right? Whether it is eating haram, drinking haram, having relationships which are haram, behaving in ways which are haram. Please understand: I remind myself and you that when we say something is haram, we are not saying this is an oppression from Allah on us (nauzubillah). The haram is something which is by itself harmful for us. Even if it was not haram, I was speaking at many, many years ago—more than 25 years ago—I was speaking at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, and somebody asked me, "What is the Sharia?" So I said, "The Sharia is a system of law which any decent, intelligent, responsible citizen can and would like to follow. That's it. You don't even need to be a Muslim; any decent, intelligent, and responsible person would like to follow that method." The Arabic word for that is Sharia because everything in the Sharia which is prohibited is intrinsically bad. All addictions are prohibited. Tell me what is good about energy. Whichever addiction—whether it is alcohol, whether it is cigarettes, whether it is vaping, or whether it is any form of narcotics, any drugs—what is beneficial about that? Nothing. It is by itself evil. It is by itself something which harms you. So even if somebody was not following Islam or something, he said, "No, no, I don't believe in it," that person—if he is intelligent, if he has got some sense—he will not do something which harms himself. Why will he do it? Similarly, being unfaithful to his religion, to your wife, your husband—is this a good thing by itself? Even if there is no punishment associated with that, is this a good thing to be unfaithful to your spouse? No. So any decent human being will not do that. You don't need the Sharia; you don't need a threat of Jahannam to live a clean life. Similarly, eating pork—for example, right? The Christians made it halal on themselves, but Isa A.S. never ate pork. You ask him, "Did Isa A.S. eat pork?" No. Then why are you eating it? No, Paul said it is okay. Who's Paul? Was I mean as far as you are concerned, there is one Nabi called Isa A.S., who's Paul? So this is what Shaytan does. What Shaytan does is Shaytan tells you that what Allah has prohibited is okay. Can be done? It cannot be done. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala prohibited for our benefit. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is not allowed to do that. He is not harmed. He is not benefited by what we do. So all the things which are prohibited in the Sharia are for our benefit. All the things which are permitted in the Sharia are for our benefit. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying: Shaytan is an enemy. So open your eyes, be aware. There is a difference between two forms of deception which happen to us: one is the nafs and one is Shaytan. Right, these are the two things we receive, and there is a difference between the two. You should know what is the difference. The nafs tells us and compels us to do something which that nafs likes. For example, some people are addicted to social media; for other people, there is no problem—they throw the phone somewhere, it doesn't matter. Some people like watching television; others, we in our house, have not had a television now—I think for over 40 years we don't have a television when we lived in America. I used to say to people that this is the only house in the whole of America which does not have a TV. So for me, if I say, "No, no, I am not watching TV," it is not a problem for me; it is something which I don't want to do anyway. But for somebody else, it is a big struggle. Alcohol—for example, some people who are addicted cannot do without it. If they don't have their drink, it is an addiction. For some people, you and me, it doesn't matter. I don't drink alcohol, of course, I don't drink alcohol; it is not a problem. So the nafs has certain things—each person's nafs has certain things that that person likes. So for that person, the temptation of the nafs is connected with that; it is not connected with anything else. But Shaytan will tempt you in any way that displeases Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So it does not matter to Shaytan whether you are drinking alcohol or whether you are dealing in interest,...

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  Fajr Reminders - Mahmood Habib Masjid and Islamic Center

  Only the Ridha of Allahﷻ matters

  Aug 14, 2026—

  Auto-generated transcript: Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. Wa salatu wa salamu ala ashrafil anbiya wal mursaleen. Muhammadur Rasulullah ﷺ sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam. Tasliman kathiran kathira. Ameen. Ameen. My brothers and sisters, today we spoke about the issue of what our ambition should be. And as I told you, Allah ﷻ said, Allah is with the people of taqwa and Allah is with the people of ihsan. So when we say, what do I want to become? Then think about it and say, I want to become a mutafiq. Because if I am a mutafiq, I want to become a muftaqiq. If I am a mutafiq, then I have the help of Allah with me. Because Allah ﷻ said, that the one who has taqwa, Allah ﷻ will extract him from his difficulties. Allah will solve his problems for him. وَمَنْ يَتَّقِ اللَّهَ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ مَخْرَجًا And he will provide him from sources that he cannot imagine. وَيَرْزُقْهُ مِنْ هَيْثُ لَا يَحْتَسِبُ He cannot make ihtisab of this source of sustenance or income. لا يَحْتَسِبُ وَمَنْ يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَهُوَ حَزْبُهُ And the one who has tawakkul on Allah, Allah ﷻ will become sufficient for him. Every single need of this person, Allah ﷻ will take care of it. Every desire of his, Allah will take care of it. وَمَنْ يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَجْعَلْ لَهُمْ مِنْ هَيْتَسِبُهُمْ And He has provided the person with taqwa. So taqwa is the fundamental boundary condition. So if I say that my ambition is to become a muttaqi, then I am opening the door to all kinds of benefits in this dunya wal akhirah inshaAllah. So today to develop on that, I remind myself with you that everything good that happens, everything that happens in life, is the result of the rida of Allah. If Allah ta'ala is pleased with me, then all good will happen to me. For example, one of the primary considerations today, and in any situation, any time, the number one requirement is that of safety. It's not of food, it's not of shelter, it is not of business or ambition or anything. Number one consideration is safety. If my safety is not guaranteed, if my safety is not assured, then what does it matter whether I have the best food in my house, what does it matter if I have the best house, what does it matter if I have the best job, or I don't have the job, what does it matter if my business is working or not working? There is no safety. Right? I'm not sure whether I will be alive or dead. I'm not sure if somebody will kill me, I'm not sure if somebody will kidnap me. And believe me, this is happening in the world, there's nothing new. So if my safety itself is not assured, then nothing else matters. Right? So for our safety, we are willing to spend, if you have the money, you will spend any amount of money to ensure that you are safe. But we forget that safety is a factor of the Ridaa of Allah ﷻ. It's not a factor of circumstances. Safety is not a factor of circumstances. It's a factor of the Ridaa of Allah ﷻ. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated, in her house, in the garden of her own house, by her own security guard. So where is the question of safety? She had the highest possible safety that the government of India can give anybody, but she was killed by the same people. The people who are supposed to provide her safety, one of them killed her. Princess Diahannam, was traveling in an armored Mercedes, right? And the vehicle crashed. I mean, Mercedes is safe and an armored Mercedes is even safer than that. The vehicle crashed. She and the person with her in the backseat, they both died. The driver died. She, But the guard who was sitting next to the driver, he lived. Nothing happened to him. I'm giving you live, real-life examples to show that safety is not a factor of circumstances. You take precautions. I mean, nothing wrong with taking precautions if you want to do that, but that is not what will save you. What will save you is Allah ﷻ. And the evidence of that we have, is Ibrahim A.S. was tied up. He was thrown into the fire. And as far as the people could see, he flew in the air. He was thrown, shot from the catapult. And he flew through the air and he fell, went into the fire. And while people thought that they had destroyed him and they had killed him, actually he was fine. He was in a garden. Until Allah ﷻ kept him there and he brought him out. Now, Muslim al-Qawla, in Yemen, he was tied. They tried to burn him alive also. Where there was a man, the ruler of that, he was in a place. He declared himself to be a Nabi. And he asked, he told Abu Muslim, Alhamdulillah, he said, what do you say about Muhammad ﷺ? He said, Ashadu an la ilaha illa Allah wa ashadu anna Muhammadin Rasulullah. The man said, I am the messenger of Allah. Abu Muslim said, I cannot hear you. This happened three, four times. He burned him alive. Nothing happened to him. The ropes burned and he came out. Safety is a factor of the resolve of Allah ﷻ. If safety depended on circumstances, Ibrahim Ali Salam would have died. He would have been burned. Because circumstances were all completely negative. If safety was a factor of circumstances, Nuh would have drowned. Along with everybody. But Allah ﷻ, in the middle of that whole flood and everything else, Allah ﷻ saved Nuh and the people with him. Allah ﷻ is showing us all of these examples of his Ambiya, to prove that safety is not a factor of circumstances. If safety had been a factor of circumstances, the people of the time would have crucified Isa , which is what they tried to do, which is what the Christians believe. But that's not what happened to Allah ﷻ. It's the same thing. Similarly, personal success, again, is not a factor of the circumstances, but it's a factor of the Ridha of Allah ﷻ. The evidence of that is Yusuf Ali Salam. A small boy is taken by his own brothers. They tried to kill him, throw him into a dry well. By all factors, he should have died there itself. Throw a small four or five year old boy into a dry well, what will happen? He'll break his neck, he'll break his back, he'll break something, he'll die. He did not die. Then he is pulled out of this well and he is sold into slavery. Now what is worse than slavery? Nothing. Slavery is the end. He is sold into slavery. Not only is that, it doesn't even end with that. Then he is bought by somebody, and that somebody then makes a false allegation, against him, on his character. And even though that allegation is proven to be false, in public, still he is jailed. Think about it, why is he jailed? For what? What did he do to go to jail? Because before going to jail, the allegation of that woman has been disproven. It's been proven to be false. Still he goes to jail. And he is in this jail for? We don't know. Be the Aseenian. Allah said, that can be up to nine years or more. Long period. So all the circumstances that you are seeing in his life until that time, and by then he is almost 40 years old or around that. So all the circumstances of his life until that time are circumstances of failure. But he ends up as the ruler of Egypt. He is the king of Egypt. He is the governor, ruler, whatever you want to call him. At the end of the day, he was the ruler. He was not the king. He is the ruler. If success of your mission, with Yusuf Ali Salam, personal success, if success of your mission, which obviously includes personal success, if that was a factor of circumstances, then take the life of Rasulullah ﷺ. He announced his mission. Instantly he becomes the most unpopular person in Makkah. To the extent that he is unable to stay in his own motherland. Place where he was born. Place where his family and his tribe lived for centuries. And they were, not ordinary people. They were the caretakers of the Kaaba. So they had special status even there. Yet his life was threatened. His freedom was threatened by his own people, his own uncle, Abu'l-Ab. We are talking about success of the mission. So and why did they do that? Because of mission. Because of the mission, his mission, which is the mission of Islam. To bring Islam to those people. Then he goes to Taif to try to get some help. And we know the whole story of Taif. Not only is he refused, but he is abused, he is attacked, he is injured, he is bleeding, he is in pain. Physical pain is one thing. Internal, emotional, imagine if I, for someone of stature, for someone of that level, to be insulted, that pain is, you cannot compare that to any physical pain. It is so severe. Sayyid Ayesha Siddiqur A.S. asked after the battle of Ahad where he was injured and so on. She asked him, which was the most difficult day of your life? He said, the day of Taif. Taif. Yes. So that happens. Then we have Badr. Then before Badr, then he is expelled from his land. We are talking about success or mission. This is the circumstances. And imagine, think about this. This is not just any mission. This is a mission given by Allah ﷻ. It is not something that he decided to do. You know, I start, I decide to have a start-up, I decide to start a business, I decide to do this or that. Inshallah, my intention is to do this or that. My intention is good. Inshallah, what I am doing is good. It is halal. Nothing wrong. But I cannot say, this was given to me by Allah ﷻ. No. It is my idea. Alhamdulillah, it is a good idea. Nothing wrong with that. We should do it. But I cannot claim or anybody cannot claim that this is a mission given to me by Allah ﷻ. It is not. But with the Rasool , it was given to him by Allah ﷻ. So if anyone has a right, to expect the help of Allah, it is the Rasool ﷺ. No, Amrur, you are the one who has the right. If it was with your help, your help would not have come. But never complain. Did he ever say that? Did he ever say, Matar Rasool Allah, where is the help of Allah? He did not say this. ...

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