 I want to go and say thank you. Thank you for being here. I know it's been a long program, especially if you were here for the earlier program. So that's why we're going to be doing a shorter session today. But for those who are here and watching, we're going to continue from where we left off last month on the chapter of envy. So if you don't have this text, it's called Purification of the Heart and this is on the spiritual signs, symptoms, diseases of the heart and how to cure oneself of those diseases which we all have. So, and this was translated by She Comes to You Sif. So last month we talked about the definition of envy, what it is, which is really wanting someone out, someone to lose a blessing. Being so envious or jealous of a person's blessings that you actually want them to lose it. And there are, this is definitely something that afflicts people. They can't help but see someone have something that they don't have or that they want. And instead of just wanting to also have it, the disease is that you want them to actually lose it. And it's really about them as opposed to you. There's, there's a, maybe it comes from hatred or some other emotion as well. But it's, that's why it's considered a disease of the heart. So we left off on page 31 where we were talking about the treatments of envy. So we'll pick up from there. It's a second chapter again if you have a book with you. So another treatment is to know with certainty that holding envy against another person brings harm to oneself. So when you're envious, you're actually really harming yourself, right? Human nature's most primordial instinct is to avoid harm. It's easier for a person to repel negative feelings when he or she realizes that these feelings hurt the soul. For example, if a disgruntled worker comes anxious and angry because he is passed over a promotion, his anxiety and anger harm his soul, mind and body and yield nothing for his future. In complaining at length and becoming obsessed with the object of his envy, the person to whom the promotion was granted, he permits the disease to fester in his heart and cause him grief. These cascading feelings will neither help him ascend in his profession nor alter the past. It is an entirely demoralizing exercise that can magnify the original injury he felt. Envy, in fact, can actually damage one's sanity. Resentment may prevent one from accomplishing significant achievements. A person who shuns envy, even when others around him seem to be passing him by, is motivated to excel, unimpeded by depression and resentment. This is a really important point because if you think about the effects of envy, it's that you're harboring all of this resentment that then debilitates you from actually moving towards whatever goal you want, right? Because you're just festering, wallowing in self-pity, anger, why me, why not me, you know, and the person who's filled with these types of negative emotions end up further harming themselves, you know, in addition to whatever loss they've received in the beginning. So it's really like just taking a slow course. That's the best way you can look at it. It's affecting you and harming you the most. Unfortunately, the Muslim world is now filled with envy. For example, when many Muslims look at Americans and Europeans, they hurl criticisms, applying all kinds of rhetoric. Ostensibly, one hears moral outrage. However, the root of much of this rhetoric is envy. They have worldly possessions and we do not, is what often comes across. Similarly, when many less fortunate Muslims glance toward the Gulf nations that have great stores of oil, they cannot resist passing judgment about how the Gulf Arab squander Muslim money. This type of dialogue stems from envy. The issue is comparing what one has with what another has, and that only fuels envy and brings about no positive impact. This does not mean that one should not criticize. However, criticism should be done with the purpose of being constructive and not destructive. The communist revolution was largely a manifestation of envy. The writings of Karl Marx indicate that he was filled with resentment. Much of his theory is founded on observing the wealthy and desiring that they lose what they have. This is not to suggest that when the wealthy are unjust to the poor and to the working class, they should not be censored. But from the point of view of sacred law, both the affluent and the needy have their respective obligations. An obligation of the poor is not to envy the rich and harbor resentment toward them, and the rich are obligated to not be little to indigent, grow arrogant, cord wealth, or work to keep others in need. This is a really important point, especially today socially, because we're seeing this rise in this anti-capitalist sentiment. There's a lot of socialism and communism being put into schools, starting at a very young age now, and academia and other places where eat the rich, the 1%, and there's all this hostility and anger that stems from looking at people who are wealthy. And not to say that there are oligarchs, there are people who absolutely abuse their wealth and their power. That's true, but we as Muslims have to make sure we don't adopt a worldview that is divorced from the fact that a lost brother is the one who distributes. If you forget that point, then it's very easy to fall into the modern spirit, which is to just hate everybody who has more wealth and deem all of them as being somehow oppressive, because that's a very postmodern worldview. It's to look at those who have and those who have not. This dystopian worldview is what's being perpetuated a lot, and that's why you're seeing now we have class division, we have a lot of division across racial lines, across gender, across religious lines, and now you're class. It's because those who incite and like to cause division, and this is a demonic impulse, he loves nothing more than to sow discord and promote anger in the hearts of the human being. So he knows what he's doing and he does it on this large scale by just casting his versions on everybody that's different than you. So again, it could be a racial thing, it could be a religious thing, it could be class thing, gender, but we have to remember as Muslims that is not our worldview. A lost brother is the one who distributes, and he, certain things are in our control, and certain things are not in our control, and that's the bottom line. And at the end of the day, it's all from online. So if you're on the side of wealth, by the way, that doesn't mean that you're just a hundred percent entitled and privileged, and you're absolved of hardship. That's not true. And that's how a person who understands the being or the, I mean the world in the right frame will see it, that everybody's being tested always, whether you're wealthy, whether you're poor, whether you have power or you're oppressed, we are all at all times being tested, every single human being. And that's just a fact, right? And wealth, actually, I would say, is a huge tribulation. I would, I mean, I know people who are very wealthy, and it's a burden that I would never wish for myself, because you really don't know who is your true friend, who is close to you for you, or who wants to take something from you, right? The same actually with any blessing, it comes with a price. You're not sure, right, who's really sincerely, you know, close to you for some people just covet people's, you know, blessings or power, because when you have wealth, you have usually status, usually a power. So sometimes it's just a matter of wanting to be close to you so that they can absorb and take and take advantage of you. So it's a very difficult life. And that's why you see a lot of people who become wealthy. What happens, they become recluse, right? They become recluse. They completely go off the grid. They have very small circles. They lose a lot of friends. People won the lottery. There's some really outlandish stories of examples of people who've won the lottery and then, you know, lost a lot of people in their life or, you know, they get rich in these big, you know, get rich schemes. And then so money is a tribulation. But if you don't have it, what happens is Shaitan, of course, knows that we're vulnerable. So he will come and he'll, you know, make you think that it would fix all of your problems, you know, if you just had more money. But there's a lot of cautionary tales and that's just not true. So at the end of the day, the Muslim always knows that to not be pleased with what Allah decrees for you is actually a criticism of your Creator. And that's what we stay away from. Because if you're not happy with what Allah's decreed for you, who are you criticizing? The one who decreed it for you, right? And if Allah's pound that reminds us that his most beloved, the prophesy I said him had every tribulation you can imagine. And he was wealthy, the wealthiest human ever to exist. But in terms of material wealth, he did not have much, right? So if you, if we forget that, you know, as we are reminded that jannah is surrounded by poverty and hardship and disease and famine and struggle, because the people that are closest to Allah is actually people who attend not to have very much, but remain very grateful for what they have, right? That that is, you know, it shapes your understanding that everything you have is from Allah. You just have to stay in a state of gratitude. But at least we'll make us ungrateful. And that is the core of a lot of the disease at the heart is that there's an ingratitude that you're denying something that is true, which is also final data. It gives to some and he doesn't give to others. Everybody's tested. But if you remain patient and you remain grateful as he promises, he will increase you. And it's a measure of, it's not a measure of your worth just because you don't have certain things. The way you accept and submit is a measure of your worth, right, to whatever it is. And that's truly what we should all aspire for. So then he goes on to say, let me just don't have too much more. So I'll try to read the rest of this just so we can open it up if there's any comments or questions. So I'm just going to read a little bit more here. The Imam says that one way to uproot envy is to realize with solemn reflection that envy can never benefit its agents. One should also realize that what people attain in terms of material wealth or prestige is from God. He is all knowing and all lies. He knows best how to distribute his blessings and to whom while we do not possess such knowledge. The basis of the remedy for envy is taqwa, which is having a sense of God, an active awareness of him as the ultimate power overall creation. This diffuses false notions of misappropriated blessings. Ahadith states that if you have envy, do not wrong others. If one does not work to remove another person's blessing, then his or her envy is in check and is not the kind that necessarily devours one's good deeds. Envy that devours righteous deeds is envy that impels someone to wrong others. Imam al-Razadi makes a distinction between various strains of envy. He states that if one hates envy and is ashamed that he or she harbors it, the person is not essentially an envious person. It is important to be aware of the feelings that reside in one's heart. This self-awareness is essential for the purpose of purification. So now there's verses of the poem. This text is actually a translation of a poem. So there's a few verses here that I'll read. Its etiology includes animosity, vying for the love of others, arrogance, poor self-worth, and vanity. Love of leadership and avaricious acupidity for things. These seven causes engender envy. As for a blessing that a disbeliever or corrupt Muslim has that enables one to harm others or show aggression because of it, then the malady of second wives is in such instances permissible. So those are translations of the verses of the poem. So let's read what the description of the further meaning is. The Imam now delves into the etiology of the disease, for without discovering the causes of envy, it would be difficult to excise it. The first cause he mentions is enmity, adela. Harboring feelings of animosity toward another makes one highly susceptible to developing envy. Another cause of envy is vying for another's affection or love, which can become vicious. And its effect can linger in a person for a very long time, which is often the case when siblings compete for parental love. On this topic, one may read Frank J. Salloway's Born to Rebell, a book with a complex statistical study about birth order and how children are affected by it, how competition for parental love and attention informs a child's personality. The Imam next mentions arrogance, the qabbal, a major cause of envy. An arrogant man who sees someone advancing ahead of him will feel that this person is not worthy of such advancement. The pre-Islamic Arabs exhibited this when the Prophet ﷺ preached. The disbelievers among the Quraysh, like Abu Jahl, Umayyad ibn Khalaf, and Al-Warid ibn Al-Muqira, displayed their arrogance by rejecting that Muhammad ﷺ, this man among them, their own kin received revelation from God. The Qur'an exposes their feelings, informing us that each of them secretly wished to receive a revelation from heaven the way the Prophet ﷺ did, as mentioned in chapter 74 verse 52. This was flagrant envy aimed at the Prophet ﷺ. When people regard each other as equal, arrogance does not foster. However, when someone is suddenly elevated in rank in the dynamic change, Pharaoh grew arrogant and envious when Prophet Musa al-Salam came to him with God's message. Part of Pharaoh's problem was seeing that a prophet was chosen from among people whom he had enslaved and whom he regarded as lower than the Egyptians. Imam Ulud mentions as another cause for envy, low self-esteem, the feeling that one's worth is compromised by the fact that another person has gained more. This also was a pathology found in the days of the Prophet ﷺ when the disbelievers of the Quraysh protested allowed if only this Qur'an had been set down to a great man of either of the two cities. In other words, they were so entrenched in their mode of tribalism that they could not accept the fact that Muhammad ﷺ was a true prophet because he was not one of the elite of the two cities, that is Mecca and Ba'if. In their view, Muhammad ﷺ was too ordinary for them, too much like them, to have been chosen for such a lofty station. They felt, how can he be a prophet while he is like us and we are not prophets? Love of leadership is another major cause of envy. People in leadership positions often resent others achieving something significant, fearing a change in the equilibrium of power. The envious leader desires that others are deprived of accomplishment and authority. This is akin to covetousness, which the Imam also mentions in the same line. There is though a distinction between covetousness and love of leadership. The latter afflicts those who have position already, while covetousness relates to those who do not have it but desire it avariciously. This type of covetousness called shuh in Arabic is a desire to have what is in possession of another person. Alas Pargala says, whoever is safe from the covetousness of his own soul, he is truly successful. Chapter 59 verse 9. Lastly, according to Imam al-Razali, because these diseases are common to human nature, the objective should be to transform them into something beneficial, to transform a disability into an advantage, which is what successful people tend to do. The Bible says there is no acceptable envy except for of two people. So there's two times where you can have envy. One of them is a person who's been given wealth and spends it toward good causes. Ending such a person is permissible because one's desire is to have wealth in order to do the righteous deed of giving to the needy. One may envy such a person, desiring to be able to do the same good as well, but not in the sense of hoping that he'd use this as well. The other person is one who has been given wisdom and teaches it to people. A person may envy the wise because he or she wishes to be imbued with some of that wisdom as well in order to teach others. Hence, if one has envy, one should let it not be a fleeting things like worldly assets that are usually courted and displayed for show. One should instead desire what will serve ones hereafter. This is how to convert negative feelings into positive ones. So, Alhamdulillah, the last two, I made this point that was made, this is differentiated actually, it's not envy, it's called actually ghipta. So ghipta is the Arabic word for a permissible envy. So you can envy someone if your intentions are right in that you want to have both just like they do because you want to be able to benefit people or you want to teach knowledge and you see that they're teaching knowledge and you also want to benefit people. So in those cases, that's a perfectly acceptable degree of envy because your intentions are not for them to lose their blessing, but also their noble intentions. Just to want someone, their car, their home, their marriage, their children, their accessories, you know, that's very petty and superficial. There's no benefit of wanting what someone else has because you don't know if it's truly a blessing for you or no. But to see behavior or actions that are virtuous and wanting to have a part in that and realizing that you need means to do that, whether that's while their knowledge, that's perfectly fine. So just briefly before I break for Q&A, Ibn al-Qaym al-Josya in one of his texts, he actually has 10 cures for envy. So this is a pretty quick short list I'll read from here. He says, number one, if you feel like you have envy and remember the definition is very clear. You actually are compelled to want to remove the blessing from another person. So it's okay. It's one thing to just, you know, feel that maybe, you know, that constriction, you see someone has something you want it, you've been wanting it for a long time, but you don't want any harm to come to them, right? There's no desire for them to lose it or harm. That's not considered envy. You're just a human being. You know, we see good things. We want nice things. It's okay to appreciate good things. It's when you feel compelled to do something and all the other are people who will plot and scheme and plan to somehow sabotage a person's blessings. You know, people have lost marriage opportunities. They've lost job opportunities because someone else interfered, right? That is a degree that we're talking about. So if you feel you may have that affliction, then these are the cures that are recommended. Number one, we seek refuge with Allah SWT from its evil, that you are fully aware and you make, you know, keba and stuff them and ask Allah SWT to protect you from the evil of envy because you realize it's a terrible disease. Two, that you're conscious of Allah, that you actually try to have that keba and implement a constant awareness that Allah SWT is watching you at all times. Nothing escapes his knowledge. Three, that you're patient with ones, you know, the person that you have envy for, because sometimes it could be, again, a very close relationship, whether it's a family member or co-worker, but that you don't retaliate against them, but you try to really, you know, prevent yourself from acting upon the envy. That you rely on Allah SWT because whoever relies on Allah, he suffices him. And this is also an important point because if you seek something, instead of looking to the person who has it, pining for it, longing for it, letting all that negativity fester, redirect your heart to asking Allah SWT for that thing, you know, ask Allah SWT for the benefit of whatever it is you seek. And that is more of a, you know, there's more a higher chance you'll get the blessing because you're going to the source as opposed to just wanting it. And this is where if you look in the modern world, a lot of people through social media are afflicted with envy because they just sit around, you know, watching everybody else's life and feeling like they're missing out, right? There's this, it's a real problem for many people. They can't help themselves. They'll just jump from one person's, you know, life to another. And then they just sit in this health, loathing and hatred, because that's exactly what Shaitan wants. He wants you to feel terrible about your life. Everybody else is living a fabulous life. You're home, you're stuck, you're not going anywhere, your career stagnate, you don't have a relationship, you don't have kids, you don't have whatever it is you don't have. And so all he does is focus on all the things that you don't have. And he wants you to sit there with just this feeling of inadequacy and failure as opposed to being proactive and realizing that maybe what's missing is your reliance on Allah SWT. Maybe you're not using the means that we all have access to, which is God, right? How many of us actually go and ask Allah SWT directly for what we want? You know, some of us in our cultures or families, we may have been taught like, no, no, no, no, don't, you know, it's ayah, but it's shameful. Don't, don't, you know, ask for certain things. But that's not good advice. You know, you have to realize that the only one who gives you your blessings and, you know, everything is Allah. So having a rapport or a relationship with him or you really see him as the Munim, the source of all blessings is much better than turning your heart from him for certain things and only going to him in crisis mode, which is what a lot of us do, right? When we're in crises or we have problems, we turn to him. But Allah SWT, you know, he wants us to, he wants us to have this connection with him where we turn to him always as the first point of every need that we have, right? This is why our scholars remind us like the Sahaba, they were known and even, you know, other generations for doing istiqarah for pretty much everything, like istiqarah, right? It's a dua that how many of us have been conditioned to think you only do it for big decisions, right? But they would do it for everything because their reliance on Allah SWT was so strong. They didn't want to make any move without feeling some assurance that they turned to Allah and first and foremost asked him, if it's khayr for me, bring it to me. If it's not, keep it, you know, keep it distant for me. They had that, it was like an automatic default. That was what they did. And then they acted as, you know, their hearts felt compelled. But the point is, is we've been disconnected from that direct line. We only sometimes go to dua for very specific things, but not for everything. You know, just imagine, if you have a need, you know, you have a concern, a fear, if you were always like, I'm going to drop to my knees and just turn to Allah, how much more that would solidify your relationship and also increase your dependence on him. Empting the heart of being preoccupied, number five, emptying the heart of being preoccupied with or thinking about the object of one's envy. We need to turn away from, you know, I mean, we need to find things to do because it's usually when you're not really engaged in beneficial or good acts that you have too much time that you start thinking about these petty things. But if you keep yourself busy and preoccupied with important matters, you won't have time to sit there and envy people. Orienting oneself towards Allah, being sincere with him, placing his love, pleasure, and dependence to him in the place of fleeting thoughts of the soul and its baseless aspirations. That's number six. Number seven, having pure repentance to Allah from the sins, his enemies have led him to commit. So this is, you know, just being a person of toba, really being a person of constant toba and realizing that you were sinning all the time and just being that habit. Giving charity and engaging in acts of goodness to the extent possible because that has an amazing effect in repulsing tribulations, the evil eye, and the wickedness of envy. This is the most difficult cure for the ego and the wadiest upon it. No one is given the providence to undertake it except one whose portion of spiritual strength from Allah is great. And it is extinguishing the fire of envy, iniquity, and harm by extending good to the envious person. So this is our scholars have mentioned this. If you envy someone, you have to force yourself to try to do good for them. Instead of, you know, having these negative feelings and harboring them, try to, you know, just do good, make da' for them, be kind to them, compliment them, but go against your nefs because your nefs will want to somehow vilify them because that makes it easy to justify the envy and negative emotion toward them. And then the last point he has here, number 10, is this is the compendium of all of the other cures. They all revolve around it, namely pure, divine unity and elevating your thought from the effects manifested in creation, something envy revolves around to the mighty wise cause of those effects. So again, just having a broader, more metaphysical understanding of the world, you know, because when you get down to what we call like the horizontal material level, everything is reduced. It's very low. But when you started thinking of a broader level, this world is temporal, a lot, you know, nothing is lasting in this world. So even if a person has wealth, power, status, there's no guarantee. Look at, you know, what we saw in these victims of the earthquake, you know, so far in Turkey, they were fine one minute and then boom, everything is gone. That's the nature of this dunya. So why are we putting so much in this dunya when we know that nothing really is, we don't have security here. This is not a place of security. It really isn't. And that's why like, you know, my advice to myself always and all of you is to take every moment very seriously. Because sometimes, you know, people don't realize nothing is guaranteed. You know, when you go out of your home, how do you know you're going to come back? Like really think about it. There's no guarantee. So if you left your home with negative emotions towards someone in your household, you need to have a jolt of telkwa hit your heart and say, wait a second, why did I take a chance, right? Because is that the way I want to leave that relationship with negativity, anger and immocity in my heart? Fear God and realize like that's a, to me, I think that's like probably akin to like hell on earth is to live with regret that you can't undo, you know, that something happens to you or them or whatever, something happens and you can't fix, you know, that you can't undo that. So be very careful with, you know, taking it for granted that you're just everything just routine and it's all going to, you know, carry on as it does every day. There's just going to be a day. It's going to hit all of us. We're numb. Every routine you've ever had going to be abruptly interrupted and stopped and life will never continue as it did before then. But if you are aware of that, then you take every moment very seriously. So whether it's just going out to go grocery shopping or when you travel, please like take it very seriously. If you, you know, are departing and make sure that you, you know, you're, there's no loose ends that you've really covered as much as you can, especially for like international travel or far travel. Like I just think we're just too comfortable. We think like, oh, I'm just going to get on a plane and then hop right back. How do you know that? I really just, who told you that? Like it's a lie. It's a total deception. And that's the nature of this dunia is like, it's a place of delusion, you know, we get deluded by what we think is normal, but what's normal. And that's why where that quote is, right? Nothing is guaranteed except for what is it? Death and taxes. So those are the things that are pretty certain are going to come after you, but everything else is up in the air. So death is certain and male love protect us and make us people who are mindful to not take our days, our breaths, our lives, our loved ones were granted. And to really have kakwa and, and to, you know, be careful with the amount of that we have. So I know this is a bit of a rushed session today. I'm sorry. I didn't want to keep you for too long. It's 9 22. So if there are any questions, we can stick around until 9 30. But if you are tired, I completely understand that we can all go home and rest and get cozy in our pajamas. Insha Allah. Any questions, any comments, anything to share? Ramadan, it's coming. Who's ready? Insha Allah. I love my Ramadan, insha Allah. This is, I know it's, it's amazing. I'm just kind of marveling at how fast the spirit went. As you all know, last Ramadan was a bit difficult for me personally. My mother was ill. I also had my, my Aja as a ceremony here at MCC. So Qadi Amr reciting today was like hit me in the heart. Insha Allah. I love protecting and preserving him, but I can't believe it's been almost a year. Like it's just, it's shocking how quickly time is running. Subhan Allah. So insha Allah, we're all blessed to see this beautiful month come in. But if you're not part of this community, move here. Because MCC Ramadan is just the whole other experience, especially with our amazing Qadi Amr protecting and preserving them. So I'm excited and looking forward to that insha Allah. Any other questions, comments, any? All right, insha Allah. We'll go ahead and end. Also, by the way, on Saturday, at the end of every month, we have this helaqa on Thursday and then on Saturday morning, we have a helaqa with a support circle. It's a thick of circle. We read Yassin. We read the Rafa. We read Mashallah, Sister Sahar who's here, just beautiful. It's an opportunity for sisters to come together to hold each other in safe space. We really want people who are just going through things by themselves. If you are single, divorced, widowed, you have grief that you're carrying with you. Maybe you're going through health issues, whatever your circumstances, whatever age you are, please come and you're welcome to come. That's why we created that. And insha Allah, in the month of Ramadan, we'll do those weekly. But for outside of Ramadan, they're monthly. So this Saturday will happen, insha Allah, here, 9 o'clock to 11 o'clock in the morning in this room. And then in Ramadan, those will be monthly circles where we invite all of you, no strings attached, no registration, nothing, just come. The door is always open, insha Allah. Jazakallah. Thank you very much. Any other announcements? Sahar also has a children's story time that she does with your if you have young children or grandchildren, please bring them. The live sessions are amazing. You get to hear her sing and read and bring books to life. So we have some wonderful programs. Are there any other announcements that you guys have? No? Yes. Thank you. Yes, Saturday is World He job day. And Sister Sana Subhani from Wasila Connections will be here. Mashallah. And I think she's speaking. So, you know, there's a lot of great programs. If you're not on the MCC newsletter, please join because you'll get updates every week. And then we'll have other programs for those who are interested next Friday, March 3rd. I will be at SRVIC with Sister Heba and Haddad, who's a therapist with Khalil Center. Her and I are going to do a teen youth talk on postmodernism and a lot of the social kind of craziness that's happening around us to help navigate through those topics. You know, LGBTQ, a lot of the topics that I know parents are just overwhelmed with. So we invite you to bring your teens to that. That'll be at SRVIC initially. I think those are it for now. Sorry. Thank you so much, everyone. Oh, that's right. Ramadan Workshop. Yes, I'm sorry. Next Saturday with Sister Amira and Sister Heba and myself. What we're doing at Ramadan Workshop also here in the morning from 10 to 1 p.m. And then on Sunday, I don't know if there's tickets available, but at MCA, all the way in San Jose, is the Women's Conference with myself, Dr. Haifa Yunus, Dr. Mania Awad, Sister Amira Derwish, and others. So you're all invited. Hopefully there's tickets for those, but I mean, that's it. Yes. Yes. Please go ahead. If you don't have the... No, please keep it. Keep it. Keep it for yourself. It's a gift, inshallah, just make it all for us. Jazakallah. Thank you so much. If you want the PDF of that file, like, we can also give you the PDF for anybody who wants it. Thank you so much. All right. Take care. Jazakallah. Thank you, everyone.