 السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته may the peace and blessings of Allah سبحانه وتعالى be upon every one of us بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم we begin in the name of Allah سبحانه وتعالى the most gracious, the most merciful الحمد لله all praise is indeed due to Allah سبحانه وتعالى والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وأصحابه أجمعين blessings and salutations upon the messenger of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and his companions and his household and every one of us may Allah bless us and grant us جنة الفردوس and may Allah make us from those who follow season upon season as Ramadan comes to an end we usually have the months of Hajj that clock in immediately and therefore we need to understand the gift of Allah سبحانه وتعالى the obedience we had in Ramadan the same Allah we were obeying is that Allah outside of Ramadan as well so we ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى to grant us consistency in worship and to make us from those who realize that Allah سبحانه وتعالى's gift of Ramadan is to achieve Taqwa, God consciousness and Maghfira to achieve the forgiveness of Allah سبحانه وتعالى may Allah grant that to us my brothers, my sisters whenever we are seated we are taught by the Prophet ﷺ that we should be conscious about what we say in a little gathering we say things, we teach things some of the utterances are unnecessary if it is a major sin like we've been engaging in backbiting slander, false accusation in our gatherings in that case we need to seek the forgiveness of Allah through what is known as Tauba this Tauba is actually to ask Allah's forgiveness from a major sin that we have been perpetrating if it was involving a third party another human being we would have to go to that person and seek forgiveness from them as well so if I was backbiting about another brother or a sister I would need to contact that person and seek forgiveness from them there is no quick fix or quick solution to say okay let me just make dua for them let me just give a charity on their behalf and insha'Allah things will happen if they are alive they are reachable you need to make sure you actually go and speak to them to seek forgiveness and you need to make sure that if you cannot get hold of them you cannot reach them you start undoing what you did by going back to the people who you spoke with and telling them what we did was wrong the person is innocent the person is free from what we said and you say good things about them to nullify the bad that you did we hope that Allah SWT has mercy upon us but it's very important not to engage in that which is destructive when we have our gatherings so Allah SWT has definitely given us the gift of communication imagine if we could not speak we would just be looking at one another blank look a blank stare without knowing what we want to say but Allah has blessed us and a lot of the other creatures that communicate in fact all the creatures actually praise Allah as Allah says in the Quran وَإِمْ مِنْ شَيْئِنْ إِلَّا يُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِهِ وَلَا كِنْ لَا تَفْقَهُنَ تَسْبِحَهُمْ every single thing declares the praise of Allah but unfortunately you don't understand their praise or their way of praising Allah SWT now as we are seated in the gathering if there are things that are not so serious but perhaps we might have cracked a little joke we might have laughed excessively a little bit you know we might have forgotten Allah SWT for few moments we might have said a few things that are considered minus and etc in that particular case as we are getting up we are taught something by the Prophet it is known as كفارة المجلس meaning the supplication that you will make that will be an expiation of the sins that we are engaged in in that particular gathering now when we say expiation of the sins we are talking of minor things not major things you know you cannot engage in a major sin and then say okay I'll just read the كفارة المجلس it's fine I will be forgiven no but the minor things the obliviousness of Allah SWT for a moment etc all that happens so what is the dua the dua is as follows the Prophet SAW taught this to us we are praising Allah سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت أستغفرك وأتوب إليك all praise is due to Allah SWT glory be to you in fact سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك glory be to you and all praise is due unto you oh Allah أشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship besides you أستغفرك وأتوب إليك I seek your forgiveness oh Allah and I repent to you oh Allah now there is another narration which adds at the beginning سبحان الله وبحمده سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك نشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت نستغفرك وأتوب إليك which would mean all praise is due to Allah glory be to Allah all praise is due to you oh Allah glory be to you oh Allah so we've repeated it twice one in third person one in second person and then we say I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship besides you oh Allah and I seek your forgiveness oh Allah and I repent to you so this is something very very interesting people ask me when I end sometimes some of my episodes some of my lectures I say سبحان الله وبحمده سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك نشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت نستغفرك وأتوب إليك now you know why I say that it's called كفارة المجلس when you're finished when you're done you want a lot to forgive you for the little that might have happened while you were talking the mistakes you know some of the errors the blunders we all make mistakes I know once or twice I've made mistakes because of the fact that you're speaking you're speaking to the public you know you're speaking to people you have an episode that you may be engaged in so much that you've made a mistake in your wording in the pronunciation sometimes in an explanation sometimes unintentionally you might have said something wrong and sometimes a pure mistake maybe you didn't know it so well and maybe you learned it wrong so it can happen we seek Allah's forgiveness for all of that by saying سبحان الله وبحمده سبحانك اللهم وبحمدك نشهد أن لا إله إلا أنت نستغفرك وأتوب إليك may Allah accept that from us no I've not ended the session I'm still continuing my brothers and sisters that was just a lesson we ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى to bless us now let me move further brothers and sisters we know that Allah سبحانه وتعالى blesses us in a million ways one of the biggest blessings of Allah is when you are confused He teaches you how to seek His guidance if I'm confused about something important I want to get married I want to start a business I want to travel to a certain place I want to shift countries I want to open something new I want to do something I want to make decisions for my children and I'm confused I need to have an element of steadfastness I need to be not knowing what's better for me I really don't know so I'm confused if you're not confused you make a dua to Allah to help you make a decision and to bless you in that decision and then you make the decision based on what you know based on knowledge based on seeking guidance and advice so when we want to do something important say you want to get married you seek guidance you meet the person within the Islamic context and framework you meet the person and you will talk to them once, twice and I hope parents facilitate this for their children because it's a sunnah of the Prophet peace be upon him to meet them you know it doesn't mean that they just bring a tray of tea or samosas and as they walk past you've got to just look at them and you've got to make a decision of your life it's not like that that is a traditional cultural way of doing things we in Islam are taught that you are allowed to meet to communicate to speak to look at properly with respect within the confines of the sharia until you are satisfied one way or the other if you've met someone once and you say no not for me it's okay you can decline respectfully don't feel bad if you meet them once and you're confused you can meet them again and again because it's a tradition that you haven't compromised the broader framework of the sharia there comes a time when your decision will be made by the will of Allah سبحانه و تعالى because there are good qualities good things you're hearing you've asked there is something called consultation or shura which is very very important so these big matters your business your marriage big decisions of shifting country etc etc ask the guidance of genuine people who will guide you who know they have knowledge and they are genuine they have knowledge and what you're asking them for and they have sincerity they love you they care for you enough to give you genuine proper advice when you have those qualities you ask the person look this is what I intend what's your opinion what is the advice you can give me they will give you advice based on that advice you will have a feeling in your heart if that is a decision is made you're inclining towards one thing there is no point of then seeking the guidance of Allah through what is known as استخارة استخارة literally means to seek the guidance of Allah سبحانه وتعالى there is no point in seeking that guidance of Allah سبحانه وتعالى when you are not confused you know exactly what you want you just ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى to make it good for you and to give you بركة in it فإذا عزمت فتوقل على الله once you have made your decision lay your trust in Allah and go ahead بسم الله in the name of Allah when you are a decent person trying to earn the pleasure of Allah it will be a good decision a good decision does not mean you will achieve success the way you want it but rather whatever is going to happen is going to be better for you so if you are going to start a business and you feel that you really have to do it you go into the business and suddenly you start suffering loss upon loss Allah knows that was the best thing for you your deen your dunya your akhirah you know your life your hereafter when you were softened up you came closer to Allah it helped you it brought you closer you want to get married and you realize after some time that I made dua you know I was happy I made a decision على بركة الله upon the blessings of Allah I started and I did this whole thing correct but it ended up in a divorce well that divorce would have brought you closer to Allah it might have woken you up it might have changed you for the better as a person it might have brought you such that you earned for those as a result of the patience that you had to bear because of the difficulties and hardships that you actually went through so Allah knows it was better for you it does not mean that because your mashwarah was heading in this direction that there's going to be total bliss and you're going to have heaven on earth that's not what Allah said Allah said it's better for you so the first stop is we seek guidance help advice we seek the advice then we make a decision if we are still confused we really don't know look I met this brother I met this sister masha Allah they're okay I sought guidance but I still don't know should I shouldn't I Allahumma anta rabbi you turn to Allah oh Allah you are my Rab you are my lord oh Allah سبحانه وتعالى this is the dua of استخارة it's quite a lengthy dua I'm going to spend the rest of this episode speaking about this dua going through the wordings explaining it to them explaining them to you and trying to tell you how exactly it's done so the صحابة رضي الله عنهم used to say the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم taught us استخارة which means seeking the guidance of Allah the same way he would teach us verses of the Quran which means these were very very sacred important word supplications from revelation indeed and he used to tell us when you want to seek the guidance of Allah you would clean yourself you would make the two units of prayer and then you would supplicate using the following words اللهم انت ربي no اللهم اني استخيرك بعلمك oh Allah I am seeking your guidance from your knowledge اللهم اني استخيرك بعلمك oh Allah I am seeking your guidance from your knowledge واستقديرك بقدرتك and I am seeking the help from your power and your ability I am seeking help I am seeking ability and power from your ability and power I want you to help me I want you to empower me oh Allah I seek your guidance I seek your empowerment اللهم اني استخيرك بعلمك واستقديرك بقدرتك واسألك من فضلك العظيم and I am seeking from you from the great bounty that you have oh Allah you own everything I am seeking from that bounty so we have mentioned three things we want Allah's help because he is the one who has the knowledge right? we want Allah Allah to empower us because he is the owner of power and we are asking Allah from his great virtue واسألك من فضلك العظيم why are we asking فإنك انت تقدر ولا أقدر وانت تعلموا ولا أعلموا وانت علاموا الغيوب for indeed oh Allah you are able and we are unable and you know and we don't know and you are the knower of the unseen that's why we're asking you that's why we need your help سبحان الله oh Allah I'm asking your help I'm seeking from you I'm seeking your guidance استخيرك بعلمك I'm seeking guidance from your knowledge واستقديرك بقدرتك and I'm seeking empowerment from your power you are the owner of power واسألك من فضلك العظيم and I'm asking from your great bounty فإنك انت تقدر for indeed you are the one who's able ولا أقدر not me I'm not able وانت تعلموا ولا أعلموا you know and I don't know وانت علاموا الغيوب and you are the knower of the unseen now we're saying اللهم إن كان هذا الأمر خير لي oh Allah if this thing and you think about the thing and you think about the thing when you are when you get to that portion of the dua you're thinking about what you're asking Allah for like you're thinking about marriage to someone you're thinking about doing the business you're thinking about something amazing that you want to embark on you say oh Allah if this thing اللهم إن كان هذا الأمر خير لي oh Allah if this thing is better for me now better for me in what way في ديني ومعاشي وعقبة أمر in 3 things oh Allah if this is better for me in my ديني في ديني in my religion in my worldly life معاش is referring to the material living دنيا we would call it دنيا في ديني ودنيا but rather the دعاس في ديني ومعاشي in my دين and in my livelihood my life وعقبة أمر and in the ending of my affairs so it's talking about the hereafter as well as the the durability of this particular matter it needs to be long it needs to benefit me throughout my life and into the hereafter so if this is good for my دين my دنيا and my آخر that's what we're saying my life sorry my religion my life and my future if it is better for me in these 3 things then I want you to do for me the following what are we saying in this دعاء إن كان هذا الأمر خير لي في ديني ومعاشي وعقبة أمر فقديره لي so make it possible for me ويصيره لي make it easy for me ثم بارك لي فيه and then give me blessings in it so 3 things will happen الله will make it possible for you he'll make it easy for you and then he'll give you blessings in it so if he is making it difficult for you if he is not making it possible for you then you can expect to understand that the response is negative okay let's move on and the last part of that دعاء where it's the opposite where we're saying oh Allah if this is bad for me so الله هم إن كان هذا الأمر شر لي في ديني ومعاشي وعقبة أمر oh Allah if you know that this thing that I'm thinking about right now that I want to embark in is bad for me in my دين in my دنيا in my آخر like I said ديني ومعاشي معاشي is the living وعقبة أمر oh Allah if you know that then oh Allah do me the following what is the following فصرفه عني so keep it away from me وصرفني عنه and keep me away from it وقدر لي الخير أو الخير حيث كان and destined for me the goodness wherever it is right for me whatever the goodness is for me I don't know what it is now this is bad for me you prescribe for me the goodness wherever it is and whatever it is ثم مرضني به then make me happy with that make me happy with it the fact that you took it away from me make me happy with it the fact that you made it difficult for me make me happy with it the fact that you took it away from me make me happy with it the fact that you took me away from it make me happy with it so your reply now will come from Allah سبحانه وتعالى what is that reply سبحانه وتعالى سبحانه وتعالى so that reply was not necessarily come in the form of a dream you know there is the possibility of a dream you see a dream they say you see a positive dream sometimes you see a negative dream you know positive dream meaning anything positive it could be a beautiful holiday it could be lovely greenery it could be something thats really good you know you happiness and so on and anything negative would depict negativity but we are not so pious يجب أن يكون لدينا أحيانات حياتنا يأتي لنا أن تخبرنا ماذا يحدث. بعض الأمر لا يحدث. The response of Istighara is something you need to know more than the Istighara itself. So, how do I see a response? Well, go back to look at the meaning of that same dua that you've been supplicating Allah with and you will understand how the response is going to come. So, the first thing you are saying, oh Allah, if this is good for me, my deen, my dunya, my akhirah, then make it easy for me. Allah is making it easy for you. Wow! The following day someone calls you and says, you know brother, I have a piece of land that I'm prepared to actually sell you. You know, someone is selling this plot and you were just thinking of opening up a farm, starting a farm. Wow! That's a good sign. What's Allah doing? He's responding to your dua of Istighara. Things are happening. They're rolling as we would say. Mashallah. So, you want to get married and the next day someone says, you know, this sister is a very good sister. Out of the blue. Someone says it's a very good sister or a really good brother. Subhanallah. What's happening? That's Allah. Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala facilitating it for you. He's telling you, you told me to make it easy for you. Here goes. Big smile. Mashallah. And then what happens? Sometimes the opposite where someone calls you and they start discussing the negatives of a person. You know brother, I had a very, very bad experience with this sister and so on. And you're like, oh, is it? You listen carefully, see if it's negative. You don't have to say anything to anyone. You just know between you and Allah. Okay. That's a sign. Thank you. Oh Allah. I appreciate it. And I really, really thank you. Imagine. So the response of the Istighara is not something superstitious that you know, suddenly a goblin will pitch up to explain to you that something bad is supposed to have happened. No. It is literally in that dua. You said, oh Allah, make it easy for me. If it's good for me. If it's not, take it away from me. And suddenly it was not being made good. That is a negative sign. And if it was made good, it is a very, very positive sign. So my brothers and sisters, the same applies when Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'ala tells us that we should be calling out to him that if it is not good for me, take it away from me. And you know what? It will be taken away from you. And it will be made difficult for you. Now sometimes people might say, okay, this is being made difficult for me, but you know, I'm not wrong. If you're not wrong, you need to ask yourself a few things. How long are you prepared to wait for? What is it that you are losing? What is at stake? Why would you like to make this decision? And for how long would you like to remain in it? That is all that you need to consider also when you are making a decision. But I go back to what I said at the beginning of the discussion of Istikhara. When you are not confused, there is no point in making this Istikhara. You might want to use this as a dua and a supplication ordinarily on other days which is not wrong. You can use it outside of the Istikhara. You're just on a daily basis for Allah to guide you through the decisions of the day. For Allah to guide you through decisions. Oh Allah, I ask you from your knowledge. You know, I don't know. You are the powerful. I'm not powerful at all. I seek empowerment. Oh Allah, guide me. If this is better for me, my deen, my dunya. And I make the dua several times during the day. There is no harm. It is a dua. It is in the hadith. It is a sunnah dua. You can say it as and when you wish. And Allah will guide you by His will. In the decisions of your day. But when it comes to major matters, that is when the real sunnah clocks in. Now, I want to speak about one last thing before we end this beautiful episode. And that is my brothers and sisters what we need to know when the dua of Istikhara is made and we get a positive response. Do you know what happens? It does not necessarily mean that we are going to be happy. It means it's better for us. That's amazing. Remember this. People say I made Istikhara. And you know what? I made Istikhara and everything was positive. And now I got married and I'm suffering. I'm struggling. I'm going through a divorce. How could Allah do that to me? Well, you haven't understood Istikhara and you don't know what it was meant to achieve for you. So my brothers and sisters, it's amazing how we need to look into the dua of Istikhara. We need to understand that this dua of Istikhara is so powerful. It is from Allah سبحانه وتعالى. It is not empowering us to be happy but rather to achieve that which will please us in the long term draw us closer to Allah. It is beneficial for us in our دين دنيا آخرة not necessarily happiness the way we understand it. So my brothers and sisters these are the blessed gifts of Allah سبحانه وتعالى upon us. We are really, really fortunate to have the ability to seek the guidance of our maker. The maker himself. You tell me who has taught this to us. We owe a lot. The Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him has indeed been a blessing to us. We owe him. We owe Allah سبحانه وتعالى. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon us all. May Allah's peace and blessings be primarily and ultimately upon Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and then everyone of us I'll say this word peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and his blessings.