 تعليم الصلال بلها الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين نحمده ونستعين به ونا توكل عليه والصلاة والسلام على خير خلقه أجمعين نبينا وحبيب قلوبنا وشفي عذنه بناء بالقاسم المصطفى محمد صلى الله عليه وعلى أهل بيته الطيبين الطاهرين المأصومين المطاهرين المكرمين وعليكم ورحمة الله تعالى وبركاته اكامباني of the fifth holy imam and the sixth holy imam امام محمد الباقر، امام جعفر محمد الصادق صلوات الله وسلامه عليهما was known by محمد بن مسلم he was very well respected very knowledgeable a devout companion of the أهل البيت عليهم السلامة and a scholar and a narrator of hadith one day the imam comes to him and says to him يا محمد تواضع لله or محمد humble yourself before Allah this was a very powerful message that the imam gave to one of his closest companions after a while محمد بن مسلم who is known from a very respected family well known in society there was seen next to the mosque selling dates people came to him and said it doesn't fit you to be selling dates he responded that it is my way to humble myself before Allah this is acting on the recommendation of the imam peace and blessings be upon him humility, تواضع and humbleness is a virtue that has been heavily encouraged and strongly emphasized in the Holy Quran and practiced and praised by the Holy Prophet and the أهل البيت عليهم السلام the prophet of Islam would say to his companions مالي لا أرى في وجوهكم حلاوة الإيمان how is it that I don't see within your faces the sweetness of faith they said وما حلاوة الإيمان what is the sweetness and the pleasure of faith the prophet says تواضع he responded back by saying to be humble for the sake of Allah إيمام الصادق عليه السلام رأس الخير التواضع the best of the righteousness and virtue is to be humble is to be in the state of humility before the Almighty when we pick up this wonderful dua known as دعاء مكارم الأخلاق by إيمام زين العابدين السجاد صلوات الله وسلامه علي he says every time people think good of me I ask you that you lower my opinion of myself within me in other words I don't begin to see myself as someone important or someone who has necessarily achieved much in other words I don't begin to practice arrogance or self-centeredness or self-promotion so to speak and the quality of تواضع is deemed to be a prerequisite for successful individuals and leaders as well as others in society especially people who may have the tendency to exhibit and to become arrogant in certain parts of their lives we are told in certain narrations for example each and every one of us must be careful of arrogance and تكبر especially as شيطان was the first to exhibit it and demonstrated it three devastating words when Allah سبحانه وتعالى said to him bow down before Adam he said and these are still being used by people by leaders by nations and it's called devastation war bloodshed and violence in many parts of the world across history we are told that for example scholars those who are wealthy and rich people in authority and leadership especially need to be careful that this type of vice arrogance does not penetrate and does not go through their hearts and they do not necessarily demonstrated in the actions أمير مطمين بيس and blessings be upon him in بحاره الأنوار volume 7 says I'm surprised how can you think arrogantly about the human being he says I'm surprised you begin and your start and your initiation is a clot and you end and there is a stench end means after you die وهو قائم بينهما وعاء للغائط and in between there is a need to relieve themselves yes ثم يتكبر Imam says and with all this in mind they still feel a need to or the tendency to exhibit arrogance and self-centeredness and therefore the invitation is to be humble how do we achieve this according to the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt عليهم السلام Imam صادق عليهم السلام has a number of recommendations he says according to the narration أن ترضى من المجنسي بدون شرفك you must be pleased to sit anywhere when somebody for example invites you or when you go to a mosque or in any gathering you shouldn't necessarily be expecting to be treated in a particular way وَتُسَلِّمْ عَلَى مَنْ لَقِيتْ you should initiate the Salam whomesoever you meet yes sometimes people say oh he didn't say Salam she didn't greet me therefore I'm not going to greet them they should start first that's wrong you should be greeting people and of course there is much more reward for the initiation of the Salam rather than of course the obligatory response to the Islamic greeting وَأَنْ تَتْرُكْ أَلْ مَرَاءَ وَأَنْ كُنْتَ مُحَقَّنْ you must leave the idea of arguing for the sake of arguing even if you yourself are deserving or you yourself you're right in other words not about just proving a pointer to prove superiority over another and the idea as well is that we should be accepting criticism sometimes some people don't like it when they are criticized we should love to serve more than be served إمام زين العبدين سجاد صلى الله عليه وسلم once within the caravan of Hajj you've seen serving and somebody recognized him in the moment they recognized him he left and went somewhere else because he said now you recognize me but the point is I wanted to serve others not necessarily wait or expect to be served and likewise another quality is that we should be eager to learn eager to acquire knowledge never to think I have reached a level where it's all good I don't need to learn anymore I don't need to become better anymore I don't need to enlighten myself more with but rather I should recognize I am above every knowledgeable one there's always one who is more knowledgeable and learning is an ongoing process seeking is an ongoing process it doesn't stop at any time therefore sad sometimes that we hear some of our brothers and sisters say well I have attended these Majalis for a number of years I am tired of listening to the same things I already know it and so on and so forth sometimes it needs one sentence one hadith one verse one story that will change our lives that will inspire us and in fact by the way attendance in these Majalis itself will bring much reward number one number two it helps in softening the heart it helps in increasing one spirituality even though we may think that we're not learning but the benefits are great benefits are immense as recommended by the Ahl al Bayt revive our affairs may Allah SWT bless those who revive the affairs similarly our walking for example our speech should be reflective of the need to be humble before Allah SWT for example the Quran tells us the قمان الحكيم speaks to his son and say ولا تمشي في الأرضي مالحا don't lift your face and your cheeks in arrogance and don't walk in an arrogant manner walking in an arrogant manner means that you're trying to somehow highlight that you have a status that is not enjoyed by others so in our day to day lives what we say how we present ourselves also has a bearing on the careful attention to ensure that humility is indeed demonstrated and found within our second nature all this is great the goal should continuously be to seek تواظق and humility before Allah SWT for the sake of Allah not before others it is wrong for example to humble ourselves before the rich because we are seeking their approval before somebody who we want to be with us تواظق should be and humility should be for the sake of Allah and Allah SWT alone but the devastating consequences of تكبر and غرور also should be kept in mind إمام الصادق صلوات الله وسلامه عليه in a narration says إن المتكبرين يجعلون في صورة الظر on the day of judgment the arrogant will be resurrected in the size of like atoms really tiny particles that people will step on on the planes of resurrection the prophet of Islam محمدنا المصطفى صلى الله عليه وسلم says now some people are worried about that they say okay what do we do you know sometimes we are arrogant does that mean we never enter jannah no what it means is that we try our best and of course on the day of judgment Allah SWT does forgive those who are genuinely repentant and have tried but it is about whether we God forbid died in this state or did not care about seeking purity of the heart and تواظق in our lives and we reach that state on the day of judgment and Allah تعالى تعالى and if he accepts our forgiveness seeking repentance purifies the heart before individual enters jannah but it's about the state that we reach him on that particular time and Imam al-sadaq عليه السلام says according to the narration specific for the arrogant specific for those who are يقول له سأر it's called it actually complain to Allah due to the ferocity and the sheer heat it actually complain to Allah and this place asked Allah can I breathe it is so hot can I breathe it breathed and it burnt it is so severe it is so devastating that particular description and so you find continuously the Quran and the Ahl al-Bayt reminding us from time to time chapter verse 29 this is the worst or how woeful is the outcome for those who are those who are arrogant people ask why why do people feel the need to display and exhibit or arrogance anyway what is the reasons or the way in which people develop these unfortunately spiritual diseases and illnesses well it is said that one of the reasons is self insufficiency or weakness we feel that we are not worth we feel that we don't have enough self esteem and therefore in order to somehow acquire it we start feeling and exhibiting actions which portray us to be better than others secondly the need for self admiration there is that craving there is that desire to be praised there is that desire to be admired and sometimes some people are in a state to feel arrogant because they want that admiration from people or that praise we may also God forbid because we have hatred to others and exhibit ourselves in such a state because of our animosity towards other human beings and therefore because we don't like certain individuals because we despise them and we feel better than them similarly this could also be due to envy due to hasad due to the need to somehow feel why do they have something that I don't have that should be removed from them therefore I should be known as individual who is متكبر or I display characteristics of an arrogant individual and also all is due to ostentation showing off lack of sincerity these are reasons and more which may lead to individual God forbid towards that of course there are remedies and we have to be practical we have to try our utmost seeking inspiration from the Quran and the glorious examples of the أهل البيت first and foremost we must ask الله سبحانه وتعالى purely and sincerely to help us and there are stations there are stations in the year which we can utilize to seek that kind of assistance and help that progression that development in our lives for example if we go for حج or أمر or زيارة it is highly recommended that we utilize these spiritual journeys for our betterment for our spiritual progression to highlight what's wrong with us we need to even sometimes ask those who are close to us privately not in public can you tell me you'll be gifting me the best of gifts in a famous narration says may Allah's mercy be upon the individual who gifts me my errors and mistakes in other words tells me about my errors and mistakes إمام عليه السلام is معصوم but he's teaching us this is what we should be doing sometimes it's beautiful to ask somebody a family member or a close friend in a serious matter can you tell me what is wrong with me do I for example suffer from ostentation do I suffer from تكبر الخرور do I suffer from envy etc and then to work on it to have a program to respect ourselves and when we go for زيارة to be able to ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى the name of the holy individual that we've come to visit to help us defeat satanic temptations and enticement towards practicing such transgressions of the Almighty سبحانه وتعالى so asking Allah and utilizing opportunities throughout the year such as the month of Ramadan the Hajj such as زيارة such as for example when we are heart broken or we are in special occasions where we feel really oppressed or somebody has dealt with us unjustly we are told the narration says أنا عند المنكسرة قلوبهم I am next to those whose hearts are broken for genuine reasons of course if we are shedding a tear this is the moment to ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى for the Qadha of Hajj but specifically to help ourselves in our lives to be stronger in defeating temptations of the shaitan and our own nafs too we must remember that when we say الله أكبر in Salah that means Allah سبحانه وتعالى is greater than to be described and therefore if تكبر and arrogance was something that was allowed or something that should be done then why did the prophets were chosen by God if anyone was somehow entitled to it the prophets were but they were the most humble of individuals therefore it is important to remind ourselves that we are nothing compared to of course the greatness of the Almighty سبحانه وتعالى we should be always cognizant and our thinking should be geared towards what punishment awaits those individuals who are not aware of the severity of تكبر and do not work towards seeking تواضع and humility before Allah سبحانه وتعالى for the sake of Allah before other individuals similarly let's not forget it is something that people dislike notice that so many of these virtues and these Islamic recommendations this اخلاق of اهل البيت is something that upon practice and upon adherence would make us more beloved by the people people actually like us more when we are in these particular states and likewise we should be individuals who continuously strive to love scrutinize and holding ourselves accountable this is known as محاسبة I think with myself how did I live my day or live my week what did I say that was wrong maybe that I should not have done maybe write it down that in many occasions helps us to somehow look over our deeds and the strength of will initially to diagnose this issue to highlight the dangers of this issue to understand the severity of this issue and then indeed to deal with it and not to allow it to escalate and all of a sudden it becomes more and more difficult to remind ourselves that for example and the narration says التواضع ثمرت العلم that humility is the real fruit of knowledge if we see people out there who are seemingly knowledgeable yet they are arrogant that they are self-centered that they are show-offs for example know that the knowledge hasn't penetrated their hearts know that they are not acting by the knowledge the more an individual is knowledgeable the more humble they are that is how we've seen the أحلى البيت عليهم السلام and those around the أحلى البيت too were inspired by them to be of the most humble of people سلمان المحمدي رضوان الله تعالى علي when somebody wanted to humiliate him somebody wanted to somehow belittle him he said to him سلمان as in your parents look at the response of سلمان he says to him well my sons and your sons they originated from a clot which is dirty and my end and your end as far as death is a corpse that is full of stench فإذا كان يوم القيام when it comes to the day of judgment ووضعت الموازين and the measures are placed فمن ثقوا لموازينه فهو الكريم if your weight of good deeds are heavier then you are the successful one ومن خفت موازينه فهو اللقيم if the weight of their the good deeds are light the other indeed loses look at how سلمان الله تعالى عليه when you come to analyze and really reflect upon the status of the human being think about the beginning and the real worth is on the day of judgment their status before الله سبحانه وتعالى and whether they will achieve success or not and whether they will God forbid be of those who are condemned by the Almighty سبحانه وتعالى and indeed humiliated before mankind to follow in the footsteps of shaitan who is the father and the leader of the arrogant ones as we indeed follow the glorious Ahl al-Bayt peace and blessings be upon them who taught us how to be humble who taught us how to be in the state of humility before الله سبحانه وتعالى it is incumbent upon us to seek inspiration and to apply their lessons in our lives we pray to الله سبحانه وتعالى to bestow upon us that توفيق and to grant us the strength to defeat the shaitanic temptations and to continue to be inspired by the light and the magnificent teachings of محمد وآلي محمد وآخر دعوانا أن الحمد لله رب العالمين على نبي رحمة محمد مصطفى صلى الله عليه وآله على أهل بيته الطيبين الطاهلين المعصومين