 and the MCC for inviting me, it was unplanned. And I always say this to people, the best plan is what Allah plans. It's not what we planned. This was absolutely unplanned. I think it was three days ago she texted me. Says, what do you have any day? And I said, the only day I have is Friday night because I'm flying back tomorrow morning. And she said, OK, we want you in Pleasanton. I have no idea what is Pleasanton. And then I was telling my sister who lives in the other side of the bay area. And she said, oh, it's an hour and a half drive. And I said, Alhamdulillah, I mean, Allah will reward us. And Jazakum Allah khair for all of you coming. Before I start, I want to remind everyone, the brother may Allah reward him. Said very beautiful statement touched my heart. It's when Allah swt takes something and then bring it back, bring it back a little bit. And this is my first time here, but Dr. Orania was saying, and the brother was saying, it's like this place on Friday is jammed packed. And Allah decided to take it away from us. And this is all our masajid. And we all have to ask this question. Unfortunately, a lot of people are not asking. It's why it's not the COVID. COVID is a as a as a suburb, as we say, is a reason. But the main person, the main one who moved the COVID is Allah. He closed his homes, his houses for us, including Makkah. And the question is why? And I always kept asking myself, are we a rabbi not worthy even getting to your home? And you wanted to teach us a lesson. So Alhamdulillah, I mean, I always say, Allah is Raheem. If Allah was not Raheem, we will not be here. All of us, whatever good we think we are. But he's Alhamdulillah, Raheem in generous kareem. Open the door again, says, come back. So how do we come back? That's the question. Innamah yawmaru masajidallahi man aamana billahi wa liyawmi l-akhiri wa aqam al-salata wa aata al-zakata wa lam yakhshah illa Allah. The people who flourished the houses of Allah, I just recited to you from sort of tawba. And Allah is stressing on innamah, worthy, who flourished the houses of Allah. It's not the people who come because their children have to go to Sunday school, or because I have to go to Maghrib. There's nothing wrong with that, but we have to dig deeper. We have to be connected more to Allah so this will not happen again. Yawmaru masajidallahi man aasad yawmaru flourish when you build something, say, Aaymaru, meaning it's a big building. Who are these people? Man aamana billah truf believe wa liyawmi l-akhiri in the day of judgment. And then aqama salat, perform salat, not pray. Did you say your prayer? It's a very common word in the non-Arab culture. It's a word, but it's not say. It's perform, never Allah in the whole Quran said other than aqama salat. Perform salat, you know when you took aim? You perform. And then wa ataz zakah wa lam yakhshah illallah and this is what we're gonna be talking, inshallah. And you have no fear in your heart. You have no connection. You have no one to please. You have no one to fear, but Allah. Are we these people? Maybe we were not, but are we gonna be these people? Now he opened it again, but he opened it gradually. You know when you are, of course, Allah is exalted but I always give examples for us to feel. You know when someone hurts you? And then they kept asking for forgiveness and you were wondering. And then you say, you know what? I'm gonna give them a second chance, but you're so what? You're so careful and you're worried. Do they really deserve it? And you open the door and you're wondering let us not be those people with Allah SWT. So when we come back to the Masjid and I always say this is especially to my beautiful sisters, don't use the Masjid as it's your home. And same thing for the brothers, but specifically for the sisters, because I see you more. It's when you come to the Masjid, immediate word in your heart, hadabaitullah, this is the house of Allah. It's not my home. It's not MCC. It's not Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis. It's the house of Allah. Whether it's a small or big, you have to have this in you. So this flourishing the house of Allah, you start practicing it. So when you see something on the floor, your immediate reaction is not look at Muslims what they do. Your immediate reaction, you jump and clean it because it's the house of Allah. And you cannot be roaming around and talking and no, it's the house of Allah. So may Allah SWT at least, I say this to myself, number one, if I learn this from COVID, Alhamdulillah, COVID was the biggest name. If I learn this and I come back out of this mehna, out of this huge test with a gift that they always tells you the kully mehna minha, that's how they teach you. With every test, there is a gift. If I learn the gift, Alhamdulillah, so let's all be grateful. And if Allah allows you to pray, I shall feel it, Allah gave it to you again. We stayed one year, no Ramadan, no Tarawih, no Makkah. And Alhamdulillah, he gradually opened it up. So keep this feeling inside you and ask Allah to keep it, Ya Rabbi Amin. I don't know why I chose this subject, but I think it's the bay area and I really mean it. I think you living in California and I always, it's nice to have people coming from outside because they give you a different perspective. Living in California, I was saying this to my beautiful sister, it's not very good for the heart. Unless your heart is really attached to Allah I'm gonna say why is that? Number one, the weather. It's a ni'mah, you're so spoiled. If it, no, I really mean it, I want you, this is how we are attached to Allah. Everything in my life is a message from Allah, subhan-tala. As a Sahaba, I used to say, kulla nara al-Quran, rasa'il min Allah. We used to see the Quran, messages from Allah. So when the weather is 24 seven is beautiful, my heart, what happens to my heart? Atawwadun ni'mah, I used to get used to the blessings. I don't feel it. Like for me, when I came and I live in a four season state and really harsh four seasons, I was like, ya Allah, this is amazing. How many of you wake up in the morning and say, ya Allah, this is amazing? Not the usual. So California has a lot of blessings and has a lot of dunya. It's a lot of dunya in here, way more than other places. So it is, I was worried, you know, I was like, ya Allah keep my heart focused on you. And that's why when Rania was, I don't know why I said, let's look at this subject. Are you attached to Allah? And I'm gonna ask this question to everybody. Don't answer me who I am. Answer yourself and then let's go and see what we will learn. If somebody asked you, are you attached to Allah? What will you answer? And if you answered yes, grade yourself. 10 is a Rasul Ali salatu wa sallam and Sayyidina Ibrahim. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala make us on their little bit wit steps in general. Are you seven? Are you eight? Or are you nine in Ramadhan? And then you are in the summers five and then during exam when you need Allah, are you the person who fluctuate, which most of us are or not? Are we that person? When I need something, if I have somebody sick, how is my dua? If I have tomorrow an interview, how is my dua? If my child needs something and tomorrow is, how is my connection with Allah? And when I don't need anything, although we always need, but in general. So the connection with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, are we connected with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala? And the question is, what is connection? They call it in Arabic, at ta'alluqubillah, how many here knows Arabic? So I don't use too much words. Ta'alluq is basically attachment. And the best way to learn this, of course from my profession as an OB-GYN, the baby inside the mom, right? They call him, one of the first stages is called the alaqa, it's in the Quran actually. A alaqa, you know what it is? It's this piece of blood, literally you can't even see it. When it comes and this is the uterus, comes and attached to it. Attached to it to the point, if it does not attach, what happens? Dies, miscarriage. A alaqa, it's the same root. I need you to give me your heart and brain. This small clot of piece of blood, if it is not attached well, you get miscarriage, you die. That's how I am, should be me and you with Allah. Am I? Are we? Like if I am not attached to Allah, I'm dead. I'm dead literally, dead physically, dead emotionally, dead spiritually. Are we? As Muslims? The answer is, probably not. I'm not gonna say no, I'm gonna say probably not. So remember this, atta alaqa is, they say it in beautiful words, I'm just gonna try as much as I can. Is attachment when you are attracted to something, think of anything or human being, you're attracted to, you love, you are so much in need, you're like poor beggar, you love for them to pay, give you attention, to text you, to send you special message and you feel they are separate from everything else. Oh, this is this person. Then you are attached to that person. Is that Allah in my life? I'm gonna keep giving you examples of us and then I'm gonna bring you back to Allah. Are we this way with Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala? So the question is why not? Why we are not? Although when we need Allah, we are there. Why we are not? I need you to answer me, anybody from the brothers or from the sisters. Or are we, let's be very frank, are we, are we that baby with Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala? 24 seven? Yes or no? We're not, right, Alhamdulillah, the youth are nodding their head, no. Why? That's the question, why? Are we able that Allah created us in a way that we are that baby? Did He create us in that way? That we should be? Did He give us the faculties, as they say, to be attached to Him? Yes or no? So we are, yes. Then why we are not? What is the problem? Anyone, our nafs, Alhamdulillah, what else? Distractions, Alhamdulillah, what else? So we live thinking that everything is under control, Alhamdulillah, what else? I'm looking for one one. This is all true. Shaytan for sure, anytime you say nafs, add to it, Shaytan, because Shaytan acts on the nafs. You're getting to where I want. We don't know Allah. We don't know who is He. If I want now to ask you, any one of you, anything you know from the Quran, and when you read, and all of you know this, be Idnillah, who doesn't know this? The first thing we teach our children, right? And by the way, it's one-third of the Quran. In nahatul, it's all Quran. But when I say, Allah is one, what does it mean? What does it mean for me as a person? Does I really mean, does it really mean when I say, I put my finger up? Does it really mean in me that I don't see anyone but Allah? I don't see anybody harming me but Allah? I don't see not harming me, allowing harm to come but Allah? Nobody benefits me but Allah? No one make me speak but Allah? No one, if there was a water here, nobody gave me this water but Allah? When you read the Waqia, you all know, be Idnillah, I'm sure most of you know. The third page of surah al-Waqia, what does Allah says? Are I to mul maa alladhi tashraboon? Do you see the water that you drink? I end to manzal to muhum in al-Muzni, did you send it down from the cloud? I'm na hna al-Munzirun, or we send it down? It's a question, no answer. The answer is obvious. And then Allah respond, law na shaa, if we will, la jaal na hu ujaaja, we have made it so bitter. Fa laa tashkaroon, why you are not grateful? How many of you read this verse? And then al-naar, Allah go back again to the al-naar and zara to the fire and to the corpse and everything we eat. Why? No answer because honestly there is no answer. Al-taalluqubillah, attachment to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala will never come. And I'm saying will never unless you know who is he. You really spend your time to know who is he, not the two minutes salah. Allahu Akbar did you pray, I prayed and I don't even remember what I read. When you spend time, as you spend time with the most important thing in your life, like I always say this to myself and Rania knows this and if there's any physician here in the room, how many years we spend studying medicine? Allah only knows how many books we memorized and training and training and still training. You see, if anybody knows what I'm talking about and in every profession, I ask myself this before anyone, how many years, let's say days I spent to know Allah? Like when I read the Quran, I say this is his word. Who are we, our Rabbi? He owns the keys of the unseen. La ya'lamuha illahu, no one knows it but him. Wa ma tasqutu me warakah, not a single leaf. This verse always makes me even beyond thinking, not a single leaf, not in California, not in the Pleasanton, not in the United States, in this whole world. Wa ma tasqutu me warakah, not a single leaf. Illaa ya'lamuha but he knows it. Wa la habba, not even a seed. Pidulumati l-arm, in the bottom of the darkness of the earth. Wa la fil ardi, wa la fil samaa, not on earth, not in the heavens. Wa la ratabin, wa la yabis, not anything moist, not anything dry, illa pikitabi mubi. Allah said this in Surat al-An'an, they call it, if you want to know Allah, read Surat al-An'an. You wanna know who is he? Go and read Surat al-An'an, the cattle. What do I know? What do you know? Whatever degrees I have. If I spend time more and more on learning about Allah daily, not the Quran we read and we don't know what we are reading. When I read and I say, ya Allah, this is your words, but I don't know what it means. Teach me. I need to know you. Like you know when your child says, I wanna pass, I wanna go to this college, I wanna go to Stanford, I wanna go to Harvard. You know how you see them? And they have this resolve and they don't mind studying hours. Where is this with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala? And I'm talking to adults. You can't do this to your, you can't give this to your children unless you have it. And they see it in you. And they see it in your actions. To get attached to him, I need to know him. That's the first thing. Knowing Allah, they teach you all the time this and I'm gonna make it very easy. You know Allah by three things. Does anyone know? It's very simple. Three things will make you know Allah very well. I'm not gonna say go and memorize the Quran because if you don't know what's in the Quran, I'm sorry, you don't know who's Allah. Where is the three things that you will know Allah by? Three things. They say, ayatul maktuba or ayatul makrua ayatul manbura sifat asmaahu wa sifatu. Three things. His words, the verses that is written, the verses that's around us, the scenes, the creation of Allah and his names and attributes. Names and attributes. I'm not saying memorize the 99, which is amazing, but I'm talking about the real meaning of who is he. Like when you are eating and you're looking at the food, looking at the food, it's also in suratul an'am. You know what Allah said? on dhuru ila thamarihi ila athmarawain'ah. Look at it. Look at it. We don't. We look at it's beautiful. It tastes good. It's very well designed. But I never say, who is this creator who created this? On dhuru al-Allah says, look at it. Look at it. The more I do this in my daily life, as much as I look, may Allah forgive me number one before anybody, as much as I look at my phone and check all my life is my phone. If I looked at the phone as a creation of Allah and the words that gets to me is from Allah and the messages, he made it. The more I reflect on this, I am more and more this baby getting to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala. I hope I'm making it easier for you. Practical, not something from the other world. Spend time, especially you living in California because you have beauty around you. Beauty in the weather, beauty in the creation of Allah. It's beautiful. It's a beautiful state. Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala. It's the time you spend in the car driving, which is one of the landmarks of California, use it to reflect. Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala today, I specifically wanted to drive through 280 because everybody was telling me it's one of the most beautiful highways. And I couldn't believe, I was like, ya Rabbi, what is this? Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala. Especially when you are not traveling to another country that you know it's beautiful. This is your daily thing. And you travel and you say, ya Allah. And then I looked at the mountain and then the verse came to my heart. I was in this Quran, I was looking at the mountain. Mountains are scary. I was looking at the mountain. You'd have seen it so humble, and humiliated, and what a sada'a cracked out of the ah of the words of Allah. Look at us what happens when the Imam is reading. Let alone when we are reading the Quran. I asked myself before anybody, when was the last time you're alone reading the Quran or praying? Men and women and you shed tears out of the ah of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala. And when was the last time you cried because you didn't get this, or you lost this, or you miss your child, or any of the dunya things. So number one, in this attachment to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, number one is know Him. Number two, the reason why we are so far away from where He wants us to be and the more He gives us, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala, the more we are far away. Imagine 10 years ago, just before the internet came in, not that long. Where were we and where are we? It's huge as if it's a different planet. But are we a better human beings? Are we a better creation of Allah? Number one, know Him. And if you don't know how to do it, ask Him. Allahumma harraf min biq. Make this du'a to Allah in your sadood. Ya Allah, make me know you. Show me, I see but I don't see. I don't see, I see but I don't see. Make me see you. Who are you? Show me one, two. Number two problem is we love this life. Hubbud dunya. We love it. Don't tell me I don't care. I don't care about the dunya. You know when we don't care about the dunya, the test? What is the test? That you really don't care about the dunya. What is the test? Which is hadith of Rasul Allah SAW. When you have it or you don't have it, it's exactly the same. You know what I mean? When you have the million dollar home, you live in California, the average home is a million dollar. When you have it, you paid it, it's all in your name and the next day you lose it, nothing happens. Then you don't care about the dunya. But statements and titles is very easy to say. And Rasul Allah SAW in a beautiful hadith where he made one of his prophecies. He said what will happen to us in the future, the meaning of, he said, nations will attack you. Nations will attack you. Think of us Muslims these days. Nations will attack you. The same way when there is so many hands on coming to one plate, the sunnah actually is not open buffet. The sunnah is one big plate and everybody eats from it. That's how they eat. That's the barakah in it. So he was giving him, he was giving them some alaihi s-salatu wa s-salam, example from reality. Nations will attack you, just like you all your hands in one plate. And the Sahaba said, because we were going to be few in numbers, and we were few, that's how they thought. And what was his response? No, bal kathir, you will be plenty. What is the number of the Muslims here? One point? I think three or four now, billion, B, not M. But this is what he said. And think of us Muslims these days. Whether Muslims in the West, whether Muslims in the East, whether Muslims in the world. Well, I can not compare what that is saying. You're like the foam, the foam of the ocean or of the sea. You see it's huge and then when it comes to the shore, and they said, why? Now comes to it. Why? And he said, asadakumilwan, you became weak. And why is that? Because you love dunya and you hate death. Question for everybody. How many of you think daily of death and think of yourself or myself and we all going to be having at this moment getting into that grave and this one by one there. If we think of it this way, we are not going to be so attached to this that we are leaving. Number two reason, we are so focused on this life. Look at to-do list. Everybody these days has to do list. Young or old, right? We need to be organized. Alhamdulillah, it's a very good way of being organized. But where is in your list? I always say this to myself. Where is Allah in the list? You look at number one, I have to go drop the kids, go to work and do this, get grocery, invite this person, call that person, visit this. This is all halal, alhamdulillah. Where is Allah in this? What number, if may Allah forgive me before anybody, if even, he is on the list. If he is on the list, I had a friend who used to, it's amazing how people use technology to get them close to Allah. She used to send herself messages every morning. Every morning, you know notification? And the notification says, please don't disobey Allah today. We are so attached, focused on this dunya. This needs to change. This needs to change in the morning, in the evening, in the afternoon. And that's why Allah swt forcefully move us to get disconnected and we don't like it. What I'm talking about? He forcefully disconnect us and we don't like it. What am I talking about? Naam? No? Yes, salah. Five times a day, he strip us from dunya because once you say Allahu Akbar, what happens? Everything around you becomes haram. You know that. As-salatu tahaleemu had taqbeer wa tahaleelu had tasneem. That's what they teach you in fiqh. That once you say Allahu Akbar, everything outside become haram. Why don't you answer your phone inside salah? If your child starts crying, why you don't respond? Because everything outside salah becomes haram. Once you say salamu alaykum, everything becomes halal. Every day, five times a day, he force us and he reward us for it. See how generous he is. He force us, come on, ya hayfaq, come on, leave it. Leave the work, leave the house, leave this, the rat race, come to me. Come to me for five minutes. And look what we do, what we do. Delay it for two minutes, one another minute. Let me finish this, let me finish that. Then you know where is Allah? Habbud dunya. So you're telling me or you're teaching us we don't need to love dunya? No, the answer is what he taught us, alayhi salatu wa s-salam. Allahumma ja'al al-dunya fi qalub, fi aydina, wa la thaj'al al-dunya fi qalubina. Ya Allah, give me dunya, make it in my heart. But don't make it in my, I'm sorry, make it in my hand. But don't make it in my heart. If it is there, alhamdulillah. And if it is not there, alhamdulillah. That's number two. Number one, learn about Allah Subhan-Tala and ask him to teach you who is he. And the best way to learn about Allah Subhan-Tala is learn his words. Spend time to understand. And if you really want to know Allah, there's like three suras in the Quran. All the Quran is about Allah Subhan-Tala. Specifically, one of them is number one, surat al-an'an. And I remember when I was memorizing, the teacher used to say, as much tawheed you have in your heart, as much you glorify Allah in your heart, memorizing the sura will be easy. And I never got this together. And it's so true because it's one of the most challenging suras to memorize. But the more you know Allah, he makes it easy. That's one definitely for sure. The other one, surat al-Hashr, the last page, which you all know. And who Allah says who is he? Who Allahul ladhi la ilaha illa wa al-malikul khudusus salam mu'minun muhaiman, you all know this. Know him when you read this. What does it mean Allah, salam? What does it mean Allah, muhaiman? Learn, learn, learn. I can't focus more on this. Brothers and sisters. I focus more on the sisters because our institute teach sisters. But it's the same thing for the brothers. The house has to have both. The mother and the father. Their focus is to know about Allah. Children, this becomes normal. Natural. Attaalluqubillah, two. So number one, know about Allah. Number two, lower this dunya. Lower this dunya. Think of the grave. Anytime you want something, think of the grave. You know when you go shopping? I wanted, I needed young and old. I have to have this. You know how we say it? I really need it. Think of the grave. And what are you taking with you? Two, three, the easiest way. And I'm gonna ask you this question. When you love someone, what is the sign you love someone? You love somebody. What is the sign? Or somebody say, I love you. I love you, dad. I love you, mom. What is the sign? I'm sorry? I can't hear you, I'm sorry. Can somebody say it? I can't hear it. Sacrifice. Yes and no. There is more. More, Allahu Akbar. Just let's listen to the other one. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. You said it. If you love someone, if you love someone, you do what? There's a client. If you love someone, you obey them. Your child, I always say this example. Mothers and fathers. Your child look at you and says, daddy, I love you. You know, 10 year old. Daddy, I love you. And then you said, okay son, go and get the mail. Right? He doesn't. Slag. Then you look at him and says, you love me. I just asked you to go and get the mail. Mothers. You say, make your bed. Mommy, I love you and hug you and everything. Go and make your bed. He doesn't. He says, how can? Three. You know what I'm getting to. The famous poet, a poem some of you may know it very well. Ta'asil ilaha wa anta tuhdhiru hubba. Hada mohalun pilqiasi badi'u. Law kuntasadiqan feehubbka la'atata. Inna al-muhibba diman yuhibbu muti'u. They say this probably Rabia who said this about Allah swt. Let me translate and reflect on you. Ta'asil ilaha, you disobey him, the Lord. Wa anta tuhdhiru hubba, and you claim that you love him. Hada mohal. This is impossible in logic that doesn't make sense. If you were truthful in your love, you will obey him. The person who loves obeys the one who loves. I think this is very clear. I think this is the most beautiful statement. Every time I hear it, I was like, this came from a heart who loves. Because she was legendary in her love to Allah swt. Legendary. If you read about her, it's like, what is this? Subhanallah. If I love you, I obey you. Whether I like it or I don't like it. If I love Allah, I will obey him. That's the sign. When I am attached to Allah, because I love him. Not because I'm afraid, by the way. You don't get attached to somebody because you're afraid of him. No. The moment that person disappears, you don't. But you don't miss them. You say, Alhamdulillah, they're gone. But when you love someone, you're attached to them with love and passion, you miss them. You love Allah, you obey him. And if you disobey him, what happens? Another sign of love. When you disobey him, we all disobey Allah swt. No one is perfect. All the children of Adam make mistakes. Sinners, actually. And the best among those who are sinners are those who repent. So we all, nobody is perfect. Alhamdulillah, we're not angels. What is the sign that you love Allah although you disobeyed him? What is the sign? Say, don't be scared. But say it's in a reality, in a real world, in a real feeling, huh? Exactly. So Toba is absolutely true. Toba is the title. But what I'm gonna feel, I feel I'm uncomfortable, I feel sad. Why did I do that? How many times I have to remind myself? And if you, the more you love him, the more you're in pain. The sign of Toba is actually pain. You're in pain with Allah swt. Why did I do this to you? Attach to him. Know him, know what is this dunya. And love him by obeying him. In the beginning, like your child, you discipline your child. You discipline yourself. You discipline your nafs. The nafs, you need to discipline it. I love coffee, you're fasting. I love sleep, you're getting up at four o'clock. The more you do this, becomes a habit. And you get attached to Allah swt. Remember these. Wallahi, it is not hard. You may say, what is he saying? Where are we these days? But just start first step. And remember, the one you want to get attached to is not you and me. He's waiting for you and me. You know the famous hadith? The famous hadith, the meaning of, when my servant comes to me walking, I come to him running. What does that mean? How does Allah come to me running? Subhanah. How does he come to me running? You want to wake up for Fajr. You're struggling and he sees you. Sincerely struggling. Sincerely feel bad when you don't wake up and see what wonders is gonna happen. How somebody will text you just before Fajr. And you look at the text and say, oh, it's Fajr time, let's get up. In the beginning it's this way. And it becomes a habit. Things becomes, you know the barakah I was telling you about the sisters before we start? This is part of the barakah. When things start happening in your life and you don't know what, but Allah knows you want to get close to him. But you have to have this relationship. You have to have the desire. That's what Allah wants from me and you. He wants to see that you want him. He wants to see I really want him, but I'm weak, I can't, I fail. And he said, don't worry, I'll bring you. Put this desire in you. Know him, know what is this dunya. And as I'm talking about dunya and death, there is one thing certain in this life. Only one thing certain in this life. Do you know what is it? Death. And Allah called it certain in the Quran. Allah called the death, certainty. Wa'abud rabbaka hatta ya'atiyaka liyaqeen. Last verse in sort of hijab. And worship your Lord till yaqeen comes. What is yaqeen? Certainity, but that's not the meaning in this verse. Till death come to you. Death is certainty. Think of it every single day. Every single day. The beautiful sister who I didn't even have time to hug her, she had to leave. Because suddenly, I had a death. Young, I'm assuming. It's every single day. Think of that. Free. Obey him step by step. Step by step. Start small, and it becomes big. Ta'alluq. Sign, the sign, and this is a very nice Ibn Al-Jawzi, the Imam of Ibn Al-Jawzi, he said, I had a problem and I couldn't solve it. And I thought there is no way out in it. And if you don't know who's Ibn Al-Jawzi, a saint, if you read his books, if anything, you start crying. He's a book called Bahru al-Dumu'ah. You can't even read it because the moment you open the page, you start crying. It's the sea of ocean. So he was saying, I had this problem. I can't solve it. This issue happened to me and I can't solve it. And then he said, Fa'uri dali, look at this. He said, then the verse from the Quran came to me. Look at this. What verse do you think? It's a very famous verse in Surat Al-Talaq. Yes. Whomsoever, have taqwa of Allah, Allah will have an exit for him. I'm translating literal. Every time you see the sign exit, I'm looking here to look for the sign. Immediately this ayah come to me, exit. And he said, oh, so that's what I need to do to find the solution. I need to have Allah in my life. What is taqwa? Allah is in your life. You're afraid. You love. You want to obey. You think of him all the time. You want your problems to be solved. We all have a lot of problems and they are getting worse than before. Have taqwa of Allah swt. Don't tell people, ittaqilla. Before I say this to anybody, I say it to my soul. Ittaqilla as an Imam al-Junaid. This is an amazing story. He was Imam of the Haram. Haram. And you know when the Imam stand after Iqama and he say, you hear it all the time? Stand up, make your lines. So he said to himself, look where their hearts were. He talked to himself. He said, you ask people to stay straight and your heart is not straight and he didn't want to be an Imam. So before he tell people, ittaqilla, hafeer of Allah. Say it to yourself. The more I know him, the more he's in my life, I am more ittaqilla. I don't have to be reminded. I know he's looking at me. I know he's not happy with me or I know he is happy with me. Ma ittaqilla ha yajallahu mahraja. You have Allah in your heart. You have him with you. With you. Wallah ladiyallahu. Any decision you make. And I said his name. Any decision you make before you ask anybody and before you make any decision. It's not because you love it. It's not because you like it. It's not because everybody else is doing it. It's one question, one answer. I'm pleasing to Allah and he wants me to do it. Whattawaqa liya Allah. And do it. And see what he will give you. It needs work. It's not easy. But it's not impossible. He will never ask us for anything that we cannot do. La yukallifu allahu nafsan. Allahu sa'aha. You all know this ayah. Allah will never ask us to do anything we cannot do. That's why a lot of people misunderstood this verse. Anytime you're in difficulty you say to yourself, I know I can handle it because he put me in it. He didn't put somebody else. He asked me. He wants me to be close to him. He wants me to be to be in his presence all the time. Ya ayah ladina aminataqallaha haqqatu qatih. Have the taqwa of Allah, the real one. That means I can. I just have to work on it. And I need to change as I say this to myself. Change the gear. Change the focus. And as I was listening this morning as I was driving, alam ya'ni ladina aminu has in time come and taqshaa qalubuhum li dhikrillah that their hearts surrender to Allah. And I said to myself, when is the time going to come? When is the time? When? It was like tomorrow in a year. When? Covid and we didn't change. I didn't change. When we will change? alam ya'ni ladina aminu Allah said this in Surat al-Haleed. Is in time has come yet? And taqshaa qalubuhum and the answer you should always answer bella Ya Rabbi, time has come. Ask him. I don't want to take too much of your time. Alhamdulillah. I want to leave some time for questions and answers. But this is where I want to leave with you in this beautiful blessed place. This beautiful blessed day. Ya Rabbi, Ya Rabbi, Ya Rabbi. You know we came to you wanting, I can see it in all your faces. You really want to be close to Allah, Subhanatah. Nobody will say no. But because it's a difficult road we find excuses. Tell him, Ya Rabbi, I want. Ya Allah, make it easy and he will make it easy. SubhanakAllahumma wabihamdi kashadu an la ilaha illa anta astaghfiru qawatubu alayk sallallahu ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa ashabi tasliman kathira wadzakum Allahu khayran wa iyakum. Yes, please. Any question, any comment. Both brothers and sisters. Too quiet community. I don't know what does that mean. I'll tell you one thing in medicine. Probably Rania knows this. Anytime they were teaching us something when there's no questions. He used to say there's two possibilities. Either you understood everything or you understood nothing. So I'm hoping the first one. Ya Rabbi. I think our hearts are in awe. Ya Rabbi, I mean. Ya Allah, I mean. Turned on, Ya Rabbi, I mean. From the youth, anybody. I love the youth when they say things. Where is Amina? I don't see her. Yes, Amina. Amina, I want you to share with everybody what she... Is it okay if I say it? Do you allow me to say it? So Amina is nine years of age. And then I... Ten, I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Ten years. And I didn't say it. Her older sister said she put her hijab by herself. May Allah... Pray for her. Allah keep her strong. I really mean it. Everybody. And then I said, what made you do it? You answer now. For the sake of Allah. Because there's one hadith. That's the answer I got. Ten years of age. Because to please Allah. So then the question I asked because we all... Any woman who wore hijab know these questions. What do you do when people ask you questions? Why you are doing it? What is the name of this thing on your head? Why? Right? So what did you do in your school? I made a presentation. So I don't have to answer. I am speechless. I made a presentation. In the school. And anybody ask a question, go back to the presentation. I'm not going to answer twice. Right? Masha'Allah Tabarak Allah. May Allah bless you and bless your parents. Ya Rabbi Amin. And your siblings. May Allah keep you strong. And make you Allah. Amina. If you know who was... I'm sure she knows who was Amina. Masha'Allah. So look at this. Why I am not as strong as she is? All of you. Brothers and sisters. Why I am so shy to pray in public? You pray in public? You pray in the airport? And I was like, why not? Why not? What is the problem? Why not? Private place? Keep looking for a private place. You'll find it. Yeah, but everybody is looking at me. I was like, people always look at you anyway. This is what we need. You know? Because that's what he told me to do. I'll do it. Then you are attached to him. And the more you do one difficult thing, you see how more you are attached. Alhamdulillah. Any comment from the brothers? Yes, sister, please. Rania, in front of you. As-salamu alaikum. Wa alaikum as-salam wa rahmatullah. Sister, I actually have two questions. Yes. The first one is, I work in a school. Yes. So every time, whenever there is time to pray, the thing is, the staff room is usually, everyone's wearing slip shoes, men, women, walking around. So for me, I feel very uncomfortable to just put the janimahs. I don't mind praying in public. Alhamdulillah. But, you know, if I have to pray inside a room, it's so difficult. Is it okay to pray inside a staff room? So let me take this question, because that's a very practical daily issue. So Alhamdulillah, she has no problem praying in public. But she doesn't feel comfortable playing in the break room. This is how I'm going to straight answer. This is how Shaytan comes to us. There's a beautiful book called, It's an imam, two volumes. How Shaytan has his tricks for every individual. So the system may Allah bless her. She has no problem praying in public. So the Shaytan says, I'm not going to come and tell her everybody is looking at you, because it's not going to work. But it works on other people. So what is the trick? The place is not clean. What is the answer? It's from Al-Rasuh, alaihi s-salatu wa s-salam. Al-Rasuh, alaihi s-salatu wa s-salam said, the earth was made for me as pure. The only place we cannot pray, fiqhan is in the bathroom or if there is an ajasa, even if there is an ajasa. You know the famous Hadith of the Bedouin who came to the Masjid? Please forgive me and urinate it. Absolutely, you pray, you put your ginamas, you don't want to pray anything, but don't you ever compromise your salah. Because that's one of the ways. I hear it a lot from sisters. I can't do wudu in the bathroom. That's the other thing. I don't have my hijab. I don't have my socks. All these, I keep telling them, this is how Shaitan comes to you. I don't know about that. I had actually a long discussion one time with a brother. He said, I just feel very uncomfortable doing wudu in public. I was like, why? Why? Learn how to do the wudu of al-Rasuh, alaihi s-salatu wa s-salam, with one cup. You don't have to do a flood zone, as we always see it, unfortunately. Unfortunately, right? In our Masjid. Learn, he used to do one cup. Do only the arkan. Don't do the sunnah. If it means that I'm going to do the arkan but I'm going to keep my salah, do it. Absolutely. I'll tell you one thing. There is, you know, when you have children, you raise children, I'm sure all of you, you have things in home. You say, this is non-negotiable. Right? There's red lines. You all have it. This is what you say to yourself. I'm going to share this with you, everybody, just to give you an idea. And I'm not praising myself. I just left my private practice two weeks ago because we're going to be teaching full-time, as some of you know. So the staff made a, you know, fairware party. Okay. I'm the only Muslim in the practice and we have totally about 25. I'm talking about Midwest. I'm not talking about California. Everybody is either white or white or black and nobody is a Muslim. They've never seen a Muslim. I got two gifts. I couldn't believe it. I mean, Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, I got a lot of gifts. One gift, I actually took a picture and shared with everybody. This is where I want to put on every social media because that's what you want to show people. And this is from a nurse who has worked with me probably two or three months and most of my patients are also Muslim. It's basically something you put on your desk. It's like a glass. And she put in it, she made it herself. In it, like a wire that has lights. So far, so good. What's written on that glass in Arabic? Alhamdulillah. When I opened it up and I was like, what made you think of it? And she said, because I hear it from you and from your patients. I said, where did you find it? Dr. Younes Google. That's how she said it. Allah. And the second gift I got, I couldn't believe this one. And this is actually the the Sajjada I carry with me. This is from the manager. Sajjada, be blue and like a bookmarker that has Islamic. You know what? When people ask me about Islamophobia, you know my answer? We have Islamophobia. It's not them. We are scared. We are scared to say we are Muslims. Why? Why? What is the big deal? What is the big deal? As I always remember this, the statement of Sayyidina Umar. Alasdna ala haqq. He used to tell the Rasulah to say, aren't we on the truth? I'm not going to be bragging about Islam in front of non-Muslim. I'm saying this to myself. Why I'm shy to say I'm a Muslim? Why you wear your hijab? Because that's how Allah told me. Why do you dress like this? This is my Islamic identity. What is the big deal? Why all the people who are not on the truth, this obey Allah, everywhere you find them and they're not shy to say it. Why we are? And that's part of, the more you do this, the more you are connected. I think you had another question. Then tell me when I have to stop, please. Yeah. Okay. I used to wear the hijab all the time. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. But the thing is, I work in a high school. I don't wear it anymore. Why? There is every single day, at the end of the day, when I'm driving back home, it kind of gets to me. As you said, it's just that, I don't know, I'm so overwhelmed trying to wear it. And I hate myself for that, frankly speaking. I always question myself, like, why am I not wearing it? Is it because of the other people I'm working with? Or is it just the environment? Where am I stuck? Quote your job. And I mean it. If my job gonna take me from Allah, it doesn't worth it. As I always say this to myself, don't sell your Akhira for your dunya. It's a lost stock market. Quote if you cannot be you who you are, who you want to be, who you are actually, at work, quit the job. And you have Allah, He will give you not a job in high school. He will give you even better. One option. Or you go tomorrow and wear it on Monday. Before you leave, you are the strong, keep me strong. No other options. There is no tomorrow, I will do it. Because tomorrow, Shaitan is gonna come to you. It doesn't worth it, ladies and gentlemen. And brothers and sisters. Doesn't worth it. Allah, there is this beautiful statement. I don't know who said it. And he said, Karim. The wise person who leaves dunya before dunya leaves him or her. And flourished and built his or her grave before dunya leaves him or her. And he left her. And she left her. And she left her. And she left her. build his or her grave, not homes, before he or she enters and look at the last one. وَأَرْضَى مَولَهْ قَبْلَئِيَ الْقَاهَ And he pleased his Lord before he or she meets him. Put these three in you before you go to school, when you are getting dressed, get ready. Put these three and see if you're not going to do the hijab. I ask everybody in this room, including myself, please make a dua for you because you don't know whose dua will be respond, who Allah will accept. And if she gets too strong, Allah knows how many people who have the same issue, they will see you, they will follow you. You know, it's a domino effect. The negative is domino effect, but the positive is also domino effect. May Allah keep you strong. Allahumma ni'asalukat tabaat. That's the dua I always ask Allah swt. Ya Allah keep me straight, stay fast. Stay fast on your path. Ya Rabbi amin. Jazakum Allah khair. I think it's Asha time. I don't know. Nobody is saying anything. And I am the guest, so I can't comment. 9.50. Maybe one of the brothers has a question. Are you holding a mic? Any of the youth? Yes, any of the young? Yes, please brother. Have you been in Hajj? No, I haven't. May Allah invite you. Inshallah. Have you been in Makkah in Ramadan? No. May Allah invite you. Inshallah. In haram in tarawih. Not now. Before they expanded. When it was jammed packed. Alhamdulillah Allah blessed me I was there. When I am not exaggerating. When you go for ruku'a, you are ruku'a on the person in front of you. That's especially the last 10 days. If you lose your wudu and you want to go out, make your wudu and come back, tarawih is done. You learn how to do it. One cup and you bring with you another. If you are in the haram or if you are just a cup and a bag. Usually in the haram we put a bag, so the carpet, right? And then what you do, literally, the cup you wash your hand. If you're not used to, I do all the sunan with one cup. You do once, the ruk'un, the obligation. And then pour your mouth and then you spit in the other. Your nose the same thing. And you just don't pour, get in it. What is it? The ayah, the verse tells, ya ilah dina ammanu ilah kumtum ilah salafaq silu. Or you believe, when you get up for salah, wash. So the ulama, what is this wash? Wash means it doesn't have to be flood zone and everything is wet. Wash is that whatever part you are is wet. Is wet that if you hold it, drop comes out. So you cannot just wipe. You need to wash. But a little bit of water will wash it. For the feet, that's when you need your socks. Because you just wipe on your socks. And I've done it, I can't tell you how many times. Especially when you're traveling. It really comes very handy. I mean the only place I can do it is in the plane, if I, it's tough when I'm sitting. But in general, I've done it everywhere. And if I have a bottle, that's even, that's a generosity, that's extra. I can do like two or two in it. Practice it and you will do it. It's very, very easy. And sometimes even not the whole full cup. Bi-idnillah. Wa-iyyaku. Yes, don't be scared. Don't be scared at all. You never know. One question will teach, I can't tell you how many questions I learned before anybody else. Bismillah. And you have to tell us your name also. Your name? Manahil. Maha? Manahil. T'ayyup. Islamic perspective. What are we supposed to do if there is like a person in some sort of authority who makes you feel uncomfortable in a sense? It's a portion of authority? Yeah. Muslim or non-Muslim? Non-Muslims. Non-Muslim. And makes you uncomfortable because? Okay. That's why I was asking, because there's more than this in general. I mean, this is probably a private question, but in general, let's take it in general. And then we will come to this specifically later on. If anybody around me makes me uncomfortable, right? And this is very common. Yes. If she doesn't want to talk about it, I think we need to respect her. Yeah, absolutely. But in general, we all go through this. Anybody who works knows this, right? If Allah swt, I want to test you, we'll send you a boss that will make your life miserable. She or he, right? So this is an uncomfortable. I am in a situation, make fun of me, make fun of my hijab, make fun of my accent. You name it, we go through it. Number one, I'll say back to our lecture. Remember, there is a Allah who's stronger than this person, who can remove this person in a minute, who can literally destroy this person in a minute. Don't you ever fear any human being? Look at Allah swt and says, Ya Rabbi, make me way out of this. Get me out of this. Whether he will move you to another department or another school or they move him or her. Number one, you know, every question you ask me, I come back to number one is a dua. And number two, nobody can harm you unless Allah allows it. What did he teach, alaihi salatu wa s-salam? Sayyidina Mu'ad, he was your age. You know the famous hadith, Ya Ghulam, in ni'u'allimu ka kalimat, young boy, I'm teaching you words, right? Sayyidina Mu'ad, this scholar says he was 12 or 13, this age. What did he teach him? Long hadith, it's an Annawawi, but la wajtamaatil umma, the whole nation, get together to harm you. No one will harm you unless Allah allows it. This is what I wanna tell you. Have this, the more people see you're strong, strong meaning you're a Muslim, attached to Allah swt. Subhan Allah, they get scared from you. Wallah lathia Allah. Meanwhile, mom, if you can change it without going to the details, don't brush this feeling. Now specifically about the youth, don't brush the feeling of the youth. Rania and Hussai, you know this very well. If she tells you I am scared, that means there's a reason. Even if you think this reason is not relevant in my eyes, but I am much more older, I've went through this, done that, been there. But for her, I need to help her. But let her do it, either change it, but number one, both of you ask Allah swt. But don't be afraid, this is what I'm gonna say generic. Don't be afraid from anyone, except Allah swt. He's a qawwi, he will protect you, always, always. Yes, there's a sister in the back. I hope I answered your question. Assalamu alaikum. Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh. If we have a hard time forgiving ourselves for our mistakes or we struggle with feelings of guilt and just feeling unworthy of Allah's love, how do you suggest we overcome those feelings, especially if sometimes it feels discouraging? Very good question, did you all hear the question? So this is exactly the opposite. So I feel I am a sinner, I did not obey Allah, I'm worthless, right? That's exactly one of the tricks of shaitan. That's another trick of shaitan, how he comes. Every one of us has his weakness point. So shaitan knows where is the weakness. I tell you what, when I see I'm worthless because I am a sinner, how do I say to myself? That doesn't mean it's okay, no. But remember what Allah swt says, the most merciful verse in the Quran, some of you may note, that's how we buy the, almost all these callers of Quran agrees, the most merciful ayah in the Quran. Say, Say my servant, and Allah says, That's, there's a lot of talk about even this letter. They have transgressed against themselves. What did they do? Asrafu israaf, meaning you went way above the limit. What did they do? Doesn't matter. And what did Allah says? Don't despair from the mercy of Allah and then he put this statement. Subhanah, that's not my word. Inna allah yakhfirud-dhanubu jamiaa. Verily Allah forgives all the sins. Even in this callers, it's a lot of discussion. What about the mushrik then, the kafir and then there's another verse and Nisa responded to this. So this is what you tell yourself. Actually it's a good news. Look at the positive. You know you are, I've done so many, I'm not saying you, but the person, done so many things that they are not even worthy of this ni'mah. Then immediately I say, Alhamdulillah ya Allah, you're showing me my shortcomings. If you didn't want me to repent, you will not show me my shortcomings. If you didn't want me to come close to you, let me be heedless. No, you are a creation of Allah, then he loves you. You are the one, say la ilaha illallah, then he loves you. You are a sinner, all of us are sinners. And the best among us repent. Don't you ever let shaytan paralyze you with this? No. Yes, I made a mistake immediately. Itbaa sayee al-hasana tamhooha as Rasul alayhi s-salatu wa s-salam taught us. Follow every bad deed with a good deed. It will be removed. So don't let shaytan come to you this way at all. There's too many questions from the sister side. Not too many, but usually comes from the sister side. Young, the young people, masha'Allah, may Allah reward you for coming and attending and staying. Taweeb, okay. Anything else, anybody? I think we should wrap. I think so, too, yeah. Alhamdulillah, O Lord. SubhanakAllahumma wa bi hamdika as-shadu an la ilaha illa and astaghfiru kawatubu alayk. Rabbana, takabal minna inna ka antasamir al-alim. Tuba alayna inna ka antatawab al-rahim. Rabbana, la tuzaqqulubana ba'adai idha al-aytana wa hablana nalladun karahma. Inna ka antal wahab. Awudu billahi inna zikra bihi wa an-sa'a. I seek refuge in Allah, Subhan'ata ala that I remind you of him and I forget him myself. May Allah, Subhan'ata ala accept all our good deeds. May Allah, Subhan'ata ala forgive all our shortcomings. And cure every sick person, every sick person. May Allah, Subhan'ata ala have mercy, rahma on every person who passed away. May Allah, Subhan'ata ala lift this test from this earth. Let's add on from the Muslims. May Allah, Subhan'ata ala open the masajid and his homes to us. May Allah, Subhan'ata ala open Makkah his house for all of us. May Allah protect us all, protect our children. May Allah, Subhan'ata ala protect this ummah. May Allah, Subhan'ata ala make us of those who loves him and loves each other for the sake of him. SubhanakAllahumma wa bi hamdika as-shadu Allah ilaha illa anita astaghfiruka wa atubu leh. Salallahu ala Sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahabit esteeman katiru. Dhuzaakum Allah khayran.