 We praise him, we glorify his sublime name, we ask him to send blessings and salutations and peace upon the best of creation of Master Muhammad ﷺ and his family and companions and followers and folk until the end of time, that one of the descriptions of the Prophet ﷺ that Allah ﷺ has revealed about him is that he ﷺ is avidly eager and avidly concerned for you all. Hadithun alaykum, azizun alaykum, amitum hadithun alaykum that the Prophet ﷺ had a profound, unimaginable, indescribable concern for his community ﷺ that stemmed and emanated from the love and mercy that he had for the community ﷺ and ultimately the global community. His concern and love was for all of creation ﷺ and so when we read the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, we have to read it in this light, in this light and it was an illumination that allows us to see some of these meanings at a deeper level. So the Prophet ﷺ out of his immense concern for us is he taught us three paths of destruction. The Prophet ﷺ taught us Imam Bayhati r-Rahmalah that relates the hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ said, three paths of destruction that there are three things that are utterly destructive. They are innately pernicious and ever pernicious and always pernicious wherever they are. And he continues ﷺ enumerating these three things. He says the first one, Stinginess that's obeyed. Stinginess that's obeyed. Every nafs, every soul with the exception of Prophet ﷺ, those that are ma'asum infallible out of protection from Allah, but for the rest of us our souls have an innate shukh. You know what's part and parcel of our souls is the ego. The ego is part and parcel of our souls as human beings that are non-profits. And this is why the term in Arabic, in our classical tradition for the soul, nafs, the same term is used for the ego itself, nafs, depending on the context, in different connotations of the same word because it's such a part of us that it's as if we are that thing. And so shukh is innately in the souls of non-profits. But the task of the believer is to not obey that shukh, to not obey the innate stinginess of the ego, the egotistical tendency to say mine, me, myself, mine and not wanting to share and not wanting to serve and not wanting to do things for others, not wanting to sacrifice one's time, not wanting to sacrifice one's energy, not wanting to sacrifice the gifts that Allah Ta'ala has given us for the sake of bettering others and not simply bettering ourselves. And so this destroys the individual. The first thing listed in this hadith of the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, out of his concern for us that we avoid it is shukh is stinginess that's obeyed. And so what's the antidote, prophetic generosity? Kana Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam ajwa dan nas wa ahsanan nas that Sayyidina Anas relates the hadith in the description of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is that Allah's Messenger was the most generous of all people and the best of all people. He was the kindest of all people, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And we hear these descriptions time and again as we attend the talks in the community and the moded celebrations and the Juma khutbah, we know these descriptions. But how do we interact with this tendency in ourselves? The second of the muhdikat, he says, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, wa hawan muttabaa, and hawaa, you know, stubborn whims, stubborn whim, prejudice, biases, follies that are obstinate, muttabaa, that again are followed. That again are followed. And this is the sibling of the nafs. The nafs is concomitant with hawaa, the hawaa of the nafs. The stubborn, you know, when the person knows what's right but they refuse to submit to it. Which is one of the definitions of kibir according to the hadith that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam clarified when he said that he said in Sahih Muslim as a person with even a vera, you know, the vera in the Arabic language is translated as a particle or an atom. But in the classical Arabic, the way it was used originally in classical Arabic, it means a newborn ant. The vera is a newborn ant. The tiniest thing that the person can conceive of. And so that much, even that much of kibir, of arrogance, the person will not enter paradise with that in them. And the companion said, the person likes to go out with the nice garment, with his nice sandals and he says Allah Ta'ala is beautiful and he loves beauty. Allah Ta'ala is beautiful and he loves beauty. There's nothing wrong with making ourselves presentable when we go out into the world. But in the kibir, what is arrogance is being obstinate when we know what's right. We realize what's right to not let go and submit to that. That's kibir. And this is from the hawa of the nafs. And the other one is looking down on people, belittling other people. And this is also from the stubborn folly from the hawa of the nafs because we all recognize deep in our hearts, deep in our souls that Bani Adam, we are created from the same material and spiritual elements. And the only distinguishing factor is in taqwa and piety and ethics and character. And so prejudice is amongst society. This is also from the stubborn folly, the whims. When this is followed, it destroys people and it destroys societies. When the hawa, when hawa of the soul is followed, it destroys people and it destroys societies. And the Prophet ﷺ, apprising us out of his profound concern, his cosmic concern for the ummah is to fight this tendency. This is why our predecessors, they focused a lot on teaching their students, teaching their pupils, teaching their disciples of the mechanisms to be aware of the nafs and the hawa and subduing these elements in the human being. And the true strong one is the one that can control these elements. Abu Ali of taqafi, one of the early imams of our tradition, says that there is nothing superior to get a grip on than your ego. There is nothing better to subdu than your ego and there is nothing better to conquer than your hawa. There is nothing better to conquer, to dominate, to have full control over than your hawa. These folly, foolish whims of the ego that stubbornly prevent the person from doing what's right. This is destructive. And the third one that, from going back to the original hadith, that we mentioned that that Salat al-Muhliqat, Shuh al-Muta'a, what's the third one? Wa-e-e-ajabu-d-mar-eebi-ra'ihi Wa-e-e-e-ajabu-d-mar-eebi-ra'ihi when a person is impressed with his own opinion. When a person is impressed with his own opinion. This is again from the blindness of the ego. The ego loves to be celebrated and the ego loves to be acknowledged and the ego loves to be applauded in whatever context the ego is in. Whether it's in the great society to be the one that's applauded in the broader society. Whether it's in one's local community to be the big shot in one's local community. Whether it's in one's relatives to be the most popular amongst one's relatives. Whether it's amongst one's friends to be the coolest amongst one's friends. Whether it's amongst one's colleagues at work to be the one that's outstanding amongst the loved to be celebrated and acknowledged. And one of the diseases of the heart is a-ajabu-d-mar-eebi-ra'ihi is to be impressed with oneself specifically specifies in this narration a-ajabu-d-mar-eebi-ra'ihi for a person to be impressed with his own opinion because a lot of times it's opinions that blind us from receiving truth. The meek and humble of heart are open to truth. They most readily accept what is correct. But those that their vantage, their outlook is clouded by opinions, by ideology, by ideas and ideologies then they are the least receptive to humble themselves to what is right once that truth is made clear to them. And so a-ajabu-d-mar-eebi-ra'ihi this destroys a person. But a-ajabu-d-mar-eebi-ra'ihi with anything of themselves is also destructive. A-ajab is destructive. Being impressed with oneself is destructive. And the sunnah is a-ajabu-d-mar-eebi-ra'ihi The sunnah is for the person to be impressed with their Lord. And this is one of the meanings of subhanAllah. What does the zikr of subhanAllah mean other than being impressed and marveling at the beauty, the majesty, the glory, the perfection, the absolute dominance of Allah as the wajan. We say to the hadith Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty. In other words, wherever there's beauty in the world the Ascription goes back to Allah. Only Allah can create beauty. And that's why the believer, when they witness beauty in the world they say subhanAllah. And so too then with the gifts that Allah has given them. If you find a sound opinion that you have, if you find a correct opinion that you have, if you find a sound, a strong intellect in your possession then don't be impressed with the intellect or the opinion. Be impressed with the bestower of the intellect and the bestower of the opinion. Who is the creator of our faculties other than Allah? Who is the creator of our accomplishments other than Allah? Who is the creator of every good, any good that we might have? Who is the creator other than Allah as the wajan? And so this is Abu Bakr Al-Waraq, the student of Hakim-e-Tirmidhi. He says, Gratitude for your blessing is to witness the favor. Gratitude for the blessing is to witness the favor. To raise our gaze above the terrestrial of me, myself, and I and what I've accomplished as of late and to look beyond the horizon to see, metaphorically speaking, to see the creator, the one that transcends the creation. Allah is the wajan. Allah is the wajan. He is the bestower. It's only his favor. He is the mannan. Allah is the mannan. And so, this is what we should embrace and this is the fruits and the fruits and lights of Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. The Fatiha is the Ummul Kitab. All the meanings of the Quran are found foundationally in the Fatiha and the Fatiha is submitted in Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. All praise is for Allah alone. Only Allah deserves praise. The lamb there, Istihaat wal mun, who owns the praise and who deserves the praise other than Allah. Every single praise belongs to Allah and he alone is deserving of it. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. Now, one of the ironies of people that are impressed with themselves, particularly their opinions or their intelligence, is this is the textbook definition according to the sunnah of lack of intelligence. One of the ironies of a person who's impressed with their intelligence or their opinions, is this is textbook definition according to the sunnah of someone that has lack of intelligence. Because the true Aqid recognizes the source of things. The true intellectual, the true person of discernment and intellect is the one that recognizes the source of things. Right? If something just appears, only a fool will think that it popped out of nothing. A person of intellect, every philosopher seeks the why. Where did it come from? Where did it come from? There has to be, you know, one of them said the principle of sufficient reason. There has to be a reason for every single occurrence. There has to be what grounds it's being. And in our theology, the ground of being of everything in the cosmos is Qun Faya Qun. It's the ontic statement of Allah to existentiate that thing. Only Allah can create. Only Allah can create. Only the eternal can create. Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And so the true intelligent one is the one that recognizes that their intellect is a gift from Allah. And whatever brilliance they've been gifted with, there's a gift, ironically, unsurprisingly, is a gift from Allah. And it's from his favor. And this is why another of our early metaphysicians, Abu Suleiman of Darani, Rahimullah, a great early Imam of Damascus, third century, he says, How can any intelligent person be impressed with their own accomplishment? With their own action? Whether action of their intellect or action of one's speech or action of one's limbs? His question, it's like a strange thing for the Imam. How can an intelligent person be impressed with their own accomplishment? Because the accomplishment of any individual is nothing but a gift from Allah and a blessing from him that necessitates gratitude. And this is a journey that never ends. This is a journey that never ends because a person will realize if they are able to try to have enough and wear with all enough sense and sensibility to start showing gratitude that that very orientation towards Allah in gratitude is another gift from Allah. That even on gratitude is a gift from Allah. Whatever merit, whether worldly or otherworldly, that we might possess is only a gift from Allah. This is why the narration mentions that Prophet Dawud was expressing gratitude, expressing gratitude, expressing gratitude until he said, oh Allah, how can I show gratitude? One of my very gratitude is another gift from you. In other words, the realization of ultimate gratitude is inability, is pure absolute non-being, non-ability, absence. The reality of the human being is absence. The reality of Allah is presence. And the response came from Allah to say, now you've shown me gratitude. SubhanAllah. And so we ask Allah to make us people of deep gratitude. People that recognize the favor, the immense favor of Allah in our lives, in the good times and the bad times. It's all grounded in the favor of Allah. The favor of Allah is never absent from our lives. May Allah make us people of deep gratitude. May Allah make us people of deep gratitude. May Allah make us people of deep prophetic awareness. May Allah make us people who respond to these teachings of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and his blessed inheritors in the most positive ways. And may Allah make us people who do not destroy ourselves but rather save ourselves by fighting the stinginess of our egos, by fighting the stubborn follies and wings of our egos, by being people who are not impressed with ourselves but rather impressed with Allah and His favor and in utter gratitude and humility and servitude towards our Lord As-Sawajal.