 إن الحمد لله نحبده ونستعيقه ونستحديه ونستمتله ونتهو إلىه ونؤمن به ونتوكل عليه ونعود بالله من شرور أنفسنا ونتسيئات عمالنا ويهدي الله فلا مبلا له وما يُدينه فلا هاليلة وأشهد أن لا إله إلا الله وحده بشريك له وأشهد أن محمد العبد هو رسول الله وسلم وصلكم بارك على سيئنا محمد المدير أمي وعلى آله مصحيه وسلم الكثيرا يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتقضواها حق تقاتي اتقضواها حق تقاتي ولا تموتوا إلا وانتم مسلمون يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتقضواها وقولوا قولا بسميلا يصلح لكم عمالكم ويفر لكم دلوكم ونتفرق الله في محمدنا وعلى آله مصحيه وسلم والذي is a reality free will and therefore the moral accountability of every human being and therefore law and order in society. That's at one level and we affirm that and all prophets taught that. But at a deeper level everything is destined from Allah. Everything that occurs in the world is destined from Allah Azawajan eternally. الله سبحانه وتعالى knows everything eternally that will happen in the cosmos. الله تعالى chooses everything eternally that will happen in the cosmos. وما تشاءون إلا أن يشاء الله. Even our decisions mysteriously and we don't want to enter into this mystery that it's something that our scholars teach us not to enter into. It's not something we can fit into the cognitive categories of the atan which is called the سرم فضل سيكة of the Divine Decree بيزا بي كيومن شويس. It's one of the mysteries and there are logical and rational and philosophical ways of unpacking it that are satisfying to the apple but this is not the context for that. It's something we acknowledge both the surface level and the deeper level. The level of شريع, the level of حقيت, the level of cause and effect of the world and the level of ultimate reality which is a reflection of the Divine Will eternally decreed by الله عز وجل and then of course قدرت الله. The fact that everything that is occurring in the world goes back to the power of Allah. والله وخالق وكل شيء. الله is the creator of every single thing, every circumstance, every event, every occurrence in the world. كل يومن هو في شبن. At every moment Allah is engaged in an affair. At every moment Allah is engaged directly in an affair. And so we affirm both of these realities, both of these levels of understanding the world and so at the surface level we put the work in to alleviate suffering. We put the work in to better the situation of ourselves, our families, our communities, society at large. We do what we can to promote good and to promote beauty and to promote light and to promote alleviation from suffering but all the while the heart recognizes that all of this is jikami and that is what we don't reject. We don't reject the قضاء الله. While we work to solve problems in the world we affirm and we accept and we are content with what Allah has destined for us. This is the way of the Prophet ﷺ and this is the way of our Prophet ﷺ as he taught us in is the hadith that Timothy relates إن عيد من بلاء إن عيد من جزاء مع عيد من بلاء that the immensity of reward is commensurate with the immensity of the tribulation. The greatness of the reward is matching, is commensurate, it's corresponding to the heaviness, the weightiness of the tribulation. وإن الله تعالى إذا أحب قوم إبتلاهم. And rarely Allah, when he loves and people he tests them. When Allah loves and people he tests them. He sends tribulations, different types of tribulations. فَمَنْ رَذِيَ فَلَبُرْضَى The Prophet ﷺ says whoever is content i.e. with the حقق level recognizing that this is from Allah. It doesn't mean not working to solve the tribulation. It doesn't mean not putting in the effort to alleviate the suffering. If someone is sick they go to the doctor. They take the medicine. If someone is under a type of family problem they go they seek counseling. If people are suffering the people that are not suffering from a particular calamity the moral on them is on them to work, to solve and to help those that are disenfranchised or in difficulty in painful circumstances. But at the حقق level من رد يفرح رد with the ultimate destiny behind it. فَلَبُرْضَى Then they shall receive the contentment of Allah. وَمَنْ سَخِتَ فَلَهُ سُخْطْ بُرَيَادِ بُلَا And whoever is upset at Allah whoever is frustrated at the divine whoever objects to what Allah is destined then they shall get the objection and the frustration back from Allah. And we see refuge from Allah. We see refuge from Allah. This is why one of the great metaphysicians of our tradition he says that There is one specific trait that يُهمِرُ العماد It nullifies good deeds وَلَا يَنْ تَبِرُ عَلَيْهِ كَثِرُ مِنَ نَاسْ But the majority of people are unaware of it in their hearts. There is one specific trait that nullifies good deeds but most people are unaware of it. وَهِيَا Namely سفة العب على قضاء الله تعالى is for the servant to be frustrated at the destiny that Allah has set for them at the decree that Allah has determined for them And he mentions the verse من القرآن بأنهم كريه ما أنزل الله فأحبت عالله That is because they were upset at what Allah sent them And so Allah rendered their good deeds نلعب and void And so Allah rendered their good deeds نلعب and void This verse of course refers to the specific context of the revelation where the people at the time of the prophets who were upset at revelation itself The Waqee But as an Isha'a as an illusion, a spiritual lesson that is in addition, it doesn't replace this but in addition something of benefit that the Imam points out is that this is also applicable And this is in our life Those are also sent by Allah Those are also sent by Allah And if someone has karaoke if they're upset at what Allah has set for them the package of their destiny then this is a recipe for one's good deeds being nullified أحبت عالله but he makes their good deeds just disappear as if they were nothing And so this is part of the answer to what's called the problem of suffering in philosophy the problem of suffering part of the answer and we say part of the answer because the full answer is it takes much time to unpack and also at the foundation of the answer in our tradition is that we don't question Allah what the response that's often proffered by philosophers and theists is theodicy which is to justify what God does and the basic response as soon as who are we to justify what Allah does that's hubristic in its very nature and theodicy has a type of hubris behind it often there are various theodicies that are there that satisfy the soul at some level the fact that there is reward in the affidah the fact that there is various wisdoms we don't deny the wisdoms behind suffering in the world but at bottom لا يسألوا عما يفعل لا يسألوا عما يفعل وهم يسألون as Allah is not asked about what He does but they shall be asked and so part of the response to the problem of suffering is to not treat it as an abstract philosophical discourse as a speculative issue but rather as a practical issue is what's this data by heart when I when I am in a state of suffering when I am dealt with with a blow of fate what's the state of my heart because that's the only answer that matters that's the only answer that matters and that's the only answer that can allow us to experience something of toheed rather than simply speculating about toheed we affirm toheed in the third person when we learn it as عقيدة when we learn it as عقيدة in a third person perspective but if we reflect for example in the Surah Al-Fatiha there is a transition from the third person to the second person Bismillahirrahmanirrahim الحضر الله ربنا ربنا ربنا ربنا ربنا ربنا ربنا ربنا ربنا ربنا ربنا Please do continue this is a turning a rhetorical turn one of the wisdom's that our scholars have derived from this is this is part of the solution to these problems is that to not just learn about Allah in the third person but to actually turn to Allah face to face as it were with dua with supplication is that the person بدأ finds out of the rate of difficulty their turn to Allah is part of the answer to the problem of suffering and that's their answer. my answer is when I turn to Allah and your answer is when you turn to Allah and every believer has their own unique experience of the tongue of Allah when they turn to Allah in the privacy of their hearts, in the most intimate connection that they have with Allah and this is why the knowledge of Islam is not an abstract knowledge يجب أن يكون إفرام في مكان أكبر one of the famous aphorisms of Imam Junaid رحم الله يسازل ألمه يجبوا استعماله في مراتبه سكر المعلم يحتاج أنه يفرام في مكان أكبر فمن لم يستعمله في مراتبه كان عليه لأله أن من who ever does not يفرام في مكان أكبر يجب أن يكون لهم مقاومة لهم وليس مقاومة لهم وذلك المهمة على مكان أكبر في بطأة مكان هو مقاومة لهم في بطاقة المتوحد it's not simply to learn as in Afrida وعلى حتى بأخذ that's the beginning of our journey but it's supposed to be our way the lens of the heart in seeing and experiencing and responding to the events of our lives and in other words recognizing that Allah has decided this for me الله سبحانه وتعالى وإنه المتياس وإنه المتجاية وإنه والطاقة وإنه الجناء وإنه المتكوات وإنه المتواجسة وإنه المحتوى وإنه الى العالم كل من هؤلاء الأشخاص بها تتهي فرصة الس�يد أن تكون لهم فرق صدسة يدخلنا وقتنا حوله فهذا هو أفضل أن أرد منه أزا وجن وهذا هو أصدقائف أن أصدقائف سبلا يسلم في أحد أصدقائفه أحد أصدقائفه في حياته بعد أنه في سنواته أصدقائفه when he loses his beloved wife خديجة الله يبقى معك when he loses his beloved uncle أبوطادي حياته was the spiritual and emotional support and his uncle was the political and societal support and then all the reasons are being severed all the means in the world are being severed and then at thought he is ridiculed he is mocked he is rejected صلى الله عليه وسلم to the extent that the people he loved the most servants and children throw stones at him and his blessed body blood is flowing his legs صلى الله عليه وسلم what does he do the beautiful dua where he turns to Allah الله is not abstract for him صلى الله عليه وسلم الله is his direct beloved صلى الله عليه وسلم and he is the beloved of Allah and he turns in فقر افتقال need oh Allah implore you أبوديا servitude to Allah affirming that he is the act and Allah is the رب this is the solution to the problem of suffering that it's not a philosophical solution it's an experiential solution and that's the teaching of all the prophets صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم إن الله صلى الله عليه وسلم الحمد لله صلى الله عليه وسلم والا سيبنا محمد البير وميد وعلى آلس وصحته وستسرمة كتيرة and so this turning from the third person to the second person this is not an overnight event for most of us this is a process years of working on ourselves working on the state of our souls working on the state of our hearts لكي تصدرنا الناس who naturally turn to Allah right away in the second person through dua and supplication and asking Allah for help. And so what are the means? What are some of the means that the spiritual asbab that we can take to allow our souls to ascend in this movement from the third person to the second person? Two of the most important ones are good company and the remembrance of Allah. الله سبحانه وتعالى says Oh people of faith have God consciousness, piety with Allah and be with the genuine ones, be with the truthful ones, be with the authentic ones. In other words, like it said, birds of a feather flock together. If we are around people of a certain way, we will imbibe and imbue and reflect their traits. And how yesterday, as our scholars say, the states of people transfer over to other states. If we're on people in generosity, we'll find ourselves wanting to be more generous. But if we're on people who are stingy, then we'll become more and more stingy. And all of the virtues work this way. If we're on people who are in the state of remembrance of Allah, then our heedlessness will be lessened. We'll be more and more aware of the reality of Allah that is omnipresent. That Allah is all-knowing and all-willing and all-powerful behind all the events in the world. That this is خلق الله عز وجل. But if we're on people that are heedless and unaware of Allah, then we'll become more and more heedless. And this is why the Prophet also said, صلى الله عليه وسلم, as Abu Dawud relates in his سنام, أن المروع على دين خليلي. That an individual will be on the very religion of his intimate friend. The خليل is someone you spend a lot of time with. Your intimate friend. فجندر أحدكم من يخاليله. So let each of you look carefully, reflect deeply as to who he keeps intimate company with. General friendship is broad. But intimate friendship, the people of close سحبا. This should be very, very, we should be very careful because we want to absorb the good of the best. We want to absorb the good of the best. And this is particularly important for our young people. But it applies to all of us. And this is why one of our scholars, أهو أثناني خليلي. He says, من صحيب النفسه. That whoever keeps company with himself. Whoever keeps company with himself. صحيبه الأجب. That vanity will keep his company. Narcissism will keep his company. If someone doesn't have good company then suddenly they're more and more impressed with themselves and their ideas and how smart they are and how much they have accomplished. And the litany of their accomplishments outweighs the litany of the remembrance of Allah. And we seek refuge in Allah from such hearts. من صحيب النفسه. صحيبه الأجب. ومن صحيب أولياء الله. But whoever keeps the company of the people that Allah loves. Whoever keeps the company of the saints of Allah. وفطا للوصول إلى الطريق إلى الله تعالى. He will be granted the God-given success to find a path of drawing near to Allah. Of drawing near to Allah. And so this is what we seek. And the most important company is our teachers. And this is one of the calamities of the Ummah today is that you have spokes people of the religion that have no sonnet in the religion. People that have no therapy that never sat with the people who bequeathed this knowledge because they were given it and their teachers were given it and their teachers were given it back to their early generation of the sonnet from the Prophet himself. صلى الله عليه وسلم. This is the way that knowledge was transferred in our tradition. And this doesn't negate that we can have innovative thought and what's called free thinking but it has to be within certain parameters because when it comes to interpretation of scripture there are certain facts. There are undeniable facts about what the limits of language are and what the interpretive tradition has recognized as sound interpretation. And so that's for the outward and also for the inward. Is that part of our tradition is to have a teacher of someone that can again teach someone how to raise the level of their souls and to embrace prophetic virtue and to cleanse the heart from demonic vice. And this is also a carita in our umma a calamity in our umma is that people are many people who speak about the religion have neither the teachers of the outward nor the tambia of the inward through teachers. And this is why this is also emphasized the best company and the most important company is the quality of one's teachers the fact that one should have authentic teachers. This is why the teacher of Imam al-Khusheri رحم الله أبو عالية he was once asked how does a person straighten out the crookedness of their soul? How does a person straighten out the crookedness of their soul? He says by receiving adab by learning adab by learning etiquette and manners and the prophetic rate from a true righteous scholar and Imam فإن المن لم يتأدب the Imam بقية بطالم because he says whoever does it take their acquire and inculcate the prophetic way the manners of the sunnah from an authentic teacher he remains بطالم just useless useless no matter how much he speaks no matter how much he might pontificate about his brilliant insights it's not going to affect the heart because it's not accompanied with the light that comes from receiving knowledge from people that have received it from people that have received it back to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and so then coupled with good company that is the remembrance of Allah this is another imperative principle for allowing our teachings of creative metaphysics to become experienced in realities of our heart this turn from the third person to the second person but the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم صلى الله عليه وسلم ويوجد إشارات أمسر في نفسينا نفس محبكة بأسكام مثل الناس التي تسعمل أكثر بورators بأسكام مثل الناس التي تسعمل أكثر بورators بأسكام مثل ترمدي المستهد الناس في ذكر الله عز way jab هؤلاء الذين يجب أن ينقذونهم في يتونى يوم القيامة الخفافة يجب أن ينقذونهم في يتونى يوم القيامة الخفافة يجب أن ينقذونهم في يتونى يوم القيامة الخفافة يجب أن ينقذونهم في يتونى يوم القيامة الخفافة يجب أن ينقذونهم في يتونى يوم القيامة الخفافة يجب أن ينقذونهم في يتونى يوم القيامة الخفافة لا ي يتخيل أن الإراداء ينظر فيه البحث يخطأ Tarah عندما تسألوا لك فا إذا أغفن فا هت but when the person is heathess and is aware of Allah then there is a job for the soul then there is a job for the soul and so illumination of the heart heavenly rain spiritual rain for the heart this is what cultivates a heart that has its own personal answer to the problem of suffering its own personal experience answer to the problem of suffering and these are the hearts of the saints and they never question Allah we ask Allah to make us people like that the Prophet ﷺ would apply the vicar in all of his context صلى الله عليه وسلم he had a vicar for putting on a garment he had a vicar for entering the home he had a vicar for leaving the home صلى الله عليه وسلم all of the all of the changes and physical situations the event for event he started with the vicar of Allah and he taught us that it's a protection صلى الله عليه وسلم إمام أبو داودة تبندي المسائد they are related to the Prophet ﷺ من خالق يعني إذا خرج من البيت whoever says while leaving the house بسم الله بسم الله بسم الله with the name of Allah with the name of Allah what a gift from Allah what a gift from Allah and in أهب السنة the name and the name are inseparable in أهب السنة both our theology and our mystical tradition الإسم المسمى الواحد the name and the name are inseparable so if we say بسم الله then we are accompanied by Allah because it's باء المصاحبة according to many grammarians it's about accompaniment so that if the name is in our company then the name is in our company بسم الله and if Allah is our company then I rely fully on Allah وَدَحُونَ وَحُولَتَ إِنَّا بِلَّا and there is no might, there is no power this is applied metaphysics it's not only about getting it right on an exam or being able to articulate it on it with the pen and paper no, realizing وَدَحُولَ وَنَا بُولَتَ إِنَّا بِلَّا there is no might or power no one can move anything except the power of Allah except the power of Allah these are deep deep meanings and it takes years to even start to approximate them but the hadith whoever says this this is the mercy now descending on the person you've been guided and you've been sufficed and all your needs are taken care of and you have a special protection a special protection don't worry about anything don't worry about anything وَتَنَحَ عَنُوا شَيْطَانَ and even shaitan can't touch such a person untouchable even shaitan cannot touch such a person and he's wondering why the shaitan says to the other what do you do about a man that you know what do you do about a man that's guided and sufficed and protected they're completely dumbstruck as to how to affect such a person and that's the greatest protection is from shaitan and from the ego because then the person can be with the prophetic way in their days and their nights we ask Allah to give us the tawfi and to experience our tawfi to experience the tariq that was bequeathed to us by the Prophet ﷺ we ask Allah to protect us to protect our communities to protect our loved ones to protect the entire ummah to protect all of our society we ask Allah to protect our neighbors we ask Allah to give us special protection by the blessing of his remembrance عزا وجل الله مفرج عنه وعن المسلمين في كل مكان الله مفرج عنه وعن المسلمين في كل مكان الله مفرج عنه وعن المسلمين وعن المسلمين في كل مكان الله مئنا نسلك العفو وعفو وعفقت عامة في الدنيا وعن توفيق الاخلاص ودوام وليعمة وحسن فتام ربنا آتينا من لدنك رحمة وهيئنا من عمرنا رشدة الله مئنا نسلك العفو وعفو وعفقت عامة في الدنيا وعن كل المسلم إن الله وملايك تهوي صلون عالم نبي يا أيها الذين أعملوا صغوة عليه وسلم ورسمة الله مسلم وسلم وبارك عناسينا محمدا نبي وعلى آله وصحبي