 We praise Allah swt and we thank Him for His countless bounties and gifts upon us and we testify that there is nothing worthy of worship other than Allah swt and we bear witness to the finality of the Prophethood of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Whoever Allah guides no one can send astray and whosoever Allah leaves astray no one else can guide. I remind myself and all of you with me to have taqwa, to have weariness and consciousness with Allah swt and our private and public affairs for indeed fear of Allah is the pinnacle of wisdom. Allah swt tells us in the Qur'an one of the purposes of life in the verse which many of you will be familiar with Allah swt says in Surat al-Mulk, That Allah swt tells us that one of the purposes of the life that He created for us here, this temporal world is to try us, is to test us, so that He can see which of us is best in deeds. And so here we know that this is the abode of trial and tribulation, but within it is emptied out, there is differences and our states go between states of ease and states of difficulty and our responses to each of these prospective states will tell us something about our spiritual states. The great Yemeni Mujeddin Imam al-Haddad says that he talks about the various vicissitudes of life and the responses of one who has taqwa of Allah swt, the one who has a state of ihsan with Allah swt and the one who is of the world and distant from Allah swt. The opposite of that would be someone who is of the world and he begins with the state of poverty, something that we would all deem to be a difficulty in this world. But he talks about the person of taqwa, what is their behavior when they are in difficulty, that the person of taqwa when they are in a state of poverty they are grateful for the little that they have, that they are patient with the affair of Allah swt, that they are content, that they accept this decree from Allah swt, that they will conceal their situation, that had you not known you would think them to be in a better state because of their effa, that this is the state of taqwa and Allah swt because of their contentment, because of their patience, Allah swt will give them nearness to him. And in this very same set of circumstances, if it is a worldly and corrupted, immoral person, they will complain, they will find fault with this situation, they will see others who have wealth and say why him and not me, and they will be ridiculed by people for their state. So it's the same situation, one is a heart filled with taqwa and another only sees dunya. And the inverse is also true, in a state of wealth, the person of taqwa in a state of wealth knows that it comes from Allah swt, they see this as a means to help others who are less fortunate, that they do nafaqah, they spend from their wealth in order to help others, and they see it as a test from Allah swt. One thing you will be asked about twice on the Day of Judgment as well, where did you get it from and how did you spend it, both how it came in and how you used it, and they will be aware of this because of their taqwa. And people will pray for this person, they will say this is a righteous person of wealth who helps so many people, but the same circumstances that they were given to a person distant from Allah swt, they would see that it would increase them in arrogance. And this is one of the descriptions Allah gives for one of the great kufaq in Surah iqla, where Allah swt says that that he thought himself to be self-sufficient, this is what wealth will do to the correct person. They will see this from themselves, that they are deserving of it and they will hoard it because they think that it comes from themselves. And people will see them and say what a stingy miser as a result. And here is a reminder to us that in all of these various stages of life, whether in poverty or in wealth, and this can be applied for the sick person and the healthy person. This can be applied in so many things, one can be, when you're healthy you're in a state of gratitude, you use it in order to worship Allah swt. But the righteous person will use it simply to complain and say why do I have this situation? Sayyidina Ayyub alayhi salam is the epitome of contentment with illness. And we are encouraged in that to see the lesson. People told them maybe this is a punishment from your Lord. They tried to encourage him to complain. And this is a human tendency. We see misery loves company we say because we love to complain to one another. And that when you have somebody tells you you should complain, very easy pitfall. The Sayyidina Ayyub alayhi salam saw as coming from Allah swt. And in health. So all of these come from Allah swt. What is the criteria that distinguishes us? Talk a lot of Allah swt. And when we know that these changes come from Allah swt. We will know the requisite response. Imam al-Ghazali has in his famous Ahia al-Num ad-Din, something which the title alone will teach you something. He talks about Kitab al-Tawqid wa Tawqid. That the book of Tawqid, knowing the oneness of Allah swt. And Tawqid because they cannot be separated. Why? The ulema talk about many of us, all of us as Muslims have theological Tawqid. Nobody here would ascribe to more than one Lord. But why hasn't that Tawqid penetrated us in a spiritual state? Why does even a believer steal? If you were to catch a Muslim thief, why did you steal? Don't you know that Allah swt wrote you here at his? Yes, I know that you wrote me here at his. Do you think stealing will increase your at his? No, technically I know it doesn't increase why it is. Why then does this person steal? Why then do we fear of our at his? Because the meanings have not penetrated our heart. And so if we want to succeed in these tests that Allah swt is putting forth in our lives, we must grow in Tawqid through increasing our certainty of the oneness of Allah swt and increasing in Tawqid. Seeing that Allah swt as he told Sayyidina Mu'ad in the famous hadith that's also in the 40 hadith of Imam An-Nabawi that in Ishtamaat al-Uma If all of the mankind in Sinjin were together to bring you a benefit that Allah swt did not write for you, that would not be for you. And if they all conspired to bring you a harm that Allah swt did not write for you, they could not bring it for you. Right? The pens have been lifted and the ink has dried. So when we know our state is determined by Allah swt then we have to have Tawqid in all of our states. We have to have Tawqid in all of our states. There's another famous hadith in which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says إِتَقْلَّا حَيْفُ مَا كُونْتَ Fear Allah in whatever situation you are in. Right? So sickness, health, wealth, poverty. All of these states have a requisite form of Tawqid an expression of Tawqid there. إِتَقْلَّا حَيْفُ مَا كُونْتَ وَأَتْبَعَ سَيْتَ الْحَسَنَةَ تَمْحُوْهَ And follow up the sin with the good deed it will erase it وَخَانَكُ الْنَاسَ بِخُلُقِ الْحَسَنْ Here the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is giving us a very comprehensive piece of advice that we should have Tawqid of Allah regardless of the situation. When we fall short, he reminds us وَأَتْبَعَ سَيْتَ الْحَسَنَةَ تَمْحُوْهَ Follow up the bad deed with the good one and it will erase it. We all will fall short in these states. But we have to look internally. We cannot blame the states. If I only had this job, if I only got this promotion, if only my health were better, if only I were married, if only I had this, all of us Allah puts us through different difficulties. But he tells us اَيُكُمْ اَحْسَنُوا عَمَلَا That this is the very purpose of our life here on earth and what we are responsible for is not the decree of Allah SWT but our response therein. One of the six objects of faith that are laid out in multiple places both in the Qur'an and the hadith etc. is that our belief in Qadr, Allah's decree is measuring out what each of us gives. We are not responsible for what we give. Allah SWT is Al-Raza. He gives out what He wills. Each of us must ask ourselves what is my state of contentment? What is my state of gratitude? What is my state of using the bounties Allah SWT gave me in a way that shows this gratitude? And how am I living and seeing all of the aspects in my life as coming from the decree of Allah SWT? When I get fired, do I see that as coming from Allah SWT? When I get promoted, do I see that as coming from myself? Or do I see that as coming from Allah SWT? The Prophet SAW has said, Are you balanced? And he said, what do you mean, Ya Rasulallah? And he said, are people's blame and praise the same to you? Are they equal in your eyes? Because if you're connected to your Lord, people's praise, you know they're not praising you. Like many of the scholars said, they're praising the veiling that Allah has veiled my faults. Someone praises me, I know it's that Allah has veiled my faults. And if somebody censors you, it's your own nefs. And so that shouldn't bother you if you're connected to Allah SWT. So may Allah SWT make us amongst those who evaluate ourselves and our relationship with Him and place talk to a central therein. So we're talking about the abode of dunya, being a place of trial and tribulation and also of bounties and gifts. And that our response therein is indicative of our spiritual state with our Lord. There is, there is, there is, there is, there is, there is a great summary of these states that was given, by saying that, he was sitting in a Majlis and he gave a great summation of all of human states. Each of us, everyone in this room, everyone in the world, all of their states can be summarized, summed up into four states. You are, we're either in a state of ni'mah, of bounty, or we're in a state of difficulty. That's it. State of bounty or ease in a state of difficulty. Or we're in a state of obedience to Allah SWT or we fall into a state of disobedience. If you can see all of the vicissitudes of this world in this matrix of four possible states, you will then know what it is that you're up against. And then Abbas and Mursi then went on to describe that each of these states has a requisite response. So imagine a doctor telling you if this symptom arises, take this medication. But if you get this symptom, take this medication. And this is the only possible scenario. And he said that, if you are in a state of ease and bounty, then you must be in a state of gratitude to Allah SWT. So each of us can look at our lives and find areas of immense bounty, particularly where we live in this country. Everybody has difficulty, but Alhamdulillah, on average, many of us have immense bounty. What you do, you don't feel guilty about that bounty. He says you show gratitude for that bounty. And for those that are in a state of difficulty, simply requires patience. Patience. And there's a difference in Arabic that scholars talk about the difference between Sabar and Tahammur, right? And dealing with it is different than patience, right? So they'll say in Arabic, like a donkey bears a burden, but you don't call a donkey patient. Patience is to take, is to bear the difficulty with grace, with contentment, right? There's a famous hadith in which the Prophet SAW saw a woman who was standing over the grave of her son and she was weeping. And the Prophet SAW told her, patience, she didn't realize it was a Prophet SAW and she basically told him, leave me alone, you don't know this difficulty that I'm in. And afterwards they told her, do you know who that was? That was the Prophet SAW. And she was, she scurried over immediately in a state to come to the Prophet SAW and to apologize. And he taught her, and all of us along with her, that in the sabra, in the sabmat al-u'la, that if patience, truly patience, is when the affliction first strikes. When affliction first strikes, everybody can catch their, get their bearings later. Everybody can collect themselves weeks later. But when the calamity first hits, to know that this is from Allah SWT and to be firm and patient, doesn't mean that there's no sadness, doesn't mean that you don't find it difficult, right? But that there's a grace in knowing that this is from my Lord and I will stand and bear this patiently. For the state of, of being in a state of obedience to Allah SWT, one must have shawudan minna to see Allah's favor upon you. To see Allah SWT's favor upon you. That we don't grow in arrogance to say I pray, I fast, I do, whatever state of obedience we find ourselves in, to remind ourselves like we begin every hutla, whoever Allah guides, no one can send astray. And whosoever Allah leaves astray, no one can guide. So we have to see Allah's favor upon us. And if we're in a state of disobedience, then we make tauba, repentance, to Allah SWT. All of our lives, all of our ups and downs, good times and bad times, right? All of our sins, all of our prayers, all of our fasting, everything can be seen through the lens of these four. And if we follow the appropriate response, then we will be okay with Allah SWT. Because he said, If you're grateful, then I will increase you. And we know the promises for those who are patient, particularly with taqwa, whoever has taqwa of Allah, Allah will give him a way out, will create for him a way out, and give him sustenance from once he knows not. And if we see Allah's favor upon us, we will not grow in arrogance. And Allah SWT will guide us further. And if we make tauba, even if them become Allah, then better. The one who makes tauba from a sin is like the one who has not sinned. And so these are the states that are given to us. May Allah SWT give us the wisdom to look at our own lives, introspectively, and to show gratitude for what we should be grateful for, to be patient with those things that are difficult. May He give us the ability to witness His favor upon us, gathering here in this Jumu'a now. And may He make us true in our repentance for those errors in which we fall short. We fall short. O Allah, send Your sublime blessings and salutations upon the Prophet Muhammad, his family and companions. And upon the one who believed even when things seemed bleak, his companion in the cave of Abu Bakr al-Saddiq. And upon the mighty companion martyred in the Mehra, standing clearly for the truth, and upon the one who took two lights by the hand, he even made the angels shire, and upon his beloved cousin, the gate to the city of knowledge, the courageous and wise, and upon Hassan and Hussain, the princes of paradise, and upon their pure mother Fatima and ours, Khadija the wise, and upon Aisha, Hamza and Abbas, we ask the same, those who pledged and abed and uhad they came, and upon all of the Prophet's noble companions, and all of those who followed until the day of standing, Allahumma sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and the Muslims, and those who worshiped them, and the polytheists, and the enemies of our enemies, and the enemies of the deen. Allahumma, guide us in those who are guided, and guide us in those who are forgiven. Allahumma sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, Allahumma sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, Allahumma sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, Allahumma, grant us success in our affairs We have those who have difficulty with great ease and forgive them their sins and elevate all of our stations and nearness to you and grant us a true repentance before our final days. We have those who have difficulty with great ease and elevate our stations and nearness to you and grant us a true repentance before our final days.