 بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله وبالعالمين والصلاة والسلام على أنبياء الله جميعا وعلى سيدهم وخاتمهم حبيب إله العالمين أب القاسل المصطفة محمد وعلى أهل بيته الطيبين الطاهرين المعصومين الذين هاله والله وعنه ودبسه وطرحه وهم تضغيره بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم ومن الناس من يشري نفسه ابتغاء مرضات الله والله رقوفا بالإباد صدق الله العلي العظيم ومن these three nights last night tonight and tomorrow we're going to discuss some aspects of the life of the commander of the faithfuls our leader our Imam the Imam Amir al-Mu'mineen al-Yubra al-Bibali al-Salaam and this title Amir al-Mu'mineen has been given by the Prophet only to Imam Ali an exclusive title only Imam Ali among the companions of the Prophet it's the one who had been given this title to him by the Prophet صلى الله عليه وبركاته ساكريفايز has different steps and kinds and levels some people sacrifice their time others sacrifice their money their wealth another group may sacrifice his or her expertise knowledge sometimes someone sacrifices his or her comfort sometimes a person sacrifices his honor his dignity and honor and tell him this person listens only to you so we want you to use your honor your dignity to push this thing to happen to mediate between two people this is sacrificing one's honor but the Holy Quran says the highest level of sacrifice is when you give your soul when you give your life when you give your blood for a sacred cause and therefore Imam Ali عليه السلام was the true embodiment of selflessness of true sacrifice of true devotion and earnestness and sincerity what we call it in Islam is sincerity the Holy Quran in Surat Al-Baqara verse 2 or 7 chapter 2 Allah records the highest act of sacrifice one can provide for others and that is when Imam Ali عليه السلام decided to voluntarily to stay to sleep in the bed of the Prophet when the Prophet had to leave that night and the very dangerous circumstances leaves the city of Makkah because enemies were surrounding his house 40 tribes they decided there was a coalition of 40 tribes of Quraish pagans and idol worshippers who decided to put an end to the life of the Prophet because the Prophet was left defenseless his main defender Abu Talib عليه السلام the father of Imam Ali died a few weeks later Khadija died Abu Talib died in the month of Rajat Khadija died in the month of Ramadan on the 10th of Ramadan between them only a few weeks the Prophet declared that year as the year of sadness and grief عام الحز and he was left defenseless nobody would defend him against the aggression of Quraish Quraish took advantage of this they decided to kill the Prophet they said we will do 3 things to him either we stop him from preaching his business that he calls Islam we will put him under pressure or we murder him or the least thing we can do to him is to expel him so they plotted to murder the Prophet the Prophet knew Allah sent him a message Imam Ali also knew he said I will stay in your bed so you can leave peacefully and he said I will stay in your bed I will stay in your bed so you can leave peacefully and he spent the night where he knew that he is going to be killed because Quraish surrounded the house of the Prophet it was under siege but Allah saved the Prophet saved him through America the Prophet left his house he took a handful of pebbles and he threw it in their face they became blinded for a few minutes Quraish became blind Quraish became blind and they could not see the Prophet leaving the house Imam Ali was in his bed Allah records this incident in the Holy Quran Allah eternalizes and celebrates this incident of sacrifice by a man who was only 21 years old a young man but he said I will give my life to protect Islam not just to protect my cousin Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم but I want to do a service for Islam to protect Islam so Allah says in verse 207 ومن الناس among the people this is the way God gives example he always uses ومن الناس among the people ومن الناس يشري نفسه يشري is selling when you sell something يشري يشري نفسه يشتري to buy يشري to sell يشري نفسه he gives his soul his life ومن الناس يشري نفسه ابتغاء ابتغاء مرضات الله الله knows that Imam Ali is devout and dedicated and sincere he has a class he was not looking for titles he was not looking for any sort of a place by anyone so God knows about the soul the only one who knows about the soul what we think the heart is God we don't know about each other we don't know about each other's intentions sometimes we say I can read his mind but not always correct you might read his mind wrongly you might interpret someone wrongly the only one who knows about the intentions inner intentions and the heart and what we conceal in our minds is Allah يعلم خائلة الأعيون وما تخفص صدوق what we conceal in the hearts is known for him for God so Allah says if Imam Ali did what he did he exposed himself to danger to murder to be killed defending the prophet and defending Islam ابتغاء مرضات الله he did it for one thing seeking God's satisfaction رب الله that's the ultimate goal of every devout worshiper this should be our goal in life some of us we seek the satisfaction of our boss some of us we seek the satisfaction of our wives the husbands the children but the ultimate satisfaction should go for God when we satisfy God this should be our goal when we satisfy God we can serve the humanity we can be good because we dedicate our intention not for human beings but for the Lord of the human beings for the Lord of the universe ابتغاء مرضات الله والله وعوفن بالإمات and thus God becomes compassionate with his servants so this is one incident Imam Ali teaches us that we have to fight a disease this is a mental disease this is a social disease which is rampant in the communities in the societies among people and that disease is called self-centeredness self-centeredness when we only love ourselves when we only put ourselves above others that's a disease this is an abnormality we have to cure this what is the medicine who is the psychotherapist psychologist where is it this is the holy Quran what season when the month of Ramallah the month of Ramallah through fasting we have to fight egoism we have to fight selfishness to put ourselves before others that's a disease it would render all our deeds useless when you only consider yourself to be important and the most important thing and you don't have any consideration for others this is a disease such a person is going to have a problem in the family with his family members with his wife with her husband with his children with his neighbors with his partners at work with people outside with people inside this is a mental disease self-centeredness Imam Ali is an example Imam Ali says I am important but there are things more important than me God is more important than me humanity is more important than me I am an individual people are more important than me I am a member of a community I should be a soldier defending the community we should always put successful successful communities successful countries are the ones that they put people before individuals whenever people are before individuals that country moves forward very fast but in certain countries they put an individual before people the individual is more important one individual is more important than 40 million 50 million 60 million 100 million people they don't care about people his highness his majesty is more important this is how it works countries that go backward day by day they put individuals above the general interest of the country Imam Ali says no this is wrong Imam Ali is when I say Imam Ali I mean the prophet because Imam Ali is the servant of the prophet the student of the prophet everything Imam Ali learned every single thing comes from prophet Muhammad Imam Ali says you have to fight this self-centeredness fight it أقبل على النفس his jewels look at what he says he says أقبل على النفس بالإجباري عنها beautiful serve your nefs your soul by turning away from it by crushing your bad desires when you crush your bad desires you nurture yourself you make it stronger you polish yourself you refine it you make it powerful but if we supposed to listen to our desires every single desire we listen to it and we obey we become the weakest weaker than some animals God says in the Holy Quran that some human beings are weaker than some animals some animals when they eat they are full they don't look at the food anymore they give it but some human being they eat they are full but they still plunder people's food people's wealth people's clothing people's land they don't get full why? because his nefs is weak that person has not nurtured his nefs أقبل على النفس serve your nefs by turning away from it not listening to it every time it tells you to do something say to yourself I am free yes has created me free and because I am free I should not do everything some children they say I am free I can do anything and everything this is wrong because you are free you should not do everything you should control yourself certain things you should not cross them you should say to this not your father not your teacher not the policeman not the judge you should be the judge over yourself you should say to yourself I am not going to do this this is a red line even if I the story of yesterday there Sudanese student who received the news that you made whatever million euros in your account he went to the bank manager after three times telling him this is not my money this does not belong to me although he needed money he needed money but he drew a red line for himself he would not cross it if the money does not belong to me I am not going to touch it I am not going to and there are whatever circumstances I am not going to touch such a person becomes a hero such a person becomes a leader such a person God says about him in the Holy Quran ومن الناس من يشري نفسه ابتراه أم رعاة الله والله ربوا من بقاته the difference of علي ابنى يطالب with others is not in the size neither in the color if you would see علي ابنى يطالب in the middle of a cloud you would never distinguish him from others same color, same size but his nefs was different the nefs that he carried here was completely different his nefs was high his nefs was sublime and powerful because he nurtured his nefs this is a process of nurturing we don't learn it in one night this is why every year we have a month of Ramadan we need this 30 days of fasting, of devotion of intense prayers of intense repentance we need it every year because we forget we soon forget 2 days after Ramadan we forget everything so we have to remind ourselves therefore the Prophet you remember what the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said when the people came back from a military excursion jihad he dispatched them outside Medina to defend the boundaries of Medina they came back from that trip exhausted some of them were wounded some of them were murdered the Prophet received them and he said لقد عطم الآن عطم من الجهات أصغر و بقي عليكم الجهات الأكبر you just came back from the minor jihad they said we gave some casualties many members of us were murdered we were wounded and he called it small jihad minor he said yes they said then what is the grand jihad الجهاد الأكبر he said الجهاد الأكبر جهاد النفس self control this is real jihad when you are able to make yourself a true human being true human being that's the message of Islam to make us true human being جهاد الأكبر when we are able to reach that stage where we say to the sins things that are sins and haram we say no to them no I'm not ready to do that this is haram this is illegal I'm going to corrupt myself by doing this this is الجهاد الأكبر and that's the goal of the month of Ramadan the Qura'at that we read during the nights of Qadr the Qura'at that we read the supplication that the Hajj all ends in one point they trickle down to one point to make us able to resist power of resistance to nurture the power of مقارمة resistance to resistance إمام علي was here in this department it was here in the department of مقارمة and the department of fighting his ego crushing his ego therefore إمام علي left nothing for himself everything he did everything he did was for the sake of God not for self promotion he did not work for himself and Allah says when you work for me I work for you if you do everything for me I'll do everything for you and look at إمام علي where is إمام علي today why people love إمام علي why people are attached to him I heard from many scholars who told me once one of them told me that we are not attached to our leaders the way you guys are attached to I will pay to إمام علي it's amazing the way you are attached to them you celebrate their martyrdom you celebrate their births you remember them you praise them you name your kids after them I said yes of course this is this is المودة this is exactly what God says in the Holy Quran قول لا أسألكم علي أجرن إلا المودة في القرآن we praise them we are attached to them because we could not find a substitute we could not find a substitute علي is unique and the history of mankind is unique I was reading the other day Jean-Jacques Rousseau the French philosopher this is what he says I was reading a quotation he says I could not find in the history of mankind a man who deserves the title of being a mentor a mentor or a teacher other than علي يبن أبيطار This is a Christian French philosopher he could not find someone to be called a teacher a mentor a source of inspiration other than علي يبن أبيطار علي left nothing for himself this is why he used to work discreetly so he sleeps in the bed of the prophet to defend the prophet so the prophet can be peaceful he gives his life he owns nothing but a ring a simple ring and someone who is in need he comes inside the mosque and he turns and he asks people one by one for some help they had nothing to give him except him on علي he gives him his ring again what is the worth of the ring my friends it wasn't more than if they sell it in the market at that day it would not bring more than five dollars a ring five dollars but Allah records this incident in the Holy Quran in chapter 5 verse 55 إنما وليكم الله ورسوله والذين عامنوا الذين يقيمون الصلاة ويقتون الزكاتة وهم واكعون while he is bowing he pays the zakat while he is in prayer when he is in prayer when he is bowing he pays the zakat while he is in prayer he pays the zakat he pays charity it is recorded in the Quran because again it was done with a class with devotion Ali did not wait for any recognition we people we love to be praised, recognized acknowledged this is our nature if we get upset if people do not acknowledge us we get upset they roll out there Imam Ali was different Imam Ali says I seek God's acknowledgement not people's acknowledgement yes we have to seek acknowledgement but from God not from people people's acknowledgement people's praise people's appreciation expires expires but God when God acknowledges someone does not expire another time they gave food five members in a family they fast and they are about to break their fast in the evening after sunset with only five loaves of bread each one has only one loaf of bread only nothing with it and then someone knocks on the door this is a test from God test و يطعمون الطعام على حبه يمسكينه و يتيمنه و يسيره و God records this again in the Quran what is the price what is the value of five loaves of bread on that day nothing everyone can afford that but because they give it for two reasons they give it without telling anyone even the prophet who was a next door neighbor he did not know until God told him God told him about this incident father did not want to have a father to tell him hey daddy today I went hungry I want to tell you nobody told him Hassan and Hussein they didn't tell their grandfather God told him so this is number one it was with devotion it wasn't secrecy seeking إنما نبعمكم لوجه الله for only for the sake of God not for the sake of publicity sometimes we give to all fans to pull for the sake of publicity not all people of course God knows the intentions but when they gave there was no publicity إنما نبعمكم لوجه الله لا نريد منكم جزاء و لا شكور we wait for no reward no appreciation nor an appreciation and they gave it when they were really hungry very hungry for three days my friends you can't go with no food for one day but you can't go with no food for three days this is a starvation they were at the brink of starvation they put their life in danger to give their food يتيمن مسكينن و يتيمن و أسير مسكينن is destitute يتيمن is an orphan أسير is a prisoner of war who has no accommodation no shelter nor food in the city of Medea this is another example that sometimes we suffer for the sake of others it is worth it it is worth it to cut back on your food to give it to others it is worth it to cut back on your clothing on your money on your gas on your shelter on your accommodation to give it to others give to others you have received these from God give it to them the creatures of God you will receive many faults so Imam Ali is is the embodiment the example of selfishness tough here and sacrifice and without sacrifice my friends without sacrifice we cannot excel we cannot move forward if a person decides I am not for sacrifice don't talk to me don't waste your time that person is going to remain where he is where she is no forward moving that person is going to be like animals you know in animals there is no development they grow physically but mentally they don't grow spiritually they don't grow same while Allah says in humans they grow how do we grow through acts of kindness through act of wholesomeness through acts of sacrifice we grow do you listen kids when you give to others when you share with others you grow you grow sometimes your mothers tell you eat this food eat that food you have to grow you have to build yourself good but at the same time the mother has to say to her kids share this give this sympathize with that donate I love those kids when sometimes I see them when there is fundraiser something like they bring their savings he is growing don't tell him no one day the mother said no no no don't give your money why tell him to give his money he is growing spiritually he is growing mentally he is growing when you give Allah says in the Qur'an لن تنانوا البر بر and wholesomeness and perfection human perfection would never be attained حتى unless تنفقوا من ما تحبوا when you spend from your call money not the extra money sometimes we give extra food this is not an act of kindness or generosity maybe it's an act of giving but this is not generosity generosity is when this food you love it you love it and you know this food is barely enough for you but you still cut back on your desire to share it with others this is exactly what إمام علي and this is why إمام علي is our sweet heart we love him for his acts for his human acts إمام علي was a leader and the leader is very busy my friends when someone becomes a leader in the community in the country in the society political leader religious leader he becomes very busy but he would never forget even the smallest member in his community إمام علي during the day busy busy with people during the night busy with his lord after midnight he has something special to do every single night he has a special something special he would carry the food on his shoulder the back on his own shoulder he had servants he had aids to help him but he said I enjoy this I want to do it myself he carries the food on his shoulder and he searches in the city he goes he roams in the city searching for those who are neglected nobody cares about them they go hungry they go to the doors he knocks at the door and they don't recognize him they don't see the space it's totally dark it gives them food sometimes the door is shut he would push the food from underneath the door put it in the house they know nothing tomorrow after his martyrdom when they buried him they came back from his burial site his two children Hassan and Hussein and Muhammad and Nihalafir and they saw a man sitting in a place which is a ruin homeless man he was crying hard they went to him they said man what's wrong why do you cry he said I'm hungry there was a man who used to bring me food every night and for two nights he's missing I don't see him I'm hungry I went with no food for two nights Imam Hassan عليه السلام سبتنين يا الشيخ ابضم الله ولك البج إنه أمير المؤمنين علي يبنى ليطال that man we just buried him today that's leadership leadership is when you pay attention to the smallest details the most neglected one in your community you go after them you don't wait for them to come to you tonight the house of Imam Ali is dark is very quiet Hassan and Hussein they resist their tears so their sisters they will not notice they do not want to agitate their sisters pain but Imam عليه السلام is on his deathbed and the poison because the sword that he was struck with that sword was poisons and he said he said I purchased this sword with one thousand dinar and I poisoned it with another thousand dinar Poison he brought special poison so when he strikes the Imam the Imam will die not not because of the strike but because of the poison and the poison took a toll on the Imam Imam Ali who used to stand in their house every night tonight he could not stand it was too weak to stand his house was dark and then he had to pray do his tahajjud while he was on his deathbed and he realized his leaving soon his leaving his ummah his community his family his life because he was not worried about it because he was always praying and he was always asking Allah for his death he would say متى يبعثوا أشقاها يُخفضي بلحيتي من ذا ريواكسي what does that man arrive to drench my beard from my of my blood والله إنه أبنى أبي طالب لا يخشاب الموت لآنا سوب الموت إنه قفلي من ثادي أمر Imam Ali he says I'm enchanted with death because in death there is a gift there is something that normal people don't realize in death there is I need my sweet heart I know I'm going back to my sweet heart therefore he would console his family he would say to them أهل بيتي لا تبقوا for Allah ما فجعني من الموت وارد كريحته ولا عالد أنكرته وما أنا إلا كضام ورد أو كطالب وجد وما عند الله خير من الأبراه don't be sad for me my family believe me by God I'm like someone who's thirsty in the desert all of a sudden he arrives into a watering station he finds water in the desert death for me is like finding water أو كطالب وجد seeker who's seeking something for so many years all of a sudden he finds it I find peace and death because I go back to my Lord I go back to my sweet heart I stand before my Lord and I have reunion with my sweet heart Prophet Muhammad with my sweet heart فاطمة الزهراء so he was giving his وصية to his children he started with Imam Hassan بنيا حسن أنت لصروح هذه الأمة again they're going to poison you you will die with poison بنيا حسين أنت شهيد هذه الأمة my son Hussein they're going to murder you بنيا زينا أنت الأسيرة they're going to hold you captive يا زينا and then he would go unconscious because of the poison because of the because of the pain and he opens his eyes he realizes that there is a headband somebody wrapped him with a headband he says أهلا بيتي من اللذي أصبني who puts this headband around my head nobody answers in the first time nobody answers in the second time in the third time حسين عليك سلام says أبتاح I did this I did this to you أمير المؤمنين سد بنيا حسين أأشفقت عليها وفية وفية جرح الواحد ما بالك أنت من يشفق عليك وفيك عشرات الجروح you felt sorry for me while I had only one wound in my body who is going to feel sorry for you where you have multiple wounds and injuries in your body حسين إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون وسيعلم الذين ظلموا أيهم القلب ينقلقون والعقبة للمتقين لسألك الله أمولد هوك باسمك العظيم الحعب العز الأجل الأكرم يا الله دمهم أخفر المؤمنين والمؤمنات والمسلمين والمسلمات والأحياء منهم والأموات تابع إلاهم بين لنا وبينهم بالخيرات إنك مجيب الدعوات من على مرضانة بالشفاء والعافي والعافية داوي جرحانة فكأسرانة أصلح بين المسلمين يا أرحمة وحمين تقبر صيامنا وصلاتنا ودعاؤنا اللهم كل وليك الحجة ابن الحسن صلواتك عليه وعلى آبائه في هذه الساعة وفي كل ساعة ولي وحافظ وطائد وناصر ودليلا وعينة حتى تسكنه أرضك طوعا وتماتعه فيها طويلا وجعل اللهم منها صالح وعوانه وإلا أرواح مؤمنه المؤمنات والشهداء ثواب الفاتح ما الصلاة على محمد محمد