 was number 23 from adi ibn hatim radi allahu anhu simi'atun nabiyya sallallahu alayhi wa sallam ya quwwud ittaqun nara wa lawbi shiqi tamra protect yourself from the fire even with half a day hanamah every little bit counts every little effort counts making a bit of effort makes a difference makes a difference for you don't make light of what you're able to do or put forward don't make light of that don't make light of what someone else is able to put forward but more importantly don't stop put something forward don't stop put something forward because it can make a difference he says there will not be one of you except that he will be spoken to directly by his lord and there will be no intermediary between them no one will be carrying the message back and forth Allah will speak directly just thinking it that alone is enough to set you straight he said and he will look to his right and he'll only see what he put forward and he'll look to his left and he'll only see what he put forward and he'll look in front of him and he will only see the fire to Qa'a Awaji in front of his face that taqun nara and then Rasulina sallallahu alayhi wa sallam explains what he meant by put forward protect yourself from the fire even with half a day and whoever doesn't even find that with just a good word subhanallah with just a good word so on the day of judgment you only have with you the good deeds that you brought so put some good deeds in and that's what we should be about so the believer is here for to fill the world with good things we've talked before about taking the time to put some ihsan in your good deed to ask is this effective is this actually what people need is this actually going to help someone or is this just make me feel better about myself that's where ihsan begins but by all means don't be a waste of space put something forward and if you don't have anything tangible or physical to put forward then at least a good word subhanallah at least a good word sometimes we're not able to do something significant to help but at least we can be easy to get along with inshallah the next hadith number 24 from anis radiallahu anhu said Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is content with his slave that he eats a meal and he praises Allah for it the so many ways of doing good in the world even praising Allah for the food that we eat he drinks takes a sip of something and he praises Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for it and that brings about the contentment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and it's good right your whole program is about being good you try to say something decent to people you try to bring about some better state of affairs even when you eat and drink and appreciate what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives you to eat and drink you praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for it it's a mindset you condition yourself the believer conditions to be in a mindset that is all about what is positive and good next from abou mousa the prophet alaihi salatu wa sallam says sadaqa is due charity is due from every believer and he said to him so he says to the prophet if you don't what if you don't find it find something that you can give he said he benefits himself and he also gives in charity subhanahu la we have trades here in our country for example being a master carpenter being a master electrician working with your hands even a master plumber right people are actually involved in those aspects of building homes and building buildings these people right can make fine money especially if they put in the years of apprenticeship under a master and they get their license right subhanahu these are respected fields and they put in fine money any economy that we have should be set up such that a person who masters a trade and works at that trade especially particularly at the level of someone who's working with their hands man bata keddan okaaddan okaalan man amadi yadihi bata maufooran lah whoever goes to sleep at night tired out from the work of their own hands goes to bed forgiven by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala we should have an economy that takes as its criterion that anyone who works at one of these trades should be able to sustain themselves and should be able to sustain their family and achieve health care and all of those basics that make life possible to live and we need to respect these fields these fields are very very important because we all need these people subhanahu la what a beautiful thing during the Ottoman Empire people like to talk junk about the Ottomans every sultan had to know a trade craft sultan abdahameed was a carpenter and if you go to the palace that he actually lived in right he has like whole like the entire like all of the chairs in the dining room were like made by him by hand subhanahu la and at one point he was deposed and he had to live under house arrest and there's a other smaller damasail on the river and for the entire period that he was under house arrest he just made himself a carpenter right and worked with wood right until people changed their minds or something like that subhanahu la what a beautiful thing that's a living life that's a living life now so he benefits himself and from that he can give charity to others he said what if he's not able to do that they asked and he said you know that he at least helped someone who is surrounded by his need right someone in a bad situation right someone who's drowning someone who's surrounded by his situation but of course we can't really help people who are drowning if we ourselves don't know how to swim so we go back to learn a trade what if he's not able to do that he said then let him encourage others to do well or to do good and he said what if he doesn't do that and he said then let him at least withhold harm because that's a charity people will say that they have a rule do no harm maybe you can't do good but at least you can refrain from doing harm that's not a very ambitious policy but if more people took undertook that policy we'd be in a much better state of affairs than we are right now and here's rasulillah so at the very least let him withhold from doing harm withhold from doing evil subhanahu la and in that is a sadaka subhanahu la so we've reached the end of chapter 13 in the sadaka that charity puts out the fire of the anger of the lord there's a hadith from the prophet al alayhi salatu wa sallam on that affair subhanahu la sometimes we find ourselves concerned that we may have done something that Allah subhanahu wa sallam is not going to be happy with us about you have sadaka subhanahu la that's how this song works that's why we really function they do not have slaves anymore because there's a lot of things that if you do if you do it wrong the only way out is to free a slave if you got him right so what does this song say free him if you got him boys right and then you end up with no slaves no subhanahu la if we find ourselves in a bad situation then let's at least tip the scales in our direction by doing just as much good and let's refrain from hurting others that's the lowest level the lowest lowest level that he has just refrain from hurting others but we're done with chapter 13 we're beginning chapter 14 the economy in obedience literally being moderate in acts of obedience it says we have not revealed this quran to you that it'd be a burden for you that it'd be a difficulty for you that the assignments in it that the wajibad in it make it very difficult for you you read the yusra what are you reading with a restaurant a law wants for you ease and he does not want hardship for you he does not want hardship for you difficulty sometimes things might be inconvenient sometimes things might be a challenge but the obligations that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us and that we're in a position to fulfill them they're not impossible they're not a true difficulty but they might be inconvenient they might be a challenge and people struggle with their challenges and it's true Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants ease we can say all types of things about the concepts of these verses but maybe one thing that would be useful to say is that the Dean of Assam that we bring to our lives and we introduce into the lives of others or into the lives of our family has to be an Assam that works in the world that we live in it can't be an Assam that you have to go to another country in order to practice it can't be an Assam that you have to create a very special arena in which we can believe in it and practice it it has to be a Dean that can work in the lives of regular people we should think about that when we think about how the Dean operates in this world subhanahu wa ta'ala it can't be a Dean that requires you to hide away from the world in order to be able to practice it and so with those ears we have to listen to the teachings of the Prophet alayhi salatu wa salam it's with that understanding that we have to hear the wisdom of the early students of the sahaba and how they saw the world and to the waratatul anbiya the inheritors of the Prophet alayhi salatu wa salam who bring us this Dean because the Dean that they had was a Dean for the world that they lived in at their time and it would be a Dean that would be functional and possible in each world that came about with each successive generation all the way down to ours but we don't listen anymore we can start listening Allah will facilitate that for us the first hadith of this chapter is from Aisha radi allahu anha she says that the Prophet alayhi salatu wa salam came to her and there was a woman there and he said who's this and she said it's fulana it's so-and-so she's talking about um she's she's talking about her prayer maybe how much she prays and she's talking to Aisha about she you know she prays all night she prays all day you know mashallah her situation in prayer is this and she does this and she does all these extra that and he said ma meaning he disapproves alaykum bi matutiyakum you're responsible for what you're able to do not to outdo yourself right you're not trying to have like a weight lifting session right and like you know bring it all to the max you know and and wear yourself out leave it all out on the field you know throw up a lung trying to get all those prayers in now subhanAllah so allahi laa yamallu he says laa yamallu allahu hatta tamallu Allah doesn't get bored until you get bored what kana ahabud-dini alayhi mad-daa wa masahibuhu alayhi and the most loved way of deen to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one that a person is consistent with so staying up all night not sleeping at all and praying and doing all types of ibadah until one is worn out and if they had a real job they would not really be able to function if they went to that real job in the morning that's not an objective of the sound but taking on something that you can be consistent with and maybe there are people in some modes of life or in some spiritual space in a phase in their life where they're doing magnificently copious amounts of ibadah perhaps they spent some period of their youth in the mountains of some country or there was a phase of their life where they were over here doing this or they happened to be in a place in their life or maybe they don't have a job or maybe they're a student and all of these things and they're able to do all of these things but that does not become a standard for all others to feel that they must follow or for them to even say i'm not practicing like i did when i lived in such and such a place at such and such an age because you're not that person anymore and you're where you are now leading people to believe that they have to do all of these practices that become very very difficult for a person to be able to handle if they have a real job and a family to support and responsibilities that's not fair because it confuses people and in their mind they feel that they're not doing a good enough job to get by you know in their practice of assignment it's inspiring when we understand that there are levels of devotion and worship that someone can get to that motivates us to get to where we need to get to we shouldn't be in a situation where we start to become hopeless because we're not performing at the level that was described to us or demanded of us or you know we see among other people and it's also not the way of Islam to invent new types of ibadat to add on or tack on to the practice of the prophet alaihi salatu wa salam right his practice is sufficient for us subhanAllah he says here Allah doesn't get bored until you get bored subhanAllah tell you this is called this is a device a literary device called moushakala it comes from balaa Allah doesn't get bored of course Allah doesn't get bored but rasoon al nasallallahu alayhi wa salam brings a phrase that brings that takes the idea near to us meaning Allah doesn't stop being content or pleased with your worship and rewarding it for you until you yourself reach a point where you're no longer paying attention you're now struggling your heart isn't in it you're just trying to complete the whole exercise and process but the intention is not there like it once was you're not deeply concentrating on Allah subhanAllah that element of desire that drives your action of ibadah has now petered off and it's at that point where Allah subhanAllah is no longer interested but this device called moushakala right it comes into play when for example in the Qur'an when Allah says i believe on the term of the prophet isa ala nabiyyina wa alayhi afgal salatu wa tamul taslim you know what's in myself but i don't know what's in yourself as a classic example of moushakala so almost like a comparative discourse but it's not meant literally it's not meant to be true right so it's a well-known device in arabic literature and the next hadith is the well-known narration from anis that three people came to the houses of the wives of the prophet alayhi salatu wa salam they asked about the devotional practice of the messenger alayhi salatu wa salam but when they were told what he does when he's at home the special prayers that he prays salatu duha and all of these fasting and so on and the tahajjud and all of this they seemed to think that it wasn't all that much that Rasulullah was doing it was more moderate than they had originally assumed and they said and where are we from the prophet alayhi salatu wa salam and he's been forgiven for any faults he may have had from before and any faults that may come in the future and one of them said i'm going to pray every night and i'm never going to stop and another said i'm gonna fast every single day and never stop and another one said i'm never going to be intimate with women huh and i will never get married ever and the messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam came home and he was told about this and he went to these people and said you're the ones who said such and such and such and such he said i'm the most fearful of you all of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala i'm the one who has the most taqwa out of all of you but i fast and then i don't fast i pray and i lay down and rest and i marry women for men rather than i'm sunnati falai samini so whoever wants something other than my sunnah is not from among me from me right subhanallah moderation moderation people go through different phases in their life some people go through a phase where maybe we are falling short in our a bad out we are not doing the sunnah that we know we should probably have integrated into our schedule and we should then take an example of the saw the he and those pious Muslims who have gone before us and were people who did all types of beautiful like bad at and preoccupied their time with us and maybe that will help us to get back to that moderate center but there's other phases in our life where we're going hard right and we're grinding it out and we're maybe even going a little bit overboard and maybe that's a place so we need to moderate a little bit and find that center but ultimately ultimately nobody knows where you're at except you and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala right so it's about looking for the center the next hadith is from ibn mis'ud radi allahu anhu number three in the chapter and important and well-known hadith in which the prophet aleyhi salatu was salam says and he said it three times and it's narrated by muslim the people who go too deep and too hard too severe in a place where severity is not called for there was a brother once that we met and he was always using the miswak like always miswak miswak because the sunnah right so always the miswak and somebody said you know you're always using that miswak you know he says the sunnah he said yeah but like every second of the day like every moment even when you're at a meeting you and you know the person was like a little bit intense and said yes he started like doing it so hard he was making his gums bleed right just to show how committed he was to the sunnah these types of extreme or severe or intense behaviors if they don't get moderated by a little bit of tarbiyah one day it comes out that the person gets severe and intense with people you know in situations that's never a healthy thing ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to keep us healthy and good health is supposed to be balanced right within one's internal systems right to be balanced out Abu Huraira radi allahu anhu said that the prophet aleyhi salatu as-salam said in the dina usrun wala yushad dina illa gharabah that this dean is easy and no one gets over intense in the dean except the dean will overwhelm them overcome them shut them down so take it easy he goes on he says so try to hit the mark do your best to hit the mark get as close to the mark as you can set me do we're going to aim for the mark aim for what is expected of you and get as close to it as you can take that model of the prophet aleyhi salatu as-salam that model that is laid out in the text of fil and get as close to it as you can aim for that target right and if you don't make it the bull's eye at least you won't be too far off the center right aim for the target and get as close as you can what abshiru and abshiru be encouraged so subhanallah he says is so take advantage of setting out on your journey when things are easy meaning if you leave early and you have to travel on foot you have to travel right in the open air then you go early the sun's not at its highest right and maybe if you take a break when it's at the highest heat and then travel again after asr and before maghrib right then the sun is also not at its highest there's no reason to put yourself in an over intense situation if that's not the situation that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has forced you in not by choice don't seek these things out no take advantage of the early morning and the late evening right take advantage like for example of good health take advantage of free time and shake in the middle of the night when you get up and you stand in prayer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala this is a metaphor hmm and an allegory imam know he says take support for the obedience for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in actions at the times when you have the most energy and when your hearts are not preoccupied with other types of preoccupation when your mind is not over preoccupied with other stress and in such a way that you can actually find a sweet taste to the worship that you're engaged in and you don't become bored or worn out or distracted and you reach your destination just like an intelligent traveler will seek out to do most of his traveling early in the morning when the sun is not at its hottest or in the early evening after us or right when the sun is also not at its hottest and in the darkness of night and in the middle of the day both he and his riding mount will take a break and so he will reach his appointed destination without excess fatigue in Allah knows best the next one is also from anas he said that the Prophet went into the masjid and there was a rope strong between two pillars and he said what's this rope doing here and they said that is uh the hubble for zaynah so if she gets tired in standing in prayer she's standing in prayer for so long right she throws her arms over it like this and she can still stay standing in prayer right and the prophet a day i start with some said bring take it down Lee you Sunday I had a comb nashatahu fa'idah fattara fa'iyal good let each of you pray as long as you have energy to pray and if that energy starts to wane let them lay down and take a rest um says that the prophet if one of you is becoming tired while he's praying then let him lay down until right the sleep leaves him so if one of you because what might happen is someone gets tired he won't know maybe he thinks he's trying to ask Allah to forgive him but he's actually cursing his own self because he's lost sight of what he's saying love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala love the messenger of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and in that love find that you want to stand and speak to Allah get up and turn your heart to Allah give your heart over to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that you want to engage in acts of devotion from this love not because it's the thing to do or others expected of you do it for yourself right do it for yourself in the intimacy of your relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and grow at the pace that you need to grow at and he has quality over quantity keep the quantity between you and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala just like the quality will only be between you and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala there are enough quantity in this world Rene Gwynon one of his books he wrote was called the reign of quantity we live in a period where there's so much quantity but so little quality that's the understanding of the best generation is my generation and then the one that follows and then the one that follows and how could that be when we have penicillin and they don't subhan Allah we have a lot of quantity we have a lot more quantity than they never had and they remain such that they have quality that we will never attain quality still exists in this world you just have to wade through all of this quantity in order to find it make sure you have that in your relationship between Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and he'll bring you the quantity both in the returns that you get from your effort and even the amount of effort that you're putting forward it's like lifting weights you start out right slow you start out light and as your muscles build as your abilities and your skills become better you can take on more you can take on more you can take on more right but then when the pretty girl walks by all of a sudden people are like changing the weights you know and but nothing is gained except that you won't be able to do anything tomorrow Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is a pretty girl he's very understanding right Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the most beautiful thing in existence and his beauty is not just in the beauty of his names in his attributes but in the beauty of the actions that he gives to us and the beauty of the promises that he makes to us and subhan Allah and his gentleness that he has with us is understanding the fact that he never lets you down he never lets you be alone he's always there you can grow your relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at the pace that you're able and alhamdulillah on the day of judgment he's the judge and he's the jury and he makes the decisions because what if we had to show up to the day of judgment is like any other day in court and it was benny adam that was going to judge us well if ultimately it's Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who judges us then let's stop worrying so much about what benny adam thinks because benny adam is not fair and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is al-adil azawajalla Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one who has insaf and any insaf or fairness that may take place in this world right only pours out from the source that is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala it's a tajalli of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala hadith number seven khutbah to who kastan i used to pray with the prophet aleyh salat was salam many prayers and his prayer was moderate and his speech was moderate right his sermons were moderate if you look at the khutab of rasuni nasim of allah aleyh was salam right they're very short the khutibs always say yeah he was able to do that he was rasudi Allah but we need you know twice as many words to get our point across but we understand the aim and the purpose of Islam it doesn't have to be that difficult we should be dedicated we should be committed right and we should swear our loyalty to rasudi nasim of allah aleyh was salam but it doesn't have to be difficult it doesn't have to be overbearing and it can understand the world that people live in it can stand understand the circumstances and situations that people are going through and islam can absorb all of that islam can embrace all of that islam can receive all people rasudi nasim of allah aleyh was salam received all people and we should be more like rasudi nasim of allah aleyh was salam more tolerant in closing there's another narration from the prophet aleyh was salam and she said the moonbeks never reaches his destination he covers no ground and leaves no riding mount alive subhanAllah the moonbeks is the person who rides his horse into the ground rides his family into the ground who rides his self into the ground he never rides his team into the ground his organization into the ground and never reaches any destination because he can't be moderate he covers no territory he covers no territory and he leaves no riding mounts alive one of the commentators says that ibn raslam says that the soul or the self is a vehicle like a riding mount like a camel or a horse the soul is a riding mount in the world of meaning or the self is a riding mount in the world of meaning just like a horse is a riding mount in the physical world if you overburden it and you work it too hard it will break and you will never reach your destination and your self is the same if you overburden it and you push it too hard beyond its capacity it will break and you will never reach your lord you will never reach your destination so take care of yourself take care of yourself with permissible things in mubahat and rest and it will be there to carry you through the performance of the acts that are expected of you the devotions that are expected of you and it will be there for you to be strong enough to refrain from the things that you feel that you need to restrain from and it will get you there and it will still be intact and the faith will still be intact and take care of yourself right and it will be a vehicle that will get you to the end of this world inshallah we ask Allah SWT to sustain us to sustain our hearts to illumine our minds take us by the hand and give us a light in the dark we ask Allah SWT to fill our our homes with warmth in the wintertime and the coolness of certainty in the summertime we ask Allah SWT to motivate us we ask Allah SWT to make us people of thankfulness and gratefulness and praise and vicar and consciousness and conscientiousness we ask Allah SWT to get us to our destination in one piece