 Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem Al Hamdulillah ar-Rabbi l-Alamin Wa Sallallahu As-Sallim al-Mubarak, al-Qaaf, al-Sayyidina Muhammad, al-Alihi wa sahbihi wa salim. Rabbishahi Saderi wa Salli Amri, wa halal uqtatim al-Essani, yafqa wa Qawli. Wa Sallallahu As-Sallim al-Mubarak, al-Sayyidina Muhammad, al-Alihi wa sahbihi wa salim. As-Salamu Alaikum, Rahmatullahi wabarakatuhu. Al Hamdulillah, I hope everybody is doing well. I'm sure I'm interrupting your watching of the news, whatever your preferred news channel is as we anxiously await the results of this election. So I thought tonight we could really just keep this brief inshallah and just chat a little bit about a virtue that the righteous have, which is the virtue of being content with Allah's decision. And it's something that is important in all aspects of life, but it's especially relevant right now given everything going on, given that we are in one of the most contested, one of the most heated, one of the most critical elections probably in history. And ultimately, while we engage and while we watch and while we wait, we have to remember a couple of things. So inshallah, we're just going to discuss some of the benefits of this virtue today. And so just as a reminder, we've been talking about a different virtue each week and a different virtue focused really on how do we get closer and closer to Allah through these doors, through these doors of virtue. We've chatted at the beginning about how it starts with knowledge and then we try to implement the virtue and then we really iterate on trying to refine that virtue within us. And in the times that we live in, really the context for this entire class has been that in the times we live in, there is a lot of vice out there and there is not really that much righteousness. And so one of the best things that we can offer the world, one of the best things that Islam can offer the world is good character traits, is righteousness, is figuring out how do we get closer and closer to Allah and closer and closer to being good stewards on this earth that Allah has placed us in, being good caretakers and being people who are responsible by inculcating good character traits and righteous traits and righteous behavior inside of us. And so today, I chatted a little bit about this idea of being content with Allah's decision. Naturally, this is a time that's filled with anxiety. There's a lot of people waiting, watching. I'm sure a lot of us were up late last night and I know myself, I woke up in the middle of the night more than once and checked the results, just to see if anything had refreshed, see if anything had changed. And we're trying to figure out what's going on, who's going to be the next president of the United States. And we have to just be balanced here. And so this is really a reminder to myself first and foremost. So the first thing we can reflect on is we just have to remember that ultimately, no matter what happens, Allah is in control. Allah is the president of all presidents. Allah is the king of all kings. Allah is the Lord of all lords. Allah is the leader of all leaders. And he is the their Lord and our Lord. And to everybody, right, from Allah's perspective, we are all just human beings. We're slaves of Allah. We'd be lucky if we could be called a slave of Allah that Allah created. It doesn't matter really whether you're the president of the United States, whether you are just an average person like me, or whether you are somewhere in between. From a social perspective, none of that really matters because in the sight of Allah, we are just puny little human beings, right? And what we're measured by is not our votes. It's not our, you know, popularity. It's not our followers. It's not how much money we have in the bank account. Really what we're measured by in the sight of Allah is our righteousness. It's our taqwa. It's the traits that we have. And so really, you know, just like we're going through these Electoral College vote counts right now, and, you know, you have, you get a certain state, right? And even though the Electoral College system really makes very little sense in the time that we live in, but, you know, for arguments sake, you get a certain number of votes in a certain number of states, and then you see that you now have that and you're getting closer and closer to the number for 270. Think about good traits, good character traits is something similar to that, right? You get a certain trait and you get closer and closer to piety. And then you get the next trait. Okay, now I've acquired the trait of patience. Now I've acquired the trait of gratitude. And now you won the trait of being content with Allah's decree. And now you won the trait of being a merciful human being and so on and so forth. And those traits, what do they do? They get you closer and closer in that bar to a state of being a true believer, a true mu'min, right? And we talked about, you know, their secret, their shortcuts, right? Just like there's big states that somebody can win, like they can win California or Texas or New York or some of these other huge states that somebody can win and really increase their amount in the election. Similar to that, you also have certain character traits and certain traits of righteousness that one can have that will really boost you quickly. We mentioned last week the love of the Prophet ﷺ is a trait that will allow you to fly to Allah. It will allow you to elevate quickly in your station to Allah because it's such an amazing trait because Allah loves the Prophet ﷺ and we are in the month of Rabi'ul Awal. Let us not forget. We're in the blessed month of Rabi'ul Awal, the blessed month of the birth of the Prophet ﷺ election or not. He is our Prophet ﷺ. And so what we remind ourselves in is that Allah is ultimately in control. He says in a surah that, you know, I think all of us know since we were children and many of us, you know, when we're trying to quickly get through prayer, we'll probably recite which is Surah al-Nas, after Awad ibn-Lam Shaitan al-Rajim, Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim. Allah says, That say, You seek refuge in the Lord of the Worlds, Malik in-Nas, the King of the Worlds and the God of the Worlds, right? So he is not just the King of the Worlds. Sorry, I meant to say, I seek refuge in the Lord of all people, of all humanity, Nas, right? That all of humanity. And then the King of all of humanity and the God of all of humanity, right? So that he is the Lord, he is the King of all of humanity. So regardless of what goes down, he's still our Lord. And he was our Lord yesterday. He's going to be our Lord tomorrow. And he's the Lord from the beginning of time. He was the Lord before the United States was created. He's going to be the Lord after this country. Whether it's here or not here, whether this world is here or not here. Allah is still the King, Allah is still the Lord. That's something that all of us really need to remember. Then he says in the Qur'an, he says in one of the surahs that we should recite regularly, Surat al-Mulk, he says, Audhu Billahm Shaitan al-Rajim, Tabarak al-Ladhi bi-Aidihi al-Mulk, wa huwa a'la kulli shay'in qadiya That blessed is he in whose hand is the dominion of the universe and who has power over everything, wa huwa a'la kulli shay'in qadiya SubhanAllah, that in whose hand is the dominion and no anthropomorphic way, right? From a metaphorical perspective, the metaphorical hand of Allah, the dominion of the whole universe he has under his control. So let's just keep that in mind, that there's no surprises in the sight of Allah. The surprises for us in this election, polling was in one direction and now everybody's being surprised with what's going on but with Allah, nothing is a surprise because in his hand is the dominion of the whole universe and we have to remember that he has power over all things. He knows what's going to go down. He knows what he's doing and what he's not doing. And now this is also important for us to remember. He is the one who places leaders in power. In reality, it's coming from Allah, right? We vote, we do what we need to, in some countries they don't vote but Allah is the one who places the leaders from in power and it's our job then to interact based on the person who's there but also under respecting the fact that the leader is now in power. And how do we know that? Because Allah says, Allah, that He says in Surah Al-Amaran قُلْ مَالِكُ الْمُلْكِ مُلْكِ مَنْتَشَاءَ بِتُعِزُّ مَنْتَشَاءَ بِيَذِكَ الْخَيْرِ that Allah says, Oh Allah, the Lord of all dominion. You grant dominion to whom you will and you take away dominion from whom you will. You exalt whom you will and you abase whom you will. You, it's Allah who's doing this and in your hand is all that is good. You have power over all things. So this is like for us, you know, as human beings, especially in election season, we're like, Oh my God, who's going to win? Who has control? Who has the most votes? Who has this? Who has that? But like, there's a lot of things that Allah has control over which are far more significant in the election and he goes on to say in this ayah, but let's just talk about this first part. Oh Allah, the Lord of everything, all dominion. Again, we see this word dominion again. It's this idea of the mullah, that he has control over everything. I mean, the universe. You're talking about, you know, governing the whole universe, the solar systems, the galaxies, the planets that move, the different moons, the different stars that are out there. All of this, right? Where the earth is just a puny dot compared to the whole universe. Allah is controlling all of that. He has control over all of that. And then he says, you, and then the ayah says, right, you will give the dominion though to whom you will. You will give control in this world to whom you will. And you'll take it away from whom you will. And it has nothing to do at all with, like, that only good people get power and bad people don't get power or that only bad people get power and good people don't get power. No, Allah gives control to whom you will really based on our actions, that the leaders we get are based on the actions of human beings. And if we're placed with a bad leader, we should really look deep down inside what bad traits do we have inside that then manifests externally in the public atmosphere and that manifests externally in the leader. It's simply a reflection. It's simply a reflection, right? Whatever bad traits we as human beings, we as a country have inside of us are going to manifest externally. And so then this ayah says, Allah is the one who raises up and he's the one who abases. He is the one who controls all things. So, like, let's not be too worried. He's going to control whatever is going to happen, right? Whether Trump is in control, whether Biden is in control, whether it's this person, whether it's that person, whether it's Macron in France, you know, who has a lot of racist tendencies, a lot of problematic approaches to the way he handles things, whether it's other racist leaders throughout the world or whether it's people who we might see as good. Allah is the one who is in control and that we need to remember because we need to place our trust in Allah and Allah is the one we need to go to. We don't go to the leaders first. We go to Allah first and then we engage. We have to keep that in mind. Let's keep in mind the order of engagement. We engage with our Lord first and foremost. We ask Him for help. We talk to Him. We pray to Him and then we do externally whatever it is that we are meant to do. But let's not get too attached to the leader. They're going to go. Nobody's going to remember them eventually. They're going to be in their grave and whatever legacy that they had, if it's a good legacy, Allah gave them Taufiq and if it's a bad legacy, they did not have divine assistance and divine guidance. So many kings, leaders, presidents, prime ministers, caesars, pharaohs, all the different names that you could have for the ruler have passed and they all were the big shot in the time that they were in. And now all of them, where are they? They're all dust, dirt, in the dust and in the dirt, decayed. Their bodies are decayed and none of that stuff, right? Most of the time, if they weren't in a good position, they're getting very, very, they're questioned about everything it is that they did. And if they did, of course, good, then that's going to benefit them. But none of those, the power and the, all that stuff, none of that, none of that matter, but the lies that they told, the actions that they did, how many people they hurt, how many wars they waged, how much corruption they had, that's, oh, for sure, that goes in somebody's book, right? And so we just have to keep that in mind that Allah is the one who's handling all this. And then he says in the ayah, that he is the one who causes the night to pass into the day and he causes the day to pass into the night. And then he says he, you, Allah, bring forth the living from the dead and you bring forth the dead from the living. And you give sustenance to whom you will. Think about it like this, right? So Allah goes and he mentions that he controls who's in power. And then he says he is the one who brings what? The night into the day and the day into the night. And then the living to the dead and the dead from the living. It's showing us that things alternate, right? He talks about leadership and then things alternate. Sometimes it's dark, sometimes it's bright. Sometimes it's, you're feeling kind of, you know, dead from a spiritual point of view or you're feeling dead from just like what's going on, the hearts are dead and sometimes life is brought back. But he is the one who's doing all that. So don't lose the orientation. The orientation should be focused on him first and foremost because he is going to be the one. Any leader, any president, if you told them, don't let tomorrow come. Just keep whatever it is. It doesn't matter how many lawsuits you file of what the Supreme Court says. None of that's going to matter because the day will end and the night begins. And then the night will end and the day begins. Only Allah controls all of this. And so we have to keep all of that in mind. Sometimes as Muslims we get too caught up in the political. We have to look at what else is going on. The only reason I'm mentioning all this is obviously I'm saying this to myself first and foremost. It's the tense time. Everybody's eagerly watching but we just need to remember who really is in control here that it is our Lord. So whoever wins in this election Allah is in the one who is in control. So let's just take a couple. What are the lessons that we can derive from this? Allah says in the Quran that perhaps you hate a thing and it is much good for you and perhaps you love a thing and it is much bad for you and Allah knows and you do not know. This is a very very important ayah and I try to reflect on this ayah. I try to remind myself to reflect on this. I don't necessarily succeed often because sometimes I think I want this, this is good for me, I want to do this and it's not going to be good for me. And sometimes you don't think something is good for you but it is good for you. What is the criteria by which we evaluate that? We'll find out in the next life really but the wise person recognizes that whatever Allah places in control that's what's good. That's what's good. If somebody is trying and worshiping and trying to rectify themselves whatever situations Allah brings forth in someone's life they're going to be good for us whether we like them or not and why is that? So for example if something drives you when it's even though it's difficult to pray more and to become more virtuous and to try to work on yourself more and to try to become more worshipful even though it might look like it was bad it actually ends up being good because what is good? Good is not just what's good now good is what's good internally and eternally internally and eternally that's what's good so whatever is good is what's going to be good not what's just good right now just keep that in mind so I mean we don't know what situation is good for us sometimes a leader is put over us that might be outwardly all the signs of bad but maybe that drives a wide amount of people to pray more and to turn to Allah more and to worship more and so maybe for them there was some khair in it and there was some good in it it doesn't mean that the whole situation in and of itself is necessarily like that but maybe for them that's where the good because you and I will get what it is however we orient ourselves to the world spiritually so people who look at everything as from Allah they will act as though everything is from Allah and they will turn to Allah in everything if you look at everything as from Allah you will turn to Allah in every situation but if you look at everything as not from Allah you won't turn to Allah in any situation and so what could have actually been good for you you get a lot of let's say somebody gets a lot of wealth they're so happy whatever but they're not grateful to Allah that actually ends up being bad for them and let's say somebody doesn't get a lot of wealth but they're super patient and they turn to Allah and ask him for assistance that ends up being good for them whoever turns to Allah and knows that what comes is from Allah and you're going to go back to Allah and in this come from Allah we're going back to Allah and in this intermediate time we just need to be with Allah we just need to from a spiritual perspective we just want to be with Allah and be regularly turning to him so let's remember that other thing is if it's a situation which drives us to reflect more and to change ourselves internally maybe it's good for us it is good for us at the end of the day but if outwardly it looks bad so you know let's just say that let's just say that the situation in the country is a difficult one again and Trump gets re-elected and there's a lot of racism and Islamophobia and all the difficult things that happen when somebody who has such outward bigotry and just such outward lies and a very tajallic type of nature comes into power well for the believer we work on ourselves and we reflect and think what is it? you see the bad and you say what bad traits do I have inside? we see the situation we turn to Allah more and then after we turn to Allah we begin to act maybe there's more activism that's taking place maybe there's more outward work that's being done because of a quote unquote outwardly bad situation and maybe at the end in it is some hair in it is some good only Allah knows I mean again I'm just you know discussing this here only Allah knows but he is the one who knows the wisdom in every situation so he we have to just keep that in mind that he doesn't make mistakes and he knows what's going to go down for us and we just we don't know so let's not get too excited or too attached to any one event or any one circumstance or any one situation or frankly any one result because only Allah knows ultimately what is going to be good for humanity and what is going to be good for us individually the second point that we want to discuss oh yeah and the one point related to that is you know life is Allah says that we created life and death in order to test who will be the best indeed now let's just reflect on this life and death are created to test us that means they're not created for us to always get our way and so again going back to this this situation in this election if they're not created for us for things to always go our way then that means we have to be comfortable with the fact that when things don't go our way it's simply a test from Allah now the believer will respond to the test in a certain way and the person who doesn't believe they won't respond to the test appropriately they will lose it completely whether it's a difficulty or it's a blessing they won't be able to respond to the test but ultimately it is a test and let's keep that in mind the next main point is we should work in these situations to accept Allah's decision look he knows whatever the decision is going to be I don't know what the decision is going to be unless you know and you all don't know what the decision is going to be I'm talking about the election unless in the last 20 minutes the electoral college changed really significantly in which case maybe the decision is clear but Allah is the one who knows the decision is going to be and we have to accept his decree this is actually one of the highest stations of the religion one of the highest stations is to accept Allah's decree accept what goes down whatever his decision is accept it and be content with his decision because whatever he wills is ultimately going to happen and to submit to his decree and to be content with his decree and to just say okay you know what you're doing I don't know and then turn to him ask him for help it doesn't mean that like yeah the decision happened but maybe it's a decision that is difficult for us to digest we turn to him we ask him let there be good in this for us let there be khair in this for us let assist us with this decision allow us to accept the decision but ultimately we got to learn in life and again I'm speaking to myself first and foremost here because I mean I'm terrible at this one accepting Allah's decree something happens and I have a very hard time accepting the decree so like I'm definitely just you know talking to myself here but we all have to learn how do we work on ourselves such that we get comfortable accepting what goes down maybe we don't like our job accept the decree Allah put us in that position he knows what it is why it's good for us and he'll move us when it's time for him to move us maybe we don't like a certain circumstance in our life let's accept it as it is it's a test there's some khair in it for us there's some good in it for us let's try to accept that because when you accept you are letting Allah know He is the Lord and you and I are slaves but when you try to say no no no this is wrong like not wrong from an injustice point of view wrong meaning like Allah made a mistake God forbid we say like no no no I should be in this situation like why did he get promoted and not me or why did he she get a raise and not me or why does he have this thing and not me when we try to do stuff like that we're questioning what Allah's deciding what's going down right and that's that type of anger with his decree is a very very dangerous a very very bad trait it's very very dangerous for us and we have this example Imam al Ghazali and he's in the Ahia al-Umidin in the revival of the religious sciences that one time Musa al-Islam he asks God and we know Musa al-Islam he has this title that he is the one who speaks to God so he asks him show me what pleases you so that I may perform it and Allah says my contentment lies in which you in what you don't like what you load but even so you don't you're not down to like bear it bear it steadfastly and then he says my contentment lies in your being content with my decree so my contentment lies in your contentment with my decision and with my decree what is the decree the decree is the decision of Allah it's the events that take place it's that it's the inward the decree is what goes down and the contentment is the inward resignation and the inward acceptance okay Allah knows what he's doing now that doesn't mean you don't act outwardly let's say you get sick God forbid let's say you have a really difficult disease or a really difficult test or God forbid somebody gets cancer inwardly the ideal is okay I'm going to just accept this Allah knows what he's doing Allah there's some wisdom in this right perhaps you hate a thing and it is much good for you as we just cited maybe there's someone's being cleansed of their sins I mean for sure if some believer is going through pain the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said that they're being cleansed of their sins but maybe there's some care or some good in it for us I mean there is if we accept that right but outwardly we still act it doesn't mean we don't go to the doctor it doesn't mean we don't seek treatment it doesn't mean that we don't try to fix our lifestyle and eat health or enhance our lifestyle eat healthier go to chemok therapy all the different things whatever disease it is that one is tested with but the contentment here it's not an outward like oh I'm just going to chill and not do anything it's an inward contentment inwardly we accept it so similarly if a political situation happens inwardly we accept it and outwardly we do whatever it is we can to enact to enact productive productive impact on society we don't like lose our cool the Muslim does not lose their cool and just completely flip out about what's going on no we keep it cool but we do work but we do the inward work first we have to keep that in mind we have to do the inward work before we try to engage too much outwardly but again the point here is we work on accepting the decree of whatever is going down this can be I mean there are books and books written about this there could be a whole series of lectures just about accepting a less decision but let's work on that and let's take that as a point for us to work on especially given what's going on in the election it doesn't matter whether democrats control the house or republicans control the house if Allah's decision is His decision it's going to come to pass it doesn't matter who controls the senate Allah's decision is Allah's decision again outwardly yes we might want one way or another but ultimately Allah is the one who is in control and no human being is going to do what it is that we want them to do or save us from any specific situation Allah doesn't will it and if Allah wills it anything is going to happen and victory doesn't always come right one after another one after another right sometimes there's a big victory and sometimes a lot of tests after that and then another big victory and a lot of tests after that we see in the life of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and the sahabah that they won the battle of Badr and they lost the battle of Uhud right and so we see these these two you know kind of we juxtapose these against each other and we think okay there is victory one time for one group and for the you know for the correct group obviously and one time maybe the group will lose right and so this is for us as believers I'm not talking about any political party or any political party is correct I really personally believe that it's very difficult to align all of one's views with any one specific party or a specific individual but we just kind of do the best we can that's just you know a personal belief everybody of course is entitled to their own beliefs from political point of view but when it comes to our situation in life sometimes with a wisdom there from battle of Uhud battle of Badr is sometimes we'll win and sometimes we'll lose but in both is good for us right there's going to be good for us in both types of situations but it's because Allah's decree is happening we have to learn to accept it so let's just talk about five specific things we can take away and how do we five specific ways we can inculcate this inside of ourselves cultivate this inside of ourselves and what we can take away from the situation and then we'll end inshallah so the first is for us to just realize right in this with the election and everything going on just who's the king who has all power and really reflect reflect on his power and don't get too caught up on the human power and the human situation human beings have zero power la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah al alia al adim just remember that always la hawla wa la quwwata there is no power nor strength saved by Allah's will that's it Trump has zero power Biden has zero power Pence has zero power Harris has zero power they don't have any power except that Allah wills them Allah wills to give them some ability Allah controls their health He controls our health He controls our eyesight He controls if we wake up in the morning He controls if we're sick He controls if we move He controls if we're able to think He controls if we're completely lose our ability to think He controls all these abilities so la hawla wa la quwwata illa billah always remember that and give us some breathing room sometimes Muslims we get way too caught up in politics like way way way too caught up in politics so one of the things we can remember is if we reflect regularly that Allah is in control and He has power we will start to turn more towards Him instead of expect some human being to solve all of our problems and one of the ways we can do this is spend less time like when we kick it with people and when we're talking to people we visit people spend less time talking about worldly power and who has power, who won this who's in this situation which prime minister, candidate is doing this what's this country doing what's India doing what's Pakistan doing that's all we talk about when we get together with people there's a problem we gotta like these are just human beings they have no power in it of themselves spend time talking about the Lord who has all the power right and sometimes that is not easy for us to think about but bring Allah into your discussions and you'll start to see a different flavor of discussion because of the remembrance of Allah Allah biddhikrilatatsma inlalqulub that verily in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest you go to a gathering and people you know you're gonna talk about doing Trump supporters and non-Trump supporters guaranteed you're not gonna have hearts that are finding rest you're gonna have hearts that are getting into it and probably you know some type of anger that manifests from that there's been so it's such a politically charged country we live in right now right but if you talk about Allah and you remember Allah is in control the hearts will find rest because he's the ultimate one in control and ultimate one in power so it doesn't mean we never talk politics but let's spend time talking about the president of all the presidents the king of all the kings and not so much time always talking about what's going on at this like low dunya level dunya is the low abode it's the low place we don't just spend all our time thinking about the dunya and thinking about what's in the situation here in that situation no let's talk and that can apply to all the politics the workplace politics the situations we see you know in a company or any other place that we are in society second thing is so reflection is really important reflecting on who is in real control it's not easy sit down and just close your eyes and reflect who is in control think about all of the things you and I have no power over or that any presidential candidate has no power over and only Allah has power over and let that just sit deep down inside and if you make an intention Allah will open up the insight for us inshallah the second thing is then that should drive us before you and I turn to a political situation turn to Allah right so we should not place our hopes in a human we should not place our hopes in a party we should not place our hopes in a candidate we should not place our hopes in a platform we should not place our hopes in a position no we place first and foremost our hopes in Allah what does that mean though that sounds like you know what does it really mean so we should be praying first and foremost for whatever outcome it is that we want if we want things to get better in this country first before we talk and tweet and Instagram and share this and share that and text people before we talk and analyze all the things let's discuss with Allah make dua to Allah turn in prayer to Allah help our country help the situation help the world help the Muslims that are struggling in Palestine and in the the Muslims that are struggling in China in the concentration camps the Muslims that are struggling in Kashmir the Muslims that are struggling in India all the Muslims frankly throughout the world that are struggling pray for the ummah pray for the people of this country bring unity to the country O Allah bring expansion in the hearts and allow people to get over all the difficulties and all the troubles and everything that's going on pray pray prayer is so important we have to pray we should engage outwardly too also pray pray for guidance pray for the leaders that they get guidance that they are guided that they have that Allah guides them to do good actions Allah can change somebody's heart look he changed some of the worst people in the history of this ummah and he changed them to eventually be guided he did right we have many people in the time of the Sahaba of the Prophet ﷺ that used to be very very very vehemently opposed to the truth to the Prophet ﷺ Allah changed their hearts he can change the heart of anybody but let's actually I'm talking about very sincerely spend time actually praying for the country praying for the leaders praying for the situation and then also go out and engage outwardly we vote we get we get involved in activism we get involved in whatever it is that we are able to get involved in but you know we use our time wisely I'll give an example of something you shouldn't do like every morning in the last couple of months I literally was like you know every morning once or twice a day I would check the polls I'd like Google polls and I'd read all like a much different polls okay who's winning in this state who's up here who's up here well guess what all the polls turned out to be wrong all that time was wasted maybe if I just spent that time making dua to Allah it would have benefitted me and maybe Allah would have brought some benefit based on that dua to some to the country I don't know I mean wasting all that time that's a personal reflection I just thought about it literally the polls were all wrong only Allah knows what's going to happen so I should before I turn too much what to the political situation turn to Allah that's very important third thing that we can keep in mind is accept whatever happens and don't lose it just don't lose our cool internally accept that Allah has put people over us and we have to just we got to do what it is that we got to do right Allah says in the Quran I see Allah I see the Rasool and I say I say obey Allah obey the messenger of Allah and obey those who are put in charge over you we follow the land with the laws of the land that we're in it's a red light we don't cross the red light we don't shop lift we don't go out and cause corruption we don't do vigilante justice all the things we're not supposed to do because we obey the laws of the land and we do but when we see a situation that's happening that needs change we can organize we can do these types of things externally but internally we have to accept that Allah is in control that's the thing internally accept externally engage to the degree that you and I are able to engage in and do what it is we need to do to bring good and the fourth and final thing is focus on ourselves and cleaning ourselves up internally focus on ourselves and our families and our societies on the internal work we have forgotten this as a people as a people in this country as a people as Muslims we have forgotten the heart we have forgotten the heart and we have to really that is the main way we bring about change you have a group of people who came in the middle of the Arabian desert in the Arabian Peninsula thirteen or fourteen hundred years ago and literally most of them were I mean like in complete stage of ignorance before they entered Islam and these people were what they were the Sahaba ikram of the Prophet ﷺ may Allah be pleased with all of them but they were engaged in all these crazy acts right literally say in the Omar one time he said that he was you know he had made an idol in the morning with dates with you know with dates and you know he shaped it and everything and then he went on a journey and that day he got hungry and then he ate the idol I mean that is the kind of ridiculousness that they were engaged in but they because they were changed where from the inside they became the best generation to ever walk the face of this earth right of the best generation of people so the internal work though is what was going on at the time there was not vast amounts of political power vast amounts of kingdom none of that no but internally they were clean and they were working on and then Allah gave them success and gave the Muslims success externally because of their inward work so Allah says he does not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves that's from the Quran so we have to work let us reflect on ourselves and let us reflect on what we need to change internally first and foremost keep that in mind the leadership that we are given reflects our internal state never forget that the leadership that we are given reflects our internal state maybe we as a human as a humanity or as a people in this country we see a lot of anger in leadership maybe we are angry people we see a lot of division in politics we have become divided people we see a lot of racism we have a lot of racism internally as well as in our Muslim communities we see a lot of love of power and of fame and of cheating and this and that that's what we are doing as well that means we have to reflect don't say oh yeah I can think of that one guy I can think of this one person who has that trait think about yourself what do you have inside what do I have inside what do I need to work on even if we think it's a small part of us let's work on it because I'm let's really deeply remember that what happens outside is just a mirror of what's going on in here and the inside of the hearts we are people who we have become people who are slowly and slowly and slowly falling into this state of moral degradation we have to become people who uplift each other uplift ourselves internally and try to purify ourselves internally and turn to Allah and then go and do that to other people right if we are lying and doing corrupt actions as a society of course you're going to have leaders who are lying all the time and doing corrupt actions it's whatever is here internally is what manifests externally the way this has all been always the understanding and so when tribulation happens the Muslims have traditionally always wondered what am I doing wrong let's think in any situation there's a lot of tribulation in the world what are we doing wrong and remember that what is in our control is acting we act act in the sense that we turn to Allah we pray to Allah we make toba we make istighfar we ask Allah for assistance and then we also act outwardly right we leave the rest to Allah so let's leave whatever decision is going to happen to Allah let's try to be content with that decision let's accept it internally let's reflect the fact that Allah has all the power and all the control and let's try to inculcate this trait of being content with his decision of being content with his decree of remembering that he knows what is best for us for humanity for the world and for all of times and for all of the world he created us he knows what he's doing we don't know what we're doing let's accept that and let's turn to him humbly in dua in prayer and let's try to make a commitment at the very least try to pray for each other pray for this community pray for the Muslims in our area in other areas pray for each other and pray for our countries regularly let's try to make a commitment to do that because inshaAllah one prayer is all it takes if it's heard and a lot of rectification can come one of the things that the people of Allah do and that the righteous do and if you read their dua if you read their dua they literally regularly pray for the affairs of the country regularly pray for the prayers of the country that ask Allah to bring mercy upon humanity and there are many many Muslims out here out there around the world today who because of their prayers and their turning to Allah and their begging Allah in the middle of the night and upholding the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and weeping in the night for Allah's mercy for not just them and their families but for all of the Muslims and for all of humanity and begging Allah for his mercy and begging Allah for protection that it is by means of people like that that a lot of tribulation is warded off and what would we do if people weren't like that so let's try to inculcate that level in ourselves let's try to inculcate that level of focus and of worship and let's try to focus on the inward before we focus too much on the outward and whatever happens outwardly let's accept it with Allah let's turn to Allah inshaAllah if anybody has any questions or anything please please feel free to put them in the chat inshaAllah and let's try to let's turn our hands inshaAllah in prayer Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alamin Wa sallallahu wa sallim Wa barakah ala Sayyidina Muhammadin Wa ala Ali wa sahbihi sallim Ya ar-Rahman ar-Rahim Ya Allah We ask Ya Allah Ya Allah by your mercy and by your gentleness Ya Allah that you allow us to accept whatever it is that is going on in our country Ya ar-Rahman ar-Rahim Ya Allah accept this decree Ya Rabbil Alamin allow us to accept your decree allow us to accept your decision Ya Rabbil Alamin Ya Allah allow us to accept whatever situation it is that you are going to manifest whatever the outcome of this election is let us turn to you let us remember that you are the Lord of all the Lords that you are the King of all Kings that you are the President of all presidents let us Ya Rabbill Alamin be content and be happy with your decree Ya Rabbill Alamin Ya Allah and bring ease upon this country Ya Rabbill Alamin and guide this country Ya Allah and guide the people of this country and guide the people and the leaders of this country Ya Rabbill Alamin and bring them close to you Ya Rahman Alamin Ya Allah and bring us content with your decree Ya'ala and make your mercy manifest Ya'ala. This is the month in which your beloved Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was born. Let his Sunnah and let his example and let his teachings and let his love be born in our hearts Ya'ala. Ya'ala, this is a month in which much relief comes through him Ya'ala. Let a lot of relief come for us, for all of our communities, for our difficulties, for our sicknesses, for anything it is that we are going through Ya'ala. And let us trust in you and place our trust in you and place our Tawakkal in you Ya'ala. And let us know what it is that is best for us and we do not know and we are mere slaves and we are human beings Ya'ala Bilalameen and we are creation and you are the Creator Ya'ala Bilalameen. So let us rely on you and you only and give us a contentment and a sweetness and an expansion in our hearts and a tranquility Ya'ala Bilalameen by means of which all of our anxieties are removed and all of our difficulties are removed and let this be the case for us and for all of our loved ones and for all of the Muslims Ya'ala Bilalameen and for anyone frankly in our country who is feeling any state of anxiety or worry right now please remove it Ya'ala Bilalameen and please let us turn to you and please let your guidance come from the heavens Ya'ala Bilalameen, let your anwar come from the heavens and let your nafahats and your sweet breezes come from the heavens to guide us and to bring us to you and to turn us towards you and to turn us inwardly and outwardly towards you and to let us be focused on you always Ya'ala Bilalameen and let us not be focused on ourselves Ya'ala Bilalameen, Ya'ala Bilalameen and let us follow in the footsteps of the greatest of all prophets, of the greatest of all people, of the greatest of all leaders. Sayyiduna Rasulullah, our Master, our Messenger, our beloved Muhammad, Sallallahu alaihi wa ali wa sahbihul salim Wa sahbihi wa sahbihi wa sahbihi wa sahbihi wa sahbihi ma-barakah Sayyidina Muhammad al-Ali wa sahbihi wa sahbihi wa salim Alhamdulillahi Rabbil alameen Al Fatiha Bismillah Al-Ameer al-Ameer al-Ameer Al-Ameer Yuhakuna abudu Yuhakuna al-Astani Al-Nasra Fum Al-Mustakim Sa'at Al Anzeena Al-Ahmed Al Haaleen Al-Maghdubi Al-Ameem Al-Aalim Al-Aa meen Ameen Aameen Jazakuma al-Akhir InshaAllah InshaAllah Listen to me if anybody has any questions Stay safe, stay happy, stay content, insha'Allah. Salaamu Alaykum.