 صلى الله عليك يا سيدي يا مولاية يا رسول الله وعلى أحذ بيتك المذلومين صلى الله عليك يا سيدي يا مولاية مولاية وابنها مولاية يا أبا عبدالله يا رحمة الله الواسأة ويابا بنجاة الأمها يا غريب يا مذلوم يا أتشاءا كربلا ما خاب من تمسك بكم والأمنا من لجاء إليكم سادته يا ليتنا يا ليتنا كنا ماكم فنفوزا والله فوزا عظيمة قال الله العظيم في محكم كتابه الكريم والقول كالحق والأستقل قائلين أعوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم قل إن كنتم تحبون الله فاتبئوني يحببكم الله ويغفل لكم ضنوبكم والله غفور الرهيم عملنا بالله صدق الله العليه والعظيم من المهم السيئ السيئ the most easiest ways to build a relationship with our creator is by means of making a Dua by means of supplicating to our creator دوة is something that many of us have been taught to do we fail to understand that دوة is a unique etiquette in order for it to be allowed to be returned and receptive by Allah صبحانه و تعالى أنت لا تستطيع فعل دعاة في أي يوم وفي أي وقت ويجب أن تكون إستطاعاً ليس أن الله سبحانه وتعالى لا تستطيع أن تكون إستطاعاً لكن مثل أي شيء أخرى في حالة التي تريد أن تأخذها منها وأنها تريد أن تفتحها منها يجب أن تفتحها في إستطاعاً وإذا كانت تتحرك المتابعة التي نحن لدينا وأنها تتحدثنا بنا ببالطفة في نفسنا وفي بلاسنة ونفسهم أو even the personal supplications that we make toward our creator it's important again to understand that there are certain prerequisites and certain etiquettes in order to allow for it to really bear the fruit of that which we are intending so for instance we're told that when we are to standing in front of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and making du'a to Him it's important that our minds are clear and our hearts are clear and that we're asking God for God's sake that we're not asking God solely for the thing that I'm seeking what am I trying to say is that many times we make du'a to Allah سبحانه وتعالى because we want something we want this job we want this investment we want this wealth we want to pass this exam we want to be successful in whatever it is that we want to be successful in and the only reason or the only time we ever supplicate is when we want something in return from our creator in a way that's very transactional oh God I will do this but then you have to do this for me and then when we don't get it we wonder why is it that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is not responding to my du'a and I'm not going to make du'a tomorrow or ever again because he never responds to my du'a in the first place what I mean or what the traditions of Ahlul Bayt عليهم صلاة والسلام I mean when they state that in order to have your supplication answered and responded to by the creator make sure that you're always asking God for du'a so when you actually want something there's a higher potential for you to receive that in the حديث القدسي from Allah سبحانه وتعالى He reveals toward the prophet عليه صلاة والسلام Allah سبحانه وتعالى he states يا أحمد اعرف إليه ثرخا أعرفك في الشد he states او محمد remember me in the good times and I will remember you during your difficult times it's really easy to remember God when we're going through something when we need something what's hard to do is remember الله سبحانه وتعالى when everything is going great because we just assume this is a blessing from God anyway so why do I need to make du'a to him or do I even need to thank الله سبحانه وتعالى because I did it I'm the one who passed that exam I'm the one who worked really hard and got that job I'm the one who made all of that money I'm the one who built this I'm the one who did that someone who's always talking about themselves and always projecting the I have to understand that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is not the center of their life I built this I established this I created this I worked for this all of a sudden where's God in the equation you're doing it for yourself you're doing it to feed your own ego or you're doing it for Allah سبحانه وتعالى and when again when you remove God from the equation especially when it comes toward good times then when the difficulty comes we raise our hands to our Creator oh Allah remove me from this there's a good chance that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is the same way that you weren't remembering Him when things were all going well then you're going to choose to sort of postpone responding toward your supplication someone says that's kind of cruel why would the old merciful do something like that Allah سبحانه وتعالى sometimes needs to work toward cultivating our hearts and our souls in a way whereby we have reached the state because at the end of the day it's all about proximity to Him this long life of ours is a journey to get closer and to seek a sense of proximity toward our Creator which is why every single day when we stand in prayers what do we state that our intention I'm praying three ركة of مغرب prayers قربة الى الله وتعالى what does قربة الى الله mean it means to see closeness to Allah سبحانه وتعالى literally قربة to see closeness to Allah سبحانه وتعالى so He says it won't be a problem then if I try to draw you a little bit closer to me by not responding to your دع right now and this idea of seeking closeness then to Allah سبحانه وتعالى is understood on a lot of unique levels when we take a look at the traditions of Ahl al-Bayt when we take a look at their supplications when we take a look at the outline or the designation or the curriculum so to say that the Prophet and his family have laid out for us how we can get to the highest level in terms of that proximity because again the end of the day it's about getting proximity to God of course not physical proximity but of course we're speaking about this notion of spiritual proximity and amongst the highest levels that a believer can attain in this idea of spiritual proximity to Allah سبحانه وتعالى is whereby we love God but even greater than that that God loves us back Allah سبحانه وتعالى سبباً يحب all of this creation but to truly become the epitome of the beloved of Allah سبحانه وتعالى or amongst those who are known as the Awliya of Allah his closest friends or how it's often translated as the saints of God like anything else and like everything else that requires a lot of work that requires a lot of effort but if that's not the end goal of where we want to be then again we're not exactly sure where it is that we want to be in the first place one of the names of the Messenger of Allah one of the ways that we address him is that we call him حبيب إله العالمين he is the beloved of the Lord of the Worlds and if every single day that we come toward these gatherings and the name of the Prophet and his family peace and blessings be upon them and I've said this so many times the end goal of the ritual is that we're walking in the footsteps of Imam al-Hussain walking in the footsteps of Imam al-Hussain is walking in the footsteps of the Prophet of God is walking in the footsteps of this most perfect immaculate infallible family and who they were was the most beloved in the sight of the Creator so what does it mean then to become from amongst those who are beloved in the sight of the greatest of all Creators the King of the Heavens and the Earth the Creator of all of this we come and we see that we get a couple of insights and manifestations of this reality from the du'az of Ahl al-Bait عليهم الصلاة و الصلاة let me take a look at a couple of them in du'a kumail for instance Imam أمير المؤمنين عليه الصلاة و السلام he states فحبني يا إلهي و سيدي ومولاية و ربي سبرتوا على أضابك فكيف أصبروا على فراقك Oh Allah Oh my master Oh my king Oh my sustainer Let's say This is the words of علي عليه الصلاة و الصلاة و السلام du'a kumail is really incredible I should follow my weekly Instagram stories where I commentate on du'a kumail we've taken a little bit of a break for the last two months they'll be back Insha'Allah in this the Imam عليه الصلاة و السلام he states Oh Allah suppose that I'm able to bear patiently the punishment of the fires of hell سبرتوا على أضابك Oh Allah Let's say that I'm able to remain patient in the midst of that punishment of yours Do you now severe the punishment of Allah with Allah We don't know our intellects and our spirit as much as we love to talk about mercy as we have to talk about the compassion of Allah سبحانه وتعالى also don't lose sight of the fact that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is that Allah سبحانه وتعالى he is certainly out of his promise created a place in his divine realm whereby to punish those who have transgressed his boundaries may Allah سبحانه وتعالى save us from that punishment He states سبرتوا على أضابك Oh Allah Let's say that I'm able to sit there and receive all of your punishment فكيف أسبرو على فراقك This is معرفة أمام عريبن أضابك He states Oh Allah I'll take the punishment It's okay But how am I going to deal with being away from you How am I going to deal with being in a space that's in terms of distance of physical or spiritual proximity from you Oh Allah The punishment I'm okay with There's a Hadith that states that Allah سبحانه وتعالى for the worst of the creation those oppressors and those who take the rights of other people those who have oppressed the family of the prophet peace and blessings be upon them that for them there's a space that's reserved in the fires of hell that Allah سبحانه وتعالى will close the doors and he will make it obligatory upon himself to forget they exist that's scary that's scary imagine for one moment think about where we have made mistakes then imagine for one moment Allah سبحانه وتعالى forget in the afterlife but in this life he forgot about us he left us to be on our own what would we be who would we be for one day Allah سبحانه وتعالى was not in the equation even though in our lives he's not part of the equation for many of us to talk about myself but imagine in the divine realm of the creator he removed us from his memory we're in trouble what's going to happen to us Imam Ali the other time says I don't worry about anything but the only thing that I worry about is being in that state of proximity to you oh Allah if you continue to read the words of of of the words you'll see the manifestation of love in these lines of this supplication in another line it is stated from Imam Zayn al-Adid Ali a line that I shared in a couple of nights it states oh Allah who tasted the sweetness of your love وحصلت على كل شيء أخرى. أن المن who stood in performing the night prayer for more than 40 consecutive nights when you feel the presence of God you're not worried about any good to our good because you felt the presence of Allah سبحانه وتعالى when your mind is so fixated on God you're not concerned about the Dunya. That's not to say that all of these luxuries again that we have in this world are bad what I'm trying to say is that we need to work and we need to strive toward that higher sense toward that higher معرفة toward that higher understanding of love of the Creator where again He places His love in our hearts and when we want to reflect upon this idea and this notion of what it means to be a beloved of Allah سبحانه وتعالى within Islamic tradition I want to reflect upon this theme in three different dimensions the first dimension is in terms of understanding the levels of love as Allah سبحانه وتعالى and the Prophet and Ahl al Bayt عليهم السلام speak to secondly in terms of what are the hurdles that one encounters in terms of becoming a beloved of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and thirdly in reflecting upon the qualities of the beloved of the Creator so again we go to that first dimension what are the levels of love of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and according to our traditions and according to scholars of ethics there are three levels of love of Allah سبحانه وتعالى that every single human being has to seek and has to aspire to but before it let me just say this that the power of love really has a great potential that's very transformative what do I mean that if someone loves Allah سبحانه وتعالى so much they're going to dedicate their life towards seeking that sense of proximity toward God because nothing matters but love if someone wants to get married to someone they're going to allow for all of the obstacles to come in their way and none of those are going to bother them because they're going to keep on striving to making sure that this relationship works family, parents community individual issues within the relationship it doesn't matter you're going to work toward fighting in order to make it work because that's what love just calls to sometimes we come and we see that love is really really painful but it's really hard to remove it from our hearts I'm a mixed fan I know I love the New York Knicks and I have to go through a lot of pain but every single time I try to tell myself just let it go I can't because that love runs so deep make to offer my Knicks last night I told our brother I told him hey man come out of retirement you're 50 years old it looks super fit man 50 years old I said why don't you just come out of retirement to play for the Knicks he said even if they offered me a contract and they offered me the millions of dollars he said I'd go to the Nets I take the veterans minimum over there I hate all you Nets fans that's ruined my life huh oh man so what I'm trying to say is that when you love something it doesn't matter what hurdle comes in your way you're always seeking and you're always striving toward getting to that ultimate destination and the idea is to allow for our hearts toward transforming toward understanding that the only love that is important is the love of our Creator loving family loving children loving parents those can all be manifestations of the love of Allah سبحانه وتعالى because God gave them to us as a trust and as a responsibility and when we go toward understanding these three levels of love or these three different opinions of what it means toward loving Allah سبحانه وتعالى we come when we see that there is one opinion that states that the only reason why the human being loves Allah سبحانه وتعالى is again going back to that idea that I mentioned earlier because it's transactionary I love God and God gives me things in the same way that for instance that a child you give them something and they're immediately going to like you you give them a lollipop they're gonna like you because they know that from you they can get something and when you don't give it to them they don't like you anymore that's it it's the reality because their intellects have not been fashioned toward that extent where they're able to understand that sometimes these things that we're giving you might not be good for you and the reason why I'm not giving it to you is because I love you when it comes to the human being Allah سبحانه وتعالى again as we mentioned a couple of nights ago has fashioned within the human being the love of things زينا للناس حب الشحوات He created us the love of really nice the love of things we worship God because we want him to respond toward our jaw we worship God because we want him to improve our health we worship God because we want him to allow for us to pass our tests we worship God because we want to get a job we worship God because we want wealth we worship God even if because we want paradise is that what it's about? God created you so you work that you pray that you fast so that you get paradise that's not the purpose of creation we talked about that the other night that's so shallow if you really think about it not that it's bad to think that way it's a process and that's the way that we know things that's the way that we understand things our kids again they're only going to understand that they love us or that we love them when we give them something for the good things that they do even at work for instance we work so we can get a paycheck is that the way that our relationship with our Creator is or is that the way that our relationship with our Creator should be? no there has to be something deeper than that there has to be something far greater than just I'm going to do something so God is going to give it back to me so the first opinion states and probably on a very basic shallow level that the way or the reason why we love الله سبحانه وتعالى is because God gives us things in return the second opinion is that الله سبحانه وتعالى or that we love الله سبحانه وتعالى because God has created us with this fitra this innate nature again whereby we have the ability to perceive Him and within that innate nature الله سبحانه وتعالى has given us the ability to be receptive of all of his names and all of his attributes that every single human being loves compassion and Allah سبحانه وتعالى is the all compassionate that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has created within the human being the love of justice and Allah سبحانه وتعالى is the justice he is the all just that Allah سبحانه وتعالى has created within the human being the love of generosity and Allah سبحانه وتعالى is the all generous again going back to this value based or quality based or sort of value based sort of system we love Allah سبحانه وتعالى because he has fashioned us with the qualities that he is and it's easy for us to be receptive to him because he has given us this ability to be receptive to him so deep down within us every single one of us have the ability to love our creator but sometimes we need to dig out all of the darkness in terms of understanding that really we love we love compassion we love mercy we love generosity and we also want to manifest those qualities to the best of our abilities let me give an example on the day of Ashura is a man by the name of عابس سبن شبيب عابس is this incredible companion of Imam Al-Hussain عليه الصلاة والسلام and I speak about him on a night in which he recollected the tragedy of the companions but Al-Bus was a man who was amongst the companions of Imam Ali عليه الصلاة والسلام in the battle of Sifin against Muawiyah and he had been injured in that battle and he was a really brave and courageous warrior defending Ali بسرام الله عليه but the time it got to Karbarah عابس was very elderly and when he went out toward fighting and defending Imam Al-Hussain عليه الصلاة والسلام he went and he entered into the middle of the battlefield and he ran into the army of Omar bin Saad and everyone just dispersed they were scared of him he was a man with really no fear and as he entered into the middle of the battlefield just everyone just parted and also they felt bad for him almost because he was an elderly man and they didn't want to be the one to kill him so he took off his helmet he took off his armor he said which one of you are going to kill me and عابس then took his sword and he went to the right and he went to the left and all of a sudden the army of Omar bin Saad they surrounded him and as was the custom that you're not just going to you know lie down and die but عابس had been شبيب he stood up and instead of going and trying to fight one of them and then send one of them off عابس just tried to take all of them on at the same time he was in his 80s according toward the traditions and according to the report of the historians over 80 years old and he's just going and he's trying to pierce through all of these 40, 50, 70 people who are surrounding him and they call out عابس what's wrong with you Adjunint he's gone crazy what are you trying to do he says عم حب الحسين أجنني the love of حسين has made me go crazy why what allowed for this man who is a man of intellect a man of rationale a scholar a man who had seen so much who had been through so much what allows him to reach that state of emotion what he calls crazy what he calls mad in the way of حسين because he recognized that the only thing that his heart can contain are the qualities of حسين عليه الصلاة والسلام and that the only thing that he could do then is defend the qualities and the values of حسين عليه الصلاة nothing else mattered except for his love of his master حسين who is the light of Allah سبحانه وتعالى on the earth nothing else matters sometimes the only thing that we see is the creator the only thing that we see is Allah سبحانه وتعالى when we love God that much the only thing that we are seeing is Allah سبحانه وتعالى عبس on the day of Ashura the only thing that he saw was through the light of God and that's حسين ابن علي ابن أبطالب hear what I'm saying and that brings me then to the third level of love and that's the highest level the first one again is that we love God because God gives us things in return the second is that we love Allah سبحانه وتعالى because God has created within our innate nature the ability to see his names and his attributes and the third is that love that Allah سبحانه وتعالى he places in our hearts because he sees us trying to seek proximity to him that this is important sometimes we try our best and we try to get closer toward God but we see these hurdles on our way and then sometimes we see that there is certain moments in our life which are sort of breakthrough moments the month of Ramadan a recitation of the Quran that you were reading or that you listened to or a dua that you were supplicating to Allah سبحانه وتعالى and there are certain moments where all of a sudden you just see the light of God and it just starts to take you and it allows for you to step away from all of that vice and all of that sin and all of those transgressions when Allah سبحانه وتعالى he states that when my believer they take one step toward me I take two steps toward it more in accordance to another tradition when they walk toward me I run toward them and I become the eyes through which they see and the feet through which they walk and the hand through which they grasp what is that except that Allah سبحانه وتعالى sees you striving in his way and he says I'll take care of it from here and he places his love in your heart and allows again for the facilitation of that process of proximity toward him to be seamless just takes those initial steps it takes that initial striving and you will see that God will bring your heart in proximity toward him because he's waiting for you to knock the door but sometimes for whatever reason that door doesn't open or our eyes don't see that door and that brings me then to the second dimension what are some of those hurdles that do not allow for us to perceive the love of Allah سبحانه وتعالى you see my dear friends when we come and we take a look at every single aspect of our life when we see any sense of deficiency we're always ready toward fixing it we're always ready toward reconciling it as soon as we possibly can if we're not good at school from a very young age we go to extra help in college we don't understand a subject we go to office hours at work for instance if you're not good at your task you make sure that you're spending extra hours toward demonstrating toward your superiors that you're ready to learn to making sure that you're able to be good and to be able to fulfill your tasks and your responsibilities it's a natural part of life if we see a deficiency with our body at the same time you have a deficiency of iron or this vitamin or that vitamin you go and you make sure you're taking supplements or you go and you see a doctor we're always ready to go and fixing and diagnosing any issue or any hurdle or any obstacle that we encounter within our life very quickly it'd be silly for us to not do that if for instance I got a cut on my finger right now and my finger started to bleed what would I do would I look at my finger and watch the blood begin to gush out of my thumb fall all over my hand and onto my clothes and then just look at it and say oh man this this sucks I'm bleeding from my finger and not look at anyone and say hey can anyone get me a bandaid can someone get me a tissue let me go and fix this problem or even something more horrific someone cuts off your finger God forbid نعوذ بالله سلام الله عليك يا عباب الله سلام الله عليك يا عباب الله you know on the night on the 11th of محرم when the body of Imam al-Hussain عليه السلام was left alone on the plains of Qabbra they saw the ring of the Prophet عليه السلام on the hand of Imam al-Hussain عليه السلام so one of those men he came and he tried to loot by removing the ring from the hand of the Imam عليه السلام but it was too tight so you know what he did he took out a knife and he cut the finger of the Imam عليه السلام سلام الله عليك يا عباب الله but sometimes when we see ourselves in any sense of deficiency we're always ready to go and fix that issue but how come when it comes to our relationship with Allah سبحانه وتعالى we're not ready to diagnosing what it is that we're encountering again when you see that that love of Allah سبحانه وتعالى is not in your heart then what is it within me that's preventing me from reaching that state we need to make sure that we're diagnosing it and then that we're seeking the cure in order to allow for ourselves to ascend toward that height where we become from amongst the beloveds of our Creator otherwise again what is all about in the first place and we come when we see that in دعاء أبو حمزة الثمالي of Imam زين العبدين عليه السلام he speaks to two issues he speaks to two diseases of the heart that oftentimes overcome our souls whereby we are prevented from being amongst the beloveds of our Creator he states in دعاء أبو حمزة he states اللهم اني كلما قلت قلت قد حيعت وتأبأت وقمت للسلات بين يديك وانا جيتك really beautiful words from the Imam عليه السلام he states oh Allah every time that I stand and I begin to prepare for prayers I go and I stand on my prayer mat and I make وضو I stand in front of you I'm standing between your hands and I know that I have to be in a state of obedience and of submission and of servitude to you ألقيتو علي نواصن إذا أنا سأليت oh Allah at that moment when I'm standing in front of you about to pray to you all of a sudden I start feeling a sense of exhaustion I start feeling a sense of tiredness I start feeling a sense of slumber وصلبتني مناجعتك إذا أنا ناجيتك and oh Allah when I begin to make that دعاء to you during the course even though I've made all of the correct preparations to do so I want to whisper to you I want to pray to you I want to make دعاء to you but I just don't feel like it what is the cause the Imam عليه السلام he's reciting these words so that we think about it so that we reflect upon it how can we be the beloved of Allah سبحانه وتعالى if we fail to even strive to a standing in front of God and focusing for two or three or four or five minutes doesn't take that long if every raka and your prayer is one minute long that's 17 minutes for the entirety of the day the entirety of the day is 17 minutes let's say you add some دعاء you add أقامة you add تصبيحة الزهراء 25 minutes you can finish all of your prayers 25 minutes out of 24 hours and if you do a little bit more دعاء and تصبيح and you recite سجداء you make سجداء شكر after the prayers 30 minutes out of 24 hours 23 and a half hours is for you half an hour of your day of my day is for Allah سبحانه وتعالى it seems so easy so simple half an hour I could do that and then if you add the performance of the night prayer or the recommended prayers the نوافل and so on and so forth one hour one hour of your entire day immediately you transcend amongst the closest of the beloveds of Allah سبحانه وتعالى that's it one hour a day why is it so difficult the Imam عليه الصلاة والسلام he's stating oh Allah what is it what's wrong with me Mali what's up what's going on in here what prevents me from being amongst those who is able to just stand in front of you for a half an hour or 25 minutes a day the sense of the توفيق of Allah سبحانه وتعالى that has been removed from us and this is something that we need to be concerned about let me continue the Imam عليه الصلاة والسلام he continues he stayed smally what's wrong with me كلما قلت قد سلوحة سريرة وقرب من مجالس التوابين مجلسي أرضت لبالية عزالت قدمي وحالت بيني وبين خدمتك يا سيدي he states what is wrong with me whenever I feel that myself has become a little bit better I feel good about myself I know that I'm doing the right thing when I begin to enter into that gathering in which I seek forgiveness from you Oh Allah I say Oh Allah I promise I will never go back toward that sin Oh Allah I promise from this day I will start to pray I promise from this day I will start to recite Quran I promise from this day I'm going to do my best all of a sudden I make that commitment the next day comes and I stand in front of you and my feet begin to shake and my feet begin to ache and I begin to say no it's okay serve it to you it can wait another day how many of us go through this that's something dangerous that's something dangerous that I talk to my own soul how many times do we stand in front of prayer and we just want to get it over with how many times do we stand in du'a to Allah subhanahu wata'a and then when we don't get what we want Oh Allah why are you doing this to us you always do this to us 30 minutes 25 minutes of my day why can't I dedicate it to Allah subhanahu wata'a again what's the cause of it there's one thing and that is that Allah subhanahu wata'a has removed again what is known as histofiq from us so that we're unable to allow for ourselves to be in that sense and in that state of communication with our creator in the same way that when Ali ibn Abi Talibi states إلهي سبرتو على عذابك فكيف أصبروا على فراقك Oh Allah I can deal with your punishment but how can I deal with being distant from you we say Oh Allah me punishment forget that I'm not going to get that I'm good I came to the medius of Hussein we can't even pray I cried for Hussein you can't even ask Allah subhanahu wata'a for forgiveness I love the prophet and his family إن كنتم تحبون الله فتبعوني God states in the holy Quran that messenger of God if they claim that they love me then tell them to follow you the messenger said to pray said to fast said to make zakat he said to go for hajj he said to do this he said to do this توفيق from Allah subhanahu wata'a what is توفيق really really quickly is what I like to call the divine glue it allows for everything to stick together the ability and the potential that we have within us God allows for us to be pushed forth so that we're able to get to where it is that we need to be I can't pray Allah subhanahu wata'a to give me توفيق so that I'm able to pray when we're going through that how can we don't say Oh Allah help me in this Oh Allah if there's something that's hindering from me it's hindering this prayer from being formulated from this du'a from being recited from the Quran to be recited Oh Allah help me get there and beg God because again when that door is closed and that when we start to not even see that door anymore we need to go back and check our results إنّا للقلوب إقبالا وإدبارا sometimes the heart wants sometimes the heart doesn't want when it doesn't want for a really long time we need to go back and think where we're at and this brings me then toward the third dimension and that is then what are the qualities of the beloved of Allah subhanahu wata'a and these qualities every one of them that I'm going to mention three or four of them are also the means by which we overcome these hurdles of having a lack of توفيق in terms of allowing for ourselves to reach that state of spiritual proximity to our Creator when we come and we see number one the first mechanism or the first means to become a beloved of Allah subhanahu wata'a and be able to overcome those obstacles of laziness or of not being able to connect with our Creator is that we should always be in a state of the remembrance of Allah subhanahu wata'a and a Hadith from the Prophet عليه الصلاة و السلام it states علامة علامة خب الله خب ذكره و علامة بغض الله بغض ذكره that the sign of the one who loves Allah subhanahu wata'a is that he loves to remember God and the sign of the one who hates God is the one who hates God's remembrance do you love to be in a gathering do I love to be in a gathering where we talk about Allah subhanahu wata'a where we want to learn about God where we have the sense of desire to recite Quran to make dua to recite تسبحات or even to do something as general like I mentioned the other day like walk in the park and look up at the signs of the Creator that the first thing that we have to do is just be in a state where we are in God's remembrance performing the ذكر of Allah subhanahu wata'a someone says how can I get there if in the first place I have a difficult time standing in front of my Creator in the first place I can't pray I can't fast my feet begin to shake I get nervous I get lazy all of these things happen to me sometimes you need to just push you just need to deal with it you need to exert yourself and put forth an extra effort when you're fasting during the holy month of Ramadan fasting is challenging you know that you have to do it you fast it all the way 11 pm you have 45 minutes or an hour remaining you just know sometimes you just got to do it so you just got to push through when you got to do it and when you do it you just feel good about yourself similarly for instance when it comes toward school or when it comes toward work you don't like to do every single task that you do but at the end of it you just know that you have to do it sometimes we're going to go through certain states in our spirituality where we're not going to feel so comfortable but you can't give up you have to just keep on pushing and keep on striving and you just have to get through it and at the end of it you just feel a lot better anyone ever run before? you're running outside we're talking about this a couple of us yesterday you're running outside and nobody likes running let's be honest we like how it feels I don't like it in the middle of it especially the first 5 minutes the first 7 minutes and the first 12 minutes and then the first 15 minutes you get your 45 minute run and then you look at your watch you look at your phone or you hear the guy saying you've done 40 minutes already you're like okay I can do this just did 40 minutes you're panting you're breathing you're about to fall flat on your face and die but you know that the end is coming and after you finish it how good do you feel runner's high you feel good you feel content you feel happy you can deal with this you did it and you know what you're going to do it again tomorrow or you're going to do it the day after that you just feel this burden is sort of removed from you you have to go through the process and at the end of it you feel a sense of contentment you have to just force yourself sometimes to be in the vicar of الله سبحانه وتعالى it shouldn't be that challenging though it's not physically taxing it why would it be so horrific to remember your God once in a while before whatever reason say it الله سبحانه وتعالى some people they say you know all of these rituals that we perform I've heard it forever I used to ask my parents the same thing actually to be honest with you on ليلة القدر أستغفر الله أستغفر الله you go into a mosque for instance on the night of ليلة القدر someone was reciting أستغفر الله so mechanically a hundred times that if someone were to walk in they would seem like it's a bunch of robots just reading the same exact thing but imagine that during the course of that إستغفر maybe in the 50 or 70 or a hundred years that we live we perform that أعمال 70 times one of those إستغفر out of those 50,000 that we recite one of them we say it with a sense of sincerity that's why we are told say it 70 times say it 100 times you have other other cars say this 1000 times say this 1200 times recite this 40 consecutive days recite that 40 consecutive days do this do that one time it's going to click but it starts with practice and it starts with putting forth that effort you have to keep on doing it and finally something is going to happen something is going to click there is going to be some fruition at the end of the day it starts with us pushing forth and putting forth that effort and saying Oh Allah I want to be from amongst your beloveds so I am going to dedicate myself toward remembering you even if it means that I have to stand up in the middle of the night and say Allah 100,000 times the second way or the second quality of the beloved of Allah سبحانه وتعالى or according toward our traditions going back toward that same point that I just concluded with is that we spend the portion of our night in dedication to Allah سبحانه وتعالى what does this mean as I mentioned the other night the anecdote of that young man who's performed the night prayer for however many consecutive nights that there's something about dedicating yourself to the worship of Allah سبحانه وتعالى in the last third of the night there's something unique about that time and in the tradition it is stated from Imam Al-Sadiq عليه الصلاة والسلام he's telling one of his companions that one day Musa عليه الصلاة was in conversation with God and God he says to Musa عليه الصلاة يبن أمران Oh son of Imran تبا من زئم أنه يحبني فإذا جنه الليل ناما عني عليه سا كل محبن يحب خل وتحبيبة يبن أمران Oh Musa The liar is the one who says that he loves me but does not spend a portion of the night in conversing with me for does not every beloved wish to stay up with his beloved in the darkness of the night you love Allah سبحانه وتعالى you want Allah سبحانه وتعالى to put his love in our hearts that starts with us doing things that are not always so comfortable we wake up at 3 o'clock in the morning and you make wudu when your bed is a lot more comfortable it's a lot warmer it's a lot colder whatever it is that we like we make that wudu we open up the prayer mat and we begin to seek forgiveness from Allah سبحانه وتعالى you begin to converse with Allah سبحانه وتعالى you know even on the night of the 11th of Muharram and I'll talk about this later on on another night but even on the night of the 11th of Muharram when the tents were burning Lady Zainab A.S. had her hands raised in performing the night prayer the tents are burning the bodies of her family members are butchered all across the plains of Karbarah and she has her hands raised in conversation with her Lord and thirdly very quickly Allah سبحانه وتعالى the third quality of the believer or the third quality of the beloved of Allah سبحانه وتعالى is that they follow the Prophet and walk in his footsteps Allah سبحانه وتعالى states in the Holy Quran قل إن كنتم تحبون الله فتبعوني يحببكم الله يغفر لكم ضنوبكم والله غفور الرهيم that all messengers say that if they claim to love me they say follow me follow the messenger and they will find that God loves them back and that Allah سبحانه وتعالى forgive their sins to follow the Prophet to learn about the life and the legacy of the messenger to go and do your best toward doing whatever it is that he said he said to pray like this we pray like this he said to make dua like this we make dua like this he said to converse and treat your family members like this that's the way we're going to treat our family members because that's the way that the Prophet he instructed for us and fourthly because my time is running out the fourth way to become a beloved of Allah سبحانه وتعالى is to love Hussein is to love Imam Hussein عليه السلام what's the evidence حب الله من حب حسين that Allah loves the one who loves Hussein you know what's interesting all of these others they all state for instance that if you want to love Allah you have to do this this tradition states حب الله من حب حسين it starts with Allah loving the one who does not if you want Allah to love then you do this حسين مني وانا من حسين حب الله من حب حسين عالي ت night night of tragedy man let's turn off those lights tonight my friends is the night of the night I told you a couple of nights ago that last Thursday was my daughter's first day of school and I know my wife she went and she told a lot of people that I'm a big cry baby and I am she went and she told everyone that when my daughter went to school I was embarrassing her because I was crying so much in the pre-k classroom even though the first day of school was only an hour and a half the minute that we exited the school I thought to myself I'm undergoing so much grief for an hour and a half because my daughter for the first time in my life is away from me and there is no one that I know in that classroom who cares about my daughter who loves my daughter in the same way that any of us would and I thought about what Imam Al-Hussain عليه الصلاة و السلام was feeling like on the day of Ashura when he watched his son Ali in Al-Akbar leave on that horse toward going to the middle of the battlefield do you know how painful it was I swear to you my friends that every single one who went out and fought on the day of Ashura and who was killed in the hands of Imam Al-Hussain عليه الصلاة و السلام nothing was as painful as when Imam Al-Hussain عليه الصلاة و السلام had to watch his son Ali in Al-Akbar be killed in front of his eyes nothing not the 6 month old that pierced Ali in Al-Akbar that pierced Imam Al-Hussain عليه الصلاة و السلام so much because he watched that son of his grow 26 27 years he watched him in front of him and he raised him into a man and he was always loyal and always by the side of his father Imam Al-Hussain عليه الصلاة و السلام he has to watch him ride into the sunset only to be slaughtered in the most horrific way that we can ever imagine which is why Fatima Bint al-Hussain one of the daughters of Imam Al-Hussain عليه الصلاة و السلام when she got back to Medina she narrates that my father on the day of Ashura he died 3 times and every one of these 3 times had to do with Ali in Al-Akbar he says that the first time that my father died on the tent of Muharram was when he had to watch Ali in Al-Akbar leave for the first time from that tent the second time that my father died on the tent of Muharram was when Ali in Al-Akbar returned back to the tent and said Oh Abba Abdullah إن الأتش قد قتلني that surely the thirst is killing me and the third time that my father died on the day of Ashura was when he saw the battered and bruised body of his son Ali in Al-Akbar Forgive me my dear sisters and brothers because this one is really hard to read and I don't know if I'm going to be able to narrate to you all of the details what happens to our master Ali in Al-Akbar tonight and if I can't I apologize and I'll save it for the tent of Muharram but I will just say this my dear brothers and sisters that Ali in Al-Akbar was a man who in terms of his physical face and in terms of his etiquette in terms of his speech according to traditions mirrored that of the messenger of God Ali in Al-Akbar the women would state that whenever we missed the presence of our grandfather Muhammad we would always ask to see the face and hear the voice of Ali in Al-Akbar which is why it is said that when Imam Al-Hussain Ali in Al-Akbar he is approached by Ali in Al-Akbar after all of the companions and after all of his comrades had been killed Ali in Al-Akbar was the first from amongst the family members of Banu Hashim to come toward Imam Al-Hussain Ali in Al-Salam to seek permission but before even get there on the night of Ashura when Imam Al-Hussain Ali in Al-Salam he turns off those candles he turns off those lanterns he tells everyone else to go he states the only one who has to say is my son Ali in Al-Akbar he even told Ab al-Fadir Abbas that he should take his brothers and go back toward Khufa go back toward Medina go back to wherever they were safe he just needed his son Ali in Al-Akbar because that was his sacrifice on the day of Ashura and it is said that when Ali in Al-Akbar he comes toward Imam Al-Hussain Ali in Al-Salam he says يا أبتا يا أبا عبدالله هلي من رقصا do you give me permission oh my master oh my father to everyone else Imam Al-Hussain categorically said absolutely not at least the first time he said there is no way that you are going to fight but when he saw Ali in Al-Akbar he needed to demonstrate to everyone else that he was also giving out of himself so he looked at the face of Ali in Al-Akbar the face of the messenger of God Ali in Al-Salam and he just looked at him and he embraced him and he became so overcome with emotion that that was the first time that he fell unconscious on the day of Ashura we mentioned the other night the second time was when Qasim was leaving and it is said that Imam Al-Hussain عليه السلام a few moments later he rises again he looks toward Ali in Al-Akbar and he says oh Akbar before you go out please go and bid farewell to your mother Layla go bid farewell to your aunt Zainab it is said that Ali in Al-Akbar he prepares himself for battle he goes and he wears his turban he wears his helmet he wears his armor and he gathers together his sword and then he goes toward the tent of the women when he stands in the tent all of the women they stand up they all embrace Ali in Al-Akbar and they say oh Ali make us proud today but Layla at the corner she was so concerned about her son Ali in Al-Akbar he exits from the tent he goes and he tells his father oh Abba Abdullah don't worry about me for I've been under the tutelage of my uncle Abbas I will be successful today and it is said that he goes he rise he kills some of the enemy and it is said that Imam Al-Hussain Ali his Salam is watching in a nearby hill he's looking and he's watching and every single time he smiles Layla says oh Abba Abdullah why are you smiling at this moment Imam Al-Hussain Ali his Salam says because he struck one of the enemy and he's killed them and at one moment it is said that Imam Al-Hussain was standing and all of a sudden his face was filled with anxiety and Layla says what is happening to my son at this moment Imam Al-Hussain says Layla I'm worried about my son I've heard from my grandfather the messenger of God that the one the mother who makes a desperate dua it's bound to be responded to so go back into the tent and make dua to Allah that I'm able to see my son one final time do you know what he says she goes back into the tent she falls to the ground she raises her hands and she says she says Oh Allah who returned use of back to Yaqub Oh Allah who returned Ismail back to Hajar I ask you I ask you I ask you I ask you by the anxiety of Hussein I ask you I ask you I ask you I ask you by the thirst of Hussein I ask you by the loneliness of Hussein return my son back to me one final time and at that moment Ali in an equity killed that man he rode back toward Imam and Hussein he came down from the tent Imam and Hussein he came down from his horse Imam and Hussein embraced him and then he said go and see your mother go and see your aunt Zainab he goes one final time he embraces all of them Imam and Hussein calls from outside of the tent Oh women Oh my sisters Oh my wives Oh my daughters stand up and bid farewell to the young man they all go and they kiss Ali in an Akbar then he comes out and he says Oh my father Oh my father Oh my father Oh my father this armor is really heavy on my back and the thirst of Karbala is killing me give me one sip of water and I will destroy the entire army of Omar bin Saad Imam and Hussein عليه السلام doesn't know what to tell his son so you know what he does he was in desperation he knows that his son is dying of thirst in and of itself so you know what the narration states الله Akbar he embraces his son Ali in an Akbar and then he places his tongue into the mouth of Ali in an Akbar because he doesn't know what to tell him you know what the narration states that Ali in an Akbar he falls backwards to the ground and he says Oh my father I'm sorry I didn't know that you were more thirsty than I it is said that Imam and Hussein عليه السلام he says go because I promise that my grandfather gave him the upper half of water for you in paradise it is said that Ali in an Akbar gets back on that horse he begins to ride towards the plains of Karebada calling out Ali ابن الحسين ابن علي نحن وبيت الله عول ابن لبي أضربكم بالصيه في أحمي أب ضرب غلا من هاشمي وعليه سلام يشاهد when all of a sudden Ali and Akbar he tries to enter into the middle of the army of Amr ibn Sa'd and instead stated that one man he comes and he takes a spear and he pushes it through the chest of Ali and Akbar and another man comes and he takes a dagger which strikes the helmet of Ali and Akbar the helmet breaks, the blood begins to gush, it goes on top of the eyes of the horse the horse doesn't know which way to go, so it enters into the army of Amr ibn Sa'd one man strikes him from the right, another man comes and strikes him from the left he calls out Abaa, عليك من السلام oh my father, my last farewell on you you know what happens Imam al-Hussain, عليه السلام he gets on top of his horse, he begins to ride toward Ali and Akbar this is his son, he's calling out Ali, Ali, Ali at this moment it is said that Sukaina she exits from the tent and she says, oh my father, Abaa Abdullah, you're riding the wrong way my brother's body is there she says Tati, she says لا تلوموني لا تلوميني هذا ابنه علي, how can you blame me this is my son, Ali and Akbar Imam al-Hussain, عليه السلام he's on that horse, he finally reaches the body of his son Ali and Akbar only to see it dismembered it is said that Imam al-Hussain, عليه السلام he tries to get down from his horse you know what happens when you go through something really difficult you can't feel your legs Hamid ibn Muslim, he says I saw Abaa Abdullah but he was not getting down from the horse he had to push himself off the horse he lands on the body of his son this is his son Ali and Akbar and he sees Ali and Akbar smiling and he says, oh my dear son, why do I see you smiling he says because my grandfather Muhammad says my grandfather Muhammad said that he has a cup of water for me and he's bringing it closer to me and he says he has one for you in only one hour that you're also going to drink from that and then at this moment he sees Ali and Akbar he has a sense of grief on his face he says oh my son Ali oh my son Ali why do I see you in this state of grief you just saw your grandfather giving you some water he said I saw my grandmother bought them at the Zahra she stood up and she began to beat herself calling out ya Habibi Ahusay she begins to scream out ya Habibi Ahusay at this moment it is said that Imam Al-Husay he picks up the body Ali and Akbar he calls out ya Dunya ya Bunei ان الدنيا بعدك الأفا oh world oh my son this world without my son is no longer worth living he holds his son close to his chest and begins to scream out Ali ya Ali ya Hussain ya Hussain ya Hussain ya Hussain ya Hussain