 I want to speak about a topic that I think all of you will be able to relate to inshaAllah. And that is the concept of apathy, al-futur, laziness when it comes to ibadah. What are the things that causes it? And how can we treat it? So apathy is causes, signs and treatments inshaAllah, it means when your interest for something reduces and your enthusiasm for it also reduces and your concern for it becomes weary, something that we all go through, that we're sometimes strong, we're up to the standard and sometimes that zeal that we have weakens. How can we cure it? And what are the things that are making it happen? Our messenger, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said, in al-Hadith al-Imam Mu'ahman narrated in his Musnad, in al-Hadith al-Abdullahi al-Amr al-A'as, the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he said, in al-Kulli amal in shirah, wa likulli shirat in fatratum, fa man kanat fatratuhu ila sunnati fa qad aflaha, and another one in fa qad hudiya, wa man kanat ila ghayli daalika fa qad halat. The prophet said, indeed for every action there is a zeal. An enthusiasm, energy, and for every zeal there is a slackening, a time, a period where the person slacks and they go down and they dip, and they are not as enthusiastic and energetic as they are on other days or the way that they've been before. And the prophet said, fa man kanat fatratuhu ila sunnati, anyone who is slackening and anyone who is apathy occurs but is still in line with the sunnah, fa qad aflaha, he's successful. As long as he hasn't reached a point where he goes away from the sunnah of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, then he's still successful. Wa man kanat ila ghayli daalika, and anyone who is slackening, he's slackening goes down and deep beyond and outside the sunnah, fa qad halakah, he becomes destroyed. So what we take from the hadith is, every single one of us is going to go through in any action that we do, that period, that fatrah, that slackening moments where the energy is gone, we have to drag our leg, we have to kind of convince ourselves to have to do this. What is it that causes that to happen? And is there any way that we can overcome that and treat it? Is this something that you all feel that sometimes happens in your life? So inshaAllah ta'ala let's talk about what makes it happen. Al-Imamu Ahmad and Bukhari and Muslim and others narrated on the authority of al-Nu'man ibn Bashir that the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam told us about an organ. The prophet said, verily inside the human body there is an organ. If this organ is upright and steadfast, the entirety of the body is in line with that organ. Your body will follow that organ. If that organ is good, then the body will be good. And if that organ is corrupt and it's misguided, then the entire body will follow it. And the prophet said, that organ is the heart. So from this point I'm trying to shed some light and also explain to you that slacking is something that comes from the heart. It's this organ that brings about the energy, the enthusiasm, the concern, the commitment and the interest and it's when this organ becomes weakened and this organ becomes corrupt, the body then follows and becomes corrupt with it and slacks. The scholars they categorized the heart into three. The scholars they categorized the heart into three. The first heart is a heart that accomplishes three things. A heart that has accomplished and accumulated three important components. The first one is it comes with sincerity. It's a sincere heart. The second thing that heart has achieved and attained is it's in line with the prophet Aleyhi Salatu Salam. It follows the prophet Salallahu Alaihi Salam externally and internally. And number three, this person comes with obedience, which is to stay away from sins and stay away from the two types of sins, major or minor sins. Those are the three things. A kalb which is salim, an upright heart, an untainted heart is a heart which has attained and achieved sincerity. And also adherence to the prophet Salallahu Alaihi Salam and three complete and utter submission to Allah Azza wa Jalla. Those are the three. And it's the heart where Allah Ta'ala told us it will benefit us the day of judgment. Allah said in the ayah, speaking about Allah, do not humiliate me the day of resurrection. What day is that? It is the day when children and wealth are not going to benefit you. The money that you're accumulating now, the money that you are trying to achieve and gain, the money that you are burning your body and mind for, it won't benefit you that day. And children are not going to benefit you unless you come to Allah with what? The kalb which is salim, I said it's a what? It's a heart that has sincerity. It's a heart which is in accordance to the prophet Salallahu Alaihi Salam's way. And three, it's a heart that has come with or achieved complete submission to Allah Azza wa Jalla. The second heart is kalb which is mayyit, a dead heart. The dead heart is a heart that has no life in it. It's a kalb which is dead. There's no life in it. Allah said in the Quran, one who was dead and we gave him life, meaning referring to the disbelievers. They were dead, meaning their hearts were dead. And Allah says, we gave them life. Meaning their kalb is dead because they're not dead. We can see them walking, but their hearts have died. The third one is kalb which is mayyit, a kalb which is sick. When you're sick, that doesn't mean you're completely unhealthy. There are, you might have health in other things, but your illness also may be in something else. So there is health and there's illness as well. This is the heart of the Muslim who sins and has that weakness of imam. And he also has the obedience of Allah Azza wa Jalla and his messenger. So he goes to the masjid and he prays in the jama'a. And he also goes out clubbing and doing haram things and drinking that which Allah prohibited and eating that which Allah prohibited. So he's sometimes doing good and sometimes he's transgressing, he's exceeding his limits and going against his Lord, Allah Azza wa Jalla. The heart that we're going to be talking about, the kalb which is that goes through futour, that goes through empathy, that has that slackening, it is the heart which is what? Marib. Because the one that's mayyit is dead, it needs to be switched on in the first place. Okay? And the kalb which is salim, it's upright, steadfast. The kalb which has futour is the one which is marib, it has a sickness in it. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam told us in another hadith that supports the ayaa يوم لا ينفع عمان ولا بنون إلا من أنت الله بقلب سليم. The Prophet told us in hadith, al-imam, Muslim narrated in hadith Abi Huraira, the Prophet said, يدخلوا الجنة. A group of people will enter jannah. A group of people will enter jannah. A group of people will enter jannah. What are their characteristics? افئدة تُهم مثل افئدة الطيري whose heart would be the likes or their heart would be like the heart of birds, pure, untainted. They don't suffer from sickness and illness in the heart. They have pure, cleansed, clean hearts. Those are the people who are going to enter jannah. The Prophet said يدخلوا الجنة. A group of people will enter jannah. Their hearts are the hearts of birds. Now the question is, what are the main things that the heart suffers from? The heart suffers from many illnesses. But they are two main illnesses. The first one is shahwad, desires. And remember the chain of discussion that we're having and the way that the lecture is going. We are talking about how can you have zeal in ibadah? How can you have that energy and that concern and that enthusiasm in ibadah? In obedience of Allah, I said it's because of the heart. It's the way that you treat your heart and the health of your heart which brings about this enthusiasm or brings about this lack of enthusiasm and lack of interest and lack of concern. So now it's dealing with the heart. If you cure this heart, energy and enthusiasm will come. I mean we are living at a time when people are really focusing on their physical appearance. What I mean by that is they watch and they look at what is it that I'm going to use for my hair so I don't have hair loss. What kind of oil am I going to use? What kind of cream am I going to use that doesn't bring out wrinkles at an early age in my life? What kind of food am I going to eat in order to be in good shape and healthy? People are looking at that appearance but the heart is dying and is rotting. And we've seen people whose appearance when you look at them they look so healthy and they look very amazing and charming. But when you see their relationship with Allah Azza wa Jalla you find that they're the lowest and weak. You see a person who's physically, physically in shape, the kind of things that he does, the marathons he can run, the time he spends in the gym, the weights that he lifts. That same individual is unable to get up for Fajr because he can't lift something very light and that's the duvet. And get out of bed and go and pour water on himself and go and pray the Fajr prayer. He's got the physical ability. He's not a weak person. Why is it he can't do it? And you find a person with skinny, weak person. This looks fragile, the wind can blow him and he's getting up for Fajr. He's standing on Qiyam-ul-Layl. He's out and about helping the people. He's helping the masaiqeen. The hours that person can stand and the energy that person has, you can never come with it. How? How does that come about? Something deep now. It's something to do with the heart. It's someone who's trying to work on their heart and trying to cleanse it and clean it. So the first thing that the heart suffers from is shahawat. Desires. What does it suffer from? Shahawat. Desires. Abdullah ibn Abbas said something very powerful and I want you to all listen to this. Abdullah ibn Abbas, he said, righteous actions, it has rights. Feel wedgie on a person's face. Allah makes that person's face glow. This person's face illuminates. And that person's heart light gushes from it. And Allah opens your provision for you. Your provision, your risk. Allah makes it wide for you. And Allah gives you physical strength. Look at that. The photo, right? Righteous actions bring about enthusiasm and strength in the body. Ibn Abbas goes on to say, which is evil doing, going against Allah's commandments. This obeying, it has what? Qabri and also darkness in your grave. On one's physical strength and ability. Allah reducing your wealth and your income. And the hearts of the people, the people have enmity and hate towards you. All of this is what? It's all based on a person following his desires. If you follow your desires, shahawats, whatever your nuts calls you to, it brings about what? Qabri and a darkened grave and physical weakness and a reduction in your provision. People don't want to see you. They hate your guts. All of this is because you following your desires. If you follow your desires and you submit to it and you adhere to it, it will lead to you becoming physically weak. And I want you to listen to this hadith as well. That the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he said, If the slave does a sin, the person commits a sin, a black dot will be placed on his heart. You follow your desires? A black dot is placed on your heart. But if the person, he repents, he comes back to his senses. He asks Allah for forgiveness. His heart is then cleansed and cleaned. And if he goes back to the sin again, the black dots are increased in his heart until it overcomes his heart. And his heart becomes darkened and black. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he said, Allah is referring to here is the darkened heart. And his heart became all black now. And you know what that person becomes because of what's happening to his heart? He can never identify the good. He can never see the good when it comes to him. And he can never really see the evil. He becomes a cup which is upside down and a person is trying to pour water into it. An upside down cup that water is trying to be poured into it. That's what your heart becomes. All the good that is being mentioned and all of the khayr which is being said to you will all go over your head. It just doesn't seem to make sense. It all seems like a hocus pocus. Jannah and Nahr and all of this. And you don't even sense that what you're really severe and dangerous because the heart has become darkened and dull. And we have to know if we fall into these sins and we've followed our desires, the way to cleanse our heart again and bring it to its default position is to what? It is to repent and to ask Allah for forgiveness. And Umar radiAllahu anhu said Account yourselves. Put yourself on accountability. Before you are accounted for the day of judgment. And scale yourselves. Before you are scaled the day of judgment. It is easier for you to scale yourself and to account yourself now today. It is easier for you than the day of judgment. What is a yannu and adorn yourself. Adorn yourself meaning purify yourselves. Lila ardi lakbar the great day. The day where every single person Allah is going to present to them their reality. What is a yannu lila ardi lakbar the day when they are going to hide from you? Khafiyah. That day everybody it will be shown to them their reality and what they are. Everything you've done. So the first thing that the heart suffers from is what? Desires. Desires is the first thing that the heart suffers from. And it's an illness that the heart really suffers from. And if we don't wake up and we don't stop it's going into our hearts. Our hearts become dark, dull, black. And we will never realize the good that we should go towards. And we won't realize the evil that we're in. And our bodies become weak. And we won't be able to run to the obedience of our Lord. Allah Azza wa Jalla. The second is a shubuhaat, doubts. The first one was desires and the second one is doubts. The doubt is worse than the desires. And the doubt is innovation and disbelief. Those two are called shubuhaat. Both of them if they step into a person's heart then it destroys the heart worse than the desires. Imam Malik came to Imam Malik. He was called Imam Udari al-Hijrah, Imam Malik. And he was the scholar and the Imam of the people of Medina. Are we all together? And Imam Malik was a noble iman who when he would narrate the hadiths of the Prophet because he would be right next to the Prophet's grave he would say, The man of this grave said, Whereas we would say, He is right next to the grave. So he would say the man of this grave said, A great iman. The ummah unanimously agreed upon his station and his nobility. A man came to him and he said, I want to go hajj. I want to go hajj. And when I go hajj I want to do my ihram. I want to wear my clothing for hajj. Where should I wear it from? Meen ayna ufrime. And we all know or we should all know that the people of Medina the place that they wear their ihram from for hajj is dil hulaifa. Dil hulaifa is the place that they wear it from. So the man came and he said to Imam Malik, Meen ayna ufrime. Where should I wear my ihram from? And then Imam Malik said to him, Meen dil hulaifa. Go to dil hulaifa and wear your ihram from there. And do your intention from there. And Imam Malik went on to say, The place where the Prophet did it from. The place where the Prophet ﷺ did his ihram from which was dil hulaifa. Go to that place and you do it from there, okay? The man said, The man said as for me, I want to wear my ihram from the Prophet's Masjid next to his grave. That's where I want to do it from. I don't want to go to dil hulaifa. I want to go to the Prophet's Masjid. And next to the Prophet's grave, I want to do it. Keeping in mind this man wants to do an extra deed. Because doing it from the Prophet's Masjid and wearing it from the Prophet's Masjid next to the Prophet's grave is more distance than to wear from dil hulaifa. Because if he went to dil hulaifa the way he is, he can enjoy himself until he comes to dil hulaifa. And then after that he would have to wear his ihram, right? So he's making it harder on himself. So Don't do that. I fear for you fitnah. Trial and tribulation. That's what I fear for you. The man was gobsmacked. Lost of words. Mind boggled. He said, Which fitnah are you possibly talking about? This is only a couple of miles that I'm going to increase. What fitnah can you possibly fear for me? And then an Imam Malik said a golden statement. He said, What fitnah is greater? What other fitnah are you waiting for than to see what other fitnah could there possibly be greater than see yourself to go forward in a righteous deed and try to surpass Allah's message to proceed the prophet in a righteous action, to get there before the prophet, to be higher than the prophet in a righteous action that the prophet was deficient in. According to your action, that's what you're saying. I'm doing better than what the prophet is doing. What fitnah is worse than that? And then he recited to him and he said, I heard Allah Azawajal say, Let them be cautious. Who? Those who oppose the messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in his affairs. What's going to happen to them? And to see them fitnah that they will be afflicted with a calamity, a trial and a tribulation. Are we going to see them or they are afflicted with what? A severe punishment, a punishment which their bodies and minds will not be able to endure. So this hadith and this statement of Imam Malik shows us the severity of innovation and the severity of following ones, our following doubts. This is Shubhaat, Shubhaat. And Imam Malik was trying to get this man to understand this is a fitnah for your heart that you would follow such and such. Well, he said the early scholars, the early imams, they realized the severity of innovation and how it can affect the hearts. Well, he said, Hasan al-Basri said, Don't sit with an innovator. Don't sit with him. Because he will paint your heart. He will make your heart sick. Yom ribu means what? He will make your heart kalbun mariib, a sick heart. I ask you guys a question. If sitting with an innovator makes your heart sick, then what about the heart of the innovator? If your heart is going to become sick from sitting with him, then what about his heart who contains in it and he holds the innovation? What is his situation? It's even worse. Ibn Aounin said, I heard Muhammed ibn Sirin, the great tabi'i, Muhammed ibn Sirin. I heard him say, or I saw that Muhammed ibn Sirin mentioned and used to believe, the people who were the fastest in apostasy were the people of desires, people of innovation. They are the fastest when it comes to apostating and leaving the religion. Because innovation doesn't stop there. It leads to kufr. It's a stepping stone to disbelief. A person just leaves the fold of Islam. Muhammed ibn Sirin, he saw asra'unnaathiribdatan, the people who were the fastest in apostating, the quickest to apostate and leave the religion. The people of innovation. They apostate easily. Why do they apostate easily? Because disobeying Allah in one step has no limit. If you disobeyed Allah in one thing and you then said, this is the way Allah loves, that's what innovation is. Going against Allah's way and the messenger's way and then saying, this is what Allah is pleased with and this is what Allah loves and this is what's going to get me close to jannah. It doesn't stop there. It will carry on until the whole entire religion becomes like that for you. So those are the two things that the heart suffers from my beloved brothers and sisters. Shahwad and Shubu had. Today we find people who listen to people of innovation. They will listen to their lectures. They will listen to things that they say and then they will come and say, Sheikh, I came across this person saying, this and this and this thing, what's the response? He asked, why are you opening your ears to the people of innovation? Why are you listening to someone who is bringing doubts in the religion? Why would you open your eyes and your mind to it? Ahmad ibn Hamd. And great A'imah. Whenever they went by innovators and they spoke to them, they took their fingers and they put it in their ears and they walk away. Are you more knowledgeable than A'imah Muhammad? A man came to A'imah Marek, innovator, came to A'imah Marek and he said, I want to debate with you. The A'imah Marek said to him, if I beat you in the debates, will you follow me? He said, yes. He said, if you beat me, what do you want? He said, you follow me. He said, if a third person comes and beats both of us, what do we do in that situation? He said, we both have to follow him. He said, I see that you are not consistent upon your path and your way. You are doubtful of what your religion is. I am clarity. I'm upon clarity in my religion and you seem like a skeptical person. You're not you're not sure about your religion. Go to someone who's doubtful like you and go and debate them. Go to someone who is skeptical like you and debate with him. I don't need that. Are we all together? Imam Ahmed Ibn Duaad, when he tried to debate, Imam Ahmed in the presence of the leader, Ahmed said, I don't want to debate you. On the issue of the Qur'an, created honor. A mountain, a mountain, Ahmed said, I don't want to debate you. Because the Salaf, they believed what they are upon is Haq. They weren't doubtful about it. So why do I have to open my religion? Why do I have to open my religion for discussion? Whether it's right or wrong? Why do I need to open that for it? Are we all together? And that's what Allah said in the ayah. They disbelieved in the truth when it came to them. So what happened to them? They are in doubt of everything. They disbelieved in the textual evidence. They said, this hadith doesn't make no logical sense. I can't rationalize it. My mind doesn't accept it. So when they did that and they rejected the Qur'an and Sunnah on that premise, Allah says, everything about their religion becomes doubts. And that's what happens. Now I want to mention, I mentioned this illness, that the people whose hearts suffer, the two illnesses that they suffer from. Shubuhaat and Chawat. Now I want to mention some cures that insha'Allah Ta'ala will cure your heart and if you take these steps it will help you. He is a great Imam. His Imam combined between knowledge and action. An Imam who combined between action and knowledge. He said, If you have not written anything from this lecture, write this, insha'Allah Ta'ala. Write these points, even if it has to be in your phone. The cure of the heart, he said are five things. The cures and the treatment. For one's heart, he said is five things. I encourage every one of you to take these five, insha'Allah Ta'ala I'm going to mention. Stick it in your house and make it your life mission, insha'Allah Ta'ala. To every single day, work towards having all of these five present in your day. I promise you, once you do, you will see enthusiasm, commitment, constituentness towards any action that you stand up for. Raisins will go. He says that the cure of the heart are five. The first one, he said, Read in the Quran and pondering and contemplating over it. Pondering over the Quran and contemplating over it. What's the bare minimum that a person used to finish the Quran? Even if you're not a half of. You've not memorized the Quran. What is the bare minimum that you should read from the Quran? Ishaq ibn Rahuya, the man who said to Imam al-Bukhari, you all know Imam al-Bukhari, right? You all know Imam al-Bukhari, right? Yeah? Is there anyone who doesn't know Imam al-Bukhari? Imam al-Bukhari, you remember he wrote a Sahih book, right? That's why we say Sahih al-Bukhari, right? Who was the one who brought the idea to Imam al-Bukhari to write the Sahih? Who encouraged him? Who did it? Ishaq ibn Rahuya. Ishaq is the teacher of Imam al-Bukhari. He said that a person needs to finish the Quran whether reading from the Mus'haf or whether reading from memory at least, and this is something for every Muslim every 40 days once. You need to finish the Quran, he said. Every 40 days that goes by you have to have done one khat. That's the bare minimum. And the evidence that he used for that is what the Prophet said to Abdullah ibn al-Amr ibn al-Aas. Remember when Abdullah ibn al-Amr ibn al-Aas, his father complained about him? Abdullah ibn al-Aas. Abdullah ibn al-Amr ibn al-Aas, his father complained about him? Abdullah ibn al-Aas. He said to the Prophet, my son Abdullah ibn al-Aas, I married him off to one of the greatest families of Quraish. I married their daughter off to my son Abdullah ibn al-Aas. He married to an unruble woman from an unruble household. And he spends the whole entire night praying and the whole entire day fasting and he forsakes the rights of his life. And then the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam has said to Abdullah ibn al-Amr ibn al-Amr ibn al-Aas, is this true? Do you do this? And he said, of course, I'll mention of Allah, I do do that. Then the Prophet said to him, read the Quran in every 40 days, finish it once. And then Abdullah ibn al-Amr ibn al-Aas was finishing it every day. He said to finish it every 40 days once. So that's what Ishaq said, every 40 days once you have to finish the Quran. If you're half a person who's done it, then it's highly recommended for you it's highly recommended that you finish every three days if you're half. So what do you do? You start from Surat al-Baqarah and you read and you go up to That's the first day. The second day you take from and you take it to Surat al-Naml That's the second ten. And the third ten, you take it to Surat al-Nas. Every three days you finish the Quran, ten, ten, ten days. That's the ten days that you read every day if you're half and you finish the Quran. And that's what the Prophet said to Abdullah ibn al-Amr ibn al-Aas when he said, oh, I can read the Quran and I can finish it in less than 40 days. 40 days is too much. And the Prophet pushed it down and down and down until what? Every three days finish it once. So the every three days finish it once is for the half of who memorized the Quran every three days. And I know a brother who read he never studied with the Quran teacher but he can read from the Mus'haf. For 10 years he said to me, I finished the Quran every three days. And he said, this is where my hip became I became half and he doesn't do mistakes. I would say if you do it for five years and you finish the Quran every three days from the Mus'haf, from the Mus'haf, for five years you do that you will be half. That repetition you'll memorize it. Wuhayb ibn al-Ward is the student of Ata ibn ibn al-Rabah and Ata ibn ibn al-Rabah is the student of Abdullah ibn al-Abas. Wuhayb ibn al-Ward said something very powerful. He said, He said, we have not found anything that can soften the heart and that can bring your heart to the truth. Then reciting the Quran and contemplating and pondering over it. Wuhayb ibn al-Ward. The second thing that is Qiyamul-Lail. The second thing that the great Imam mentioned from the five is what? Qiyamul-Lail. Qiyamul-Lail softens the heart. And when Allah prays the believers, what do you say about them subhanahu wa ta'ala? I'm sorry, the Prophet said, Qiyamul-Lail upon you is Qiyamul-Lail. Pray Qiyamul-Lail. They know that. Because Qiyamul-Lail is the action of the early spires, imams. This is what they did. The Sahabas were like this. The Prophets were like this. They used to pray Qiyamul-Lail. And it's also an expiation for your sins. Women had to live with me. And it's a preventative factor from one falling into sins. Qiyamul-Lail. Wuhayb ibn al-Dalika. One of my teachers one time in a halakah, one of the students said, I struggle to pray Qiyamul-Lail. It's hard for me to pray Qiyamul-Lail. I really want to pray. But I feel that I'm not able to. I always try but I'm not able to get up and pray. I don't have the, I don't get the energy. And he said, I say but I never forget it. He said that Qiyamul-Lail is an invitation from Allah to those who were upright in the day time. The Qiyamul, the night prayer is a reflection of your day. Allah only invites you, only to Qiyamul-Lail. This is the honor not everyone gets it. You're invited to pray Qiyamul-Lail when you are upright and steadfast the whole entire day. If you were eating haram, you're making haram income and et cetera. And you are cheating and lying and deceiving. And you're firing your speech. And you have hastened and heqd and illness towards the Muslims. And you're always falling into wrong doings the whole entire day. You're not going to be honored to pray Qiyamul-Lail. I'm like, Allah will give you that honor. Because why? Allah comes down the last third of the night and he's taking the forgiveness and the supplication of those who are invoking on to him, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. You're not going to be honored with that. You're not going to be honored. That's very powerful. Qiyamul-Lail is an invitation from Allah and it comes from how you are the day time. And Imam al-Tabarani mentioned something very powerful. I love this hadith when I read it. And Abdullah Ibn Mas'uddin is the one who said that the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam has said. Yadhaqullahu azzawajal. Allah loves. Allahu azzawajal Allah loves. Ilaa Rajulaini two men. Allahu azzawajal Allah. And this Zahik, great imam they mention is Allah who Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is laughing because he is pleased with this person. He loves this person. The first one is the one that concerns us now. Rajulun qama fi jawfin laili a man who stood up in the middle of the night. And his family are sleeping. And he got up out of his bed. He did tahaara and purified himself. And he then prayed. Faiyadhaqullahu azzawajal Allah loves that person. Meaning Allah who Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is pleased with that person. Allah is pleased with Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. The third thing that the imam mentioned Rahimahullah from the five E's mujialasat al-saliheen sitting with the righteous people. Ya ikhwa sitting with the righteous people will cleanse your heart. A person takes from the person that they're with. We all know brothers that we are human beings. Madadiyum bi taba. We need to socialize. We need to have friends. Waleedhaalika when you look at the Qur'an in the sunnah it doesn't ever tell us not to have friends. Allah doesn't ever say don't have friends. And the Prophet never said that. Because it goes against our nature. We have to have it. We have to go exist. But Allah Azza wa Jalla told us and his Prophet maybe Rahimah is there. This is the Prophet I said we need anyone's help. He's got Allah Azza wa Jalla right. But Iwaleedha Allah told him to be around the righteous people. Maybe like Ahmad. Allah said Muhammad be patient with the righteous people. Be with them. Be patient with them. Stay with them. If that is said to Nabiullah Muhammad what about you? You don't have revelation backing you up and helping you. Your Eman is not as strong as the Prophet to defend yourself if something is evil is being brought to you. So you watch who you'll be with. The poet he said Don't ask about this person. Don't ever ask about a person. But ask about who he associates with because everyone takes a friend the one he loves. You don't ever find a pigeon flying with an eagle. Do you find that? A pigeon and an eagle flying together. And going together. Pigeons fly with pigeons. Eagles fly with eagles. Falkens fly with falcons. And we'll mail it. You'll never see a lion chilling with a dog. Yeah. Will you ever see that? I don't. You sitting with this person means there is something in this person that you and him have in common. It's a reflection of who you are. Are we all together? That's why the Prophet said The person is of the religion of his friend. Look at who you take a friend. We know we've seen a lot of people who are falling into what they fell into not because of their own mere action it's because of the influence of someone evil. Someone evil influenced them and they did it. There are some people in prison not because of their mere action alone. I mean of course it's their actions but it's not just their actions. It was the motivation. It was the encouragement of a corrupt individual. So one of the things that destroy a person's heart is what? I mean myself. If I go to a halakha where I'm listening to a sheikh who's simple, aesthetic, boycotted his dunya and his heart is towards the akhira, your iman increases and your actions become stronger. And if you sit with a person who's a Sahih of dunya, a person, money, he's thinking about I've got a building, it's 100 floors, I want to make it 200 and I have a tall building in this country. I also want to make sure that I have this much property. Again I'm not saying all of that is haram by the way. I'm not saying that. But it will affect your heart. The next day you wake up and say you know what? My salary isn't good. My salary and the money that I make isn't good enough man. It affected you already. It what? It affected you. And I'm sure that I'm not imposing my thoughts onto you all. You all felt that way Sahih. Someone you've met and they made you feel small in a good way or a bad way. Okay. So the heart gets affected by who you associate yourself with. The next one that the Uttar Rahman Allah mentioned is the stomach. Cutting down on what you eat. Some people they eat with two hands and they eat a lot. And when you say to him Akhi where's the thuluth? He goes I know my thuluth better than you. He said Akhi one third. He goes I know my one third better than you. Now everyone's one third is the same. That's what you eat and what you take in. It affects the way that you are. With Alika I think Al-Imamun Qahtani said in his Nounia he said stay away from eating too much. And eating so much. He said Fajusumu Ahli Al-Ulmi Ghayr Al-Simani. Because the body of the people of knowledge is slim. Generally the people of slim. What happens if you eat alone? Naamat Al-Fikrah Wa Kaffat Al-A'baan Al-Ibaadah. Your mind switches off. And what happens to you? You physically can't do anything. Al-Idaalika if you eat a lot at night you have a long sleep right? You can't get up easily. Sahb al-Fajr you're struggling and whatnot. Qiyam al-Layl you're not going to get up for it. So don't eat too much. And even if you do eat eat something healthy. And this does affect your heart what you eat. Al-Idaalika Al-Imam Al-Shafi'i You saw Muhammad Ibn Hassan Al-Shaybani. Muhammad Ibn Hassan Al-Shaybani was what? Muhammad Al-Hassan Al-Shaybani was a very big man. We all together. Muhammad Al-Hassan Al-Shaybani is the student of Abu Abu Hanifa. He's the student of Abu Abu Hanifa. Rahimahullah. Muhammad Al-Hassan Al-Shaybani was very big. And Imam Al-Shafi'i You said Rahimahullah when you saw him. He said A chubby person will never be successful in this religion after Muhammad Al-Hassan Al-Shaybani. And this man goes, Alhamdulillah, this is the blessing of Allah. He said, No, it's a punishment sent from Allah to you. We said that. Recently came across it. A person should avoid eating too much. Eat enough for your back to stand. Enough just to stand and do your work. But some people whenever they get tired, I just have to eat. Whenever they get stressed, they eat. Every time they eat, eat. I will stay away from that. I mentioned four right. Now I mentioned three right. I mentioned four now. Last but not least, the fifth one is Humbling yourself at night. Even if it's not Qiyamul Alayl. But Allah prays those people who beg their Lord at night. Allah said, They are asking their Lord for forgiveness. And another ayah Allah says, Asking forgiveness to Allah in the middle of the night. Begging Allah. There was an ether that Ibn Al Qayyi mentioned. And Ibn Abi Dunya also mentioned. This is the statement. It's a side benefit. That maybe Allah, he, Dawood asked Jibril. And maybe Allah, he, Dawood asked what? Jibril, he said to him, When is the time when Allah is most forgiving for a person since? When is the best time to ask forgiveness? And Jibril said, I don't know. But one thing I do know. That in the last third of the night, Allah's throat moves. Allah's throat, Allah's throat moves. So maybe it's wise to ask Allah for forgiveness at that time, he said. Another point that I want to mention after those five, extra ones that I want to mention two more. And I'll conclude with that, insha'Allah ta'ala. And that is one of the things that soften the heart is giving risk and helping the masakhi and the people in need. Helping the people in need softens the heart and it cures the illness on the heart. And also taking good care of the orphans. Al-Imamu Ahmad ibn Hamal, he narrated in his Musnad on the authority of Abu Huraira and narrated in shak'a ila Rasulillah. A man came to the Prophet and he complained. He complained from what? I'm suffering from Qaswatul Qalb. A man saying this to the Prophet. Then the Prophet said to the man, If you want your heart to be soft and if you want your heart softened, give to the maskeen, the lady, the one in the poor one. Give to him. And run your hands through the hair of the orphan. You need to be gentle, soft to the orphan. Be gentle to the orphan. And some people are very cruel to the orphans. Whether it be an orphan they took from someone else, they are cruel to the child. Allah says in the Quran, Let the ones who are looking after the orphans fear Allah. That remember it could be possible that one day you don't have the chance to live to see your children grow and you pass away. And your children become orphans. Your children become what? Your children become orphan. How would you want then your children to be dealt with? A man came to Alima Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and he asked him. He said, How can my heart become soft? A man came to Alima Ahmad and he asked him the same question. Go to the graveyards. And run your hands through the hair of the orphan. And this is of course a reflection of being kind and caring and good to the orphan. Go to the graveyards. The Prophet SAW said, I used to prohibit you from visiting the graves. I used to say to you, don't go to the graves. You don't go to the graves. I used to prohibit you from visiting the graves and visit them. Go and visit the graves. So your heart will burn and your eyes will burn and you will remember the Hereafter. Because it softens the hearts. It makes the eyes water and it reminds you of the Hereafter. That was the great Imam of Al-Rabih Ibn Khutaym, may Allah bless him. Abu Yazid. No, Abu Zaid, may Allah bless him. Al-Rabih Ibn Khutaym, by the way, is the man that Abdullah Ibn Masrood said to him. He said to him, he said, If the Prophet of Allah was to see you, he would have loved you. He said, if the Prophet of Allah saw you, he would have loved you. How great man was. Al-Rabih Ibn Khutaym, he would go to the grave and he would go to the grave of people he knew. And he would call them out. And when they don't respond, he'll say, Oh, I wish I knew what you did and what is being done to you. And then he cries. He used to cry. And that is what Imam Ahmad, may Allah bless him, also mentioned another thing that also softens the heart. And also makes a person's heart become soft. And that is, Al-Halal, Eat Al-Halal. Who did they come to? And when they came to Imam Ahmad Ibn Al-Hambal, they said to him, Imam, what can soften one's heart? And then Imam Ahmad said, Eat Al-Halal. Stay away from haram money, haram income. Stay away from it. When they asked him that, they went to another Imam whose name was Abdul Wahhab Ibn Warraq. And they went and they asked the same question to him. And then he said, In the remembrance of Allah, the heart softened and the heart trembles and finds tranquility. And then they said to him, but Abdul Wahhab, we asked Ahmad Ibn Al-Hambal the same question. And he said, the minute they said Ahmad Ibn Al-Hambal, we asked him the question, Abdul Wahhab Ibn Warraq, the red face, his face became red out of happiness to want to hear what Ahmad said. He said, what did Ahmad, what did Ahmad Ibn Al-Hambal say? And again, this was the respect that the scholars had for each other and admiration and how they admired one another. And he said, Ahmad said, Eat Al-Halal. He said, Ahmad said, Eating Al-Halal. And then he said, Wallahi, he's right. Wallahi, he's right. Wallahi, he's right. So ya, all of those things that we mentioned today and many more things, they softened the heart and they make your heart become qalb which is salim, a pure heart. And once your qalb becomes salim ya ikhwah, actions become easy for you. Enthusiasm, the energy that you come with, the commitment, I need to go home and sleep, I'm tired, I'm exhausted. All of that will, will die. Wallahi, the scholars, they used to say, scholars, they used to say, anyone whose heart is alive and has high aspiration, may Allah have mercy on his body. Why? Because the body will not be able to keep up with what this heart is producing. The energy, the fuel, the power, the energy that's on this heart is so strong that the body gets tired, but the heart is not, it's still awake. It's what? It's still awake. And this is what it really is. Some people, they make excuses for themselves, well, I haven't got enough sleep and I never ate well today. Wallahi, these issues are happening in my life, that's what's making me like this. The truth is you are a person whose heart is tainted and if you don't admit to that first, you won't rectify the problem at hand. You won't. And that's where it comes from. Because the early scholars, if you read their biography, what you find from them is, whenever Khair is mentioned, they stood up. And what did they say? Now, okay, let's go. Like Ibn Abi Hatim, Rahim Allah, look at Ibn Abi Hatim, the great scholar. He said we traveled to seek knowledge, we walked distance that our urine turned into blood. Urine turned into what? Blood. How could that happen? Because of the heat that they're in. No air condition, of course. They're walking in the sun, from one place to another. And one of the stories that was mentioned in their life was Abu Hatim Al-Razi who said, it's a long story, I don't want to go into it now, but in the story it was mentioned that they had a halak, a ders, a lesson. And the sheikh didn't come for one reason or another. And so they went out because they haven't eaten for the whole entire day. So they went out to get themselves a fish to eat it. And so when they got themselves the fish, it took them a while to get the fish. They were informed that the teacher made it. And that the teacher's here. They left the fish for another day for them to finish the halak. So we all together brothers, these are the great imams and how they were like and how enthusiastic they were. All of this is because of they cleansed their hearts. They cleaned their hearts. Are we all together? They cleaned their hearts. Some of you might say today, I got a job. How can I reconcile between my job and seeking Islamic knowledge and learning? Do you not know the same thing happened to Al-Imam Ahmad Rahimullah? Al-Imam Ahmad's father died when he was very young and his mother only had him to, as a son, to look after his family's, his mother. And Ahmad saw it upon himself after what? To provide for his mother and also to seek Islamic knowledge. Both. Go read how he can reconcile between it. How he did it. It's all about discipline and the heart of the person. And does this Islamic knowledge mean anything to you, Aslan? Does it really mean something to you? Are you really in love of this deen that if you are, you will find it in your heart a way to squeeze it in, a way to what? To squeeze it in, insha'Allah and ta'ala. Anything which I have said that was wrong or incorrect is from me, as-Shaytan. And Allah has messaged me, I'm free from it. SubhanakAllahumma bi-hamdik. As-shadu'Allah, ilaha illallah. Astaghfiruqatuhu.