Increasing Faith in Difficult Times - Dr. Bilal Philips

[Music] [Applause] [Music] these four peaceful peaceful these peaceful peaceful peaceful [Music] faith increases by good deeds by doing righteous deeds enough for me oh when we do righteousness faith increases and sin repentance by committing sins faith decreases Jennsen reaping that's the general formula is enough for me Oh easy enough for me patience and repentance love is enough for me Allah is enough for me patience in repentance Allah is enough Oh slowly lovato all praise is due to Allah I welcome you all to this evenings lecture by dr. abominable al Phillips inshallah today's topic will be increasing faith during difficult times I would request dr. Baugh Amina bilal philips to deliver a speech alhamdulillah wa salatu was-salam arsal allah all praise due to Allah and we lost peace and blessings be on the last messenger of allah increasing faith in difficult times is a topic which begins by assuming that we understand what faith is Eman we use the term faith we translate the term but what actually does Eman or faith mean in the Islamic context the definition is belief in the heart a statement by the tongue and action upon the pillars of Islam faith or Eman is belief in the heart which is stated by the tongue and acted upon by the limbs through the pillars of Islam now this definition distinguishes between knowledge and faith knowledge and faith or knowledge and belief there is a distinction here which is an important distinction because a person might have very strong faith which lacks a knowledge base leading to commitment to falsehood one may strongly believe in what is incorrect you have people who believe that God is a tree or the moon or people believe that they are themselves gods and they believe it very strongly they can have very firm faith in it but without true knowledge it's firm faith in the wrong thing so when we talk about increasing faith we're talking about increasing true faith true faith which must be needed by knowledge knowledge provides the foundation for true faith it's not blind yes atheists and others like to say you have blind faith your faith is blind it's not based on reason and knowledge it's just something you believe in but no that's not correct true faith is based on knowledge real knowledge knowledge which is authentic knowledge knowledge which originates with God with Allah subhana WA Ta'ala this is where true knowledge originates we have a lot of knowledge in this world but not all of it is true we have false knowledge propagated for a variety of purposes whether it is to remove from people's mind the need to think about God so we propagate evolution we evolved we were not created we evolved that's false knowledge but it is popular it is widespread so true knowledge originates with the creator with that true knowledge revealed in the form of Revelation scriptures to the prophets of God that true knowledge is the foundation of true faith now we find this stated very clearly in the Quran in surah Mohammed verse 47 verse 19 the 47th chapter Harlem and the hula Allah hey Baba know that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah know it have knowledge of it parroting it because your parents said it because somebody told you to say it this is not faith not the basis of faith that is the basis of custom habit but real faith it comes from knowledge that's why Prophet Muhammad SAW seldom said man Matta waa-waa Alamo anahulu la hey la la da halal Jenna whoever dies knowing that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah will enter paradise whoever dies knowing not whoever dies saying or people saying for him or saying around him but whoever dies knowing that none has the right to be worshipped except Allah will enter paradise that is the criterion based on knowledge so having understood that we need to look at the state of our faith how is our faith today does faith remain at a constant earth faith fluctuating going up sometimes going down at other times I think most of us will say that's true we're not always at the same level of faith it's going up and it's going down the Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him had said every heart is covered by a cloud like a cloud covering the full moon which causes it to suddenly go dark but when it passes the moon shines again every heart is covered by a cloud like the cloud which covers the moon the full moon causing it to suddenly go dark but then the cloud passes and the moon shines again that's the faith sometimes Falls to a low and sometimes it comes back again when the cloud passes and he said in another simile faith wears out in your hearts just as clothes wear out so ask Allah to renew the faith in your hearts faith wears out in your hearts just as clothes wear out so ask Allah to renew the faith in your hearts so faith fluctuates it goes up and it goes down it wears out it's blocked so what do we need to increase it in general what's the general principle before looking at difficult times let's look at the general principle what is the general principle which causes faith to increase and decrease somebody tell me what causes faith to increase and decrease ah sin suffering faith increases by good deeds by doing righteous deeds when we do righteousness faith increases by committing sins faith decreases that's the general formula is in we find that the international media they are bombarding misinformation about Islam they give a wrong meaning of the verses the code is of the Quran or the hadith of the Prophet saws Allah the media says that Muslims actually missed I said yes I'm an extremist I'm extremely kind I'm extremely merciful I'm extremely honest I'm extremely just throughout the world there are hundreds of Christian channels there are Hindu channels there are Jane's channels how many Islamic channels do you have how many channels we have for Dawa what we should do we should utilize the science and technology and turn the tables over and utilize it for good work this media means of mass communication can one wanders media and Islam war or peace in truth exposed why the West is coming to Islam Islam has the solutions to the problems whether it be idiom secularism Marxism communism Western ISM Islam is distended superseded all mastered aboard overcome them all Islam is not a religion only for the west it's a religion for the whole of humankind dr. Sanford Knight speaks on why the West is coming to Islam in truth exposed is enough for now Satan fits in this picture in the same category suggesting sins encouraging sins promoting sins but it's still you who has to do this in for your faith to decrease and that's why props are solemn I'd said follow up your sins with good deeds if you commit a sin follow it up with a good deed and it will wipe it out in Al Hassan at use the hip nurse ayaats allah said in the Quran indeed righteous deeds erase evil deeds and this is the grace of God this is the mercy of Allah the good deed is multiplied in its value so it can wipe out evil deeds of course this is not when you plot and plan I'm going to do this evil deed so let me plan a good deed afterwards no that's not the one which wipes out evil deeds where we commit a sin we do an evil deed and then we catch ourselves we realize we shouldn't have done this this was evil it was wrong then we decide let me do some good to try to erase it that's the one that erases it not the ones we plan ahead as I spoke before when people delay their Hajj delay the pilgrimage to the later years that's a good deed which they're hoping to wipe out the evil deeds they're doing now so they say you know we do it later when we can't do any more evil deeds we've run out of evil deeds then we go and make Hajj and wipe it out you see that kind of thinking will not purify us from sin those good deeds will not erase in because we have planned it ahead it has to be sincere so knowing that good deeds erase evil deeds then considering our circumstance in our times of trial whether it's due to the tsunami or other trials which exists within the society in the country around the world whether it is what is happening to people in Iraq or Kashmir or Chechnya or whatever wherever Muslims are suffering these are the trials that Muslims are facing how do we increase our faith fundamentally it is by practicing Islam quite simply not very complicated just practice Islam if we do what Allah tells us to do then our faith will increase our communities will come together and we will be able to change our situations and change the world bring good to the world be known for good in the world as we were in the past in the distant past we were known as the centers of civilization were knowledge and learning thrived and flourished we had no contradiction between science and religion no it was all from God so people flocked to our universities and to our centers from all around the world the knowledge that is available today of technology modern science etc is built on the knowledge that we taught the world but today we have lost our way so how to get back well the starting point has to be revelation revelation has to be the starting point meaning the Quran this is our starting point there is no other starting point but the Quran itself the last revelation of God to humankind Allah revealed his word his will he showed us the way in the Quran the way to raise faith to purify it to remove sin to cure the hearts of their diseases as he said in surah nice reverse 82 Wynonna's aluminum core an e maha shiva rama lil mu'minin' i sent down from the Quran what is a cure and mercy for the believers i sent down from the Quran what is a cure and mercy for the believers and in surah younus verse 57 he said yeah are you an ass but the jaw at Komara do tomorrow become wash if i only masseur wha-hoo down rama little movement in all humankind good advice has come to you from your lord and they cure for what is in the chests what is in the hearts and guidance and mercy for the believers so the primary medicine for our current state of illness our disease the hearts the primary medicine is the Koran itself which a law describes as Shiva on a cure for what is in the hearts but how do we use this cure Allah tells us a falaya that brunel quran am allah hulu binocs aloha will they not reflect on the meanings of the Quran or are their hearts locked up guitar Bonanza Yahoo alaikum o Barack only debreu yachty Walia tada cara allah al bab a blessed book which i have sent down to you that they may ponder over its verses and that men and women of understanding would remember the quran is for reflection pondering over its verses Allah has revealed in it guidance and a cure for what is in the hearts so our first step towards increasing our faith in these difficult times is to go back to the Quran to read it in Arabic and in our local languages the translation of its meanings we should read at the same time because how can we ponder over it if we read it in the Arabic text and we don't know what it says then we cannot ponder over it so we must know what is it Allah is saying to us so it can have an impact on us secondly we need to seek greater knowledge about Islam as a whole about a law to know who he is correctly to remove from our hearts and in misunderstandings and misgivings any false knowledge and false information we need to seek knowledge as a prophet assalam said follow Bulma Farid ala kulli Muslim seeking knowledge is compulsory for every Muslim primarily knowledge of a law of the creator of this universe know who he is accept him in your hearts because if you don't accept him in your hearts and you only speak about him with your lips and your tongues then we will not benefit from anything that we have gained whether it be knowledge or in any form of information that we managed to acquire it will only be for show or to fulfill some rituals etc but it will not be beneficial to us according to Iman according to our hearts it will not raise the level of our Eman and this is why this is why a loss monitor Allah said in the Quran in the 20 and the 35th chapter that swirl 14 verse 28 in the my official law mini body healer 11 indeed of Allah servants it is the scholars who truly fear him indeed of Allah servants it is the scholar scholars the knowledgeable ones people of knowledge who fear him even those who are belong to other systems who are scientists etc you find that science leads them ultimately to recognize Allah because their knowledge of the stars the knowledge of the earth of biology etc it leads them in their heart of hearts to recognize and to accept Allah the third principle that we need to develop is to remember a law regularly what we refer to as the kuru law to remember a law often as he said in surah ahzab verse 41 yahoo alladhina amanu Oscar ulama the Quran kathira oh you who believe remember Allah often remember Allah often the Prophet SAW Selim on one occasion when a man complained to him that the duties of Islam were too much for him the Prophet SAW seldom told him keep your tongue moist with the remembrance of Allah and as we mentioned earlier in the previous lecture about the quest for inner peace Allah be delighted my booboo it is only with the remembrance of Allah that hearts can find rest so if our faith is to increase it has to increase with a sense within ourselves of peace we have to have inner peace peace within ourselves for that faith that Iman to grow so remembrance of Allah we have to come to we have to commit ourselves to it is the purpose of prayer it's the purpose of fasting it's the purpose of giving zakah or charity it's the purpose of hatch Islam is about remembrance of Allah so we have to keep that focus there remembrance of Allah remember there's a goal behind Salah it's not the the the Salah the prayer itself is a means it's not an end what happens to us is that we may turn it into an end so we do it it's over okay fine let me get on to my business we're not thinking that it is a means to an end the end being remembrance of Allah the prophet sallallaahu alien seldom preached la illaha and many are the miracles that he has been given really we can talk hours and hours about the number of miracles they don't number in the hundreds the number in the thousands but his greatest miracle was the miracle of the Quran ever used to worship Allah Azza WA JAL then Allah is a lady everliving who never dies fundamentals of faith Allah that all Muslims believe in the one and same Lord Allah spanner all Muslims believe in the final and same Messenger of Allah Muhammad SAW Allah Allah Allah Quran it is the last revelation of Allah Allah Himself said right I'll take care of preserving myself I would not entrust it to anyone dr. Jamal bata be a day when no wealth or children would be of any help except those who come to Allah with a clean heart because after all we came from the dust and to dust we are returned faith increases by good deeds by doing righteous deeds enough when we do righteousness faith increases in sin repentance by committing sins faith decreases nations in reaping that's the general formula is enough for me Allah easy enough for me patience in repentance Allah is enough for me Allah is enough for me patience in repentance Allah is enough o Allah said in the Quran Hakim isola Lily Cree optimist hola Lily Cree established the prayer for my remembrance in order that you remember me so that is the goal the goal of worship is remembrance of Allah so our faith can only increase in these times if we are conscious of Allah if we remember Allah in all aspects of our lives not just sitting after Salah and saying subhanAllah alhamdulillah Allah Akbar yes that is a form of remembrance of Allah and making dois but remembrance of Allah should not be restricted to this that is only one aspect remembrance of Allah should be in whatever we say ROVs assalam said whoever fears allah on the last day will either speak good or remain silent so even in our conversations even in our conversations when we choose to be silent when we have nothing good to say we are remembering Allah it is a part of remembrance of Allah and when we raise our children when we consider the education of our children where should they be educated we need to find the best place for them to be educated where they will receive proper Islamic teaching and training that this is our duty we owe it to them when we think like that that is remembrance of Allah remembering our duty to our children that we give them proper Islamic upbringing so we are concerned about our children we're concerned about our business when we have the choice between doing honest business and making a moderate profit and doing dishonest business and making a great big profit we remember a law and we're honest we do honest business because the prophet saw Solomon said that the best of us are those who are best in character haru-kun [Music] arsenic Omaha Luca the best of you are the best in manners in moral character this is what is pleasing to Allah so we remembered Allah and so on and so forth in every aspect of our lives we remember Allah and in remembering Allah our faith increases the other point that we need to reflect on for increasing faith is deaf we need to reflect on death usually people don't like to hear death it's a bad omen get away from it in this society if somebody you step out of your house and somebody goes walking by with a dead body Oh death you don't want to think about it but the prophet saw Selim he said remember the destroyer of pleasures often the destroyer of pleasures is deaf because pleasures end at that point so remember it often he said I used to forbid you from visiting graves but now you should visit them for it softens the hearts it fills the eyes with tears and it reminds one of the Hereafter but don't do anything false visit them often for it softens the hearts it fills the eyes with tears and reminds one of the hereafter visit the graveyards be involved in the janazah don't just pray in the masjid when they bring someone for the prayer the funeral prayer follow the janazah there's more reward to the graveyard until people are buried and reflect on death which is around the corner and it is our forgetting it which oftentimes leads us to many sins we forget that death is around the corner we keep thinking I'm still young at 30 I'm still young at 40 I'm still young at 50 and as we get older we still think we're young there's still plenty of time that we can repent later know death is upon us is upon each and every one of us every time that we lie down in our beds and we go to sleep we have entered into the state which the prophet called salatu wassalam the sister of death and it is up to a law whether he will allow our souls to come back to our bodies from our sleep or whether he will keep them every night we have a brush with death every night we have a brush with death if we wake up in the morning the Prophet SAW sallam told us to say alhamdulillah Allah D aji Anna all praise is due to Allah who gave us life vadoma a Madonna after causing us to die while a Hindu sure and to him is the return the gathering will be gathered all back to him that dua is something we should be reflecting on but we don't we just say it if we manage to say it we need to reflect on it death is tonight we're going to meet death tonight and if we make it to the morning let's make that supplication which the Prophet SAW Salam Tata sincerely alhamdulillah led a Jana vadoma a Madonna whale a Hindu Shore all praise is due to Allah who gave us life brought us back to life after causing us to die and to him we will be gathered so brothers and sisters remember death let us do what it causes or what is necessary to help us to remember death and in remembering death we should remember the Hereafter in general what we will meet when we are raised up when we come before Allah what will be our fate we should think about it and make it the basis for our program in life think about the Hereafter and that's the point I would like us to focus on now as Muslims we all know that this life is a transition the greater life the eternal life is the life to come this life is only a test so therefore if that is the case then the life to come should be where our focus lies that is common sense that is reason that is logic but we have to look into our lives and see where the focus is is it really on the Hereafter is it really on the life to come or are we lost in the dunya lost in this material world where our greatest concerns is about this material world well the Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him taught us in a hadith found in soon ellipta Maha the principle enunciated by that well known motivational speaker Stephen Covey in his book 7/8 of Highly Effective People he mentioned among them habit or principle of first things first and that's what I'd like us to reflect on right now first things first prophet muhammad sallallaahu seldom said men can dunya woman cannot eat dunya hama Farokh allahu alayhi amra rajala Rahu by Nene well Amiata him in a dunya in lama cootie bala whoever makes this material world his goal Allah will scatter his affairs Allah will scatter his affairs and he will place poverty between his eyes and he will not get from this world except what Allah has written for him yeah dr. Babu Ameen humble on Philips doubts about the existence of Allah belief is based on truth worship God's creation this is called chip if you really fear the lost one to Allah Allah looks into an individual's level of faith and if he sees that his faith is strong then he puts a strong trial on her faith the best time for a person who's fasting to make dua is while breaking his fasting there is nothing that draws you closer to Allah better than obligatory acts I want to fast every single day of the year this is not acceptable in Ramadan there is Leila to cuddle the night of destiny so one night is equivalent to 1000 months whatever you do in that night Ramadan fit issues Allah Islam is still spreading because it is not the religion of paper Islam is a way of life words of warning on the day of judgement every human being is vulnerable to be touched by hellfire abdul rahim quick men have rights over women but women also have rights over mom do moment we should remember what have we prepared for that day of Judge reminder is enough whoever makes this world his goal how do we know when somebody has made this world is gold when the only thing he talks about is this world when you sit down and talk with him he only talks about his car his house his children his money his vacation that's all he talks about that means this world is his goal he might say yes there's a Agora and yes we are supposed to you know come before God and we will be judged and there's heaven and hell but that's not what he talks about so if the only thing he talks about is the things of this life that is the extent of his conversation then we say this life has become his goal so Allah said that he will scatter his affairs meaning he has made this life is gold so he's only focused on money how I can get money how I can make money how I can save money you know how I can spend money that is his focus but what happens is that though that is his focus he's not able to deal with it systematically and consistently what you find he's running here he's running there he's running over here he's running over there is no rest his affairs are scattered and Allah will put poverty between his eyes so even though he's gathering money is increasing bank account is increasing etc but there will be poverty between his eyes meaning he's fear he fears loss of his wealth anybody who he sees who smiles at him he thinks oh he must want something from me what is he after he cannot treat a smile as a friendly gesture no the person's got something in the back of his mind he is planning he's plotting to get some of my money she is always thinking so he's suspicious of everybody around him poverty is between his eyes it may be so much so that when the stock market crashes we read about it in America a stockbroker he's he has a fortune of eight million dollars stock market crashes he loses five million dollars that hits him so hard the loss is so great he jumps out of the window he still has three million left hey you what you could do it three no but for him that loss is so devastating he takes his life and we see it among the rich and famous how many of them take their lives they seem to have everything that we're supposed to have or that people want and desire but yet they're killing themselves committing suicide their lives are in shambles because we cannot achieve happiness peace of heart through the dunya we can't it is a false story and image which is promoted through the media through the newspapers the magazines the television promotes this beautiful picture which is only a facade it's fake what is behind it is corruption unhappiness wretchedness because people have made this world their goal and even after all of that after running around here there and everywhere trying to gather whatever we can of this world we will only get what God Allah subhana WA Ta'ala has already written for us no more what God already wrote before he created us is going to be our lot will not get any more than that so then what is the alternative prophet muhammad sallallahu wasallam said women can until akhira Nia - jamele lahu lahul ma Raja ala inna who fish Alby well at at food dunya were here all Hema woman can until our hero - Nita whoever makes the hereafter his intention jama allahu la who amra allah will bring his affair together how do we know when somebody's Nia or his intention is the arkarow you will see how he conducts his life he or she conducts his life they are not tied up with all of the trappings of this life they are not focused on gaining and getting and going and taking and living a high life and enjoyable life no they take from this world what is necessary they simple lives and when you talk to them about the things of this world they talk about it as if it is something temporary yes we have this but Allah could take it away anytime we have it for a time and so I'm going to try to use this in a way that's pleasing to Allah Allah has blessed me with a car then I will use that car part of the time to spread his word to distribute information about Allah and about Islam to the society I will use it to help the needy I use it some time for things other than just myself and so I will deal with all of the various properties that I have I will look at for ways and means that I can use it to earn blessings for myself not just to consume it we shouldn't be consumers yes we consume but we shouldn't be consumers meaning that's the sum total of our lives no we should utilize we should exploit this world and the things of this world in order to benefit us in the next world that should be our focus how can I use this which Allah has given me to benefit me in the world to come that should be our focus such a person then the arkarow is his or her intention JAMA Allahu Allah who AM rah in such a case then Allah brings their affair together all of their fears come together they are relaxed they can deal with the issues of life they're not confused you ask them where you're going what are you doing what are you planning to do etc they're able to give you answers just like that very easy because the way is clear the way ahead is clear where they're headed what they want to do is clear and Allah said through His Messenger that Allah will put richness in his heart well jalla he now who vehicle be he will put his richness his wealth his wealth and richness will be in his heart there will be something around him also but the real wealth and richness will be in his heart as the Prophet SAW sallam said it cannot be achieved through drugs it cannot be achieved through music it cannot be achieved through yoga it cannot be achieved through anything of this world it can only be achieved through the heart linking itself with a law remembering a law focusing on the Hereafter so to increase our faith back to the beginning we need to know what faith is there's a difference between knowledge and faith Satan had knowledge Satan knew Allah better than you or I but he didn't have faith so there's a difference between the two we need to have faith but that faith should be based on knowledge let's increase it by righteous deeds this gathering is a righteous deed if we have come here to gain some knowledge about a law about God about Islam about the way of life which Allah has prescribed for man so I ask Allah subhana WA Ta'ala to not let any of us leave this gathering without renewing our faith without renewing our faith and our commitment to first things first to the Hereafter to making the hair after our goal and our intention and to changing our lives so that it reflects that goal and intention as it said actions speak louder than words you've heard me you agree and you can repeat what I said but will you do according to what I said then you heard and you said that is the question I ask Allah to help each and every one of us leave this gathering with a renewed intention to make the Avira our goal to step out of here and to try to turn our lives around into lives that are pleasing to allah subhana wa taala - lives which reflect focus on the hereafter Salam alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh sin repentance Allah is enough for me patience and repentance Allah is enough for me patience and repentance love is enough for me Allah is enough for me

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Keywords: Bilal, Philips, Increasing, Faith, in, Difficult, times, dawah, eman, iman, ilm, quran, hadeeth, hadith, tazkiyyah, knoweldge, purify

Id: lYcGZymXmO0

Length: 52min 59sec (3179 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 21 2007