The Search For Inner Peace by Bilal Philips

bismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim you you you you you you you you you you you you you hamdulillahi rabbil alameen wa sallahu wa salaam and also dell cream while he was hobby woman is tending the bassoon nitiram in a only Dean operates due to Allah and MELAS peace and blessings and the last prophet muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and on all those who follow the path of righteousness until the last day the topic of this evening search for inner peace is a topic which addresses a universal need this is not something particular to any group of people any religion or any race or nation etc human beings as a whole have this need to find inner peace and they seek to fulfill it through a variety of different ways from the accumulation of material possessions which is what modern society promotes as the way for inner peace if you have enough money you can have a nice life you can go on it caribbean tour or whatever you know whatever money will is going to bring it for you or people try to find it through music you know music changes your mood when you're down you have nice songs that put you up and make you feel calm and whatever or if some people try it through drugs and so on and so forth you know some people seek it through their careers you know as workaholics they're fully into their careers trying to find peace through it you know a sense of contentment others try to find it through their children when they can't find it for themselves they try to seek it through their children that the children would fulfill the dream they had for themselves but the reality is that the majority of people continue throughout their lives with the search and end up in the end of their lives without ever finding the answer though Western society presents technology development modernization as being the solution reality is that 20 million adult Americans suffer from depression nearly 20 million depression being the opposite of inner peace peace and in the year 2000 in the US the death rate from suicides it was twice that of ACE raises I was in the newspaper we know people campaigning for aids etc etc but people are committing suicide in America double the number of those dying from AIDS and even those who are dying from homicides people being just shot down killed the number of people who die from suicides is greater this is telling us something that this society that society which is at the peak all the other countries are trying to follow it in one way or another looking at it as being the ideal the technological ideal the answer isn't there so if we are to identify really what is the correct route what is the real way to find that inner peace we need to know first and foremost what is peace itself how do we define peace according to the Webster's new twentieth century dictionary peace is defined as freedom from war or civil strife freedom from war or civil strife well we them from war the world is caught up in one war after another so that level of peace we can say seems virtually unattainable the second definition freedom from public disturbance or disorder public security law and order public disturbance this is what crime people breaking into your homes into your cars etc well I don't think we're going to find too much peace in that direction I think it's pretty well gone there was a time in the past when life was simpler it was a little more secure but now that security is gone peace seems elusive from that perspective the third definition was freedom from disagreements or quarrels harmony and Concord this relates to families jobs etc disagreements were always involved in disagreements here they're everywhere they're disagreements so as we're looking through these definitions it sorta seems like we can't get peace the fourth definition an undisturbed state of mind absence of mental conflict serenity sound get something very attractive but people try to do it through yoga through meditation through variety of other means but an undisturbed state of mind who experiences that probably maybe when you go to sleep for a while we find finally a bit of peace but for the most part there are so many disturbances in our lives there seems to be no peace there and the last definition given the Webster's twentieth century dictionary was calm quiet and tranquility this comes and goes there are times of calm times of quiet but a continual state I think nobody experiences that so that raises the question is inner peace really attainable maybe it's just a fiction something that we search for which is something we can't achieve it's beyond our means it seems even if we were to reduce ourselves to the lowest possible level that each one of us spend time in the womb before we came into this world if we say this world is full of no peace at least in the womb maybe we found some peace there were we in a state of peace in the womb or was the baby kicking kicking and pushing and so it seems even in the womb we were not even at peace and a lost man Tejada had said la de la canal in Sanofi cupboard I have created human beings in toil and struggle but it seems we're doomed not to find any peace there alive is a series of struggles from the time we were in the womb we come out even coming out into this world is a struggle some children die in the process and when you look at a baby it seems to be struggling as it's growing trying to walk falling crawling so this world seems to be a world of struggle there are some brief periods of peace but to say to find a period or a state of continual peace it doesn't seem to exist the world is a world of opposites struggles between the cold with experiencing now and the heat in the summer between good and evil between knowledge and ignorance there seems to be a series of struggles in our lives opposites struggling with each other so if we assume though the situation seems to imply that there is no way to achieve that inner peace if we assume theoretically that there must be a way then it would mean that we would need to remove whatever obstacles that we're finding in life now we need to remove those obstacles to find that state of peace so we need to develop a strategy as to how to remove the obstacles and to find inner peace the first step is to identify the obstacles what are the obstacles in our lives to inner peace what is stopping us from achieving inner peace we need to identify be aware of them to identify them and to accept them as obstacles it's important because if we don't accept them as obstacles if we deny them then there's no way to achieve it if one sells for example anger anger is an obstacle to inner peace because when you get angry your peace is gone whatever a peace of mind you had peace of heart is gone with your anger so anger an enemy it is an obstacle to inner peace but if you are saying yes it's an obstacle but I don't get angry but in fact you get angry then you're not going to be able to remove that obstacle so one has to be willing to accept an one and identifies what the obstacles are they have to be willing to accept them as obstacles so that they can change them the second step would be to remove the obstacles by some solutions identify some solutions and remove the obstacles so that consists of two steps first we have to identify solutions after it with identified obstacles then we identify solutions then we have to take steps to apply those solutions to remove the obstacles now when we look at the obstacles in our lives I just mentioned one anger but if we look in terms of our lives as a whole we can say that there are many obstacles the main ones tend to be personal problems anger is included in their family issues financial dilemmas work pressures and spiritual confusion it seemed to be a summary of the main areas of obstacles but as I said there's so many they're like illnesses we go through so many different illnesses in our lives we get a cold get over that cold another cold comes we get flu we get so many different things to try to deal with each and every obstacle is futile to many of them so instead it would be better to determine a method a standard method of dealing with obstacles which we can apply now to any obstacle we find in our life the first rule in dealing with obstacles is that those obstacles which we perceive to be beyond our control we have to leave those aside because there's some obstacles that we can change some issues that we can deal with the can correct and then there are others which we can't they're beyond our control as the prophet saww son lamb had said if the jinn and humans gather together to benefit you they could only benefit you with something which Allah had written for you if the jinn and humans gathered together to benefit you they could only benefit you with something which Allah has written for you so there is a an element of our lives which is beyond our control and this is not something as I said unique to the Islamic point of view there is a prayer which is called the serenity prayer non Muslims Christians and others use it it says we seek the patience to surrender to the unchangeable first line we seek the patience to surrender to the unchangeable that's the same principle if you can't surrender to the unchangeable then you're going to be in turmoil and conflict about things that are beyond your control so you your chances of finding inner peace lost completely so just the act of submission surrendering to what is beyond your control that gives you an element of inner peace at this part of the contentment that is achievable by surrendering since we can't change these issues then surrender to them I'm born black in a world where white people are considered better can I change being born black I'm born poor in a world where rich people are treated better I'm born short in the world where tall people are favored I'm born crippled in a world where people who are whole have advantages that I don't have I mean these are among the things that we can't change how we were born how we're created are beyond our control so therefore we have to just surrender to it accept it and that will give us an element of inner peace and Allah in the Quran addressing this said perhaps you may dislike something which is good for you and you may love something which is harmful to you this is the reality of this life what we complain about what we see is unchangeable we can't do anything about it and we think why me why is it this way but there is good in it that we cannot identify if God if Allah has made us in a particular way has put us in a particular circumstance then there is good in it this is part of the surrendering knowing that God is just allah subhanaw taala this africa will hack him in he is the most just of anyone who could be just so there's no reason for us to question God why instead we should say to ourselves why not rather than why we should tell ourselves why not are we so good as to deserve you know a wonderful easy life with no problems etc or are we making all kinds of mistakes are we committing all kinds of sins so when a calamity strikes us rather than saying why God why me tell ourselves why not what have I deserved what have I done to deserve other than this in fact God is merciful it's only a small calamity really I deserve a much bigger calamity because of the way I've been living so the idea of surrendering to the unchangeable accepting the Destiny what is happened in our lives this is the first step to achieving a measure of inner peace true inner peace in the sense that hey no worries life is going on beautiful no issues that is jeanna that is what we seek at the end of this life Allah already told us in this life we are created in Kabat struggle that's reality that's the unchangeable struggle is inevitable we'll find struggle wherever we turn but the point is there is an element of inner peace that we can find which we can weave in between the struggles which will keep us on an even keel it will balance the struggle struggle on one side and the peace on the other side to keep us on an even keel and this is why prophet muhammad saw selamat said and another hadith do not look at those above you who are more fortunate instead look to those below you who are less fortunate looking to those above you again that will never bring any peace to you that in fact just drives you through your jealousy through your you know desires for what other peoples have you know to never be satisfied the grass is always greener on the other side as the problems are Salim said if the child of Adam is given a value of gold he would want another one never satisfied well how come attackers are driven by the desire to accumulate of this world whatever we can and what drives us is looking at others somebody always has more than we have so we'll always be hustling running trying to get more but instead if we looked at those less fortunate that can have to settle us down hey it's not so bad after all there are people so many people far worse off and no matter how bad our situation is no doubt there are many people in this world far worse off than we so accept surrender to the unchangeable the second point of the serenity prayer is spiritual strength to change the changeable spiritual strength to change the changeable where does that come from that comes from turning to God turning our affairs over to God seeking Allah's guidance in our lives putting our trust in him that we get the strength to deal with the issues that we can change the third point in the serenity prayer is wisdom to realize the difference between the two between the changeable and the unchangeable because if we don't have the wisdom then its confusion will be struggling with things that we can't change and we'll be accepting things that we can change and of course we'll not that you achieve peace any measure of real peace in our lives if we don't put them in the correct categories so for the things that we can change where we turn to allah subhanaw taala ask him to help us we have to focus on in the things that we can change first and foremost on where where should we focus first huh Salah okay what about zakah what about fasting because we're on Ramadan should we not focus on fasting in general what we should focus on is ourselves soul is a part of focusing on ourselves but the general principle is we should focus on ourselves when Allah said in the Quran the Ireland in hama knew who and Fusako well even Allah or you believe save yourselves and your families from the Hellfire yourself first this of no use to be worried about everybody else put all of our energies in activities concerning others and we leave ourselves unsaved this is a major error on our part we cannot make real change that way meaning we can parade down the streets make demonstrations for Iraq what is happening in Iraq and Chechnya and Kashmir and all over the Muslim world we can spend all year long marching for every cause out there but here in Bradford our children are going to non-muslim schools being destroyed by the society drugs crying all this is rampant amongst us in our jails we have people who are half of Quran but we're parading down the street for Chechnya Bosnia everybody but we are not taking care of ourselves why why do we do that because it's easy to parade down the street with placards and make a lot of noise for Chechnya and Kashmir it's difficult to establish schools for our children that takes real effort and our nature is to shy away from real effort take the path of least resistance what's easy and of course we can't make any real change that way we expend a lot of energy on things which are important but not the most important prioritize putting first things first where do we begin we have to begin with self second we have to admit ultimately that we are powerless without the help of allah subhana wa ta'ala we cannot change anything we can identify it we can desire to change it but without the help of Allah of God we can't change it that is reality la hawla wala quwata illa billah there is no change the hoola voila kouha and no force no power in la vela except by the permission of allah this is reality these are the realities that we have to come to grips with if we are serious about achieving inner peace achieving the necessary changes to produce in our lives inner peace thirdly we have to accept allah subhanaw taala in our lives as being the only power who can help us one is recognizing that we are powerless the other one is accepting Allah in our lives seriously to make that change accepting allah in our lives means we have to stop for a minute and really think do I really believe in Allah or is it only in word that I say because everybody else around says it la ilaha illa Allah there is no God worthy of worship but Allah am I saying it as a parrot says it or do I really believe it in my heart as it reflected in my actions or am i living as if ready there is no God because actions as they say speak louder than words actions speak louder than words so if our actions are no different from those people who deny God's existence then where does that put us so for example go back to the basic point Salah prayer what is the state of our salon when we turn to Allah sincerely from arts its it on a daily basis in our five times daily prayers is it coming from our hearts or are we praying ritual prayers somebody asked you what sure did you recite after fatiha yourself I'm not sure five times daily prayer when does it come sincere from our heart when calamity strikes huh when the calamity strikes we're in trouble problems are facing us then yes we turn to Allah sincerely oh Allah helped me but in reality what kind of prayer is that the one who says there is no God he denies Allah the existence but he finds himself in a circumstance he's standing on top of the World Trade Center when the planes hit and he sees the twin tower is falling he knows that's it it's all over what does he say ah tough luck no he turns out oh god oh god oh god he calls on God even more strongly than the believers around him there are some Christian believers or who think they believe or whatever and Muslims he's screaming louder than everybody else from the depths of his heart so we say in the end what is the difference between him and us if the only sincere prayer that we make is at the time of trial difficulty problems then we have to question our belief if we can't make it real except at that time then I'm suggesting that maybe it isn't real at all it isn't real that's what it implies and asked a lot to help us to make it real because there is no salvation for us if it's not real because yes prophets are seldom did say whoever says lightly Allah will enter paradise but he also said whoever said my man who lost sincerely from his heart will enter paradise he clarified this is a general situation yes whoever says Lila but sincerity and other narrations he said knowing because of course and non-muslim a person who doesn't believe could say like I am Allah is that going to get him into paradise no it has to be based on knowledge and it has to be sincere so we have to question ourselves are we sincere and if we're not then we have to get sincere we have to achieve a level of sincerity which makes our salah real makes our salah real not just ritual and our fasting ramadan is coming and what of this Ramadan one of the Ramadan which went before are we any different than we were before the Ramadan of last year or are we in the same place during Ramadan we're in the Masjid every evening today we the end of Ramadan we don't see the Masjid again for another 11 months or maybe we'll catch either and every year we just keep doing the same thing over and over again actually from a medical perspective this is called an obsession or you keep doing the same thing getting the same results but you still keep doing it over and over and over again so this is something we have to address self change can only happen if we make our belief in Allah real and that's why Allah said Allah be the cuddler he taught to my England who loop it is only with the remembrance of Allah that hearts find rest this is where the peace lies in the remembrance of Allah the true remembrance of Allah prayer is remembrance of Allah most primary as Allah said Optimus Allah is victory established the prayer for my remembrance to remember me that is the goal of the prayer to remember Allah and in remembering Allah the hearts find rest remembering Allah is not just saying subhanallah al hamd it in their will I learn the law a long walk but these are forms of remembering Allah liquor but even in those acts of remembrance it has to be done real it has to be done really we say subhanAllah and handling.that well la ilaha illallah wallahu akbar subhan allah the subhanAllah mean most of us don't even know what it means we just say span la la la span la rambla LACMA actually this is not remembering a lot on spamela this that is an insult Kamla this is a curse blah blah this is an affront to Allah and this is what we're doing after some smell of them what is this we have to ask where to stop a minute here you know we have gotten into this routine where we don't even think about it anymore we're just going through these motions you have to stop ourselves better to say subhanAllah one time understanding what we were saying meaning it from our hearts than to say Spalla a thousand times believe me spam Allah has no value it's an affront to God a last name is Allah Subhan Allah not span long so we really I mean though were laughing it's actually something pathetic really it is something pathetic a number of times people who accept Islam I take them into the Masjid we sit down they see the prayer they do the prayer with us and after the prayer they're looking at Muslims and then they asked me what did the Muslims doing I see their hands are shaking fingers are moving in their whole hand is shaking during the prayer they're fine when the prayer is over their hands are shaking like they have Alzheimer's I explained to them actually there remembering Allah insha Allah we need to really be real about this be real about this we need to address what we are doing actions which are purely ritual where we have no effort at sincerity that I'm saying of course you may have an effort and not achieve it but there is no effort on our part to be sincere and those actions are useless in fact on the day of judgment they become Hodja against us those same hands that we were saying spun lieth is going to speak against us Allah he cursed you with my fingers with these fingers our body parts will speak out against us so we should use it as it was prescribed we should remember Allah as the Prophet SAW seldom taught us he taught us to remember him to remember allah subhanaw taala in a real way in a way which would touch us would go into our hearts it would affect us he told us to say is their farm 100 times more in the day do it regularly seek Allah forgiveness he would do it himself he was our guide so we need to be real we need to put our trust in a last man to Alan that is the only one who can help us ultimately and we need to turn to him make a change make a commitment there has to come a point we don't want to wait until the last minute we don't want to put it off you know next week after I make Umbraco after I make Hajj next year no we have to make a commitment now because none of us knows when we walk out of this hall what is ahead of us that's reality we don't know what's ahead of us so we have to make that commitment now we walk out of this hall we walk out committing ourselves to remembering Allah remembering him in each and everything that we do or trying to of course maybe initially we can't achieve it because it's not something you know you go from zero remembrance to 100% remembrance you know like with the flip of a switch we're not like that it does take time we do have to work on it and it takes effort it's not easy so this is what we need to commit ourselves to and it is only through this as Allah has really told us that we will ultimately find inner peace that which we are seeking it is here it doesn't mean that having found that element of inner peace that we are free from any struggle toil difficulties etc but we just said there is a balance that we can make in our lives without that inner peace then the struggle the confusion the problems etc are without end it's extreme our problems have reached a level of extremity its extremities it's extreme it's difficult it's too much because we don't have that balance because ultimately what has happened to us is that this life this world the materials has become our goal this is what is most important to us it has become the goal of life for us and Prophet Muhammad sallallaahu Lysander he said in a hadith narrated by Zeta belief Abbot they did miss Abbot who wrote the Wahid revelation collected the Quran in the time of abu bakr made the copies in the time of us man he narrated that the prophet saw sallam said man committed dunya hama fabric Allah wale amra Rajanna for Abu by nahin a well omnia te min at dunya in Dharma Kuti mother whoever makes this world his main concern Allah will scatter his affairs and place poverty between his eyes and he will not acquire anything of this world except what was already written for him whoever makes this world his main concern Allah will scatter his affairs and place poverty between his eyes and he will not acquire anything of this world except what was already written for him vermin cannot allow Theorem nieta JAMA Allah Allah who am wrong what Jolla he now who feel he'll be well attitude dunya wha here ah Hema but whoever makes the here after his main goal Allah will gather his affairs place richness in his heart and the world will come to him conquered and submissive but whoever makes the hereafter his main goal Allah will gather his affairs place richness in his heart and the world will come to him conquered and submissive this is the promise of the prophet of Allah someone long money was said to me it's clear that peace that richness allowed the richness which Allah will put in that person's heart this is the true richness as the promised land and said listen Hina min Castro tomorrow richness wealth is not from having many possessions like inland vena and that hidden nufs the true wealth is wealth of the soul contentment finding peace with the remembrance of Allah so my brothers and sisters we ask Allah smart Allah to help us to be patient with the things in our lives which we cannot change to know that they are for the best to be patient with them and Allah will reward us for our patients and our patients our sins will be erased and our patients our Eman will be increased in our patients we will succeed even in the times of what appears to be failure we might appear to fail we might appear to be defeated but with patience we have won we have not been defeated as the Prophet SAW said Allah had said in a principle which stephen covey coined as win-win think win-win not win lose when you going into a situation rather than thinking win lose think win-win well 1400 years ago the prophets are seldom enunciated that that win-win is the case for the believer alone for the true believer his case her case is a win-win situation there is no loss he said a Japan umbrella movement Anambra hukala who hair while a sadhaka leah hadn't in the new movement the affair of the believer is amazing the whole of his life is beneficial and that is only in the case of the believer in a father-to-son bra Chikara a fire Allah - Alba - the bra Saba la façon de ferran la when good times come to him he is thankful and it is good for him and when bad times before him he is patient and it is good for him that is the state of the believer his contentment lies in being patient and times of difficulty being thankful in times of ease and patience in times of difficulty is much easier than thankfulness in times of ease let us not fool ourselves know that if things are going good to remember to thank Allah is more difficult it's easier to get so wrapped up in the good things that are happening and joy you forget everything else forget the responsibilities to allow smile being patient in times of difficulty even the disbeliever can do that the disbeliever looks at the situation it says no point beating my head against the wall that's how it is I just have to grin and bear it bite the bullet he can do that too but remembering Allah in the time of ease that's the difficult one but if we're able to do that then it is the promise of the Prophet SAW salaam that we remain in the win-win situation and in that state we have found the balance the balance between struggle turmoil chaos and serenity peace tranquility and this is what we all need I ask Allah smart Allah to help us to achieve it to give us the courage to commit ourselves tonight to not walk out of here without making that commitment to ourselves between ourselves and a la semana tada because ultimately that's where the commitment is isn't it it's not between you and me I can ask you yes will you make a commitment tonight you can say yes but then you don't so in the end it's really between you and Allah me and Allah each and every one of us has to make that commitment between ourselves and Allah to be real be real about our faith turn our prayers our fasting or zakah our omoi hatch into real acts of worship and not traditional customary rituals done by those before Marc illogical you you first question what or for depression it depends on the cause people going to states of depression for a variety of different reasons so we can't say there's one cure-all for everything you take it like a pill and everything goes no one needs to look at the cause of that depression and then find the solution within the teachings of Islam because it's there in the Quran which Allah describes as being chiffon the Murphy's sued or a cure for what is in the hearts depression which affects our hearts its cure lies in the Quran read the Quran read it regularly and Ramadan and outside of Ramadan read it and reflect not just reading the Arabic text but understanding what that already Arabic text is saying to us the cure is there the treatment for our illnesses are illnesses ailments are there situation of Muslims around the globe is a bad sad situation how does one be how can one be satisfied and have inner peace if one word worries should we accept in other words should we accept what is happening of course we don't accept what is happening we oppose it we hate it in our hearts but we have to focus on those things that we can change [Music] inner peace if we focus on the things we can change then we can achieve an element or a segment or a portion of inner peace as I said in its totality that is in the next life that is paradise without worry without trial without difficulty that's the next life this life is a life of trial and difficulty as God said so we accept that and that accepting that is to accept also the problems which exist in other parts of the Muslim world as well as the non-muslim world because wherever human beings are suffering this is something evil if there is a way for us to change that to correct it we should do so but if it's beyond our control and our ability then we need to focus our greater energies our abilities in trying to to change ourselves change the things about ourselves which are harmful to ourselves and harmful to others to get ourselves in line with the true teachings of Islam the teaching teachings which are based on beliefs real belief in God not just lip service to and culture but true belief in God does spirituality or Sufism our basis in Islam well I wouldn't say spirituality Sufism spirituality of course is essential in Islam to have a spiritual basis for our belief that it's not just the physical mouthing of words yes the spirit must be involved the spirit is the most important aspect of our beings so of course spirituality is an essential part of Islam if we take the spirituality out of Islam then we end up with blind rituals going through the motions Sufism something else where Sufism or what people may call Sufism I focuses on spiritual aspects of Islam as taught by the Prophet as mentioned in the Quran as understood by the Companions of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam then that has a basis in Islam but whereas Sufism introduces practices ideas concepts which I have nothing to do with Islam which come from Hinduism Greek philosophy and a variety of other sources then we say that has no basis in Islam can you please suggest some methods of acquiring peace and worshipping with sincerity well we can say if we talk about worshiping with sincerity which would help us to remember Allah I would say that knowing what you're saying if we know what we're saying in Salah that's a big step forward if we don't know what we're saying if we have learned Fatiha we've learned some surahs we know Samuel Allah Muhammad oh we know what a banana can ham but we don't know what these things mean then of course we are in an uphill battle struggling how to be conscious how to reflect on Allah when we're saying things that we don't even know what they mean so that is a starting point no Salah no our salah establish the salah based on understanding what we say and then when we say it say it with reflection say it reflecting on what we are saying that way it has meaning without that then we just run through it very quickly and it has no impact when the last part Allah says in the Quran in the Salah 10 Hani Pasha welcome indeed prayer prevents evil speech and evil deeds what kind of prayer is a lot talking about here the one that we are doing where we pray five times a day and we go out and cheat people lie still obviously that's not the prayer that Allah prescribed we're doing something else another prayer when a man came into the Masjid with the Prophet SAW son love and his companions and he prayed in a corner of the master then he came over to sit down the Prophet SAW said I'm said to him go back and pray because you didn't print he went through the motions of Prayer completed them maybe stess leaves came over and the puffs are Salim said go back and pray because you didn't pray and he went back and did it again and the Prophet SAW said I'm told him the same thing when he came to sit down go back and pray because you didn't pray he went back and did it again came back I was on my knees when the processor Salim is gonna tell him go back and trace that this is only prayer and Oh Messenger of Allah it's the only one I know so please tell me what I'm supposed to do so he told him when you stand you stand and you pause in your standing when you bow you pause in your bowing when you come out of the bowing again you pause in your standing when you go down to see Jude you pause your salute now if we look at the average prayer of Muslims today you see them standing and by the time they've stood up they're bowing as soon as they hit the bowing they're coming back out again soon as they come back out they're going down so it's like you know they're just going through a ballet you know they're just movements back out again so what kind of prayer and this is the one that the Prophet saws and them said go back and pray because you didn't pray there's no pausing trying to get through it as quickly as possible I've even seen people make two sujood without even sitting up in between just their head touch the ground toys this is the state of soul of today's so I would say that we need to start with Salah that is a beginning point having made that commitment accepted Allah made a commitment to make a change to remember Allah sincerely then we need to start with the most important pillar of Islam which is Salah that's where we need to start is it wrong for Muslims to do certain exercises to attain peace well this is kind of vague what is the certain exercise yoga we have to be clear what you talking about here because exercise is not going to give you inner peace and unless you go into yoga and yoga philosophy where you start to focus on some point focus on all more you know the the theology of Hinduism and of course if you're going there and that is for you as a Muslim Haram so if the person who wrote this wanted to clarify what they meant by certain exercise because included in exercises aerobics you find inner peace with aerobics or karate exercise so many different kinds of exercise which exercise did you mean who wrote this what what exercise that you mean a certain chemistry comes from the brain of the you we're running 50 climbing the mountain could be any exercise well the point is if you're talking about exercise in general Prophet Muhammad SAW Sun Lam used to exercise used to wrestle used to run races with his wife used to ride in races with his companions so we know that Islam encourages it it's healthy is good to be healthy to walk to exercise etc so whatever physical benefits come out of it then that has already been endorsed but that is from a physical plane that affects our body chemistry but the spiritual element this is only going to come through the remembrance of God to pray the Salah with our hearts requires us to understand what you're saying is it obligatory to learn Arabic yes it is obligatory for every Muslim to learn Arabic this is one of the unifying elements of Islam so that wherever you go in the world you go to China they make the event in China masters in China don't look like my students but you know they make the event in China if they made it in Chinese you wouldn't know but they say a long walk but a long walk walk so you know it's the Masjid if you went in there and the Imam was leading the salah reciting surah fatiha Chinese again your problems so the Arabic unifies the Muslim world so that Muslims can pray with Muslims anywhere regardless of their language we can pray together and understand that prayer so yes that is an obligation on each and every one of us and that is for our formal prayer but if you're making informal prayer supplications does not have to be an Arabic no it can be in your own language that you can supplication to make any time it's not a requirement that it be an Arabic so it is only the formal prayer which is which established establishes a system a system for life and unifies the Muslim world in prayer if one is tried by many afflictions is there a sign is this a sign that he is a true believer not necessarily it could be a wretched individual and Allah is giving him a set of punishments okay so trials though yes is the puffs are Salim said the prophets received the most trials and those most like them receive the next most and Allah tries the individual based on his or her Iman but at the same time Allah does punish some people in this world too the major punishment is in the next life but some people get it in this life too so it doesn't mean necessarily if you receive a lot of trials that you are a true believer but if you think about it from the perspective if you are in fact a believer and you are receiving the trials and you think about it from the perspective that this is from Allah a test for me that I need to be patient with etc etc then for you it could be a sign that you are true believer but it's how you respond to the trials this is what determines ultimately is it the trial of a true believer or is it the punished - how do you deal with anger you control it that's how you deal with it you have to control it from Solomon said not all of them don't get angry hold it yes Western medicine used to say if you feel angry let it out better rather than keeping it in your chest better to just let it out get it off your chest you know you'll feel better afterwards but the problems are seldom said don't let me know keep it inside it's better for you recently modern medicine says no it's not good to let it out because when you scream at the top of your lungs you do these things you pop blood vessels in your brain and you can arm yourself no it's not better yeah it is not better control it struggle with it fight it know that it is something displeasing to Allah and Allah know that it is a sign of weakness I'm not one of strength but the problems are seldom said the true strong man is not the one who is the champion wrestler but the one able to control his anger when he gets angry and the Prophet SAW Solomon also said if you're angry when you're standing sit down and if you're angry still when you're sitting down lie down that's a different quote one in certain circumstances but that's what he said you know you think about it hey I'm gonna have to lie down here it's not good looking let me control myself well that's that's good if it works like that then it's good for you is there any specific do are linked to peace or somebody etc well the problems are some them gave us many supplications he taught us supplications for all of the various circumstances in our lives and all of them involve an element of peace and patience this is something across the board so I would just say rather than trying to find this specific doís and sometimes we get caught up in this you know I find sometimes students when exam time come around they come to me in the Islamic Center day and ask Mia is they ready to ask the past exams we are supposed to make efforts on our own part and then make supplication asking God to help us alright as I say tie your camel you do what you're supposed to do you study through the year you prepare yourself when the time for the exam comes you ask Allah to help you that's legitimate because you made the effort but now you who's done no work all year long you didn't do your assignments you didn't do all these things then you come the day with night before the exam and you look at all the stuff you have to study you know it's impossible so you're looking locally Allah I need a miracle here now I need a miracle to get through this one doesn't work like that that's not what do I is for to create miracles for us we're supposed to make the effort we've been given the guidance we should follow that guidance fly into our lives and then we turn our south to Allah we turn our affairs over to him because ultimately his help and in spite of all of the effort we made without his help who still won't succeed [Music] in difficult times like today what is the best method to unite the Muslim Ummah and society and so much division and hatred exists given among Muslims well as I said we start with ourselves start on whatever scale we can start on when you have a gathering whether it's a wedding a Kia car whatever gathering that you have invite some people from the other groups the tendency here is people from certain groups they come together you know depending on what your languages you speak or do or Bengali or whatever your language you gather together so you know what does that do does that increase the chances of unity of the Ummah or it decreases it decreases so we need to invite others from some of the other groups and we know they're from different backgrounds is an arab or is a Egyptian is a Bengali is an African whatever West Indian inviting other people into our gatherings because that's what Islam is Islam is a multicultural representation of humanity submitting its will to Allah the creator of humanity that's who we are so that should be reflected in our gatherings it's just on a social level if we can't do that on a social level in our little community here then can we talk about the Oman uniting the Oman whose problems far exceed the problems that we have here begin with ourselves is the state of ourselves and the general Ummah so bad because of deficiency in tawheed yes it is related because what is the heat it is accepting allah subhanaw taala in his unique oneness this is the same thing I was just talking about without that acceptance of Allah in his unique oneness we don't find the peace we don't we cannot achieve the unity we cannot achieve the establishment or implementation of Islam on a community level on a societal level yes now he is the key Tauheed Allah and from establishing toe heel we can establish the heat with the oume bring that Ummah together but we need to establish first step to heat within ourselves accepting Allah truly in his unique oneness that he knows what we are doing we are accountable for what we do we will have to answer if we sincerely believe that then we can change is there any truth in the saying if there is no justice there will be no peace can there be peace without justice well this is philosophy here now I would say that the two are intertwined Allah is most just and he is the source of peace the true justice brings about peace and real peace is based on justice justice with regards to human beings with regards to Allah and the world so Hanukkah Longaberger Hamdi go shadow and I lend a hand stop Fuko [Music] you you you you you Oh you you you you

Channel: Digital Mimbar

Views: 57,836

Keywords: search, for, inner, peace, purification, of, the, soul, happiness, love, allah, qur'an, sunnah, islam, christianity, convert, atheism

Id: QfR0HWeR-08

Length: 79min 26sec (4766 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 23 2007