"Keep Working For Good" - Imam Zaid Talk, UK, 2011

Asalamalaikum,

So the below notes are a selection from notes taken during Imam Zaid Shakir's visit during his trip the UK in Summer 2011, at the Traditional Halaqa, arranged by Shifa Trust.

The talk was entitled "The End of Time" and was largely about the Signs and the Mehdi, though here I detail some more general and inspiring notes of advice and wisdom given.

As with all notes uploaded on here, please forgive any mistakes, all of which are reflective only on the inabilities of the one who heard the message [myself] and not on the one who conveyed the message.

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"The best way of preparing yourself for the end of times is to follow the ways of Rasool.

The Prophet didn't give the sahaba a list of signs to look for, but asked them what they had done to prepare for it.

The Prophet (saws) said, "You will be with those whom you love" and so we follow Allah's command and the Prophets example. That's the best we can do to prepare ourselves.

Divorce your heart from this world as Allah will love you - The love of Allah shouldn't be in our heads, it should be in our hearts. But with the dunya, we must keep it in the thought process (working on projects, working hard etc) and not in the heart.

The dunya can be in your hand and you use it for good. If it doesn't affect your heart, that's fine

One should always look to the direction He is sending one in. Maybe if you accept what Allah has given you, He will Give you through acceptance what you look for through divergence.

If we have good ettiquettes with Allah, He will give us what we are looking for, in the situation we find ourselves in.

Keep working for good, even at the end of times- if the final hour is coming and you have a seed in your hand, you should plant it. Stay in a good state.
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Whoever acts on what they know, Allah gives them knowledge of what they don't know.
If Allah Gives us knowledge, then what we can achieve is limitless.

The first stage towards this is the person acknowledging thier need for Allah.
We say we rely on our brainpower and intellect- yet what have we done for the deen? Yet look at [the success of] those who relied on Allah! Give yourself to Allah. He Will Enrich you. Uplift you. Empower you. No one humbles themselves for the sake of Allah except that He Elevates them. How much further can we go replying on ourselves? How much more of a mess can we make?

To overcome challenges we have to humble ourselves.

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The Prophet (saws) gave us a distinction which he didn't even give to his sahaba- that of being his brothers and sisters despite never seeing him (saws). This is a bushra [glad tiding] for us!!!

"Amongst people most intense in love for me in this Ummah are those who do not see me but love me. And they give their family and wealth just to see me" - wheras the sahaba saw his noor in its entirity.

The Prophet (saws) thus extends to us and praises us in love for hum and places its worth higher than that of the Sahaba. This is a class dinstinction. However, in regards to individuals, the best were them, the khulafaah al rashideen.

We must invoke, "Oh Allah, forgive us and those who preceeded us in Islam and don't place any ranquer in our hearts against them" --> we must have good opinion of all believers, people have been honoured with Islam and only those worthy are honoured.

We should thus uphold the 'izzah [respect] which Allah has given to the believers. We have to love the people who say La illah illAllah. Remember the parable of the believers, that we are one ummah, likened to one body. We don't have time for a bad opinion. This is a violation of others' rights! This puts a barrier between you and this is not right.

Give people the benefit of the doubt that they are atleast as good a muslim as you are if not better. --> we are all in this together.

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If we don't appreciate the advantages we have, Allah will take them away.

Allah didn't Put you in a refugee camp. He Put you here. He Gave you the opportunity to serve the people. To work for Islam. We have to know our place. Shed light for people. Be light for people.

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Realise that who you marry is part of a historical process.

If someone comes and you are pleased with their religion and character, marry him; or there will be great fasaad on the earth.

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If we were more spiritually connected, we wouldn't be so deeply haunted, not would we have so many faults.

Ask Allah for His lufdh- His Gentleness as He Unfolds His decree in our life.

If we want good and seek good, we will find good and find it wherever we are.
"I am as My Servant Thinks I am." This is encouragement.

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Lifelong bitterness vs. Lifelong sweetness

"The pleasure of sinning is short. Then, the consequences are very dreadful. The Muslim Scholars say, “A sin will breed another sin”. When you perpetrate a sin, what happens? The pleasure and delight precedes the sin and the bitterness comes after. Whereas the doing of the good deed, the bitterness/ hardship precedes and the pleasure comes after. When you want to commit a something shameful, something haram, a misdeed, you are thinking only of the pleasure, the fun you will have. The moment you finish such a horrible act, you feel bad about yourself, you hate yourself, you might cry. You feel your chest tighten like someone is squeezing your chest. That is the bitterness you will have until you enter the grave. The sweetness which you think of is limited and short, while the bitterness will remain the rest of your life. The opposite is true of good deeds. It is difficult at first, you feel bitterness only. Something against the nafs. But, for example, if you get up for fajr, despite the cold, difficulty in leaving the bed and making wudu, if you do so, what do you feel after the Salah? Sweetness, goodness, lightness. In Tarawih, with the long rakah, you feel tired, you feel hardship. But afterwords, you feel sweetness. The sweetness comes after doing the good deed. The opposite is true with sin, whereby the bitterness follows, and lasts forever."

As explained by Dr Salem Al Amry -"The Satanic Trap Talk"

Establish Goodness

"A Muslim is a universal citizen. Wherever you are able to establish goodness, that should be your place of residence."

-Imam Yasir Fazaga

Human Committment

" If someone claims to love Allah, but has great difficulty in loving or respecting the human beings around them, then we have a right to be a little suspicious of their claim... The muslim who neglects his or her human committments has forgotten that there will be a day when all the books are opened and does not realise that perhaps their book will record that they failed those whom they should have been loving and helping, when they were really needed by them...."

-For Heavens Sake, Ruqaiyah Waris Maqsood

Subhannallah.

The above reminded me of a talk on marriage by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani, and particularly the point he made regarding why marriage is 'half ones faith', I quote from my sad excuse for notes...

" You have to understand that the Deen has two halfs. One half relates to your relationship with Allah, your faith and worship. The key to it is ikhlaas and sincerity. The other half is your dealing and conduct with God's creation. That has a key, the key of which is a good marriage. This has one vital quality, mentioned explicitly by Rasoolullah, 'Deal with people with good character'..."

I am tempted to continue to write up the notes from the fantastic talk, but I do not want to focus, for this post atleast, on marital relationships only. I understand why marriage is 'the key' though, considering it is that base which will pave the way for the future. A strong wholesome marriage, level headed parents, will raise children of adaab, who will seek to serve their fellows, seek to build good character, a live example of which they witnessed in their parents, who lived by what Rasoolullah taught. Inshallah one can hope. It's the circle of life.

Focus on serving those close to you, for now, oh self. For you know not what will weigh heavy on the scales on the Day it matters. Let me repeat oh self, incase you forget...
"The muslim who neglects his or her human committments has forgotten that there will be a day when all the books are opened and does not realise that perhaps their book will record that they failed those whom they should have been loving and helping, when they were really needed by them...."

And actions speak louder than words.