ALLAH FILLS YOUR HEART WITH PEACE, IF YOU DO THIS_2
Transcript
00:00Was he not informed of what was given in previous scriptures?
00:09And Allah عز و جل actually in this case says in Surah Musa
00:13وَإِبْرَاهِيمَ الَّذِي وَفَّى أَلَّا تَزِرُوا وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَى أُخْرَى
00:17وَأَلَّيْسَ لِلْإِنسَانِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَى وَأَنَّ سَعِيَهُ سَوْفَ يُرَى
00:22This talk inshallah is divided into several parts
00:26What we're gonna try to do is again like I did last evening for those of you that were there
00:30Try to make you repeat after myself so I know that you're keeping up
00:34Okay, what we're gonna talk about first of all is the American dream
00:38Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
00:45Very good, pursuit of happiness
00:46So I'm gonna start with the pursuit of happiness
00:48And I'm gonna tell you that even though that's an incredible notion
00:52And the founding fathers of this nation had something really genuine in mind
00:55I was really peculiar and really estranged actually to find that the Qur'an does not talk about the pursuit of happiness
01:03It's pretty shocking, I'm trying to figure this thing out for 15 years now
01:06Trying to find where is the pursuit of happiness in the Qur'an
01:09Allah doesn't talk about it, He doesn't
01:12And it made me wonder why is this such a fundamental crux of modern society
01:17People just wanna be happy and Allah is not talking about it
01:20The Qur'an does not explicitly talk about the pursuit of happiness
01:24And it's interesting that the Qur'an, the highest thing it talks about is contentment
01:29Contentment, just being at peace
01:32That's the ultimate goal in Islam
01:34It's not happiness, this is two different things
01:36Being at peace and being happy are two different things
01:38Now I wanna talk to you a little bit about some studies in psychology
01:43That are really interesting
01:45And they really shed light on how we are to understand one of the statements in the Qur'an
01:49That this entire talk is about
01:50And the statement comes from Surah Al-Najm
01:52وَأَلَّيْسَ لِلْإِنسَانِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَى
01:54A human being will have nothing for his own benefit except whatever efforts he made
01:58Now I want you to stay with me as best you can
02:01The first and the lowest pursuit any of you will have
02:04And I'm particularly picking on the young people in the audience
02:07I know there are young at heart in the audience too
02:10But this is for the young physically, okay
02:12So those of you, you understand that the lowest
02:16I need you to understand that the lowest of all pursuits
02:19In your life is going to be happiness
02:21The lowest of all of them
02:23And let me demonstrate why that is
02:25You don't feel like getting up and doing your homework on Saturday morning
02:30So you sleep in until 12 and you are what?
02:32Happy
02:34It doesn't take much to be happy
02:36Some kid plays video games the entire night
02:39And he's got a huge migraine
02:40But since he beat the game, he's somehow happy
02:44Somebody gets a call at work
02:46Listen, it's a snow day, you don't have to come in
02:48Guess what? They are what?
02:50They're happy
02:51In other words, happiness is easy
02:53In small things, happiness is easy
02:55Of course, happiness in relationships is very difficult
02:58Making your parents happy or getting your parents to be happy with you is very hard
03:02Making your wife happy, let's leave that one alone
03:04Let's leave that one alone, okay
03:07But anyway, for yourself
03:09Attaining happiness, it could be as simple as you watched a movie and you felt happy
03:13Or you went to meet some friends and you felt happy
03:16Or you went to your favorite restaurant and you felt happy
03:18It doesn't take much
03:19But you know what? It comes and what happens to it?
03:22It goes
03:23It goes away
03:24You get bored again
03:25You get frustrated again
03:26And you want to be happy again
03:28So you keep going after this drug of happiness
03:31Which keeps leaving you
03:32It never stays with you
03:34That's the lowest of all pursuits
03:36So when people say, I just want to be happy
03:39I don't understand what that means
03:41Because nobody is always happy
03:43Allah gave us a huge score of emotions to experience in life
03:47And they're all part of a healthy life
03:49Happiness is just one of them
03:51So if your pursuit is just happiness, let me tell you
03:53You're in for a lot of disappointment
03:55That's never going to happen
03:57You're never going to be constantly living in a state of happiness
04:00That's not how it works
04:01I'm not saying you're going to be depressed
04:03But I am saying that life is about struggle too, isn't it?
04:06When you're studying for your finals, you're not happy
04:09When you're in the middle of a three-hour final, you're not happy
04:13When you're with guys, you want to work out
04:15When you see the results, you'll be happy
04:17But when you're working out and you're sweating and you're dying
04:19You're not happy
04:20Look at your face
04:21You know like
04:23You do the Sylvester Stallone
04:25It's really like
04:27So anyway
04:28The lowest of all pursuits is what?
04:30Happiness
04:31Happiness
04:32Let's go a step further
04:33The second pursuit
04:34It's a step further
04:35Which means it requires more effort
04:37And every time I take a step
04:39You have to go through more pain to get it
04:42Okay?
04:43So the next step is the pursuit of cool
04:46It's not the pursuit of happiness
04:47It's the pursuit of cool
04:49Cool just means
04:50Nobody's going to pick on me
04:52I'm going to blend in with everybody else
04:54Nobody's going to point at me and say
04:56Why are you dressed like that?
04:57Why do you talk like that?
04:58Why do you look like that?
05:00Why are you walking like that?
05:01Why are you hanging out with those people?
05:03Why did you buy that?
05:04Why are you driving that car?
05:05People will point at you and criticize you
05:07And you just don't want that to happen
05:09You want to fit in
05:10And not be the object of anybody's criticism
05:13You just like to blend in and almost be invisible
05:15You're cool like everybody else
05:17And that takes work
05:19So for example
05:20Those of you that are in high school
05:21Or even before that in middle school
05:23How you dress to school is a really big deal
05:26And actually before you pick a shirt out of the closet
05:29And before you pick the shoes that you're going to wear
05:31The thought goes through your mind
05:33Of who's going to be making fun of you for wearing it
05:35It actually runs through your mind
05:37When you go shopping
05:39When your parents say
05:40Okay let's get you some clothes or whatever
05:42When you go shopping
05:43Or they give you money
05:44The decision to buy whatever clothes you buy
05:46Or the shoes you buy
05:47Actually a lot of it is driven by
05:49What people are going to think of you
05:51When you wear this
05:52This is your pursuit of cool
05:54And it takes more work to blend in
05:56It's easy to be the weirdo
05:57It's easy to be the weirdo
05:58That everybody else finds strange
06:00But it takes work to be like everybody else
06:02And a lot of people
06:03A lot of young people
06:04Unfortunately have to give themselves up
06:06They have to pretend they are someone they're not
06:09Just to fit in
06:10I've met kids that are maybe 14, 15 years old
06:13I met this kid one time
06:14He had a baseball hat on sideways
06:16It used to be a thing, right?
06:18And he's got pants hanging down
06:19And he's just kind of like
06:20You know
06:21And he came up to me
06:22And he started crying
06:23And I sat him down
06:24We started talking
06:25And he tells me
06:26I hate dressing like this
06:28I hate it
06:29But if I don't
06:30Kids make fun of me
06:31I can even get beat up
06:33I have to dress like this
06:35I don't like cursing
06:37But I do a lot when I go to school
06:39Because I have to fit in
06:40There's the lowest pursuit
06:42And that is that of happiness
06:44One above that is the pursuit of what?
06:46Cool
06:47Then there's a pursuit above that
06:49It's the pursuit of popularity
06:51I don't just want to blend in
06:53I want to be the coolest person there is
06:55I want to be the one
06:56Everybody else wants to be friends with
06:58I want to be the loudest one on the lunch table
07:00I want to be the one that makes
07:02Before anybody gets to make fun of me
07:04I want to be the one that makes fun of everybody else
07:06And that's a lot of times
07:08The kids that are popular in school
07:10They're actually popular
07:11Because they make fun of other kids
07:13And everybody's scared
07:14That they'll be the next target
07:15So they kind of come under their wing
07:17So they're not the next target
07:19This by the way
07:20I'm not just talking
07:21Even though I'm focusing on young people
07:23This happens with adults
07:25This happens with adults
07:26Absolutely
07:27This happens with our uncles and aunties
07:28Absolutely
07:29The pursuit of popularity means
07:31I just want to be talked about
07:33I want to be the center of attention
07:35I need people to be commenting on me
07:37So I'm going to post a picture
07:39I'm going to tweet something
07:40I'm going to post
07:41Make a video
07:42Whatever I'm going to do
07:43So that people are talking about me
07:45And every time that
07:46The commentary starts going down
07:48I need to do something new
07:50So the conversation starts anew again
07:52The pursuit of popularity is a strange thing
07:54Because it makes people humiliate themselves
07:56Like for example
07:57In the music industry
07:58Or the entertainment industry
08:00When an artist
08:01Their album went platinum or whatever
08:03And everybody's downloading their song
08:05And it's no longer popular
08:06Then they have to humiliate themselves
08:08And make disgusting videos
08:10Or get involved in a controversy
08:12So that the tabloids about them
08:14At least those are popular
08:15Because they couldn't get popular
08:16Because of their own talent anymore
08:18They couldn't sell the next music
08:20The next bit of music video
08:22Or next song or whatever
08:23As they could the last one
08:24So this is the pursuit of popularity
08:26And in order to become popular
08:27It takes work
08:28You got to spend money
08:29You got to spend time
08:30You got to work on yourself
08:31Work on your image
08:32And it becomes really important to you
08:34To maintain your image
08:35And to maintain that
08:37Status among people
08:39That profile among people
08:40This is the next pursuit
08:42But above that is another pursuit
08:44And that is the pursuit of prestige
08:46For college students
08:47This is more important than
08:49Elementary and high school
08:50But for college students
08:51This becomes a big deal
08:52The pursuit of what did I say?
08:54Prestige
08:55I'm gonna go in order
08:56At the bottom there's happiness
08:57Then what's there?
08:58Cool
08:59Then?
09:00Popularity
09:01And now we're in?
09:02Prestige
09:03Prestige means you want to be able
09:05To associate yourself
09:07With something that is very valuable
09:11You want to be able to tell people
09:13You know
09:14I went to Harvard
09:15You don't tell them you went there for a weekend
09:19To pick up your friend
09:23But you would like to use your name
09:25In the same sentence as Harvard
09:28As a matter of fact
09:29Even if you're a freshman at Harvard
09:31What have you accomplished?
09:32Nothing
09:33You're at that school
09:34What have you done in the world?
09:35Nothing
09:36But you would like to have your name
09:37Associated with a prestigious institution
09:40You would like to have your name
09:42Associated with a prestigious brand
09:44So you'd like to wear clothes of a certain brand
09:47And if the brand label is not mentioned
09:49You want to have a conversation with people
09:51Forcing them to ask
09:53Where did you get that?
09:54And then you say
09:55Well, it's Armani
09:56Or something
09:58Because you want yourself
09:59To be associated with that brand
10:01That is when a car comes in
10:02What kind of car are you driving?
10:04What kind of clothes are you wearing?
10:06What kind of people are you associated with?
10:08You don't want to take a selfie with someone
10:10Because you would like to remember them
10:12You want to take a selfie
10:13So you can post it
10:14So other people can feel
10:16Like you're more important
10:17Because you're standing next to this person
10:20It becomes a matter of prestige
10:22If it's just for you
10:23It's great
10:24But this is actually more about
10:25Letting other people know
10:26How awesome you are
10:28By association
10:29Not by accomplishment
10:31You know
10:32And by the way
10:33In the religious community
10:34In the Muslim community
10:35Another kind of prestige
10:37Sometimes our parents have
10:38Go through
10:39Is they want to make their kids a hafiz
10:41And a doctor
10:42Those two things
10:44A hafiz doctor
10:45Forget it
10:46They're already in Jannah
10:48There's deen and dunya
10:49Bam!
10:50Like
10:51رَبَّنَا آتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَلَ وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَلًا
10:54Done deal
10:56You know
10:58But they love telling people
10:59My son is a hafiz
11:02You know
11:03And they turn them into a trophy
11:04Unfortunately
11:05That's not why you memorize Qur'an
11:06But it's happened
11:08It's happened
11:10Now we are at the level of what?
11:12Prestige
11:13So it becomes
11:14It's going to be a really big deal to you
11:15For example
11:16When you get your first job
11:17Maybe you get your job at
11:18I don't know
11:19Microsoft or something
11:20Who cares but
11:21Whatever
11:22If you got a job at a big company
11:23Right?
11:24You got a job at Google
11:25They give you your badge
11:26You wear the badge into the masjid
11:32You know
11:33Just cause you know
11:35You use a lot of Google
11:36They give you a special badge
11:37No no no
11:38I got a job there
11:41You know
11:43So you want to let people know
11:44What you've accomplished
11:46Qur'an calls it
11:47A desire to show to others
11:49What you
11:50What prestige you have
11:51Anyway
11:52I'm going to start at the topic
11:53At the bottom again
11:54What was the first thing?
11:55Good
11:56Happiness
11:57Second thing
11:58Guys wake up
11:59Second thing
12:00Cool
12:01Third
12:02Popularity
12:03Fourth
12:04Prestige
12:05Above that
12:06There's the pursuit of money
12:09There are some people
12:10Who don't care about happiness
12:11They don't care about cool
12:13They don't care about popularity
12:15They don't care about prestige
12:17All they care about is what?
12:19Money
12:20And they know how to make
12:21A lot of money
12:23These are people that are wearing
12:24A dirty t-shirt
12:25And old ripped up jeans
12:27They're driving an 88 Mazda Miata
12:29And they don't care
12:31Because they're making
12:32A million dollars a month
12:34They're making 10 million a month
12:35I met these people
12:36I met people that are worth
12:37Hundreds of millions of dollars a year
12:39And you would not know
12:40The homeboy is that kind of money
12:43Because his hair is all over the place
12:45And he's just you know
12:46He's doing a thing
12:47It's a look he's going for
12:49Or not going for
12:50Because he just doesn't care
12:51He just knows how to do business
12:53And he's amazing at business
12:54And that's all he ever thinks about
12:56All he ever thinks about is
12:58How am I going to increase sales?
12:59How am I going to expand?
13:00How am I going to open up
13:01The next warehouse?
13:02How am I going to do this?
13:03How am I going to do that?
13:04Subhanallah
13:05These people are incredible human beings
13:06And by the way
13:07As we move up this ladder
13:08Does it take more work?
13:09It does, doesn't it?
13:10It takes no work to be happy
13:12It takes some work to be
13:13To fit in
13:14It takes some more work
13:15To become popular
13:16It takes even more work
13:17To have prestige
13:18Or association with prestige
13:19And it takes a lot of work
13:20To make a lot of what?
13:21To make a lot of money
13:24It requires an incredible amount of work ethic
13:26These people don't take a break
13:29Then there's above that
13:30There's even higher levels
13:32And by the way
13:33When I say it takes more effort
13:34I need you to understand something
13:35Every time I describe a higher level
13:37You have to go through more pain to get there
13:40You have to tolerate pain
13:42Grit
13:43In order to get there
13:45So we're going to go above money now
13:48And above money
13:49There's somebody who just wants to be number one
13:51They want to have excellence
13:54They want to have excellence
13:55I don't want to be the programmer in my company
13:57I want to be the top programmer in my company
13:59I don't want to be a student in class
14:01I want to be the number one student in class
14:03I don't want to get an SAT high score on the SAT
14:05I want to get a perfect score on the SAT
14:07I don't just want to be a basketball player
14:09I want to be in the NBA
14:11And I want to be the MVP
14:12And they're never happy with themselves
14:14Until they keep pushing themselves harder
14:16And harder and harder and harder and harder
14:18They're never satisfied
14:20These are the kind of people that pursue excellence
14:22In whatever they do
14:23Whether it's studies
14:24Or it's exercise
14:25Or it's athletics
14:26Or it's, you know
14:28Their work field
14:29Their research
14:30Whatever it is
14:31They need to be on top
14:33They need to be number one
14:34And you know who they're never satisfied
14:36Who they compare themselves to
14:37This is important
14:38You know who they compare themselves to?
14:40Themselves from yesterday
14:42They don't care about anybody else
14:44They don't look at anybody else
14:45They know that they could have done better
14:47So they're never, never satisfied
14:49They never sit back
14:51They're always saying
14:52Man, I need to do more
14:53I could have done better
14:54I know
14:55And everybody else might say
14:56Wow, you're amazing
14:57That's an amazing thing you did
14:59And they're like, who cares
15:00I know I could do better
15:02So they don't even care about the praise
15:04And the accolades from people
15:06Who think that they've done incredible things
15:08They just keep pushing themselves
15:10Harder and harder and harder
15:11An easy example for you guys to think about
15:13Is Michael Phelps, right?
15:15How many people praising this guy
15:16For beating all the records there are?
15:18But do you think he's sitting there saying
15:20Oh, I beat the records
15:21Now I have the prestige
15:22So I can sit back
15:23He wasn't after prestige
15:24Clearly he's after what?
15:26Excellence
15:27So he's never gonna be satisfied
15:28He's gonna keep pushing himself
15:30Like a machine
15:31Keep going forward and forward and forward
15:33Accelerate even more
15:34These are by the way
15:35Very few people in the world
15:37Very few people
15:38A lot of you guys sitting here
15:40Once you get like a passing grade in school
15:45Now it's time for the pursuit of happiness
15:48Put on the PlayStation
15:49Like, you know
15:51Then there's the guy who gets a 99
15:53And he's beating himself up
15:56How did I make that one mistake?
16:00And it's usually not a guy
16:01It's usually a girl
16:04I tell you
16:05On this point about excellence
16:07I will make a comment
16:08About what I do for a living
16:09One of my
16:10One of the part of my career
16:12I don't really have a real job
16:13But a part of my career
16:15Is I teach
16:16You know, young men and women Arabic
16:18In an intensive program
16:19It takes about 9 months
16:20To teach them some things about Arabic
16:22And this half of the class is girls
16:25And this half of the class is guys
16:2630 girls and 30 guys
16:28And the sisters
16:30Consistently for the last 5 years
16:32Have completely destroyed the brothers
16:33In exam scores
16:34I mean completely
16:36But the guys consistently have been happier
16:43Let me tell you something
16:44The girls are always upset
16:46Ustad, I know I got a 100
16:48But I'm not sure I understand fully
16:53And this guy got a 25
16:54And he goes
16:55I get it, Ustad
16:56I get it, I get it
16:59I'm dealing with two different species
17:01Inside a classroom
17:03They have a completely different mindset
17:07So I have to tell these guys to wake up
17:10Stupid, you don't understand
17:12Do some work
17:14And I have to tell these ladies
17:15Calm down, you get it
17:17Take it easy on yourself
17:20I can never tell these guys
17:21To take it easy on themselves
17:22Because they couldn't possibly
17:23Be taking it any easier
17:25It couldn't possibly happen
17:29So we're up to what now?
17:32What are we up to?
17:33Okay, help me out
17:34Let's start at the bottom again
17:36Happiness
17:37Cool
17:39Popularity
17:42Prestige, okay
17:44Money
17:46Excellence
17:47What could be above excellence?
17:48I don't know
17:49There is something above excellence
17:51And that is impact
17:53Impact
17:55I don't care
17:57What I get
17:58I don't care if I make more money
17:59Than everybody else
18:00I don't care if I'm number one
18:01That's not what I care about
18:02I wanna do something for others
18:04I wanna make
18:05I wanna leave a legacy
18:06I know that I have a limited time
18:08On this planet
18:09And when I go
18:11I wanna leave my mark on this earth
18:13I wanna be able to say
18:14That I did something
18:15That made this a better place
18:16For other people
18:18I wanna be a person of impact
18:21On others
18:22On other things and others
18:23On the environment around me
18:25You know there are people
18:26We're talking about non-Muslims right now
18:28We're not talking about believers yet
18:30There are people who get an MBA
18:32Top schools
18:33They could be making six-figure salaries
18:35Coming right out of school
18:36And they're dropping those salaries
18:38And they're going to companies
18:39That are doing socially responsible work
18:42And they're taking a major pay cut
18:44Because they, instead of believing in money
18:47They believe far more in impact
18:50So they'd rather work with an organization
18:52That's helping, you know
18:53Reform the education system
18:55Or somebody, a doctor
18:56Who could be making a huge amount of money
18:58He just finished residency
19:00He just finished everything
19:01And he's now ready to get into the workforce
19:03Decides he's gonna spend three years
19:04In Doctors Without Borders
19:05You ever heard of this?
19:07You don't make money
19:08When you go to Doctors Without Borders
19:10You risk your life
19:11To go to Doctors Without Borders
19:13But why is this young man going?
19:14Why is this young woman going?
19:16Because instead of worrying about
19:17What kind of car am I gonna get
19:19When the money starts rolling in
19:21He or she is more worried about
19:24The impact they wanna have on the world
19:25They wanna help
19:26They wanna do something good
19:28And I tell you
19:30That kind of selflessness
19:32Is very, very few people
19:34The higher up we go this ladder
19:37The fewer people you find
19:39And those people are incredible human beings
19:42These are actually the human beings
19:44That have made changes on the planet
19:47Think about people like Nelson Mandela or something
19:50People that have spent time in jail
19:51Because they believe in something
19:53Because they believe in impact
19:55They wanna do something more than themselves
19:56They sacrifice themselves for the greater good
19:59They don't even think about themselves
20:01They are servants of a cause
20:03And so these people
20:05These people are the people of impact
20:07They're way even above the people of excellence
20:09By the way, excellence is automatic for these people
20:12Excellence is not their goal
20:13It's a byproduct
20:14You know why?
20:15Because if you wanna have that kind of impact
20:17You have to have what in yourself?
20:19Actually you have to push yourself harder and harder
20:22And you might wonder
20:23Maybe this is the highest goal somebody can reach
20:25Is impact
20:27But no, there's something higher
20:30There's the ultimate truth
20:33Somebody pursues justice
20:36Somebody pursues the truth
20:38Somebody pursues an ideal
20:40They believe in justice
20:42And justice is something that you can never fully see in the world
20:45Can you?
20:46It's never gonna fully be there
20:47But they don't care
20:48They're gonna work towards it anyway
20:50Now this
20:51And by the way
20:52When you work towards something you can't even see
20:54It's the hardest thing to do in the world
20:56If you're working towards impact
20:57Even if you see a little bit of impact
20:59You get encouraged, isn't it?
21:01You get encouraged
21:02And it pushes you further
21:03But when you work towards an idea
21:05The cause of justice
21:07The cause of justice
21:09You may not see justice ever
21:11Ever
21:13How are these people able to push themselves
21:15Even if they're working towards something they've never even seen
21:18These are the most incredible
21:20Resilient kinds of people
21:22Once they believe in an idea
21:24And everybody else thinks they're crazy
21:25They don't care
21:26They keep going
21:27And so I'm gonna start at the top now
21:29Which is the pursuit of truth
21:31And the pursuit of justice
21:32And tell you that the legacy of our prophets
21:34All of them
21:35Alaihimussalam
21:37Was actually the pursuit of truth
21:39They cared about sharing the truth with people
21:42And a lot of times
21:44On the day of judgment
21:45We learn from the Prophet
21:46Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
21:47There's actually going to be people
21:48That show up before Allah
21:50On Judgment Day
21:51Messengers
21:52Showing up before Allah on Judgment Day
21:53With no followers behind them
21:56No followers
21:58Not one, not two
21:59Zero
22:02What did they pursue?
22:04The truth
22:06How much impact did they have?
22:08Zero
22:10But they're still absolutely successful
22:12In the sight of Allah
22:13Yes or no?
22:14So now we need to understand something
22:16We're going to go back to this chart again
22:17But I'm going to focus on the last four
22:20The last four
22:21Maybe even the last five
22:22Let's see
22:23Let's first talk about excellence
22:25When you pursue excellence
22:27You're never satisfied with who?
22:29Yourself
22:30The question is
22:31Why aren't you satisfied with yourself?
22:32Just because you want to be better?
22:33No
22:34If you understand Islam's point of view
22:37You're never satisfied with yourself
22:38Because every single one of you people
22:40Is supposed to be in pursuit of impact
22:44You're supposed to be thinking of other than yourself
22:46And that's why you should never be satisfied with yourself
22:49Allah has put more responsibility on you than you realize
22:52I want you to think about this too
22:54This is actually one of the most powerful statements in the Qur'an
22:56And because it's not clearly translated
22:58It creates a lot of problems
22:59Allah says
23:02Allah does not put a burden on any individual
23:04Except
23:05Here's the weak translation
23:06Except to their capacity
23:08Allah will not put a burden on you that you cannot bear
23:11Have you heard this before?
23:12Okay
23:13The Arabic would have been
23:17If it was to their capacity
23:19Aba' would have been there
23:20But actually
23:25The meaning is completely different now
23:27That's the bare meaning
23:29But you know what the true meaning of this ayah is?
23:31Allah has not burdened you with anything
23:33Except your own potential
23:35Think about what I'm saying
23:37Allah has not burdened you with anything
23:39Except what?
23:41Your own potential
23:42In other words
23:43Did you have the potential to be better?
23:45Yes
23:46Could you have done more?
23:47Yes
23:48And Allah will hold you accountable for what you could have done
23:51Not the bare minimum
23:53But the maximum
23:54Allah wants you to push yourself and push yourself and push yourself
23:57And show him what you're made of
23:59Show him what you're made of
24:01That's the idea of the pursuit here
24:04We're not interested in the pursuit of happiness
24:06That is actually something Allah gives us as a side benefit
24:09We're not interested in the pursuit of cool
24:11Because cool is lame
24:13Everybody else is a loser and you want to be a loser like them
24:17We're not interested in the pursuit of popular
24:19You know why?
24:20Because everybody else who has no idea of the purpose in their life
24:23If you're popular in their eyes
24:25You're just the dumbest of them
24:28We're not interested in the pursuit of prestige
24:30Because we know prestige comes from Allah
24:33Prophets were made homeless
24:35They had prestige
24:37These messengers were spit on
24:39And they had prestige
24:40We've got the wrong definition of prestige
24:42We're associating it with the wrong things
24:44Are you giving me a water bottle?
24:45Thank you
24:47Okay
24:48Now
24:51When it comes to the pursuit of excellence
24:54You guys, Muslims, we cannot afford
24:57We cannot afford to be satisfied with mediocrity
25:03We cannot afford it
25:05You cannot be...
25:06You as a believer, as a Muslim
25:08Have to push yourself to better
25:11Whatever you're doing
25:13If you're memorizing, you could be memorizing better
25:16If you're studying, you could be studying better
25:18If you're working, you could be working better
25:20If you're volunteering, you could be volunteering better
25:22Push yourself to better
25:25Push yourself, especially when you're young
25:27Right now you have time
25:28You don't have that much responsibility
25:30But I have homework
25:31Yes, that's not too much responsibility
25:33Responsibility will come once you get married
25:35Once you have children
25:37Right now you're free
25:38Right now you have the freedom you will never ever have in your life
25:41This is the time to push yourself
25:43Not sit back and play video games
25:45This is not the time to watch
25:47Sit there and watch movie after movie after movie
25:49This is not the time to be excited about the new Avengers or whatever
25:53This is not the time, not for you
25:55You have much bigger things to do
25:56The entire world is waiting on the impact that you will have
25:59You can't sit around
26:01Everybody else can, that's fine
26:02They don't have higher pursuits
26:04You have to be the person of excellence
26:06Because you're from now thinking about impact
26:09Every single young man and woman in this audience
26:11Should be thinking about
26:12What did Allah give me?
26:14What talent did he give me?
26:15And what impact will I have on this planet because of it?
26:18What am I gonna do with it?
26:20And as you think about that impact
26:23Then you realize what you're really working towards
26:25You're working towards contentment, meeting with Allah
26:28That is our ultimate truth
26:29You wanna be able to show Allah
26:31That you did everything in your potential
26:33That's what you wanna be able to do
26:35You guys should have the best sleeping habits
26:37You guys should have the best dietary habits
26:39You guys should have the best exercise schedule
26:42You guys should be the best in your prayers
26:44You guys should be the best in your studies
26:46You should be pushing yourself to excellence in everything you do in life
26:49Everything you do in life should be at the top
26:52You should not be eating junk food
26:54You should not be the people that are just lounging around, wasting time
26:58Yes, you should have a good time
26:59But even when you play, you play hard
27:02You play hard
27:04People see you, other kids in school see you
27:08Other people in college see you and say
27:09I wanna be like him
27:10Everything he does is awesome
27:12Everything he does, he does the best
27:14That's what you people need to be
27:16That's what this ummah needs
27:18People of excellence
27:20And then these people are going to have impact
27:22And you know what?
27:23Our parents, unfortunately
27:25Because they were never taught this business
27:27They were never taught this ladder
27:28So you know what?
27:29Their highest ladder was prestige
27:31Maybe above prestige, money
27:33That's where it ended
27:34So the only concern they have for you is prestige and money
27:37Get a job so you can have prestige
27:39So we can say our son has a job
27:41He's a doctor
27:42He's a this, he's a that
27:43And hopefully we can have a lot of money
27:45We can show it off
27:47That's it
27:48That's where it ended for them
27:49And that's what they talk to you about all the time
27:51Where are you gonna work?
27:52How are you gonna make money?
27:53When are we gonna buy a house?
27:54Isn't it?
27:55Everything ends at prestige and money
27:57But there's so much more in life
27:59What's above money?
28:01What was above money?
28:03Excellence
28:04Who's gonna push you to excellence?
28:06Who's gonna think about impact?
28:08If you and I only think about money and prestige
28:10And it dies there
28:12How many young men and women have gone and become doctors
28:14In the Muslim community
28:15And I love picking on doctors
28:17Because they're so depressed in the Muslim community
28:19They went and became doctors
28:20Because their mama told them
28:21And daddy told them
28:22I would not wanna go to you if I have a problem
28:27I would not
28:28I would rather go to someone who became a physician
28:30Because they love helping humanity
28:32They care
28:33They don't love the next payment coming in
28:35From the corrupt insurance company
28:37They actually care about humanity
28:39Those are the physicians I'd like to have a relationship with
28:41Or go to and take my children to
28:43You know
28:44People of impact
28:45And now my final bit in this
28:47Allah says
28:48وَأَن لَيْسَ لِلْإِنسَانِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَى
28:51Human beings will have nothing for themselves
28:53Except the effort that they made
28:55The pursuit that they had
28:56Now let's start again
28:57The pursuit of happiness
28:59The pursuit of cool
29:01The pursuit of popularity
29:03The pursuit of prestige
29:05The pursuit of money
29:07The pursuit of excellence
29:10The pursuit of impact
29:12And the pursuit of truth
29:13Yes
29:14You know the most valuable thing to Allah
29:16The most valuable thing to Allah
29:18Of all of these
29:19Is pursuit
29:23Not money
29:24Not impact
29:25Not excellence
29:26All of those things will come
29:27What Allah wants to see from you
29:29Is what?
29:30Pursuit
29:31I told you there are prophets
29:33That show in front of Allah
29:34On Judgment Day
29:35How many followers?
29:36Zero
29:37So they had zero impact
29:38But Allah still gives them the highest ranks in Jannah
29:40Why?
29:41Because Allah respects their
29:43Pursuit
29:44Their effort
29:45Their grit
29:46They were tough
29:48And they went through it
29:49If you were to have a
29:50Progress report
29:51For Nuh A.S. every year
29:53Let's see a growth chart
29:55And how many people became Muslim
29:56Nuh A.S.
29:58You know it's annual review
30:00How many people become Muslim every year?
30:02950 years
30:05There's like
30:06Bloop
30:07The chart isn't going like this
30:09It's just this flat
30:10And maybe even goes down
30:11Some people are coming close
30:12And they went away
30:14There's no impact
30:17There is no
30:18Progress on the ground
30:20But you know what we respect about
30:21Nuh A.S.
30:22Is his constant
30:23Constant
30:24Constant pursuit
30:26We have to internalize this
30:28You guys have to be a people of pursuit
30:30We will have nothing in front of Allah
30:31If not our pursuits
30:33Young people listen to me
30:34Listen to what I'm saying
30:35Please carefully
30:36Please think about this
30:38What is your life going to mean?
30:40If your life is just one video game to the next
30:43If your life is just one episode
30:45To the next of a show
30:47What are you pursuing?
30:49Who cares if you got trophies on that video game
30:51Or you got 100% synchronization in Assassin's Creed
30:54Who cares?
30:56Who cares?
30:58What is that an account?
30:59What did that change for the world?
31:02You know
31:03Who cares how many push-ups you can do?
31:05Who cares?
31:07You have to think more than that
31:08You have to think higher than that
31:10And when you start doing that
31:12I will tell you one thing
31:13Allah will give you
31:14Allah will give you happiness
31:16When you really have pursuit
31:18Then your life means something
31:20And when your life means something
31:21It makes you happy
31:23When you don't have pursuit
31:25Then you never find meaning in your life
31:27And that's why you're never happy
31:28Doesn't matter how much music you listen to
31:31Or how much hanging out you do
31:32Or how much partying you do
31:34You're just never happy
31:35You're never satisfied
31:36You're always bored
31:37You're always just, you know
31:39Not happy with yourself, etc
31:41It is this pursuit that you have to internalize
31:43You young people have to be people of
31:45Incredible, incredible, incredible pursuit
31:48Allah says,
31:49وَأَنَّ سَعْيَهُ سَوْفَ يُرَىٰ
31:50I love this ayah
31:51And I'm ending with this ayah
31:53And that his effort
31:55His effort, his pursuit
31:57Will soon be seen
31:59His effort will soon be what?
32:01Seen
32:02Let me tell you something
32:03When you show somebody your resume
32:06I graduated from this school
32:09I've worked here and here and here
32:10I did this and this and this project
32:12What do you put on your resume?
32:13The results or the pursuit?
32:16You don't put the pursuit
32:17You put the results
32:18The result was you graduated
32:20You don't put I worked really hard
32:21For the final semester
32:22And I was dying to do this exam
32:24You don't put that on your resume
32:25You just put I graduated
32:26Yes or no?
32:27I did this project, this project and this project
32:30You don't put on your resume
32:31How much effort you made to finish that project
32:33Isn't it?
32:34And by the way
32:35Sometimes you put a lot of effort in
32:36And you don't pass
32:38Does that happen?
32:39You put an incredible amount of effort
32:41Into a project and it fails
32:43Or you don't get the grade that you deserved
32:45Or you wanted
32:46You just didn't see the results
32:48Human beings
32:50We judge each other based on what?
32:52Results
32:54I don't care how much effort you made
32:55You didn't get the results
32:57You're fired
32:58I don't care how much effort you made
33:00You didn't pass the test
33:01You're not graduating
33:02You understand?
33:03But Allah on judgment day
33:05Is not looking at your report card
33:07Based on results
33:08Allah is looking at your report card
33:10Based on what?
33:11Effort
33:12Allah says
33:13And his effort
33:14His pursuit
33:15Is that which will be shown
33:17Or which will be seen
33:19That is remarkable
33:20Because no other human being
33:22On the face of this earth
33:23Can see my effort
33:24I cannot see your effort
33:26And you cannot see mine
33:27Only Allah sees effort
33:29All we see is impact
33:32All we see are results
33:34We are people of results
33:36Allah is a judge of effort
33:38Subhanallah
33:39What an incredible master
33:41Nobody will appreciate your efforts
33:43Except Allah
33:44So never underestimate your efforts
33:45Because other people underestimate them
33:47People didn't appreciate
33:49The kind of work you put in
33:50And you figure
33:51Well I guess it wasn't worth it
33:52It was to Allah
33:54It was to Allah
33:55It was worth it to Allah
33:57That part of my talk
33:58Was specifically for the sisters
34:00Because they do a lot of effort
34:02And they feel like
34:03It's not going anywhere
34:05Not the guys
34:06Because guys don't do any effort
34:08And they feel like
34:09I did a lot
34:10I tried so hard
34:11You guys just have to stop
34:13Lying to yourself
34:14You stop telling yourself
34:16You're doing enough
34:17You have to stop being lazy
34:19Shaitan is destroying you guys
34:21He's destroying you
34:22You're so lazy
34:24Stop being lazy
34:25Stop rationalizing to yourself
34:27Get up and do work
34:29Do more
34:30If you can't find a job
34:31Keep going
34:32Keep applying
34:33Keep talking
34:34Keep networking
34:35Don't stop and say
34:36I tried everything
34:37It didn't happen
34:38No you didn't try everything