Teeth Like Pearls: Following the Prophet's Path to Purity

Ald.

[Silence]

We are continuing this evening in our journey and our reading commentary on the book Provisions to be taken for the day of the great appointment meaning the day of resurrection and these Provisions are taken from the traditions and ways of the best of the Servants of Allah the prophet Muhammad s alai this book of course authored by the late and esteemed scholar of Islam as we've mentioned before this book is an extreme extremely crucial book in the Islamic Library the way it was originally written was more a journal than it is an a book that is written in a particular order and that is that he wrote this book from memory and this book that I have here was about 200 or so Pages this is not the original book this is just a u an Abridged version that kind of takes the Crux of each of the issues and and puts it all into this very small Abridged version the original version is roughly roughly a close to 2,000 or 2500 pages and it is traditionally printed in five volumes was written from memory because he went to make and on his journey to Hajj which would take months back then he decided to write this book as they were traveling so he would write this book and any of his spare or free time during his travel to Hajj and from Hajj and so he didn't have any references to site the different things that he mentioned he mentioned them from memory which is an amazing feat that an individual can write such a dense and such a such a profound book such as Z that really is a reference book in its original form and it has been ever since published this book and this book of course was something that he wrote from memory but he quoted from over 200 different sources verbatim in most cases and and he did this from memory and this shows the the enormous amount of Prestige and the enormous amount of knowledge that was endowed with by Allah we were discussing in this book The the original part of this chapter which was the way that the prophet s would traditionally make prayer at night and how many and so forth that he would pray s. wasam and this is an important point and that is that there are things which are particular to the prophet Muhammad Sall there are things which are obligatory upon Him particularly there are things which are must or preferable for him particularly etc etc there are things that are Haram for him particularly aside from the rest of the umah these are the particulars of prophethood in general or the particulars of the Prophet muhammad. wasam alone these have all been documented by the scholars of Islam some have even written independent books on this topic but one of those things is prayer at night prayer at night in the correct opinion has always been an obligation upon the prophet Muhammad s. wasam and something which is highly recommended for the rest of his Nation his umah s. wasam and so it is something which is an obligation upon him and this is one of the first things that he was obligated with in Islam in Allah opens the verses of by commanding the prophet s. to pray at night and this is an obligatory and a binding command by Allah subhanahu waala to his prophet sallai wasallam as for the rest of his Nation it is something which is highly recommended so much so that the prophet sallam referred to it as he said the dignity the Integrity the honor of the believer is found in prayer at night Allah he speaks about what the prophet Sall wasam would say when he would wake up at night and some Scholars mention this is something that he would say every time he would awaken see sleep is a type of death okay it is a minor death because of this Allah subhanahu waala negates that he sleeps subh he says no so he affirms for himself that he is the ever living so he affirms for himself the epitome of life and he negates for himself the most minor of death he says he is not overtaken by Slumber or sleep exhaustion or sleep he is not overtaken by fatigue or sleep sin and so this is something which is particular to Allah subhanahu wa taala that he subhanahu waala does not sleep and he is not overtaken by the prerequisites of sleep which are a sin which is fatigue exhaustion the beginning stages of sleep these are things that Allah subhanahu waala does not suffer with as for the human being our life is something that is particular it is befitting to us it is a life that is our our sense of liveliness it is deficient as everything is with the human being Allah subhanahu Waal says the human being is not perfect at anything and this is part of the Perfection of the human being is that the human being is imperfect so the the human being is perfectly imperfect if you will and that is a concept that is very important for us to understand and so Allah subhanahu waala has mentioned for himself the epitome of life this is why his name one of his names Al right and the human being we are our lives our liveliness our life it is deficient in its Essence it's deficient in its existence it's deficient in its end right meaning that our life comes only after death so we were first Dead meaning that we were first inanimate we were first not alive and we were brought into life Allah says you were all deceased you were all dead and he brought you to life our life itself is succumbs to weakness our life itself succumbs to things that are contradicting to life such as illness disease fatigue and ultimately sleep right and so we have to look at death and sleep as being very similar sleep is the Lesser death it is a type of death it is the Lesser death or the a minor death right that we experience as human beings and because of this reason Allah subhanahu wa taala refers to death in the Quran and he refers to sleep in the Quran with the same terms so he says Allah so in the Quran refers to either death or it refers to sleep depending on the context right so when Allah subhah says to he says I am going to give you wa which is it could be interpreted as sleep or could be interpreted as death as we know has not died therefore it is sleep Scholars of Islam tell us that Allah subhanahu waala retrieved Isa from his pursuers in his sleep and so if we look at sleep in this way then we need to look at how the prophet s. wasam would treat sleep how would he treat it he would make W before he goes to sleep s. wasam he would say certain AAR as he is before he goes to sleep and he gives the companion certain ways to go to sleep you go to sleep on your right side recite this verses recite this Dua right and then he and this these Dua these verses or these supplications that we say just before our sleep they are supplications which speak a lot about life and death oh Allah if you take my soul in my sleep then forgive it if you if you allow me to live another day then protect my soul with that which you protect the most righteous of your servants Etc these are the meanings that supplications of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam pre sleep revolved around right and likewise when he would awaken when he would wake up from this sleep he has well treated waking up from this sleep as if he had been resurrected after his death so one of the things that he would say when he would wake up alhamdulillah all praise is due to Allah the one who has brought me to life after he had given me death after he had taken me in death subhanahu waala this is this is the way that we are to treat sleep and the way that we are to treat life he says.

[Silence]

One of the one of the supplications that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would make when he would wake up at night to pray is he would say that which translates to none is rightfully worshiped but you all glory is to you you oh Allah I seek forgiveness from you on behalf of my sins and I seek your Mercy oh Allah increase me in knowledge and do not turn my heart away after you have guided me and Grant me and give to me from you a special Mercy indeed you are the wab the one who gives and the Gift Giver the one who is abundant in his gifts subhanahu waala then says and when he would wake up from his sleep or stir awake he would say all praise is due to Allah the one who has given me life after he has taken me with death and to him is our return right and then he would brush his teeth s. brush his teeth it doesn't mean that he would brush his teeth with Colgate it does mean that he would use what is commonly known as AEK and AEK is what this type of stick it's taken from the it's taken from the root of the arak tree right which is customarily found in in the that demograph of where the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam is from and he would use this seac and I'm sure most of those who are listening right now are familiar with it he would use it to clean his teeth and he would do this constantly now does this mean that in order for us to follow the Sunnah we have to use that particular tree or that particular root and this is a thing you know because you can buy a box and it's seek and you go out and you buy it and you use that particular seac and so on and so forth we say if you use it that is fine and that is acceptable excuse me however it is not necessary to have fulfilled the sunna to fulfill the Sunnah one must brush his teeth with whatever it is that will clean his or her teeth this is something that is part of the what does that mean the the the prophet Sall wasam says 10 aspects are part of the pre disposition or the proper nature of the human being of hygiene right and he mentions different things trimming the fingernails trimming the mustache growing the beard and one of the things that he mentions is cleaning the teeth that a person brush his teeth right and he said s in oh in he said that cleaning your teeth is something that not only purifies your mouth and purifies your teeth but as well it is something that pleases the Lord pleas pleases Allah subhanahu wa taala and consequently cleaning the teeth is something the prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam would do whenever he would enter the house from outside was asked what is the first thing he would do whenever he would walk into the home from outside she said he would brush his teeth s. wasam he would clean his teeth right he would clean his teeth before every prayer he would clean his teeth every time he would make W he would clean his teeth every time he would wake up right from sleeping and the last action of the Prophet s. wasam as he departed this Earth on his deathbed was that he brushed his teeth s. wasam this is the last act that he did and it's kind of sad that this is something that the Muslims have started to become complacent with this is this is one of the things that makes our time so ironic and so unfortunate and so absurd the time that we live in today because we see that the Muslims who were the leaders of the of the world in hygiene in Justice in scholarship in scientific discovery in political Affairs right are now exactly the opposite we're behind everybody else right and so we do things sometimes that are part of the Sunnah we do not do them but when we come to America or we see people around us doing them we do them for that reason because this is something that we are taught is the correct thing to do so you will meet some people Muslims that for instance have very very their teeth is are are very unhygienic their mouth is very unhygienic their breath is is very terrible occasionally or a lot of times right the prophet sallallah in was narrated to had brushed his teeth and he would also brush his tongue s. and ab it was narrated that he would brush his tongue so deeply into his mouth that he would gag and he would say h right when you go back really far and brushing your tongue right that's where bad breath really lives okay bad breath really lives on the back of the tongue where the tongue meets the throat and so he would Sall alai wasallam brush his tongue far back all the way till his gag this narration is in right and he would brush his teeth so often that when he would smile his teeth would also often resemble to the onlooker his teeth would often resemble to the onlooker A String of Pearls right because they would be so shiny and well taken care of and the only time the prophet s. wasam had any problems with his teeth or damage to his teeth was in war in the Battle of where one of his teeth was broken when he was attacked other than this his teeth were perfectly well taken care of his breath was always refreshing and it's interesting because a very famous author once said that people will for get what you say and people will forget eventually what you do but people will never forget how you make them feel people will never forget how you make them feel what does that mean all right we are essentially the human nature is that we are emotional before we are logical and so people will reject the truth based on emotion and they will accept falsehood based on emotion they will accept and justify falsehood because it makes them feel good and they will reject and falsify the truth because it makes them feel bad and for this reason the prophets and Messengers and especially the prophet Muhammad s. wasam was very clean very hygienic his breath did not have any foul stench and even even his sweat was had a positively pleasant smell to it liken to that of musk or perfume person may say well why is this important for a messenger yes it is important for a messenger or anybody who is delivering the truth that they be similar they be hygienic that they be well kept that they be well groomed that they have a good smelling breath and if they don't have good smelling breath or a good smell at least they don't have a bad smell or a foul odor right if they are not positively kind they are not Negative they are not people that drive people away and so Allah subhah waala tells us that even the companions as great and as saintly as they were had they been treated by the prophet sallallah alai was with harshness and hard-heartedness he would have driven with this harshness many of them away and so you may speak to to a person who is very knowledgeable very well groomed very well-kept and they are very well spoken and they are speaking the truth but they have bad breath and so when you're speaking to them you will find yourself disagreeing with them simply because of how offensive you find their breath to be or their or their smell to be this is this is is very true this is something that happens it's one of the things that human beings have about them that psychologically we Express disgust with rejection so if we are disgusted by something we automatically resent it we dislike it even if it's likable in itself right and so it's it's very important for a Muslim to always keep himself well groomed keep herself well groomed a woman however is never to wear perfume outside of her home ever this is something that is considered by many scholars of Islam to be a major sin and actually a and a type of and this is something also that we see a woman will spray herself with perfume or you use some kind of perfume and go out into public this is something that is not only Haram but it is a major sin and in one narration in it's mentioned that narrated to a woman that he smelled perfume from who was going to the Masjid she had the best of intentions and he said to her I heard the prophet s. wasam that a woman say that a woman's Salah would not be accepted if she goes out into public wearing perfume and that perfume is smelled by a man who is not related to her or not legal for her to be intimate with and her Salah will not be accepted until she goes home home and bathes the bathe the bathing of janab which is sexual impurity and this is to articulate the seriousness of this issue because this is something that is will draw attention to her and draw attention to her in a very sexual Manner and I wish that we would understand these things people will say well if she doesn't wear perfume she'll smell bad that's not true at all actually if a person keeps himself clean hygienically clean they won't smell bad at all because the Muslim does not consume we do not eat things which are filthy we do not eat filthy animals we do not eat filthy things right and second of all the Muslim does not have any filth on him he is constantly praying and constantly washing himself all over the most important parts of his body and constantly bathing and so the Muslim is pure inside and out internally the Muslim is pure and externally the M Muslim is pure and so a person will not have a foul odor if they follow the guidelines of Islamic hygiene and so for a person to constantly brush his teeth to keep his breath smelling good or at least not smelling bad this is something that is very important imagine yourself at a wonderful restaurant imagine yourself eating the best of food that you could imagine most perfectly presented and most perfectly prepared but the waiter or waitress that brings you your food has bad breath or smells or is unkempt this would make us dislike the food or at least not it as much and would disgust us this is why hygiene is so important in Islam and so those first Impressions a person may be speaking to you and as we said well dressed well spoken well educated what they're saying is true and you cannot remember what the person said but all you can remember is that this person had terrible breath or had a terrible smell or was unclean or was unhygienic that this person has activated a very strong emot Motion in us that overrides our mind and that is disgust so it's important that we keep this in mind the prophet sallallah alai wasallam would constantly brush his teeth so much that in one narration he said s. jel continued to command me to brush my teeth till I was afraid I would brush them into Decay I would brush brush them into brittleness into Oblivion that he would brush his teeth so much that he would start breaking his teeth this is obviously to drive home and exaggerate the importance of brushing one's teeth brushing brushing one's mouth and as we mentioned brushing one's tongue that the prophet sallallah alai wasam used to do often and so the first thing he would do when he would wait wake up s. wasam is he would brush his teeth now why do we experience bad breath well it's important for us to understand the way that dental hygiene has developed in America especially this is where we live especially in the last century the last 100 years about a hundred years in America a little less this is when toothpaste was really developed and sold in America and the idea of brushing your teeth really came to America it was very weird very un un very taboo almost for a person to constantly brush his or her teeth and so when toothpaste was developed it was very slow selling and this is a true story tooth toothpaste would not be sold very much people it just didn't catch on in America and so they brought in some advertisement experts to kind of think about how they could get people to start to by their product and so what they did is in America they created a culture of toothbrushing and dental hygiene in order to sell their product and so the origins of brushing teeth in America is not because of dental hygiene or because of sophistication it was driven by money it was the toothpaste companies and and Pioneers at the time who started to really campaign for brushing teeth and so when brushing the teeth first came out and they were advertised on billboards it didn't catch on and they realized that one of the reasons it did not catch on is there was no discernable reward for brushing your teeth because the toothpaste that they used had no particular taste to it right it had no taste and actually it didn't foam either pay attention this is this is you know if you want to see the origins of this this is where it comes from toothpaste when you put it in your mouth and you rub it around it's it's almost soap it starts to turn into a foam and it has Suds to it and Bubbles right and also it's Tangy and Zippy and it has a mint taste that almost kind of makes your mouth sensitive and burn this was not how original toothpaste was original toothpaste was dull you put it on and it was mainly you know U baking soda or whatever they used at the time and it would not foam up and it didn't have any particular taste to it and your reward is that your teeth would be white allegedly well they found found that that was not a discernable enough reward for people to brush their teeth so what did they do they added they added things to it to make it foam up when it interacts with water when it is brushed around and they put mint into it to give your mouth that aftertaste that makes you feel better that you have actually brushed your teeth so they'd put things cinnamon or mint in it and so what would happen is they advertise that that as part of your morning routine as part of your evening routine you're going to brush your teeth right and you're going to feel the suds build up in your mouth and you're going to feel and taste the mintiness and it's going to make your mouth sensitive right almost you ate Peppers or something and that slight tanginess or that slight zippin in your mouth that was the reward that was discernable enough for people to develop habits psychologically right this is how habits are actually formed they are formed with the suggestion the action and then the reward this is called the reward Loop in Psychology and this is what cause people to catch on to brushing the teeth but then there was another problem manufacturers of toothpaste were not moving enough product right so we got to move more product how can we get people to use more toothpaste so they started to make bigger toothbrushes right the toothbrush would originally be a certain size they made it WI and they made it longer and they advertise all kinds of magical features for this toothbrush to justify $15 that you're going to pay for it because it reaches here and reaches there and does this and does that and massages your gums and all this stuff and they figured out that in Trials Americans will always put the same length of toothpaste on the toothbrush whatever those bristles are they will always fill that up all right so they made the tooth they made the toothbrush longer they made it wider another thing they did was they made the opening to the tooth toothpaste tube they made it bigger so you're going to put the same length on there but you're putting more substance down right more toothpaste down on it caused people to use toothpaste more and so it becomes a thing now where if you don't have toothpaste you haven't brushed your teeth if you don't use this toothbrush you haven't brushed your teeth you have to do it in the morning you have to do it in the evening and so we came and we learned these things we didn't take the advice and the action of the Prophet Sall alai that if you brush your teeth and remove the dirt and remove the debris and remove the leftover food if you brush your teeth even if there's no toothpaste with anything that is a brush if you brush your teeth at every prayer you brush your teeth when you wake up you brush your teeth whenever you go into your home you brush your teeth at every wo right your teeth will be very white they will be very clean and your breath will subsequently be very pleasant as well so we did not take this advice and we took the advice of brush your teeth in the morning and brush your teeth in the evening before you go to bed after you wake up brush your teeth with Colgate use this fancy toothbrush use this super fancy toothpaste that does 10in one things it whitens and it freshens and it this and it that and all these things and all it is is just FL flavor in the mouth there's nothing proven that these things actually do right and so we take this and we only brush our teeth in the morning and in the evening and so what happens all throughout the duration of the day we're eating some people are smoking some people are drinking very sugary things and what happens the breath becomes terrible the teeth start to decay in spite of brushing our teeth with the best and the baddest and so now they're coming out with all these different kinds of gadgets and we have to understand that this is not the way that the prophets and Messengers taught us to maintain our me Dental hygiene our dental hygiene we brush our teeth frequently throughout the day and even if a person doesn't use the seek itself if they just use a regular toothbrush just a regular dollar toothbrush and they wash it off every time they use it and they use it just before prayer rinse their mouth or use it just before W right this will you will have achieved the Sunnah and you will have had a very hygienic mouth and a pleasant breath and you will have pleased Allah subhanahu waala by following the Sunnah of the prophets and Messengers so when the prophet sallam would wake up from his sleep he would first say alhamdulillah he would say all praise is due to Allah the one who has given us life after he has taken us with death and to him is our return and then he would brush his teeth and then sometimes he would recite the last 10 verses the closing 10 verses of which would start with the statement of Allah in which Allah subhanahu wa taala says in the closing verses that which translates to indeed in the creation of the heavens and the Earth and the change of day and night and the rotation of day and night there are signs for the people of true intellect these last 10 verses ofah and then he would make now it's important for us to understand these verses meaning the the last 10 verses ofah Alan these verses were revealed red to the prophet s. during the night time when he was praying one night he he was given these last 10 verses of and he encourag that anybody who ever reads these verses that they always contemplate them deeply as they are reading them there are to be honest an issue that is very clear not clear to many people is that in the new secular age that we are allegedly in we're be being given a new religion what what is the new religion well it's the religion of allegedly the religion of science right so science is the religion and scientists are the prophets and messengers of this religion and the God of this religion is Mother Nature or the universe right and you will hear people speak about I asked the universe and I the universe did for me and I did for the universe and mother nature and all this stuff and you know the evidences are used almost as if it is a something that has come from Allah himself and so anytime you read anything a person is saying something studies show you know and statistics say and so on and so forth failing to tell us that these studies and these statistics can be Wild misinterpreted they can be interpreted in many different ways who are the people that fund these studies Etc this is another issue but the point is is that we are given all of these articles and all of these things as if this is our religion and so you've got Muslims that are meditating just Hindus meditate or Buddhists the same way how do I meditate till I sit and I think about my breathing and I only focus on my breathing etc etc but the meditation that we have in Islam is prayer that Salah is neglected by the same individual is overlooked the person is praying they don't know what they're saying just going through the motions praying late praying this but every morning when I wake up I meditate right and another thing is such as yoga right this is another issue and another one is the Mantra the Mantra what is the Mantra well allegedly the very successful people very successful CEOs and so forth of the of the Modern Age they they have a Mantra that they chant to themselves every day when they wake up right so they say you need to develop for yourself a mantra for every day when you wake up that you need to chant this to yourself you know to gas yourself up and to boost yourself up every day for for the day right and so what is this Mantra usually something silly I can be better or I am good or I am a go-getter whatever kind of thing people are chanting to themselves this in itself maybe have a smidgen of accuracy to it of truth to it this is something that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam would do but he would not do it to become rich and he would not do it to go to the gym and work out so that he could get his glutes and his pectorals and everything into shape so that he could look good on the beach this is not what this is for the prophet s. wasam would recite when he would wake up the last 10 verses of what are the last 10 verses ofah Al IM they discuss that logically a person will come to realize that this world has not been created in just that Allah subhanahu wa taala is not only very powerful but very forgiving and that we ask Allah to forgive us because we have to the best of our abilities attempted to follow the path of the prophets and Messengers we are told to not look at the life of this world for its parent aspects that the people of this world who are upon disbelief they're travels and going to and fro and their enjoyments and their Leisure Time and their comfort that these are things that should not fool us he said this is a very short and transient entertainment and enjoyment that will be replaced with a damnation in the Hereafter for those who reject Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and his Messengers that the true that the true enjoyment the true fulfillment of our potential is found with Allah there we will have places prepared for us to honor those of us who have struggled in the way of Allah subhanahu wa taala and he ends these verses with oh you who have believed be patient and be more patient than your enemies be more patient than those around you and stay Stead fast and constant in your good deeds in order that you may attain success this is what we are to remind ourselves of every night every morning when we wake up or every time we wake up out of sleep we are to recite these verses meditatively reflectively to remind ourselves of why it is we are here where it is we are going and what it is we are to be doing and our time time here on this Earth this is this is the Mantra if you will of the Muslim when he wakes up and when we go to bed we recite verses of the Quran such as the which reminds us of Allah and his awesomeness we recite the last verses ofah Bak which are a plea to Allah that he forgive us and relieve us and that we recite Sur mul which discusses the origins of the human being the nature of our existence in this world and the consequences for our choices in the Hereafter these are the things that we recite to ourselves when we wake up the things that we recite to ourselves when we go to sleep the things that we remind ourselves of every morning and evening this is what the Muslim is to do as for the life of this world is it is a means to an ends it is not the ends in itself the life of this world is but a tool to be used to attain salvation in the Hereafter and so says that after the prophet s. wasallam would wake up he would recite these verses from are these verses only to be recited when a person wakes up from sleeping at night or are they to be recited anytime a person awakes well this is a difference of opinion amongst the scholars of Islam but if a person recites these verses every time they wake up and they arise from their sleep then that is correct inshallah and then he would s. wasam he would purify himself what does that mean he would purify himself well he would prepare himself for prayer if he was in a state of janaba then he would make if he was in a state of minor then he would make w s and sometimes the prophet s. wasam would sleep and and he would wake up and pray without making W right so this is now what do you mean he would wake up and pray without making M well this is something which is particular to the prophet s. wasam because sleep itself does not break a person's wo the act of merely falling asleep does not break wo what breaks wo is the overwhelming probability that while a person was sleeping something happened that broke his wo such as passing gas or what have you this is why we make W if we fall into deep sleep and some Scholars have mentioned the position a person falls asleep in as being in this ruling that if a person sleeps sitting straight up for instance they do not have to make some but the correct opinion is as the prophet Sall said he said wasam that the ey is the leash of the of the of the person's private part meaning that once a person falls asleep he may pass gas or do something that will nullify his wo so we make wo from deep sleep we do not make wo from slight sleep if a person dozes off but they were awake enough that they would realize if they had broken their w they do not have to make up their W the prophet sallam would sometimes pray very late and the best time to pray is actually at the very middle of the night right but this is something that's difficult for most people and it's better to pray in J even if it is earlier than to pray later by oneself and so the companions they would sit in the mid after and they would wait for the prophet s to come out and lead and what would happen is the Masid of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam it didn't have any lights in it right so it's completely dark in the Masjid everybody's sitting there they're making their T they're reciting the Quran and they are waiting for the prophet sallallah alai wasallam to emerge and pray well in this process some of them might drift off they've been working all day they've been you know they're tired and ANB Malik narrates that some of the companions would fall asleep to where their chins were completely supported by their chests what does that mean they would be you know completely sleeping this and that the prophet sallallah alai wasam would then come out and those same companions whoever they were abak the companions that would pray with the prophet wasallam when he would come out they would stand for prayer and pray without remaking their wo so the scholars of Islam took from this that a slight sleep to drift off what we say in this will not break a person's w.

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Was and so the prophet s his heart would not sleep while his body or his eyes would rest so sometimes he would wake up and pray because he was aware that he had not broken his woo throughout the duration of his sleep we'll continue this topic next week inshallah mam.