Is Following the Sunnah Too Hard for Success?

Alhamdulillah.

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We are continuing in Z as we've mentioned before Z is a book that is very extensive very intense very detailed in some parts it's incredibly detailed in other parts it's very general and one of these aspects in which Z was detailed what could have been more detailed or we should say other books have added to that detail are the chapters regarding the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam appearance how he looked his physical characteristics and also his morette his U different Miracles that he performed in throughout his life these signs these evidences of his the validity of his prophethood he has a book called this is a book that is separate from this is a book that he wrote in the same vein in the same subject regarding the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam biography and some of the things which are particular to him and he mentions that one of the best books to generally and concisely mention most of the narrated features physical features of the Prophet sallam is the book for and so for the past few weeks in order to augment what is in we've referred back to is a book that was written from memory during travel he was on his way to he wanted to spend his journey there and back with the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and so he spent his time writing everything that he could think up and remember of all aspects of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam life and this is an incredible feat because the book is a reference but at the same time it was written from memory and so Parts thatn probably wished he could have further researched he didn't have access to his resources and vice versa so the book is very detailed in some places not so much in other places very very brief in some places also you'll find that in it's not in exact order that books are usually in you'll find that he'll go through some subjects and then he'll jump kind of back and then he'll go forward and so forth that's okay it was something written for memory and it's something that was written for students in order for them to read and the idea is that a person will digest and memorize most of what's in there not that it be a book where a person can reference it like a dictionary so we have referred back to for and we are mentioning what mentioned with the addition of what AI wrote after this we're going to we're at the tail end of the chapter regarding his physical features after that we will get into the chapters regarding different Miracles and the different phenomenon that occurred for the prophet and was performed for him.

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Sall.

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We discussed very in in great detail the entirety of the chapter regarding his physical attri rutes we also discussed with even greater detail the etiquette and the character of the Prophet sallallah alai wasam now what's important to understand is when we say something etiquette character most people when they think of the character of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam they think that he's just always walking around smiling not making anybody upset not sitting stepping on anyone's toes and this is not the full sum of all of his character his character was much more deep than that but unfortunately a lot of prophetic character has been reduced to a an outward smile and that this is a person who is seriously reminiscent of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam character and this is not correct he smiled often meaning that he was a pleasant person he was approachable it doesn't mean that he never got got upset things never made him upset of course things would make him upset he's a human being he would only he would only seek retribution on behalf of Allah subhanahu wa taala never for himself he would forgive but it doesn't mean if somebody would insult him or attack him verbally or otherwise that he would never get upset about this a person human being naturally will be offended by things how however what makes him what makes his character so profound is the great amount of willpower the incredible amount of patience that he had with regards to dealing with these things meaning they would make him upset but he would control himself this is the Hallmark of true etiquette but but unfortunately even in even in circles amongst the Muslims this kind of idea is perpetuated and it's kind of an unspoken thing and that is that if a person really focuses on the prophet's character really implements his character he will not get by in life live a very shallow life we even look at it you know a person who doesn't lie doesn't cheat doesn't is not treacherous does not you know these these little traits and these kind of passive aggressive things that if a person doesn't do this or if a person is not good at these things we look at this person as a little bit you know almost weak-minded you know right this is couldn't be further from the truth people often want to break out of the limitations that the prophet Sall Al wasam explained to us with regard to the religion of Allah there are things that we can do that will make us get ahead in life but they will make us get ahead in life in this life at the expense of our Hereafter and so it's kind of looked at as a person who you know doesn't lie a little bit to get ahead doesn't cheat a little bit doesn't backbite a little bit doesn't spread a little chaos here and there right some someone who doesn't plot and plan someone who doesn't have a little Venom in their heart that this person is kind of simple-minded and can't get ahead this is something that we have to notice recognize and we have to reject when a person learns the Sunnah of the Prophet Sall alai wasam and follows it they're going to miss out on things in this D it's going to happen you can't have books you can't have all of this life and all of the Hereafter together it doesn't work that way the scholars of Islam refer to this life and the Hereafter as means co-wives right so the life of the the life of the they're co-wives why do they say that well the nature of co-wives is that they're constantly competing with one another and if you if you please one of them it's probably going to upset the other and vice versa and so when a person learns the Sunnah and Exhibits it and practices it they're going to miss out on things in this life but they will not miss out on the good things of this life or the necessary things of this life they will miss out on all the other things there's an which was collected.

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By.

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The prophet sallai wasam tells us that there are four traits four characteristics if a person practices these four disciplines these four characteristics then don't worry about what you miss of the dun you will not be harmed you will not be affected by what you miss in the dun now what does that mean what what do we understand from this wording we understand that these four traits if you stick to them you practice them you will miss out on things in this dun it's going to happen but these things are not worth your are not worth your effort these are things that are only bad for you in the long run so what does he mentioned he says that when you speak you tell the truth a person tells the truth all the time are they going to miss out on things in the dun yeah they are they going to miss out on things that's why people lie people lie because it advances their agendas correct if I want to sell something and I lie about this thing I'm going to probably make more money on it right when a person lies that's why people lie it's advantageous but the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam tells us if you discipline yourself to always tell the truth whatever that forces you to miss out on of this world it is it's not worth your worry don't fret over it it's nothing of value he mentions that a person is moderate and a person only eats that which isal only that which is lawful and a person is moderate in his in his eating will a person miss out yeah they'll miss out on a five course meal they'll miss out on but that's not something Worthy for a person to fret over he tells us he tells us that a person have good character are you going to miss out on things with that yes you're going to miss out on retribution you're going to miss out on seeing someone you dislike go through pain all of these things that people do to each other in order to satisfy that which is in their hearts that which isan encourages you're going to miss out on these things but are these things worth your time or worry no and so when a person tells the truth not because they're too simple to make up a lie but because they are too committed to the prophet sallallah to make up lies when a person has good character and forgives people and pardons people even people who don't deserve it sometimes even people who don't ask for forgiveness but they forgive them why because they're dealing with Allah they're not dealing with people they're going to miss out on certain things things are going to happen in their heart that they have to repress and they have to push away and things that are going to nag at them you want to get upset about something it nags at you but you do not allow yourself to why because you see that I don't think the prophet Sall alaihi wasallam would have given this any of his time this is not the way of the simpleton this is the way of those who are eligible for Paradise those who Force themselves and discipline themselves to do what's right even if no one else is doing what's right if 99.9% of the public and population are liars he refuses to do it no amount of social pressure will change that if everyone follows this Sunnah or he is the only one the person continues to do it this is what is this is what true worship of Allah subhah waala is.

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M it's easy to follow what your heart tells you it's easy to feed into The Whispers of a Shan it's very easy it's the easiest thing in the world because you get immediate gratification you get immediate gratification when you do and follow your impulses it takes discipline to stop yourself from doing what's wrong even if everyone else is doing it especially when everyone else is doing it and this takes us to another point and that is essentially why do we do the right thing when I say the right thing what I mean is that which pleases Allah let's get to the heart of it what is the reason what is the propelling force the driving force behind a person repressing their anger for instance or forgiving those who have wronged them or you know overlooking things they see them but they Overlook them right for the betterment of themselves and others what is the purpose why do we do this sometimes people are mistaken they think that if they do these things going to make their life much easier and that's not necessarily the case it's very difficult for a person to have that baggage sometimes to Pardon others to tell the truth to be upright to be courageous to be truthful to be dutiful in a place of treachery to be good in a bad place it's difficult and when a person is good in a bad place it doesn't look they're getting anywhere starts to feel everyone's abusing them taking their kindness for a weakness starts to feel you know they're not getting ahead because they are choosing this path but we do not do these things our our etiquet our behavior is something which Roots back to our belief in Allah it's not because it gets us ahead or behind in this world that's not the reason the core reason is because we are worshiping Allah by doing what's right even if Allah is the only one who finds value in that right what does this mean Allah subhanahu wa taala tells us.

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In.

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Insan Allah subhanahu.

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Waala and so Allah subhanahu waala tells us in that one of the things he's going to test us with to test our faith to test the veracity of our faith is that he is going to test us with a lack of fruit what's that mean a lack of fruits a depletion in our fruits when you look back at what the companions explain this verse to mean we understand the word fruit to mean that which is physical a physical fruit or a metaphorical fruit a physical fruit is that you know harvests will not yield the amount of fruit that we ex anticipate but metaphorical fruit when somebody Works towards a goal and that goal is actualized we call that a fruit right fruit of a person's labor fruit of a person's hard work is that their goals are actualized Allah subhanahu waala tells us in the Quran that one of the things that he tests the Believers with is that a person will work and fret and sweat and and in working towards a goal and that goal not become actualized right an example of this is the prophets The Messengers they would call their people to Islam and it would almost be they are treading water they're getting nowhere spent a good example 950 years 950 years almost 25 generations of of Our Generations spent amongst his people calling them to Islam very few people accepted Islam and followed this is a test in a person's fruit meaning that a person Works to F works as hard as they can to actualize a goal and the goal is eludes him this is is part of our test and so if a person Works to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallah alaih wasallam one of the sun of the Prophet sallallahu alaih wasallam is one of the etiquette of the Prophet sallam that he taught us is to pardon people to Pardon others to forgive give others ill Deeds their misdeeds and their ill will and even to pardon people and Overlook their their transgressions against us this is part of the prophet sallam Allah only increases those who pardon others only increases them in stature and greatness and so when a person does this they may see that the fruits of that labor do not really yield themselves very well seems the harder they try the more elusive that that becomes this is part of our test why because we can start to do things for the fruit itself what are we doing it for are we doing it in order to actualize our goals or are we doing it in order to actualize Allah's Allah's favor upon us this is part of the test and so a prophet a messenger he will call his people with the same enthusiasm if there's one person or if there is a million people following him he will have that same amount of that same fire and intensity these are how this is how the prophets were and this means that in good and in bad in times of ease and Times of hardship in all situations the dynamic of their of their worship of Allah and their relationship with Allah is not two dimensional it's very deep it's something of depth something that has many dimensions to it this person is obedient to Allah when it's for him and when it's against him he is obedient to Allah when he feels it and when he doesn't feel it he is obedient to Allah when he's when things are going good and when things aren't going so good he is obedient to Allah when he gets what he wants and what he makes Dua for and when he doesn't this is the Hallmark of a believer and so this is true Ean and true Faith the point that we're trying to make here is that we cannot it it is most crucial for a person the more scarce the truth becomes the more scarce the sunah of the Prophet sallallahu alaih wasallam becomes the more critical it is for a person person to follow the Sunnah now it is most critical why because who's going to keep it alive for the Next Generation perhaps Our Generation we we didn't we didn't appreciate what Allah gave us of the Sunnah but we need to at least keep it and preserve it so that we can pass it to the next Generation perhaps our children will be better than we were and we hope that they will be better and so the more scarce the Sunnah becomes the more important it is that a person adhere to it and follow it and learn it no matter what the social pressures the prophet sallallah tells tells us this in the narration of.

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And.

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In a narration in a the prophet Sall alai wasam tells us that some very some very dark and wicked days lie ahead for the people for man kind and during these days a person holding to the truth and holding to his religion holding to the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallah alaihi wasallam will be so straining it will be trying to hold on to LIT coals he said for those who hold on to my Sunnah during those days they will have the reward of 50 men amongst you he was saying this to the companions the companions said 50 of us or 50 of them he said no 50 of you to the companions now the now this doesn't mean that it is General reward we are rewarded 50 times what the companions were no what this means is that in that particular time where commanding the good and forbidding the evil and holding on to the Rope of Allah and the Sunnah of the prophet sallallahu alaih wasallam in spite of its scarcity in a person's environment that is very reminisent inent of the beginning of Islam isn't it that's how it was it was the prophet sallu Al wasallam a few of his companions nobody you know they were of high stature and status and then when they became Muslim all of the sudden people started to mistreat them all of the sudden they had to almost hide themselves and hide their Islam they had to pray in secret commanding the good was unheard of these things were were the things that we know now to be evil at those times was considered good and the things which we know to be good were in those times evil right such as the worship of Allah alone without any Partners this is the greatest good that a human being can do in the time when Islam first began first started with the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam in Mecca that was something very strange he as Allah subhanahu Waal mentioned that the mus in the time of the Prophet sallallah alai wasallam what was the main Crux the main point of Islam this is where the kind of the meat and potatoes of the situation was and that is that those who worshiped all those Idols in Mecca did they believe that anyone other than Allah created the heavens and the Earth no did they believe that any of these Idols or any of these so-called Gods had anything to do with their sustenance or their creation no they believe that these Idols represented good people saints that if they worship them they'll put in a good word for them with Allah this is the idea this is what it was so they all believed that only Allah is responsible for everything good in our lives and so the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam told them if he is the only one worthy of your thanks then only thank Him worship only Allah alone without any partners just worship Him don't worship anyone else this was something very strange to them this is the greatest most pure and this is the most basic good that that is in humanity instilled in the F of the human being one God one Creator only one that I worship right this was strange to them and so as the trajectory of Islam goes throughout time less and less people practice less and less people adhere Islam becomes very very strange during those times and during those strange times a person who has that truth and protects it and practices it and then delivers it to the next Generation that is of the greatest accomplishments a person could ever have person may follow the Sunnah follow Islam miss out on some things in this world but with Allah have great stature and because of his the fruits of his labor perhaps Generations after will then come back to the truth and worship Allah as he commanded because of his tenacity and so when we learn these things about the prophet sallu wasam we have to practice them we have to understand that these things are that we're reading these are the norm the the rule that all you know this idea that everything that we read of the Prophet sallallahu Al wasallam Sunnah everything that we read in the Quran of and it's all it it all has exceptions all these rules have exceptions to them they shouldn't be understood and taken with any amount of of complete seriousness because somewhere some scholar has said something contrary therefore you know many opinions and nothing is really clear and nothing really needs to be held to and fought for and that couldn't be further from the truth to finish our small portion here that we have at the tail end regarding the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam regarding his physical characteristics I didn't want to merge the two subjects today between his physical characteristics and his miracles next week inshallah we'll begin in the chapter regarding his miracles and discuss many of them his miracles are very numerous more than a thousand when we try to enumerate them but we will mention the basics and the most well-known and others not so welln of his physical characteristics that the prophet s.

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For he tells us a noi tells us that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam usually had long hair as most men did at that time often times his hair would be braided sometimes it would not but he would maintain it and much of his time in Medina he would part his hair in the middle and then it would come down but it was very rare to see the prophet sallallahu alai wasallam without his head covered without his hair covered it's very rare most men and most people wore things on their head whether it's a hat or a turban or what have you and one of the main reasons for that is because of the Dust the dust in the desert will get into a person's hair and so they would usually wrap their head sometimes even wrap under their beard in order to keep the dust out of their hair and out of their beards likewise he used to comb his beard out likewise he would use is a type of stone that is made into a powder and then is placed between the eyelids and this is something that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam commanded others do in order to maintain healthy eyesight it's good for the eyes it's also good for the eyelashes but it's a very type very specific type of it's not just anything it's specifically from the stone which is known as Alid and you can tell apart from other types of because looks more gray than it does black and it's almost got a glitter in it it looks it's got a shine to it and a glisten this is one of the Hallmarks of real ithmid sometimes you can buy this you know in Islamic shops or book shops or what have you four or five books this is not this is actually probably not very good for your eyes it's jet black that's not what real ethit looks some of the best sources ofid are North African countries like tun.

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He usually and often would wear a th similar to this and it's something that has two sleeves and covers the entirety of the body and his favorite colors were white for his clothing and also is pin stripes something that has pin stripes in it this is referred to as Al and his sleeves would end at the wrist most usually so the length of of his sleeves would not go past the wrist most often sometimes a little bit past this is enough for tonight next week we will continue and pick up where we left off.