SHE IS DIFFERENT (Part One): A lecture by Mufti Ismail Menk I typed just for you

4^th Muharram, 1436                                                          Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem

So, I was planning for my next article to be either on the follow up to the Young Scholar Saga or on the Beautiful Soul but I listened to this lecture and I could not help not having my readers, the ladies especially, have a feel of it. It was like what I have been trying to do and call on my Muslim sisters to do the same. Now, here we go! Mufti Menk has it all…

He gives a beautiful introduction as usual and he says;

This evening, the topic that I am going to be speaking on is; How is she different? How is who different? She? Who is she? She is a ‘Believing Female.’ How is she different from the others? What makes her a Believing Female? What makes her so important? What is different about her?

Point number one and we need to know this: A Believing Female is focused. She has focus upon what? Focus upon the pleasure of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa. She is focused upon the goal that she has which is to earn Jannah (Paradise). She knows that this life is absolutely temporary and she knows that she can go any minute. She can go now or within the next five minutes, five years or fifty years. So she knows that it is important for her to be prepared for the day that she meets with Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa and that is her focus.

Whatever she does, she asks herself; ‘Will this please my Maker?’ ‘Will this be something that will earn the pleasure of my Maker or will it be earning the wrath of my Maker?’ We ask Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa to bless our sisters and our brothers and we ask Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa to help us all focus because this focus upon Paradise and upon the pleasure of Allah is what makes us primarily different from the others who are focused upon worldly material items.

When we say worldly material items, there are some who are focused upon a motor vehicle, some are focused upon a kitchen; subhaanallaah! You know we have the latest ‘rotematics’, have you seen it? Some are focused on that more than they are focused on their sualaat, subhaanallaah. The last lecture I mentioned it in, people simply emailed: Please tell us where we can buy it and I’m like, subhaanallaah! That is 20 rotis in one minute or in 20 minutes; I am not too sure now but we are more interested in good food than we are in Jannah, subhaanallaah.

So a Mu’minah, she is different by the fact that she is focused upon Paradise. She would try to achieve whatever she can in the Dunya in terms of facilitating this life and making it easy for her to live here but her prime focus is the Akhira (Hereafter), the pleasure of Allah. So, if she can achieve the kitchen once she is pleasing Allah, she would do that. If she cannot, the kitchen is by the way but the relation with Allah is never by the way.

So, focus on matters of the Dunya sometimes leads us astray in the sense that when we begin to focus on a watch, and this is what I want, on a phone; this is what I want, or for example on a perfume and this is what I need, or an abaya and this is what I like with everything blin blin on it, subhaanallaah! If that is our focus, then we will be so happy and so excited when we have those accessories and that handbag and that mobile phone and those shoes and we can walk with that figure, with that…subhaanallaah! You know, abaya looking so beautiful and jump into that car, go into that home and it makes us so happy not realizing: What did you do for Jannah? Because Allah has given you five more minutes to spend with those items; now what? Allahu Akbar!

You have five more minutes to enjoy the house, the husband, the children and everything else. So, this is Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa’s gift to us that He has kept so many things in the world but He has told the Believing Female and the Believing Male that your focus should not be the items that We have provided for you in the Dunya.

Many people, when they want to get married, they don’t realize that what we are focused upon is actually Dunya. This man doesn’t have a salary which is good enough for me or my daughter and so on and so forth not realizing that he’s got everything else and perhaps he might live in a hut but he will protect your daughter in such a way that that man who is living in a castle will not do and who knows, the one in the castle might only have five more minutes to live or five years. Allahu Akbar! May Allah protect us all. This is why we say the hadith speaks of focus;

Prophet Muhammad suallallaahu alayhi wa sallam says;

‘when proposals come for your daughters from those who are of deen and those whose character is acceptable, allow them to be married.’

If you don’t allow them to be married because you focus on something else, in that particular case, there will be fitna and fasaad on the earth. And what is that fitna and fasaad? Corruption and vice, chaos and sin, that is what is happening. May Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa grant us protection.

So, we are not saying that look for the poorest person in the Dunya; what we are saying is; you can compromise when it comes to wealth, you can compromise when it comes to the type of car you are going to have in the house you are going to live in but you will not compromise when it comes to the deen because you are a believing female focused upon the pleasure of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa.

You might have a man for example; he is wealthy, he provides everything for you; he has his bad habits which you don’t know about which creep up later on to the degree that the children that we get may not be as focused as they should be because of the choices that we have made for marriage or the choices that our parents have wrongly guided us towards making if they themselves were not focused. May Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa grant us the issue of focus.

So, to be focused on the pleasure of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa, to be focused on Paradise and to be focused on the eternal life and to realize that this life is absolutely temporary is what differentiates a believing female from she who does not believe. Allahu Akbar!

Remember this and remember it carefully. What are you focused on? Ask yourself every day. Some of us are just focused on having a degree in the Dunya. We are not saying that is wrong. It is important that you are educated in the Dunya, but are you doing that and paying as a payment your link with Allah? If that is the case then you are at a loss. The focus is not correct. But is that making you stronger for the sake of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa? If yes, then alhamdulillaah, you’ve achieved a lot. You know, we would like to achieve in the Dunya and the Akhira, you know the du’a that Allah made mention of in Surat Al-Baqarah, the Cow, Chapter 2 ayah 201;

‘’But among them is he who says, "Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire."

This is something amazing. This shows us focus that Oh Allah! As much as we would like to have a pleasurable, joyful, enjoyable or should I say; a smooth life in the Dunya, we would like to be focused on the Akhira, in a way that we will achieve Paradise no matter what happens in this particular world. I would not compromise my Paradise. I will get up for salaat. I will make sure I dedicate and so on. Let’s move on to some more of the points of differentiation and what makes her different.

The next point we have closely connected to the first one; the issue of belief. Belief is in the heart. Belief cannot be seen by people. If I were to tell someone I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship besides Allah and I bear witness that Prophet Muhammad suallallaahu alayhi wa sallam is His final Messenger and so on. If I were to say that; I have just become a Muslim, which means I have declared my Islam. My submission openly but people cannot gauge the level of my eemaan and my belief.

The belief is the next step which will now build my link with Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa, my Maker. I bear witness that He who made me is He to whom I am going to return to. He has absolute control of every aspect of my existence so if I am unhappy, He owns my happiness. If I am poor, He owns my wealth. If I am sick, he owns my cure. I need to know this. I need to believe in it firmly and this is what makes me focused and this is what belief is all about. It helps us focus.

So, to believe in Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa, in His Mercy and to believe that Allah loves you; so when a sister believes that Allah loves her, she is different from others. She is different from those who don’t believe in Allah to start with or those who believe that Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa is not Merciful, audhubillaah. We all read the beginning of the Qur’an and we start off reading the beginning of any Surah, we find;

‘In the name of Allah, Most Forgiving, Most Forgiving’

Subhaanallaah! Or should I say;

‘Most Merciful, Most Merciful’

Amazing! One is a specialized Mercy and the other is an all-encompassing Mercy. The first one is that which is all-encompassing and the second one is that which is a specialized Mercy for those who have belief in that Mercy of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa.

So, you need to believe that Allah loves you even if you are going through difficulties, my sister, Allah loves you. You are going through health matters and issues, Allah loves you. Be focused upon that. Believe in that. That is what makes you different from the others. Allah loves you so much that sometimes He gives you such a great gift known as a sickness which you might perceive to be negative but your eemaan and the fact that you are focusing and your belief makes you realize that it is actually a gift of Allah to draw you closer to Him. Amazing! This is belief.

So I am convinced that Allah loves me even if I trip walking down from here, I’m still convinced that Allah loves me. I am convinced. I don’t need to become upset if this fan does not work or it is making a noise or for example I have a distraction on this I don’t need to get upset. I can rectify it with a smile and I can still be the happiest person ever because I believe that Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa has given me an ability and it is He who gave me the ability, had He not wanted it, I would not have had the ability. Amazing! This is Allah! This is the focus. This is what makes you a Mu’min. This is what makes you different from other people.

No matter what you have it does not make you lose focus. Today, when we have a lot, we lose focus by sitting in front of the TV and watching Bollywood movies or Hollywood movies or if you come from Zimbabwe, Zollywood movies and we are focused on that; why? Because our Dunya, maa shaa Allah, we have everything. We have the whole world. We have a flick of a finger and the driver comes, we have a flick of a finger and the car is there, we have a flick of a finger and everything is there. We have a little phone call or a little tapping on the internet and the shopping is at home. Allahu Akbar! So now, what’s left? I just got to sit in front of the TV and enjoy myself and have a massage every day and look at myself in the mirror and make …Subhaanallaah, we are just interested in mark and everything else. Why? Because we have lost focus. We’ve lost focus.

So, some of us are more interested in making ourselves up than we are in living the real life and focusing on Allah and focusing on Paradise. That face is going to be eaten by worms. May Allah protect us but it is a reality. Allahu Akbar! That was quiet a hard statement but it is a fact, you have to face it. If you are focused you will know maa shaa Allah! I am allowed to look great, alhamdulillaah! That is Allah’s gift upon me but if that is my focus then I’ve lost focus. To be honest with you I’ve lost focus completely. I shouldn’t be. My main aim of existence is the make-up, no. Like I say, when Allah has blessed us with so many things and we’ve got good health, we want to show things so Allah says, I can just take that away momentarily so that you realize that I have given you a gift and you realize refocus, come back to us. May Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa bless us all.

To believe and to be convinced in the power of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa is also what makes a mu’minah different from others. What makes her different is that she is convinced in the power of Allah. Nothing is impossible for Allah so if you are a person who’s had no children, not at all. 14, 15 years have passed by you will still continue making du’a to Allah and having hope that one day, He will provide you with what you are asking because you are different. You have conviction and you know that Allah has given you so much in the Qur’an to show you that others have delivered even after 50 years, 60 years, 80 years of their lives. Allahu Akbar!

So a believing female is convinced as to the Qudra and the power of Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa. I believe firmly, and the men as well, obviously, this is a believer, we believe firmly that Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa can do anything. He can do absolutely anything. 

Nothing is impossible for Allah subhaanahu wa ta’aalaa, that’s what I believe. That conviction is what cures you when you are sick. Do you know that? That conviction is what cures you when you are sick and that conviction is what provides for you when you don’t have. You are convinced because that is the power of Allah that comes in and it is Allah who is the Provider.

Ultimately, it is always Allah who does that for us. When we make du’a, we need to be convinced as we are supplicating our Maker that Allah is going to provide this for me. Why should we supplicate if we are half heart and say it might not be and may be perhaps, so many people who have had cancer, may Allah grant them cure, have been cured not by medicine alone but by the will of Allah through His power where He has given the ability to diagnose it at a certain stage when it was early enough to have cured it. Allahu Akbar!

And I can tell you something else, sometimes, we are affected by that disease and yet through our du’a, Allah cures it for us before we ever went for diagnoses so we don’t even know only the day we die and we meet Allah we might know; one day you were sick but you had such a detrimental disease, through your du’a, we cured you before you even went to the doctor to get it checked and to diagnose it. Allahu Akbar!

My mothers and sisters, I pause here for a moment and I divert slightly to say; when you are sick and ill, it is your duty, incumbent upon you to seek medication. It is your duty. Do not rely only on du’a. Du’a is a part of it. The conviction in the power of Allah is definitely holistic without a joke, but at the same time, when Allah has given you ability, capability and capacity to go out and seek medication, you must do that. You must go out! You must test yourself! You must check yourself! You must diagnose as part of your duty unto Allah.

He has given you an amaanah, which is the body of yours. This body does not belong to you, it belongs to Allah. You need to look after it. If someone gave you a car to look after whiles they were out of the country and you happen to damage it, wouldn’t you go and repair it?  Before they came to say this car doesn’t belong to me. Before anything happens, I better drive it carefully. I better make sure everything is ok. If I had a speeding fine or two, I better go and pay it up before this brother comes back or whoever comes back and before I have to give the car back. The same applies to our bodies. They are not ownership of ours so a believing woman does not just tattoo herself anywhere and everywhere because she knows that it is haraam. She does not just pierce herself anywhere and everywhere because she knows where the limits are. Allahu Akbar!

Whereas when you have people who are not believers or sometimes their eemaan is weak, they don’t even know. And sometimes they know but they defy and begin to do things not realizing that this body is only a uniform given for your soul to exist in this temporary world for a little while and Allah will take it away so I normally say that Allah took a soul, put it in your body so your body has warmed the soul. It is the uniform of the soul. One day, the body will take out that soul. The soul will come out by the will of Allah, you leave the body and the uniform gone down. You are no longer known by your name or the body is known as the body, after that; not with your name.

You know what that means? Every one of us, when we die, nobody is going to say; ‘where is Muhammad?’ They will say; ‘where is the body?’ ‘Bring the body here’ ‘Is the body at home?’ ‘Is the body here?’ They are not going to say; ‘where is Khadijah?’ ‘Bring Fatima here’ ‘Bring Abdallah this side here’ or ‘lower Abdallah into the grave.’ Nobody ever says that. They say; ‘lower the body into the grave’ ‘bring the body here’ ‘bring the body there’ ‘where is the body?’ ‘how far is the body’ ‘what happened to the body?’ and so on. Why is it the body? Because the soul is gone. Have you ever thought of that? Well, it is the reality. A believing female focuses on that…. (to be continued).

Maa shaa Allah. I typed this days ago. I was hoping to have everything in one piece but the man speaks thousand words in one minute (smile to Jannah). In shaa Allah, I am going to do well to bring you the remaining part soonest. If you can, search the video on youtube or get it from other people who have the lecture already and watch for a kick to ‘become a beautiful soul.’ May Allah azza wa jal accept from him and from us. Aameen. I love you, fiisabilillaah!

Jazaakumullaahu khair always!

Assalaamu alaykum!

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