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Watch your step
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. The horse riding lessons that I have been taking my coach always reminds me of two things, correct your horse as soon as she deviates from your intended route or speed. The longer you wait the more deviated you are and the harder it is to correct or speed up. Another thing my coach tells me is to be aware of areas where the horse is likely to slow down or not do what you want her to do. So if you are away of those spot, you can take action before hand and be extra careful with those areas. Our breakthrough idea for this week is all about minding and watching your steps.
Bismillah. Wallahumdulillah Wa Salat Al al-Salamu wala rasulullah. This is your breakthrough coach, Zubair.
Welcome to our next episode of our Muslim mastery breakthrough podcast. We have been talking about four vulnerabilities. Or four areas that are immensely important for our correctness and our success. The first one of those was looks. We talked about why is it important to watch out what we look at and how to be carefully about things that we will be looking at, or staring at. The next thing was thought, to put filter on your thought, to not let our mind be occupied by useless or harmful thought. The third was about words, what our words tell us about our own self. What do they tell about our emotional blogs, about our mindset blogs, what do they tell us about why do we not successful. It also give us an opportunity to understand and go deep and look at the importance of words when it comes down to our own relationship with Allah (subahana wata allah), and how not to use our words to hurt other people.
Now today we are talking about the forth one, which is the important of a single, which is an importance of a single step in our life, in our hereafter, and in our journey toward Allah (subahana wata allah) as well as our worldly success. Now all these four points has been combined in Quran in two Ayats. The first one is Surah Furqan which Allah (subahana wata allah) says:
So this one is talking about his servants, the praiseworthy servants, the servants that Allah has praise when they are walking on earth how they are walking with ease, and how they are proper, Right? And then speaking to the ones that are ignorant, how they basically maintain their own honored, and how their peaceful, and how they are using the words of peace. In Surat Qaafir Allah (subahana wata allah) says that how He:
That he is aware of the cheating that the eye sight does, and what is hiding in the breast.
So you see in these two verses that how the importance of walking, talking will be look at, and what is in our chest, our thoughts, how Allah (subahana wata allah) combines all these four areas.
Now last week we’ve talked about the statement of the Messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wasalam), when he was asked about the deeds which we will be foremost lead a man to Jannat he replied, fear Allah and the good conducted. Than he was asked about indulgence which will admit a man to hell fire and he answered, the tongue and the genitals. And a different narration the importance of protecting private parts comes as, that are reported by Abu-hurrayra (Allah-hu-anhu) is reported to the Messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wasalam) has said, Allah is self-respecting, right? The arabic words are, Allah (subahana wata allah) has a Ghaira. And a believer is also self-respecting, believer also have a Ghaira. And the respect of Allah, the Ghaira of Allah is endure is a believer does what he has forbidden him to do, right? So this is basically talking about how Allah (subahana wata allah) Ghaira is heard, and is challenged when a believer does what he has been forbidden to do. So think about it.
Now if you have a boss, a client, a partner that you really respect, really hope that he can cause you a lot of damage, and he can cause you a lot of benefits, right? You truly truly believe that, and you know that he has certain thing that he really really hates, right? Would you do that? So imagine if you were to do things that he really hate, let say he has a daughter, a sister would you go and mess up with her, Right? Would you try to harm her, or his children? Now think about it, right? I mean because now you’re directly challenging that person. So Allah (subahana wata allah) has highest example, there’s no one like him. And this is the words that the Messenger of Allah (sallahu alayhi wasalam) is using, for us to be watchful of not crossing the boundary of Allah (subahana wata allah). And then this narration from Abdullah-bin-Askhud, one is his own statement in which he (RA) said that when and if usury and interests emerges in a town Allah permit its distraction. So now this is the chapter around which also talking about the importance of watching your step as well as the dangerous of zina in which Ibn Qayyim mention in his book we have been talking about the Diseases and the Cure of how bad the sin is, how one should be asserting his/her own efforts to be away from those sins.
Now this specific act, this specific sin Allah (subahana wata allah) has set immense punishment for it, even in this Dunya, and He has forbidden the believers to have mercy on those who are being punished, right? Because this is severe sin in the eyes of Allah (subahana wata allah). So it’s very important for us to be aware of the sins, the danger of the sins and how they cause our own distraction. But the same time, the mercy of Allah (subahana wata allah) is vast, right? so for anyone who is doing the true sincere repentance, that those repentance will be always open to Allah (subahana wata allah) says in surah six verse 36
Say, “O My slaves who have transgressed against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Verily, Allah forgives all sins. And He is the one who immensely and completely forgiving, completely and immensely Merciful.”
Now in today’s episode, we want to talk about the importance of steps. Look, regardless of where you want to be in life, you know, let’s say the journeys of 1,000 miles begin with the step. So it will be your daily step, you weekly step, weekly progress, your daily progress, your monthly progress, your courtly progress, that will make it happen for a big massive progress in the whole year. So the importance of steps is very very important. Not only because those steps counts toward your destination, and toward your journey, and toward your success, but also because one single step in the right direction motivate you to take another step in the same direction. If both that moment, and one step in the wrong direction makes it you harder for you to make a right step tomorrow.
So if you are going to achieve, like we know from your experience in the worldly things, right? if you are not doing well in the school, if you had a bad year, and you do not catch up, you do not understand the concept and you move on to the next grade, it will be very hard for you to maintain, and will be very hard for you catch up and move on, because you now have a baggage to take care of. Likewise, if you skip a day of gym you suppose to go, and you became lazy and you ate things you are not supposed to be eating, and you were have very, had a very exhausted day it will be very hard for you go get up and do the right thing tomorrow, right? And we know this so on and so forth. So patient and the right step is very very important.
Now at the same time, from a perspective of the divine blessing, the baraqa, the Khair, the Tawfiqe, the facilitation from Allah (subahana wata allah). These things, if one is continuously disobey Allah (subahana wata allah), not repenting, the biggest danger for that person is that he can have an evil ending. Now, this is very very important serious topic, that topic of ending, the state in which one will die.
I want you stop and pause and think about that how many people that you know in your life who had a very bad past and then they repent and had a great life and they die like that. But At the same time, you would know people who had a great youth, and they were memorizing Quran, they were all doing the right things, but then turn 360 degrees, and they die in that state, right? So the importance of hussal Qatimah the good repenting, the bless ending is so important, and I want us to realize it myself, and yourself, do we really have a guarantee for having a good Qatimah, a good ending, ending with faith, and believing Allah (subahana wata allah) or saying lailahaillallah muhammadarrasulullah as our last words. Something we are very very careful about.
Now, there are causes for evil ending. And this is the sins we are accumulated, so this is the desire that one prefers this world, and prefers the love and pleasure of others over the pleasure of Allah (subahana wata allah). These are the things that lead you to the evil ending. Allah (subahana wata allah) says in surah al- an’am verse 110 this is the words that in many Salah would use during Suqoon. And he says:
“And We shall turn their hearts and their eyes away from guidance as they refused to believe in it for the first time. And We shall leave them in their trespass to wandering blindly.”
Now think about it, there were Salaf, there were people, they were used to cry, because of this. They will think that their sins may lead to an evil ending. And how negligent have you become for that. So now this is time to think about all our steps, and to think about which step are in the right direction, which step are not.
So firstly, I would like to encourage you to really pause and think about the question of how will my end be, what are my current steps that are leading me, or potentially leading me in the wrong direction and to have a wrong ending, may Allah protect us from it, and may Allah give us all the best ending upon the faith, make us from the people of Jannah tul Firdous.
The second things would be how I can guard these four entrances better, my eyesight, my words, my thoughts, and my steps. Then from our perspective of our worldly goals, whether it will be relationships, jobs, careers, educations, wealth, or health, Take a look at which step am I taking or going to take me to the wrong direction. So figuring out where I want to be and then knowing the steps is relatively easy. What happen is that we start thinking about the end and how far we are from the goals, rather than focusing on our today, how am I doing today, how was my week, how was my month, and so on and so forth.
So most of you might be listening to this in Ramadan, so maybe it’s a good time to plan, what do you want to achieve from this Ramadan to next Ramadan, in all different areas, in your relationship with Allah, in your steps, to perfecting, and to improving, and to making your Sallah better, in your Quran, in your family, in your spouse, with your spouse, with your health, career, jobs, children, parents, all these things. And then to have a routine of weekly checking, daily checking how I doing in all these areas and ask people for feedback, especially when is related to important relationship. So ask Allah (subahana wata allah) to facilitate this for us and help us to think about what we are learning and to make it practical in our life.
So next time. assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh
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Muslim Mastery Breakthroughs is our weekly podcast series in which we share insights on how you can achieve breakthroughs in your life to unlock your spirituality, relationships, and mindset. You will get practical steps towards living a truly extraordinary and fulfilling life in sha Allah.
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