In the name of Allah the Most Merciful the Most Compassionate
Let me start off with a story.
There is a famous shaykh by the name of Shaykh Zulfiqar, the teacher of Shaykh Husain. Often times people come to him for advice and such. On one occasion a student of the deen comes in and he starts complaining to the shaykh. He relates every bad thing he has done and countless deficiencies within himself (ie. I dont pray on time, I dont read Quran, I hardly study, etc.). Shaykh Zulfiqar listens to him completely until he knows for sure he has said everything he needed to. Shaykh Zulfiqar then tells the student,
“'When the general gets sick the whole army gets very concerned, but when a soldier gets sick it’s not such a big deal.' This means, by becoming a student of the deen, you are training yourself to be a general. Since you will be a leader in the community, Allah (swt) will make your cure very rapid and make sure that you’re cured because other people are dependent on you."
What Shaykh Zulfiqar basically did was take that one positive of him being a student of the deen and focused on it instead of all the other negative things. The student went on to complete his studies and became a scholar.
You know it's very easy as humans to focus on the negativity in life and most importantly in others. We meet with people and notice how their talk is funny or how well they don't dress. Or how dumb someone is or how they don't share food. Or if someone is looking for a life partner (because marriage is our favorite topic) they look for "what's wrong with the person?” For example, a brother might refuse a sister because her hijab game is not on point . Or a sister might refuse a brother because his beard game is too weak. Either way we're looking for faults and that causes unhappiness in our lives. Makes our hearts heavy. And this goes not only for marriages, it goes for all relationships. With friends, family, relatives, classmates, teachers, and even people you see on the road.
The deen itself emphasizes on the positive. On the Day of Judgment Allah swt will be looking for an iota of good in a person as to use as an excuse to forgive him and grant him Jannah. I mean just look at it. Allah swt has made it so that one prayer washes away the sins from the previous prayer, or how one month of Ramadhan washes away sins from the whole year. But wait. It gets better. One hajj wipes away EVERYTHING! Everything. It is like you were born again with a clean slate. Subhan'Allah. This is our Allah swt overlooking our faults and negativity and instead picking the positive, taking one little good deed and highlighting it. There is the famous hadith of a woman who gave water to a dog. She was a prostitute, but based on this one deed Allah swt forgave her and granted her Jannah. I mean that is what we want, what we should want, what we need; for Allah swt to overlook our sins and find one little good deed and grant us eternal Jannah.
Once we recognize the need for Allah swt to deal with us positively on the Day of Judgement, we have to recognize that the way to attract positivity is to deal with others positively.
The Prophet (saw) was a master of positivity. Everyone around him believed they were the best because of the special treatment he gave each and every person. And he is the reflection of the deen. We must implement this character in our everyday lives. Being encouraging, happy, making someone's day, making them feel special are all characteristics of the Prophet (saw). If we learn to overlook mistakes and faults, find the positive, and magnify it, then the rest will dissipate. We don't have to worry about the downs of others and even situations. Or at least the negativity won't take over us. You will soon find yourself feeling lighter and happier.
Now I challenge YOU (including myself) to find excuses to forgive, excuses to complement, excuses to encourage, and excuses for positivity in general within others. Now I'm not saying lie to the person. I mean if the hijab looks bad, it looks bad or if the beard is weirdly designed, its weirdly designed, but overlook that and find something else that is positive. Who knows maybe you just might make someone's day that will get you a one-way ticket to Jannah.
Insh'Allah with that may Allah swt give us opportunities to pick the positive in situations/people and to implement our beloved Prophet (saw) positive character in our everyday lives. May He cleanse our hearts and make it free of negativity. May He make us amongst those He overlooks the sins of and magnifies the little good deeds we may have to offer, and make it a means for us to be granted eternal Jannah. Ameen.
Wa akhiru da'wana an al-hamdu li-Llahi rabb il-'alamin
(In the end our claim is that all praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds)
Reference: Shaykh Husain Sattar's General talks at sacredlearning.org
Let me start off with a story.
There is a famous shaykh by the name of Shaykh Zulfiqar, the teacher of Shaykh Husain. Often times people come to him for advice and such. On one occasion a student of the deen comes in and he starts complaining to the shaykh. He relates every bad thing he has done and countless deficiencies within himself (ie. I dont pray on time, I dont read Quran, I hardly study, etc.). Shaykh Zulfiqar listens to him completely until he knows for sure he has said everything he needed to. Shaykh Zulfiqar then tells the student,
“'When the general gets sick the whole army gets very concerned, but when a soldier gets sick it’s not such a big deal.' This means, by becoming a student of the deen, you are training yourself to be a general. Since you will be a leader in the community, Allah (swt) will make your cure very rapid and make sure that you’re cured because other people are dependent on you."
What Shaykh Zulfiqar basically did was take that one positive of him being a student of the deen and focused on it instead of all the other negative things. The student went on to complete his studies and became a scholar.
You know it's very easy as humans to focus on the negativity in life and most importantly in others. We meet with people and notice how their talk is funny or how well they don't dress. Or how dumb someone is or how they don't share food. Or if someone is looking for a life partner (because marriage is our favorite topic) they look for "what's wrong with the person?” For example, a brother might refuse a sister because her hijab game is not on point . Or a sister might refuse a brother because his beard game is too weak. Either way we're looking for faults and that causes unhappiness in our lives. Makes our hearts heavy. And this goes not only for marriages, it goes for all relationships. With friends, family, relatives, classmates, teachers, and even people you see on the road.
The deen itself emphasizes on the positive. On the Day of Judgment Allah swt will be looking for an iota of good in a person as to use as an excuse to forgive him and grant him Jannah. I mean just look at it. Allah swt has made it so that one prayer washes away the sins from the previous prayer, or how one month of Ramadhan washes away sins from the whole year. But wait. It gets better. One hajj wipes away EVERYTHING! Everything. It is like you were born again with a clean slate. Subhan'Allah. This is our Allah swt overlooking our faults and negativity and instead picking the positive, taking one little good deed and highlighting it. There is the famous hadith of a woman who gave water to a dog. She was a prostitute, but based on this one deed Allah swt forgave her and granted her Jannah. I mean that is what we want, what we should want, what we need; for Allah swt to overlook our sins and find one little good deed and grant us eternal Jannah.
Once we recognize the need for Allah swt to deal with us positively on the Day of Judgement, we have to recognize that the way to attract positivity is to deal with others positively.
The Prophet (saw) was a master of positivity. Everyone around him believed they were the best because of the special treatment he gave each and every person. And he is the reflection of the deen. We must implement this character in our everyday lives. Being encouraging, happy, making someone's day, making them feel special are all characteristics of the Prophet (saw). If we learn to overlook mistakes and faults, find the positive, and magnify it, then the rest will dissipate. We don't have to worry about the downs of others and even situations. Or at least the negativity won't take over us. You will soon find yourself feeling lighter and happier.
Now I challenge YOU (including myself) to find excuses to forgive, excuses to complement, excuses to encourage, and excuses for positivity in general within others. Now I'm not saying lie to the person. I mean if the hijab looks bad, it looks bad or if the beard is weirdly designed, its weirdly designed, but overlook that and find something else that is positive. Who knows maybe you just might make someone's day that will get you a one-way ticket to Jannah.
Insh'Allah with that may Allah swt give us opportunities to pick the positive in situations/people and to implement our beloved Prophet (saw) positive character in our everyday lives. May He cleanse our hearts and make it free of negativity. May He make us amongst those He overlooks the sins of and magnifies the little good deeds we may have to offer, and make it a means for us to be granted eternal Jannah. Ameen.
Wa akhiru da'wana an al-hamdu li-Llahi rabb il-'alamin
(In the end our claim is that all praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds)
Reference: Shaykh Husain Sattar's General talks at sacredlearning.org