The Shepherd's Way: Ep. 7 - The Inner Me is The Enemy (2022-07-06) #

0:00:10 [Music]
0:00:15 brothers and sisters and friends and
0:00:16 welcome to the seventh
0:00:18 episode of our hija series the
0:00:21 shepherd's way
0:00:22 and the seventh timeless leadership
0:00:25 lesson is the enemy
0:00:28 is the enemy now what does this really
0:00:31 mean it means we must be as egoless as
0:00:33 possible obviously there's no such thing
0:00:35 as an egoless human being but we must
0:00:38 try and become as egoless as possible
0:00:41 now for us to understand this we have to
0:00:42 understand what is the ego
0:00:44 now the ego brothers and sisters
0:00:45 basically tells us
0:00:47 i want to be right i never want to be
0:00:50 wrong i want to look good i never want
0:00:53 to look bad i want to impose i don't
0:00:56 want to be imposed upon to the extent
0:00:59 brothers and sisters
0:01:00 that we end up rejecting the truth and
0:01:03 rejecting what is right
0:01:06 this is extremely extremely problematic
0:01:09 it is the greatest barrier to
0:01:11 establishing positive relationships it
0:01:13 is the greatest barrier to establishing
0:01:15 a relationship with allah subhanahu wa
0:01:16 ta'ala and it is one of the greatest
0:01:19 barriers to our own success in the dao
0:01:21 brothers and sisters and in the context
0:01:23 of the ego shaitaan is our teacher not
0:01:26 in a positive sense in a negative sense
0:01:29 he teaches us how not to be and shaitan
0:01:32 was the kind of character that wanted to
0:01:34 impose he didn't want to be imposed upon
0:01:37 he wanted to look good he didn't want to
0:01:39 look bad he wanted to be right he never
0:01:41 wanted to be wrong to the degree that he
0:01:44 gave up the truth to the degree that he
0:01:46 rejected the truth to the degree that he
0:01:48 gave up the right way of being the right
0:01:51 way of doing
0:01:53 allah says in the quran in chapter 38
0:01:55 verses 75 and 76
0:01:58 allah said o iblees what prevented you
0:02:01 from prostrating to that which i created
0:02:03 with my hands
0:02:04 were you arrogant then
0:02:06 or were you already among the hauti
0:02:08 he said i am better than him you created
0:02:11 me from fire and created him from clay
0:02:15 so you know the story very well shaytan
0:02:18 was asked to bow down to adam
0:02:20 alaihissalam but he refused
0:02:23 he didn't want to be imposed upon he
0:02:26 wanted to impulse
0:02:27 he said i am better he wanted to look
0:02:29 good not to look bad he said i am made
0:02:32 from fire he is made from clay
0:02:34 and he was rejecting allah
0:02:37 he wanted to be right
0:02:39 he didn't want allah to be right
0:02:41 so this is the nature of the ego because
0:02:43 shaytan's disbelief is what
0:02:46 its arrogance is ego
0:02:48 and we have to be aware brothers and
0:02:50 sisters
0:02:51 and we have to be aware of brothers and
0:02:52 sisters the ego prevents unity it
0:02:55 prevents achieving the best results it
0:02:57 prevents us doing what is right it
0:02:59 prevents us achieving our vision it
0:03:01 diminishes trust it removes any sense of
0:03:04 integrity
0:03:06 and
0:03:07 when we look at the prophet
0:03:09 salallahu brothers and sisters when we
0:03:11 look at our beloved prophet we see
0:03:14 that it wasn't about him and his ego it
0:03:16 was about allah wa'ta'ala
0:03:18 and in sheikh yahweh's book leadership
0:03:21 lessons from the life of rasulullah
0:03:24 he mentioned something quite profound
0:03:26 i'm going to read it out to you in the
0:03:28 context of being egoless
0:03:32 the leader it is essential to always
0:03:34 keep the goal in sight and be willing to
0:03:36 make everything
0:03:38 especially his own ego subservient to
0:03:41 the accomplishment of the goal if the
0:03:44 leader insists on his own esteemed needs
0:03:46 often the long-term needs of the mission
0:03:49 are compromised the leader must always
0:03:52 remember that his success fame value and
0:03:55 legacy all depend on one thing alone and
0:03:58 that is the success of his mission if it
0:04:00 is necessary for the leader to take a
0:04:02 step back temporarily so that the doors
0:04:04 for the propagation of his mission are
0:04:06 opened then he must be prepared to take
0:04:08 that step
0:04:09 it is like drawing your hand back to
0:04:12 draw the arrow the further you are able
0:04:15 to pull back the greater the distance
0:04:17 that the arrow would travel leaders who
0:04:19 don't understand this sacrifice the
0:04:21 ultimate success at the altar of the ego
0:04:24 and are remembered for this rather than
0:04:26 for any good that they may have done
0:04:28 rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam
0:04:31 proved for all time his own ability to
0:04:33 be so confident and secure in his own
0:04:36 identity and self-worth that he was able
0:04:40 to put everything aside for the success
0:04:42 of his mission the trust of his
0:04:44 followers was demonstrated by the fact
0:04:46 that he was able to sign a treaty that
0:04:48 they did not approve of and they trusted
0:04:50 him stood by him and supported him
0:04:53 victory comes not only by having good
0:04:56 leaders
0:04:57 but even more by having good followers
0:05:00 what a beautiful passage brothers and
0:05:02 sisters and friends
0:05:04 so how do we subdue the ego how do we
0:05:07 become as egoless as possible there's a
0:05:10 few things we have to put in place
0:05:13 number one we have to realize the
0:05:15 consequence of arrogance and ego number
0:05:18 two we have to understand our own
0:05:20 reality
0:05:21 number three we have to engage in
0:05:24 istighfar repentance and tawba turning
0:05:26 back to allah
0:05:28 number four we must know allah number
0:05:30 five we must engage in dikka in the
0:05:32 remembrance of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
0:05:34 number six we must do
0:05:37 the quran
0:05:38 ponder over the book of allah subhanahu
0:05:40 wa ta'ala number seven
0:05:42 we must engage in the night prayer so
0:05:44 let's unpack this a little bit the first
0:05:46 one is we must understand the
0:05:47 consequences of arrogance and having an
0:05:50 ego remember the prophet sallallahu
0:05:54 alaihi wasallam said
0:05:56 no one who has an atom's way of
0:05:58 arrogance in his heart will enter
0:06:01 paradise brothers and sisters
0:06:04 your vision is connected to allah's
0:06:06 pleasure and that is connected to
0:06:09 entering into jannah paradise
0:06:12 if you're arrogant if you have an ego if
0:06:14 you have an atom's way
0:06:17 you will not
0:06:18 enter paradise understand the severe
0:06:22 consequences of being an arrogant
0:06:25 and ego led leader
0:06:27 this is the first step to help you
0:06:30 diminish your ego as much as possible
0:06:33 the second point is understand your
0:06:36 reality remember brothers and sisters
0:06:38 remember that you are not going to live
0:06:40 forever
0:06:42 every soul is going to taste death these
0:06:44 are the words of the quran of
0:06:46 allah he's reminding us
0:06:49 you're not this powerful eternal being
0:06:51 you're limited and contingent you will
0:06:53 face death one day you're going to taste
0:06:54 death and as a result you'll be
0:06:56 questioned by allah subhana wa ta'ala
0:06:59 you will be held to account
0:07:02 the other thing to realize in order to
0:07:04 understand our reality is understanding
0:07:06 allah's greatness and our dependency on
0:07:09 him
0:07:10 remember we are utterly dependent on
0:07:12 allah
0:07:14 we are utterly dependent on allah he is
0:07:18 the absolutely free he is
0:07:21 he is the absolutely independent
0:07:23 everything other than allah derives his
0:07:26 existence from allah is ultimately and
0:07:29 utterly dependent on allah
0:07:33 we are
0:07:34 solely dependent on allah
0:07:36 how can you have an ego how can you be
0:07:39 arrogant when you realize that your own
0:07:41 very existence the ability to breathe
0:07:44 and to think and to act and even lead is
0:07:47 because of allah
0:07:51 another point to understand is
0:07:53 understand your limitations
0:07:55 you have limited cognitive faculties
0:07:58 limited strength limited time limited
0:08:00 abilities
0:08:02 understanding these limitations and also
0:08:04 understanding the previous point that
0:08:06 any of your abilities all of your
0:08:08 abilities come from allah this will
0:08:09 hopefully diminish your ego as much as
0:08:11 possible the other thing to understand
0:08:13 and to implement with regards to
0:08:14 diminishing your ego is to know allah
0:08:17 subhanahu wa to add
0:08:19 this is very important brothers and
0:08:20 sisters because the more you know allah
0:08:22 the more you reflect on his names and
0:08:24 attributes the more
0:08:25 you worship allah subhanahu wa and the
0:08:27 more you understand why allah is worthy
0:08:29 of our utmost adoration and of our
0:08:32 utmost submission and unconditional
0:08:34 obedience the more you understand this
0:08:36 the less likely you're going to have an
0:08:38 ego
0:08:39 and allah refers to this in chapter 35
0:08:42 verse 28 allah says
0:08:44 only those who have
0:08:46 god consciousness those who fear allah
0:08:48 from among his servants
0:08:50 who have knowledge indeed allah is
0:08:52 exalted in might and forgiving
0:08:54 so there is a connection between knowing
0:08:56 allah
0:08:57 and having god consciousness
0:09:00 you can't have god consciousness if you
0:09:02 have an ego and you're arrogant
0:09:04 so this way it's very important to have
0:09:05 true knowledge of allah wa ta'ala which
0:09:08 means knowing who allah is knowing what
0:09:10 worship is knowing why allah is worthy
0:09:13 of worship worthy of our utmost
0:09:14 adoration and our unconditional
0:09:17 obedience
0:09:18 the next point brothers and sisters in
0:09:20 trying to diminish the ego is
0:09:23 being a person of remembrance
0:09:24 remembrance of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
0:09:27 engaging in the thicker of allah
0:09:28 subhanahu wa ta'ala
0:09:30 the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
0:09:32 said for everything there is a polish
0:09:35 and the polish for the heart is the
0:09:37 dikkar is the remembrance of allah there
0:09:39 is nothing more potent in saving a
0:09:41 person from the punishment of allah than
0:09:44 the zikr of allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so
0:09:46 vikkar is extremely important brothers
0:09:48 and sisters it polishes the heart and a
0:09:51 polished heart doesn't have arrogance
0:09:54 and ego the 14th century theologian
0:09:57 ibn kayom al-jazeera he made a really
0:10:00 beautiful point concerning dikka
0:10:02 he said whoever neglects remembering
0:10:05 allah most of the time then his heart
0:10:07 will become rusty
0:10:08 in accordance with how neglectful the
0:10:10 person is and when this filthy rust
0:10:12 accumulates on the heart then it no
0:10:14 longer recognizes things as they really
0:10:16 are
0:10:17 thus it views falsehood as if it is the
0:10:20 truth and truth as if it is falsehood
0:10:23 this is because the rust darkens and
0:10:25 confuses the heart's perception and so
0:10:28 it is unable to truly recognize things
0:10:31 for what they really are
0:10:33 so as the rust accumulates the heart
0:10:36 gets blackened and as this happens the
0:10:38 heart becomes stained with filthy rust
0:10:40 and when this occurs it corrupts the
0:10:42 heart's perception and recognition of
0:10:44 things
0:10:45 the heart then does not accept the truth
0:10:47 nor does it reject falsehood and this is
0:10:50 the greatest calamity that can strike
0:10:53 the heart
0:10:54 being neglectful of dikka and following
0:10:57 of whims and desires is a direct
0:10:59 consequence of such a heart which
0:11:01 further extinguished the heart's light
0:11:04 and blinds its vision allah the most
0:11:06 high said and do not obey him whose
0:11:09 heart we have made to be neglectful of
0:11:12 our remembrance
0:11:13 one who follows his own whims and
0:11:15 desires and whose affairs have gone
0:11:17 beyond the bounds and whose deeds have
0:11:19 been lost this is in quran chapter 18
0:11:22 verse 28
0:11:24 and it's important to encourage
0:11:26 ourselves to engage in the thicker of
0:11:28 allah subhanallah ta'ala because this
0:11:29 helps us diminish the ego brothers and
0:11:32 sisters and what better inspiration
0:11:35 is there than the quran and the sunnah
0:11:36 allah says in chapter 2 verse 1 5 2
0:11:39 remember me remember allah and i will
0:11:42 remember you allah will remember us
0:11:45 also allah says in the quran in chapter
0:11:47 3 verse 41 and remember your lord much
0:11:50 and glorify him in the evening and in
0:11:52 the early morning
0:11:55 allah also says in chapter 13 verse 28
0:11:58 those who believe and whose hearts find
0:12:00 rest in the remembrance of allah for
0:12:03 verily the remembrance of allah hearts
0:12:05 do find their rest also when we look at
0:12:07 the son of the prophet salallahu we have
0:12:10 some beautiful hadith to encourage us to
0:12:12 engage in dikkar
0:12:13 as narrated by bukhari the prophet
0:12:15 sallallahu alaihi wasallam said the
0:12:18 difference between the one who makes
0:12:19 zikr in other words the one who
0:12:21 remembers allah and the one who doesn't
0:12:23 make vikar is like the difference
0:12:25 between the living and the dead
0:12:28 also
0:12:29 as narrated by bukhari and muslim we
0:12:31 have the hadith kutsi where allah
0:12:33 subhanahu what allah says
0:12:36 as my servant thinks about me so will i
0:12:39 be for him
0:12:40 in other words i am as my servant thinks
0:12:43 that i am and the arabic allows the
0:12:46 understanding of i am as my servant
0:12:48 expects me to be
0:12:50 i am with him if he will remember me if
0:12:52 he calls on me in himself i will call
0:12:55 him in myself and if he calls me
0:12:58 in a group of people i mention him in a
0:13:01 better group in my presence if he
0:13:03 approaches me one hand span i will
0:13:06 approach him one arm's length if he
0:13:08 approaches me one arm's length i will
0:13:10 approach him by a cubit if he comes to
0:13:12 me walking
0:13:13 i will come to him
0:13:15 running
0:13:17 subhanallah
0:13:18 this is the profundity and the depth
0:13:22 of the vikram of allah subhanahu wa
0:13:24 ta'ala it brings us closer to allah
0:13:29 and therefore it diminishes our ego
0:13:32 also brothers and sisters we must engage
0:13:34 in the tata of the quran in pondering
0:13:36 over the quran what does allah say in
0:13:37 chapter 47 verse 24 then do they not
0:13:40 reflect upon the quran or are their
0:13:42 locks upon their hearts now this is
0:13:43 interesting you could mirror the meaning
0:13:45 and that the more double you do the more
0:13:48 pondering you do over the quran the more
0:13:50 your heart becomes unlocked to receive
0:13:52 allah's guidance and mercy and an
0:13:54 unlocked heart is not a heart full of
0:13:56 arrogance or ego so engage in the
0:13:59 pondering in the tadabur of the quran
0:14:02 finally
0:14:03 in order to clean our heart in order to
0:14:05 remove ego from our heart we need to
0:14:07 engage in the night prayer abu hurairah
0:14:10 reported that allah's messenger
0:14:12 sallallahu alaihi wasallam said and this
0:14:14 is narrated in sahih muslim
0:14:16 our lord descends to lowest heaven in
0:14:18 the last of every night and he says who
0:14:21 is calling upon me that i may answer him
0:14:23 who is asking from me that i may give
0:14:26 him who is seeking my forgiveness that i
0:14:28 may forgive him when we ask allah to
0:14:32 help our hearts to clean our hearts to
0:14:34 remove our hearts from arrogance and ego
0:14:36 we should use the last third of the
0:14:38 night brothers and sisters to engage in
0:14:40 ibadah to engage in worship in the night
0:14:42 prayer and to ask allah to remove ego
0:14:45 from our hearts to purify our souls and
0:14:48 our hearts
0:14:49 to ensure that we're close to allah
0:14:51 subhanahu wa ta'ala to have a diminished
0:14:53 ego
0:14:54 as much as is humanly possible
0:14:58 use this amazing opportunity remember
0:15:00 allah is saying
0:15:01 that his mercy is much closer to us
0:15:05 in this last third
0:15:07 of the night allah is asking us so he
0:15:10 could respond to us so ask allah that
0:15:12 you are a good leader sincerely a humble
0:15:14 leader a leader that is not driven by
0:15:16 haughtiness or ego
0:15:20 so brothers and sisters this is the end
0:15:23 of the seventh episode
0:15:26 which is the enemy is the enemy we must
0:15:30 diminish our ego and arrogance as much
0:15:32 as possible and the way to subdue the
0:15:35 ego brothers and sisters is to realize
0:15:36 the consequence of arrogance and ego to
0:15:39 understand our own reality to engage in
0:15:42 istighfar and tawba to repent to allah
0:15:44 to do tulba to allah subhana wa to allah
0:15:47 to know allah to engage in the viktor of
0:15:49 allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to do tata of
0:15:52 the quran to ponder over the quran and
0:15:54 to engage in the night prayer
0:15:56 and we unpacked some of these many of
0:15:58 these and there's much more to talk
0:16:00 about but this is a good starting point
0:16:02 traverse a spiritual path that's in line
0:16:05 with the quran and the sunnah
0:16:07 focus on your heart to remove these
0:16:09 elements to remove the evil of arrogance
0:16:12 and haughtiness and ego because this is
0:16:14 a barrier to effective leadership this
0:16:16 is a barrier to leading a group of
0:16:19 people this is a barrier to positive
0:16:21 relationships and fundamentally this is
0:16:24 a barrier to your relationship with
0:16:26 allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and this is a
0:16:28 barrier to achieving your vision
0:16:30 brothers and sisters
0:16:32 remember
0:16:33 the enemy is the enemy
0:16:37 try and diminish your ego and arrogance
0:16:38 as much as possible brothers and sisters
0:16:40 so brothers and sisters as you know
0:16:42 we're in the blessed days of dulhija
0:16:44 where performing good deeds during these
0:16:46 days
0:16:47 is far more rewardable than performing
0:16:49 good deeds in the days of ramadan so
0:16:52 help us at sapience institute see a
0:16:54 world that receives the message of islam
0:16:56 and where we as a team defend islam
0:16:58 academically and intellectually and
0:17:00 develop leaders to be able
0:17:03 and develop leaders to be able to do so
0:17:05 as well
0:17:06 this will give you an immense reward
0:17:08 brothers and sisters be strategic with
0:17:10 your sadhaka because when you develop
0:17:12 other leaders and those leaders develop
0:17:14 other leaders your sadaqa jarya will be
0:17:17 immense it will be mind-boggling
0:17:20 so brothers and sisters click the button
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