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Anybody, my brothers and sisters, who disciplines his Nafs, that person is ready to move on to the next level.
Ustadh Abdulrahman Hassan explains the four levels of Jihadul Nafs: learning, acting, calling others, and patience in self-discipline and spiritual growth.
Key Takeaways
- True knowledge requires learning, understanding, acting, and teaching others.
- Spiritual growth is a gradual process involving discipline and self-jihad.
- Sincerity and living by knowledge are crucial for effective Da’wah.
- Spreading unverified information is a sin and harms the community.
- Patience and resilience are vital in the struggle of self-discipline and calling others.
Summary
- Jihadul Nafs is essential for personal spiritual growth and is divided into four stages.
- The first stage is striving to learn obligatory knowledge (Fardul Ain) necessary for worldly and hereafter success.
- The second stage involves acting upon the knowledge learned, emphasizing implementation over mere information.
- The third stage is calling others to the knowledge after learning and practicing it, ensuring sincerity and effectiveness.
- The fourth stage is showing patience and resilience in the face of hardship while calling others to the truth.
- The Prophet Muhammad’s method of gradual learning, memorization, understanding, and action is highlighted as the ideal approach.
- The importance of sincerity and living by the knowledge to effectively influence others is emphasized.
- The covenant Allah took with the people of knowledge is to convey the truth without concealment.
- The dangers of spreading unverified information and falsehoods are warned against.
- Patience and endurance in Da’wah are necessary for overcoming challenges and harm for the sake of Allah.
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
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Anyone who does not have Jihadul Nafsi, there's nothing you can expect from him. He needs to first of all do Jihad on himself.
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Are we all together, brothers? Jihadul Nafs is divided into four levels, four stages.
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He said the first one is, that the person strives, exerts efforts in order to learn about guidance, that's a Jihad.
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Learning knowledge, and knowing what is it that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala wants from you to know the knowledge which is Fardul Ain, individual obligation that every single body needs to know.
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The knowledge that without it, if you're ignorant of this knowledge, you will not receive the prosperity of this world nor the hereafter.
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That's the first Jihad. The second one is, to now that you've learned that knowledge, it then requires the second Jihad, which is what? To now fight to act upon that knowledge.
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That knowledge that you accumulated, you collected, it now requires from you implementation.
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You have to now go and do that knowledge and act upon it.
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Or else Ibn Qayyim, he said, or else, it's just a mere knowledge, it's information you've collected.
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This is not knowledge now, this is called what? Information.
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You just like, you would just be like a Google search, or now AI.
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You have all the information, but because you're not acting upon it, this is not the knowledge that the Sharia praises.
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So that's the second Jihad that the person needs to come with. And wallahi, my brothers and sisters, if you look at the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, this is how he was with his companions.
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He educated them, he taught them, and everything that came down, he made sure that they acted upon it.
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And then they moved on, and then they took more, and then they moved on, and then they took more.
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Abdur Rahman As-Sulami, Abdullah ibn Habib.
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This man is a Tabi'i, and if you study the Quran and the Asanid of the Quran, the chains of the Quran, you will realize a lot of chains go through him.
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Abdullah ibn Habib, Abu Abdur Rahman As-Sulami, he's actually the individual who narrated the Hadith from Uthman ibn Affan.
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Where the Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he said, the best amongst you is the one that learns the Quran and then teaches it.
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Abdur Rahman As-Sulami is the one who narrated this from Uthman ibn Affan.
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And it's profound.
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Abdur Rahman As-Sulami, 40 years he used to sit on one chair in Iraq, Kufa.
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One chair he had in Kufa for 40 years he was teaching the Quran.
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From the people who studied with him in which he taught the Quran was to was Hasan and Hussein.
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The grandsons of the Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, who both were companions and he was a Tabi'i, he never saw the Messenger Alaihi Salatu Wasallam.
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He was their teacher that taught them the Quran, and many of the A'immah of Qira'at, they go through Abdur Rahman As-Sulami, Abdullah ibn Habib.
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Why am I mentioning him?
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He said, I heard, we were informed, he said, by those who taught us the Quran.
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That they would not pass 10 verses of the Quran.
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They would only take 10 verses, they would learn what is in those.
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So they'd memorize it, number one, and then they would learn the meaning in it.
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So they'd memorize how to read it, the pronunciation of how to say every letter, it will be taught to them.
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And then they, once they've memorized it, they now learn the meaning of those 10 verses.
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Once they consume that and they understand what the verse is, then they are told to act upon it.
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Once they have acted upon it, then they are taught 10 new verses again.
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And he said, this is what Uthman ibn Affan, and Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, and Ali ibn Abi Talib, and Ubay, and other than them were like this.
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They all mentioned this.
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Now you have to understand, this is what was the Tarbiyah of the Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
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The Salaf of this Ummah, the pious predecessors, they used to say, anyone who tries to take knowledge all at once, it will leave him all at once.
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They don't, but knowledge is taken through what? Gradual, bit by bit.
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What do they mean bit by bit? You memorize, you understand, you act upon it.
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And then you carry on to go into the next, and that's how you go.
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From the bad Tarbiyah that we have is that we give so much importance to the knowledge and little to the actions and the implementation.
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And that's a Jihad.
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Which is the second. The third type of Jihad is now that you've learned this knowledge, and you've now acted upon that knowledge.
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You move on to the third, which is you call the people to it.
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You become a Da'i, a caller to that knowledge that you learned, you've implemented it in your life.
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You now call the people to it. If any of those order is missing.
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The effects of your Da'wah will be very weak.
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So if you don't know what you're talking about.
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One who doesn't have, can't give, what are you giving if you don't have it?
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Second is, if you haven't acted upon it, will it have effect on the people who are listening to you?
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No, not at all.
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It won't have any effect on them, rather the Salaf they used to say, may Allah be pleased with them.
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That the speech that they took from the Messenger and also from the companions.
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The Tabi'in are saying this, their words came from the heart and it entered the hearts.
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Because it was something they were sincere about.
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It's something that they believed in, it's something that they lived by.
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So when they said it to others, oh, it affected them.
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It what?
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Affected them.
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How many times, my brothers and sisters, have you been in a situation where someone has told you something, which you've been hearing it for a very long time from close family members.
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But it just hasn't affected you, it didn't have any impact on you.
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It only impacted you when you heard it from this individual.
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And why did this individual affect you?
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There's many reasons, maybe sincerity.
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Maybe because you see what he's saying, he's living by it.
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Right?
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So this has an effect on the heart.
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This has a what?
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An effect on the heart, so the third one is, this also Ibn Qayyim said it needs, it's a Jihad.
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To call the people to the good, to educate the people.
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That's why Allah Tabaraka Wa Ta'ala, he took a covenant with the people of knowledge.
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The covenant that Allah took with them was that they will make matters clear to the people and they will not conceal it.
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We are living at a time today, brothers, to say that which is right, to say the truth is very hard.
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Right?
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But to push falsehood, fake news, everybody will want to listen to it.
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What did Allah say about the Jews?
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They love to listen to the lies, they love to consume Haram.
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Right?
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So people hear things online, they watch something on YouTube, or they watch something on the news.
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And what do they do? They straight away, they pass on that knowledge that they or that thing that they without verifying it.
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Without learning what it is.
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Right?
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Is it true? The Prophet he said.
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Enough a sin for a person is, he informs the people everything he hears without verifying, who said it?
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Is it a true, where's the source?
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Who's this person who said it?
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He hears something, straight away he informs it.
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You read something online regarding someone or something.
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You don't think, look, I wasn't there, I wasn't present, I'm not aware of it.
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When the angels come to me in the grave, are they going to ask me about this person?
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No.
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So why am I going to talk about it?
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Why am I going to get involved in it?
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Right, brothers?
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So the thing Allah took a covenant with the people of knowledge is that they will what?
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They will not conceal the truth.
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That they will say the truth.
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Number four.
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The fourth type of Jihad that's required, all of this is Jihadul Nafs, is to show Jihad upon patience.
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Right.
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In the Da'wah that you call the people to, the harm that the people put you through, and all of that you endure it for the sake of who?
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Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
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Patience, endurance, resilience.
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The Sheikh Al-Allamah Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah ibn Baz, may Allah have mercy upon him, a man came up to him.
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And he said, Sheikh, for many years I've been calling the people to the Deen of Allah.
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I've exerted all my efforts, I've given up, I can't do it.
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I'm not seeing the fruits of my hard work.
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I've given up, I don't know what to do.
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So the Sheikh, may Allah have mercy upon him, he took, he said, give me your palm.
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And he took his palm, and he said to him.
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O you who have believed, persevere and endure.
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And remain stationed and fear Allah that you may be successful.
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That's the, then after that what comes?
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Then you're going to receive success.
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If you haven't even shown that, how are you going to see success?
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What did the Prophet Muhammad do?
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He wiped the blood off his face, and he said, O Allah, have mercy upon my people, for they do not know.
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O Allah, have mercy upon my people, they don't know.
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And then look what he said after that.
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May Allah have mercy upon my brother Musa, he was put through more than this which I have been put through right now.
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And he showed patience and resilience.
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Prophets are the example.
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They are the reality of what patience is.
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They've reached that level of patience.
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Imagine 23 years of his prophecy, the people are harming him.
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And I want you to think about this.
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And he's calling them to Jannah, come on.
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He's calling you to Jannah.
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He's telling you what is going to give you prosperity in this world and the hereafter, and you're harming him.
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Why?
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He's not asking you for anything, he doesn't want anything from you.
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He's saving you and you're harming him.
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Right?
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Prophets are selfless.
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And they're very patient.
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Even though this is not authentically attributed to the Prophet, but the scholars they say the meaning is true.
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My Lord had disciplined me and he disciplined me well.
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The Prophet was disciplined and he was taught the way to respond to things.
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If he said something and then he wasn't the right thing to say at the right time, at the right place, he was told, don't say this, say in this way.
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Until Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala perfected him.
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So Prophets are always reminded of patience.
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If you look at Prophet Ayyub, Subhanallah.
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After the many years he suffered and he suffered and he suffered.
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They say that Prophet Ayyub didn't even say to Allah, O Allah, cure me.
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But rather all he did was, he presented his situation to Allah.
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And he said to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, O Allah, harm has touched me.
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And you are the most merciful, that's it.
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O Allah, this is my situation.
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I have been afflicted with pain and hardship.
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I've suffered.
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He's a Prophet of Allah.
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And his surroundings, everyone has left him, everyone has gone.
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He's lost his entire children, everything.
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He's a Prophet of Allah.
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And the odor, the smell that's coming from his body.
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His mouth, his skin, his hair, everything.
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Are we all together?
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And he showed patience, Prophet Ayyub.
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Alaihi Salatu Wasallam.
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So all of these are Jihad.
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Anybody, my brothers and sisters, who disciplines his Nafs.
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That person is ready to move on to the next level.
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Anyone who does not have Jihadul Nafsi, there's nothing you can expect from him.
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He needs to first of all do Jihad on himself.
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Are we all together, brothers?
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That's why, my brothers and sisters, the reality is.
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Every single individual that you see that reaches their goal, achieves things.
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It's a strong-minded individual.
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It's a person who has control over his Nafs.
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His Nafs does not control him.
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He has control over his Nafs.
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He is the one who tells his Nafs, go there, don't go there.
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Do this, don't do this.
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And that's what the Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was cleansing from his companions.
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Throughout those years that they were in Makkah.
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And when they came to Madinah, those years, Jihadul Nafs.
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So that when Jihadul Kuffar came, Allahu Akbar.
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They're ready.
Topics:Jihadul Nafsself-disciplineIslamic knowledgeDa’wahspiritual growthUstadh Abdulrahman HassanIslamic teachingspatienceimplementation of knowledgeProphet Muhammad
