Always Be Truthful

It seems, sometimes we have an impression about

ethical principles like truthfulness, justice,

equality, even like kindness, forgiveness, gratitude, somehow, somehow, we tend to think that they are impractical.

And if someone is behaving ethically, that they will face so much trouble.

And life doesn't work that way.

Sometimes we have this we are aware of it, but often we are unaware of it. But this kind of

what they call it sometimes in science meme, it's like a, it's a thought it's a system within or a thought within our system that acts like a virus.

And it's not true. Because Allah subhanaw taala if you

just reflect on Islam, Islam teaches us which is what that which is good. Islam calls us to every virtue and causes away from every sin and vice. That's what Islam is. Islam is all about goodness, it's all about being a better human being, being the best person you can ever be. It's a system to help you achieve this. And

if you have in your mind somewhere, that these ethical principles are not actually practical or impractical, and are causing you so much trouble. This will cause you to make choices.

Sometimes unconsciously,

that will lead you to act to act unethically, and you would find a justification. Because if I'm truthful, I'll get caught from truthful things doesn't work, my business will not work. I will not achieve my goals. I need to lie, I need to cheat. I need to act to act deceptively. I need to cut corners. I need to resort to you know different means sometimes they're not so straight in order to get to my goals and in order for things to work out for me. Basically, there is a tacit accusation. There's a tacit accusation here towards Allah subhanaw taala. In our attitude, I'm not saying we are verbalizing it, but as an Arabic They say, Billy sanel Halle elaborately sandal McCall. Right. It's

it's the statement you're making through your attitude not verbalizing with your tongue, but your attitude, our attitudes, as human beings, our actions actually make statements. And sometimes these are more powerful, much more powerful than what we say.

So it seems that when we have such a tacit belief, we are actually accusing Allah subhanaw taala, that he wants us to adhere to principles that will make our lives difficult

principles that are dysfunctional.

So we think we know better. So we resort to other means, we find an alternative, we bypass the ethical system, okay, I get that doesn't work. Let me just get things working, then I will shift back to principles. When I don't need anything done. Like when I need to get some results, I need to break from the ethical principles from the principles of Islam. And I need to find practical stuff because that's impractical.

And I'll do it then I'll go back, Joe, that's exactly like the statement of the brothers of use of Yes, let's get rid of him, let's kill him, then we'll become good people. So things won't work out. Unless we do that, you know, sin or kill our brother or get rid of him. And then after, after that, we can go back to living a principle life, and we'll be okay.

So somehow, most of us are actually guilty of this.

And this is a very serious issue. It's a very serious issue. The reason is, Allah created this life and this universe. And Allah designed principles, these ethical principles of honesty, of charity, of forgiveness, of generosity, of thankfulness, of

forgiveness, of equality, of humbleness and humility. Allah designed them to be the system of this life, the practical system of this life.

And if you don't see the practicality, you're looking in the wrong direction.

This is what Allah subhanaw taala says will la hollyburn Allah Emery, what are kinako NASA moon and Allah will make

Everything come back to the truth, Allah will, will make everything come to its right course take its full course and come to the right point of balance. But most people don't see that most people don't recognize it, most people don't know it. And Allah designed ethical principles for the sake of practicality. So ethics speak the language of this universe, they're not against it. They're not impractical. But they need patience and insight. So if you lie, you get away with a lie. And you avoid the blame because of lying, you think you've made it.

But you don't know that sometimes probably 30 years down the line. The implications of this slide through this universal, beautiful system that Allah put in this universe will actually come back to you. But by then you've, you forgot about the lie. So you don't make the connection. And you say, what is it all is that? You know, why is all this coming my way? Where did it come from?

Everything you put in this, there's a balance, this whole universe worships Allah subhanaw taala all of it. The only two types of creatures that have choice are human human beings, and jinn. So this universe has a beautiful balance and it will be kept. The only ones who interfere with the harmony of the system are human beings and gentlemen, they make the wrong choices that are not in line with the Sharia or with the book of Allah. Allah and the Sunnah of the prophet SAW Selim, when you because the book of Allah and the Sunnah of the prophet or send them, they help you blend into and become part of this universal harmony. And that's the secret behind the Hadith. We're Lost Planet

Allah says,

the divine Hadeeth Odyssey inside Buhari with las panatela says, and my servant keeps seeking newness to me, through acts of worship, right, you do more acts of worship, until I love him. And when I love him, I become what his eyes with which he sees his ears with which he hears his hand with which he acts, and his foot with which he walks, whether insert ellonija or apollyon. And if he asks of me, I shall give him whatever it is that either Neela or even if he seeks my protection, I shall give it to him.

This What does that mean? That means Allah will take care of your sight of your eyes. So Allah will make you see the right things. And Allah will make you see the right things and everything. So you will see the reality of everything. Allah will make you hear and recognize the reality of everything you hear, is it truthful, or untruthful? Is it right or is it wrong? Is it good for me or not good for me. And

and the law says, I will be his hand with which he acts that means Allah will guide you to the things that are good for you in this life and the next and also allow will make you go to places walk into places that are actually good for you in this life and in the next and if he asks of me, I shall give him and if he seeks my protection, I shall protect him. In a hadith reported by Imam Muhammad and his most

famous Hadith

of the Prophet SAW Selim says whoever makes this dunya his main concern when Caledonia Hama shed that Allahu Allahu Allah will increase his concerns. Allah will increase his worries and his troubles.

Shed that allow Allah wa Jalla facula who beignet and Allah will cause his poverty and lack and

and lack in front of him wherever he goes. So he will find lack wherever he goes.

woman cannot afford to hammer who's ever main concern is the ophira and is Allah subhanaw taala.

Gemma Allahu Allahu Shimla then Allah will reduce all his distractions and his worries into one cause one cause

we're Jalla Rena who vehicle Bay and Allah will bring a sense of abundance and richness into his heart into his whole being. So he will be rich. He will experience richness, he will experience life fully, and feel that his experience in life is so rich in so many senses.

What I tend to do and that's my point, what I tend to do near him and this world, this universe will serve Him will be at his service, even if it's against its own will.

What makes life what makes this dunya serve the believer, the true believer because it's designed in that way. So once you blend into that beautiful system, which the ankles, the knees, and once you blend in

To read and, you know, act in accordance in accordance with it. And you can only do this by being true to Islam being true to the ethics and ethos of Islam. When you do this, you blend into this universal harmony. And all of a sudden you build on that momentum, you take advantage of it, and it serves you. So the right people will show up in your life. Things will come right on time when you need them. And things that sometimes you chase will run away from you because they're not good for you, only the good things will come to you. So the whole universe will serve you. And this is what the prophets of Sonam is saying, This world will serve him even if it's against its own will, Allah

will cause it to come to your service. Where does this come? It comes from the fact that our ethical principles, ethical teachings of Islam, the general guidelines of Islam, all of them are in harmony with the universal system. And if you think even for a moment, that your benefit, or your interest lies in anything against Islam, then you are short sighted when it comes to that you're not seeing the whole picture, one of the early generations from a tablet and he said, I looked at some, something I was not supposed to look at, okay, he looked at something how long he was not supposed to look at. But he kept looking for a short while.

Then he realized they just woke up that he was not supposed to look at it, this this person have reached such a high level of clarity that he caught himself, you know, in a sin, although it's like for say two three seconds. Then he says to himself will law he letter that he didn't know baja when he said to himself straight away, will law he you should pay for that. You will pay for that. Even if it's after a while.

And he talks about himself. He says well law he was a half of the Quran he said I forgot the Quran. 40 years later.

40 years later, I forgot the Quran. And when I realized that it doesn't happen, obviously just like that, all of a sudden he wakes up there's no iron in his mind. But the causes for him to forget the Quran will come together. He will be tried with so much business, a lot of distractions here and there and all of a sudden he would find himself that he did not keep up with his Koran. And he has

forgotten a lot of the Quran. That's how Allah Spinetta works in tacit ways, and that's the meaning of the word of Allah, his name a lovely, lovely if he works in his works in hidden ways, very subtle ways. You don't realize, but he makes everything come together.

Even one of the generations a famous statement he said will lie in Nila ready for them be few Hello ki Zhu jetty was so lucky that I know that I've committed a sin. I realized that when I see my wife not treating me Well, I know I've committed a sin.

Or when my riding animal my horse, for example, is not so responsive is not so cooperative. I realized I must have sinned. You see how they there was so they develop this kind of acute sensitivity towards this beautiful universal system. I want to talk about one example of this. And it's truthfulness, truthfulness, Allah subhanaw taala system, the Koran and just want to see how profound these ethical principles are. Often we look at truthfulness as speaking the truth right to saying what's true.

But truthfulness is much more than that. And this deficient or limited kind of understanding that will limit truthfulness only to speaking what is true or saying and uttering what is true. We are unable to reap the fruits of truthfulness because truthfulness is a state of being. It's a state of being. It's not only about your tongue, it's about your thoughts.

It's about your heart. It's about your actions. It's about your interactions with other people, truthfulness is a way of life. And if you are unable to maintain and observe truthfulness in all the facets of your being of your human experience, you will not be able to be truthful with your tongue. It can't You can't it's impossible, because compatibility is, is a human principle. We need to keep ourselves upon one path one way we need to be congruent with ourselves, we need to be consistent, right? Otherwise we'd have some kind of disparity or some kind of dissonance. And this is painful to us. It's very painful. So truthfulness allows fanaticism in the cornea. You're Latina am an otaku.

ilaha wakanow Masada clean are you who believe fear Allah or have Taqwa towards Allah and be with the truthful that means?

Be like let truthfulness be a description of who you are. So you join that group that is truly truthful. And another verse, Allah subhanaw taala says, Yeah, you already know I'm an otaku La La Oulu olan sadita are you who

Believe have Taqwa towards Allah and speak a speech that is straight. Let your speech let you words. Be straight, be true, be authentic.

When Allah says what is the payoff for that? You're slow Hola, como, Morocco while fella como como, Allah will rectify your deeds, Allah will correct the course of your actions. What does speak in the truth have to do with your actions.

And that's the secret about truthfulness. So truthfulness is not limited is not limited to only speaking the truth. Because if you are not true with yourself, you cannot speak the truth. How often you make a commitment. And you really mean it. Right? Yeah, I want to you know, I want to help you tomorrow, someone asks you for help. Yeah, tomorrow, I'll be there for you. But then tomorrow, you realize you have so many things on your plate, or you're so tired, or you made some other commitments, or you don't, actually, when you just develop more clarity with yourself, you realize, oh, maybe I just got excited at that time. I didn't really mean it. Part of me got excited and just

made that commitment. But in reality, I don't want to help him.

So what will you do you start coming up with excuses.

Now you will not lie. And when you said yes, I will help you. But what made you do that commandment you will not true to yourself, you will not clear with yourself. And that's the problem here. This takes us to Hadith from the prophet SAW Selim, the messengers of Allah said in the module, and if they were to help al Qaeda had to ban the law, he could verba that a person lies and

sorts are six more lies. So he keeps lying and lying until he's written in the records with Allah as a liar. What does that mean? What are the implications of this? The implications are when you lie to other people, yourself will lie to you.

When you lie to others, your self will lie to you. So you will never develop self clarity.

You will not know exactly what is pushing you to do certain actions. So you might be doing things and think, Oh, I'm doing this for the sake of Allah, but you're doing it for yourself.

But you can't see why. And you can't see how, because you have not been truthful enough. So truthfulness is about transparency. When you develop this transparency, you start to see deeper into yourself. And that's the secret behind the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu Sallam when he said earlier, I'll circle cool happy. I mean, web nominate is soda. Allah Sahaja Samadhi. For laylat of Alma. He says,

showing off. Yeah, which is a form of lying. You're lying to yourself and you lying to Allah. I'm doing this for a law but you're actually doing it for other people. That's proper, like Ria showing off. Lack of sincerity is a clear manifestation, a clear act of untruthfulness. It's a lie. It's a biggest lie. But you're not lying with your tangle lying through your being through your state of being through your actions. You're lying.

So the prophets of Salaam said this kind of showing off and lack of sincerity is more hidden than the steps of an end that is walking on a solid stone.

In the middle of the dark nights. Can you hear the steps of an end?

You can't impossible. And showing off lack of sincerity is more hidden than that is more tested than that.

So oftentimes, and that's the problem that some of the promises that I mentioned that a person will come to Allah with so many acts of worship.

And then when he stands in the Presence of Allah, on the day of judgment, there will be turned into nothing.

The person might think, yeah, I'm doing this for the sake of Allah. But you actually if you really investigate, if you really look into yourself with honesty and clarity, you will find you're doing it for another reason.

And that's very dangerous. This is why the process of setting the Hadith also reported by Muslim, the first three people who will be sent to the Hellfire, the first three people, or one

of them are someone who has memorized the Quran, someone who is and learned the meanings, and he teaches the people and he's a scholar, and because that's what it really means. It's not only the memorization, it's the whole package. Got it. Shahid, Mata, and a generous person Karim.

These people will be the first ones to be sent to the Hellfire, they will come to Allah, Allah say what did you do with all the things that I have already?

My blessings upon you a lot I fought for your sake. And I got killed. I got I was martyred for your sake. Hello, say you are lying. Imagine a law called lack of sincerity of intention, you're lying. Because you were lying to yourself in the dunya you could not realize where you were coming from. When you're doing your when you are doing your actions. If at all, I'm doing this for the sake of Allah, no, you're just fooling yourself because you've lied so much that you self lies to you, and you don't see through that. And you live your whole life in a lie.

That's the problem with lying. That's the problem with not being truthful in every in each and every affair of your daily life, personal interpersonal interactions, you need to develop truthfulness. You need to pay attention to that. So allow us a team you did that for so that people will say he's he's a hero. He's he's a he's a brave man. Send them to the hellfire. You got that you got what you wanted. On the dounia you got the reputation. Now to the Helfer, second person all What did you do? Or Allah, I memorize the Koran. And I learned Islam and I taught people Islam for your sake, you're lying. Lack of sincerity is lying, you lied to yourself, yourself, like back to you. And now you're

lying to me, you think you're saying the truth? You're not? When you don't know yourself? You can't tell the truth, believe me. You will make commitment commitments that you don't yourself doesn't really want to make. It's just the heat of the moment. The excitement sometimes overtakes you, but when you develop the clarity, you know, you know, one day

so piano 30, of the Alon, one of the great scholars of tourbillion.

He was about doing something and one of his students came in, he said, You know this, you're one of your good friends, another scholar passed away, just passed away. And that says janazah will take place would you like to come? It might be shocking to you. But there's so much, you know, beauty in that statement. He said, he just thought he paused for a moment. And he thought and he said in Neela, juneja. with Alec, I don't find within myself a sincere intention to do it.

He at that moment, he could not feel that if he went there, that would be done for the sake of Allah. He just felt it. He wasn't in that state. Probably he was busy with something else, he had something else on his mind. And he did not want to do it just for the sake of a sense of obligation or social obligation. Or for the, for the sake of people, you know, seeing him in that janazah or not missing him. So he realized he was not that self clarity, he realized he was not going to do it with the right intention show. So he just had confessed that he said, I don't feel the right kind of intention to do it. So I'm just not going to do it. I'm going to go about do what I was doing. That

doesn't mean you give up good rights, his actions. But this is a high level of clarity. He realized that at this moment, I could not muster the right kind of intention. And I'm not going to do an action. I'm not going to lie to myself, I'm not going to lie to Allah and do something for the sake of people, you know, seeing or doing what people expect of me. I'm not going to do this.

That takes a lot of courage. Third person is someone who has given so much for the sake of Allah, Allah will ask him, what did you do with everything I've given you? And he would say, oh, Allah, I gave so much money out for your sake alone, say No, you did that. Because you wanted people's people to recognize you. People say you're generous. And indeed people said, You got that send him to the hellfire.

So, in a sense, truthfulness is a way of life. And if you can be true to yourself, true to Allah, through to other people, everything will just fall into place.

And you can think of any sin, it's an act of untruthfulness any sin. If you think of any act of worship, it's actually an act of truthfulness. For example, someone

steals money, takes money that doesn't theft doesn't belong to him.

He lied to himself, before making this slide before making this decision, how he convinced himself somehow that I deserve that money that doesn't belong to me.

And it's okay to take it. So imagine how many lies I deserve it. It's okay to take it. I will get away with that.

These are at least three lies,

any, any kind of sin? Think about it. There are so many lies behind it. There are so many lies behind it. someone falls into the sin of Xena committing fornication. What did they love what they do in the very nature in the very nature humans do not desire

To commit Zina or to commit a sexual act with a person that's not halal for them, humans designed that way, but the corruption happens in the mind.

So a person commit Zina, first of all Allah gave you, you know, the sexual desire is a noble desire. Sometimes we look at it, like stigma, right? But this sexual desire is actually the reason we are here today.

When a lot put something inside you, when a lot puts a need inside you a drive, natural motivation inside you, it is good.

The problem only comes when you put it in the wrong place. And that's what a lot of the scholars of Islam, they said, any sin and the sin that human beings do, are, that's the formula for it, taking something good, and putting it in the wrong place. So for example,

Steve stealing,

sense of ownership is something designed for humans to give to help them survive and thrive. So when you use this need for ownership and possession, to take someone else's property and violate the right to possess and maintain that property, then you have put that desire in the wrong place. And that's when it's a sin. But Originally, it was a good thing. Xena, sexual desire is something very good and noble. It's designed for the for recreation, the rock reproduction of human beings, and the continuity of the human race. And through, you know, this continuity, you get a lot of

rewards from your children, if they are righteous, imagine they are a means to getting, it's a means to getting higher in Paradise, even through this sexual desire. So it's something good, when you put it in the wrong place, you've committed a sin,

any sin, anything. And that's why Emanuel AME stated that he said, any sin and he said, originally comes from a good place within you, but you have put it in the wrong context. That's it. Anything you can think of anything. So this is why you have been untruthful to that good need the sexual desire, if you've been untruthful to it,

you put it in the wrong place. And that's a lie, lie through your state of being lies a lie through your actions. So any sin you can think of, it will actually be an act of lying, lying, any growth, human growth, any

act of righteousness, anything positive in human life is an act of authenticity, and truthfulness. You stay true to your fitrah you stay true to the book of Allah, you stay true to the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, you stay true to other human beings, you know, someone wants you to help them in a sin. If you help them, you're not being good to them, you're not being truthful, you've lied to them.

But if you tell them the truth, you say that what you're doing is wrong or can't help you that you should actually give it up. You're being truthful. The same is with yourself. So when you develop that kind of clarity in all your affairs, that kind of truthfulness, you will see so much clarity within yourself. So

so when you act truthfully to your fitrah, your very true state of you know, when someone stands, they know it, especially the first the early times that they've gone against the nature, they know it, that sense of guilt.

That reprimand that comes from within,

you know, that that's actually the call of the fitrah. That's the call of the heart call of the soul. And when you lie to add an act untruthfully and and without, you know, losing that sense of authenticity, to your pure nature, that's when you fall into a sin. You know, something is wrong, but you still do it. The problem with this, it develops what Allah Subhanallah called in the Koran. And this is how he describes the people or the actions of the people who do who do evil. A las panatela says,

about the actions of these people that follow Martin, it's like, the waves above waves above waves above waves insalata, nor above waves of darkness

buruma Tomba, Doha about these people, their actions are darkness of a darkness of a darkness of a darkness either Elijah de who musica de la, if he puts out his hand, or she puts out her hand, there'll be unable, even almost unable to see it because of the darkness. And that shows that there will be lack of self clarity. So they won't know that you'll be doing something to please others. But if you Oh, I'm doing it for the sake of Allah. When do you get to that stage when you have done it so many times that you have become desensitized to the quality of your heart to the quality of football. Now you're so used to lying is so numb. You can't see it just become so much darkness of a

darkness of a darkness. You don't realize that actually Oh

I'm not doing this for the sake of Allah. And you'll see it you actually you will be with so many people, you make commitments, you promise so many things and you won't be able to deliver. And you say, What's wrong with me? I can't keep my word. Yeah, you've gone too far. With untruthfulness, you've gone too far with that lack of clarity. So your self is lying so much to you.

And it gets worse, when yourself starts promising you that if you do this is going to be good for you when it's a sin.

When your self takes the lead, and you completely completely lose control, and you're lost in life.

That's like final stages, terminal stages of that car kind of endless, and it becomes hard to get out of that. So truthfulness. One last point, Allah says, Be truthful,

this life will work for you, even if it doesn't show. And a lot of people I've had a lot of stories, people told the truth in the most difficult times. And I remember I was, I remember I was six years old, six years old. And so it was a lesson from Allah subhanaw taala. It might not happen exactly with you. That's a disclaimer. Yeah, you might try this and might not work out with you. But I remember I was six years old. And I was playing with a ball in the in my room, and I hit the light. I was hanging and I hit it with the, with the ball. And my mom at that time, she just she's had it with me that that day. So and she had the noise. And she came and the light was on when the ball hit

it went off. And I realized I was in trouble. Now she wasn't ready to take anything more from me. So she walks into the room. She said she saw the light in a swinging. And she says, Did you hit it?

I was tempted to lie, I remember that. I was really tempted. But I don't know. I just realized if I lie, it's swinging anyway, so.

So I just said,

I remember just saying, Allah, please save me, save me from this moment.

And I said, Please, Allah save me from this point. And I said that in my heart and said,

Yes.

She

switches the light off, switches on it comes on.

And from that moment, I remember I said, Allah, I will never lie.

I'm not sure if I kept that promise, but I'm still trying my best. But it does. That's a very simple kind of example. But really in true in life. If you are truthful, you will develop more clarity. And this is why a lot go back to the same verses, just to show you that they make a bit more sense. Now, that last one that it says are you who believe have Taqwa to Allah and speak a speech that is straight, speak the truth, speak authentically. What will Allah do? Allah will rectify your actions.

rectify Why? And that doesn't mean only the actions externally because the action starts with what intention, right? So Allah will rectify your intentions, and will rectify your actions, and he will lead you to the right actions. So that truthfulness leads you to more clarity. So you will realize where I'm coming from within myself, am I doing this to please appease? Am I doing this for the sake of Allah? Am I doing this to get some kind of gain? Or am I doing it truthfully, for Allah subhanaw taala not for any external kind of gain? Am I doing it as a true expression of my love for alarm? I'm bringing my heart and my soul into it, or am I just doing it because I feel I have to or just

because I'm going through the motions.

So that's that's the meaning of it.

So you can see, truthfulness is a state of being it's not only your speech, and this is why you went in, in one of the battles, a new Muslim came and joined the prophet SAW Selim. And after one like stage of the battle, the Muslims made actually some spoils of war. And the problem was distributing them giving everyone their share. So this man went somewhere and he came back. So the profit sudden kept him his share for him for him with some other soldiers. When he came to his, to the, to the his friends, they said that's your share from the prophet SAW Selim. He was surprised he went to the prophet and he said, I didn't join you for this.

I joined you, in order to get to get shot here, right here, right here for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala.

So the prophets also left him in the second stage during the same kind of war, another battle. This man was brought to the prophet SAW Selim, he was carried on the shoulders. It seems the propaganda was actually waiting for something was anticipating something. So the man was carried, and the President could see the arrow sticking out of his throat when he was carrying was bleeding, and he didn't see his face. He said, Hua Hua. Is it the same guy?

You can see even the excite, I mean, read the statements. You can't help but feel the excitement of the promises of him. Who is he?

They said yes. So everyone almost was aware of that. The President said, the beautiful statement, solder Allaha. For solder calm, he was truthful. He truly wanted that it wasn't a passing wish. It was a sincere wish deep in his heart. He was really truthful about it. And if you're truthful, a lot, a lot will give you what you want.

A lot will give you what you want. Oftentimes, we jump on a project or in a study or on a relationship. And we think, Oh, that's good for me.

That's good for me. But actually, if you really have developed the clarity, the truthfulness with yourself, you would actually realize that it's not for me, oftentimes, I'm talking about myself any kind of project that I jumped into that I got involved in any kind of work, any kind of environment, relationship, any context, any commitment, and it didn't work out. And it turned out to be like, it ended up in bad shape. Really, when I go investigate, there was a stage when I was making a decision, that there was something inside that was telling me, no, but I just pushed it to the side, I sort of suppressed that and said, No, no, I can find some logic there. Okay, it's quite tempting,

I'm gonna just gonna do it.

I'm just going to do it.

So and this is why the process of selling the footwear he gave, and oftentimes we misinterpreted, a man came to the office on them and said, You know, there are issues that happen. I don't have any proof about them. I am not aware of any proof about it. What should I do and I need to make a decision, the prophets of Salaam said is deaf to callback, right? Ask your heart for a federal, that's not for everyone. If a person has developed so much authenticity and clarity within themselves, they have been true to their nature, true to their follow through to the word of Allah Spinetta true to their other people.

Then they have developed so much clarity within themselves to really know where they're coming from. So they would realize, and that's what's called fear, rasa, the sense of insight and intuition that, for example, Imam Shafi had, you know, sometimes we give a person a fake smile, we think, Oh, that's good. Yeah. That's the sooner No, the sooner is to give a real smile.

The sooner is a smile is a real smile. A fake smile is not really a smile, is it? It's not. So sometimes we we start distributing fake smiles and think, Oh, that's a sinner. No, that's an act of lying. You telling people I'm happy to see you, while your heart saying I don't want to even look at you. I don't want I'm not I'm not happy with you being here. But he's given that fake smile. Isn't that an act of lying? It's a discrepancy between two parts of who you are your true self deep inside your heart, and your facial expression. Now, there are certain exceptions, and they have to be very limited. where sometimes in order to avoid a very difficult situation, you might give that kind of

smile, as the prophet SAW Selim did with the person. The President said bitset hola Sheila, like an evil man, right when he was approaching but when he came to him, gave him a smile, Ayesha Austin, obviously, because she knows the general demeanor of the prophets. I saw them that he doesn't smile If he doesn't mean it. So she said, you know, you said such and such about this person. Now he came, you're giving him a smile. The prophets I send them said the worst among the people is the one that people avoid, or people compliments out of fear of his bad mouth, that tongue evil words and his ability to harm.

So obviously, that was a very difficult situation the professor had to handle. But generally speaking, the professor said them would only give a smile when it was true. So I remember one day I just put something on Facebook that if the true sooner is actually to give a true smile, if you don't mean it, don't give it

so and I received some kind of say, it's so now you mean you don't we don't have to, you know, follow the sinner. I said, Subhana Allah this Sunday, I'm just telling you just follow the Sunnah. Give a real true smile, don't lie about it. Don't pretend. So pretending is a lie, lie through actions through your attitudes through your facial expressions. So this is just trying to deal by the way, truthfulness is a very profound, big subject. If you just decide to live by one principle, make it truthfulness. And you will see that everything will just all your actions will fall into place, you will find yourself doing everything that is good. And so Allah designed Islam in a way

that if you take one of the main principles of Islam and follow it, you will find that it's actually taking you to all the other stuff without you realizing all the other good things about Islam without you even thinking or realizing this is why the process alone many times, you know, I said do not see how Islam is nothing, which is not only advice, it's far bigger than that. But if you truly live by the principle of naseeha you will find yourself doing everything that's good. If you live by truthfulness, as Allah says Coronavirus, saw the pain, be with the truthful you will find yourself doing everything that's good about and avoiding everything that's bad. These are just different

pathways into the true nature of human beings.

That is guided and grown and enhanced by the book of Allah. And the Sunnah of the prophet SAW Selim. So truthfulness is so big, but there's just a glimpse in it to show you that actually, our ethical principles that Islam teaches us are very practical. Only when you judge them on a short term basis, you're unable to see because the story has not taken a full circle.

So most people jump to conclusions, especially when we are young, you lie you get away with it is to say the truth, you get punished. And I think you see good principles, truthfulness doesn't work. But lying does work. But the child doesn't realize that probably two months later that will come back. So what goes around comes around. That's the general system. So this is why.

And one of the Muslim scholars made a profound statement there was quoted, so like so often in the books, that whoever thinks that his interest or her interest lies in anything that is against the teachings of Islam, they are completely mistaken. They don't see the whole picture. So be truthful, and you will see will pay off even later on, you can deal with immediate consequences that might not be pleasant, because it's still like you probably, it's not the telling the truth that caused you this discomfort, but it's the fact that you've done something, right, that brought you these consequences. But hold on to truthfulness, and you will see it will pay off way, way better than

that.

Any ethical principle, anything that Islam teaches us is in our own interest, and it's compatible with the design with the practicality of this universe. And if we have the right clothes with the same notion, that if you have a tacit, even a tacit belief, that if I follow the truth, if I do what's good, if I make ethical choices, things will not work out, you're somehow tacitly accusing Allah subhanaw taala, that he wants us to follow a way of life that is in impractical.

And he allows the evil ones who break his law and break his word, to

win and to be victorious. And that's a powerful a huge accusation. And to me, sometimes it's more powerful than speaking it is, by the way that by the way, why is this because of Islam sometimes have developed seven levels of intention, you know, your intention goes through seven levels, most of us are aware of, of the surface one or the two on the surface, but we don't realize where it's coming from. When you develop that kind of clarity, truth through truthfulness, you will realize you'll start to see through it and know exactly Wow, I'm doing this, for some kind of personal benefit is not for Allah. So either I can fix it. Let me fix it now. If not, I'm just going to leave

this altogether.

And this kind of clarity puts you in so much peace, you know where you're coming from, you know what, you know what

was good for you What's bad for you. And I'll close with this fatwa from Evan Tamia or him Allah. And this shows you he used this even understanding in his fatawa someone asked him he said, which is better at night, I spend a lot of time at night up. So which is better for me to pray the MLA or to recycle on or to make Vicar general Decker Subhan Allah Alhamdulillah Allah Allahu Akbar, which is better. He said, ideally speaking,

the highest reward comes with prayer.

Number two, reciting Quran. At the bottom of the list comes making random Vicar Subhan, Allah Al Hamdulillah, lower kebab. He says, but some people might find the heart in this.

And they it's so engaging to them that they can do more of it, and they can sustain it. And the experience would be profound. So they would be

doing it from the hearts. So he said for this person, making random liquor is better for him than other acts.

And he said, Sometimes, there are some people enjoy recitation of the Quran, it causes them so much spiritual growth and connection to Allah, they can sustain it and do more of it. And it's more rewarding to them spiritually. And they should do more of this than prayer.

See the kind of so we need to develop this kind of clarity. And this is why some of the early generations and this is a statement that was quoted often as well, men lumea if nafsa who

Lem Yaroslav bow, he who does not know himself, well, he does not know Allah, well.

If you don't know the workings of yourself very well, where you're coming from what is really moving you what is driving you to do this kind of action, what's driving you to get into this kind of endevour this kind of line of action. What is pushing you there, if you don't know you might be doing it for the wrong reason. So develop that clarity so on the Day of Judgment, you will not be surprised with

The consequences I asked Allah subhanaw taala to make us from among the truthful, and the ones that are sincere just like I'm looking for your patience was all along was lmnop No. mahamadou Adios, adios