Captioning provided by MUHSEN (www.muhsen.org)
Self control and controlling your hawaa',
your vanity and your desires.
Self control is one of the greatest things
that I pray that Allah allows you to master
and improve in each and every day of your life.
Subhan Allah, it's still a struggle for me.
And self-control, it's not just about
not doing the things that are wrong,
but it's also encouraging yourself
to do the things that are right.
(spiritual music)
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
said, laysa shadidu bissurah
"An individual is not mighty
is not powerful because they can pin people to the ground."
inna mas shadid man tamallaka nafsahu indal ghadab
"The one who has strength and power
and might is the one that can control themselves
at a moment of agitation and anger
is the one who has mastered their self-control."
And that's a powerful statement
of the Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
One of the great dangers.
And one of the things that leads a person
into transgression leads a person
into sin is that they become very reactionary.
So somebody said something, you have to react
and I'm gonna say it harsher than what they said.
And I got to have the last word
and what I say is going to be bigger than what they said.
And it might be that somebody sees somebody do something
and I'm gonna top it.
I'm gonna do better.
I'm gonna buy more or sell more.
I'm gonna have something bigger or better than others.
That lack of self control
where a person is very impulsive, right?
They just do things.
And then they worry about the consequence after
is a sign of immaturity.
And it's one of the things that will cause your parents
as a young person to not give you greater freedoms
and not give you greater control
over your own decisions
because they see you're very reactionary
and very impulsive.
A lot of young people they say, "Sheikh
I'm having a little bit of trouble at home.
My parents won't let me do this or go there."
And I say, "Well, listen,
it's probably a decision.
They're not just making because of this issue
but because there's a track record
in the past that you haven't shown
that you have self-control
that you make good decisions
on your own independently
without their input and influence.
So for you to build that trust with Allah
with the Muslim community,
with your society, wherever you live
you need to make good decisions."
And SubhanAllah did you know
young people up until the age of 21, 22, 23.
Some studies up to the age of 26
that show that the brain
of a young person is still forming
especially in the place of judgment
and foreshadowing
giving you the ability to look further into the future.
You can see this
of course, if you have young brothers and sisters
they don't understand the consequences
of falling over the down stairs.
So you've got to put a gate
or else your brother who's
like two years old will just
go all the way down the stairs.
Cause they just can't understand its danger.
Even as a 16 year old, 17 year old, 10 year old,
you know 19 year old, your brain hasn't formed completely
to be able to tell you
and predict major and greater consequences.
And that's why there are so many limitations
in the legal systems to limit people from being exposed
to things that are going to make them make decisions.
It's one of the reasons why young people
aren't allowed to vote before eighteen in certain countries.
But I want you to kind of pay attention
to why self-control for us is important as Muslims,
is that the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam
has been informed to let you and I know,
we're accountable to Allah,
before we're accountable to others.
So when you show your accountability to Allah,
when you become a person
who takes things more seriously
and holds things with greater clarity
you become a person who then has a greater standing
in society
and are given greater opportunities.
And I pray that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la
allows you to mature with your self control
that you learn the techniques and the development
of how to become a person
who's in charge of themselves
and not reacting to others
or the situations that they are in.
That you become the person,
who other people look up to
and take value from
because you have a level of composure,
a level of calm and a level
of self control that is pleasing to Allah.
Losing that self-control makes your desire
and your hawaa' like a hungry wolf
where you are consuming everything
halal and haram, and you worry
about its consequences later.
May Allah protect you from that hunger
of sin and that you become a person
who is self controlled.
Notice that in Islam,
many of the things that we are taught
teach us that self-discipline ,
self-regulation and self-control.
Whether it's waking up in the morning
for fajr,
whether it's fasting the month of Ramadan
in hot summer months
whether it's giving from our wealth
and accounting for our Zakah.
All of it is to teach us self control,
self-reliance
and a self trust between us
and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la.