Why You Can't Find Peace After Making Big Mistakes - Ustadh Pervez Ahmed

I want to reflect on a verse in the Quran today uh in particular to anchor what I hope to discuss for the today wherein Allah subhanana wa ta'ala tells us or commands the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam to tell us or to convey say oh Messenger of Allah say oh prophet Muhammad Allah subhana wa tala this is surah is the 17th chapter of the Quran and Allah subhana wa ta'ala is telling the prophet to convey that had the earth been populated with angels Then assuredly indeed Allah would send an angel as a messenger as a rasool. So what is equally interesting is what the verse says as what it does not say or what it implies inextricably or implicitly. Excuse me. Allah subhana wa ta'ala says that had the ang had the earth been populated with angels living in peace and tranquility that assuredly indeed with certitude that Allah would send an angel as a messenger. Now we know that the a the earth is not populated exclusively by angels. And this is why I said what I said earlier which is that it is also interesting to reflect on what the verse is saying implicitly. Because what the verse is telling us implicitly is the nature of the relationship between a prophet or prophets and humanity. Because we as human beings have been sent prophets that are also human, that are not angels. Right? If the earth had been populated by angels, then Allah would have sent a kind similar to them to guide them. Not that angels are in need of guidance because they are created with only the ability to worship Allah subhana wa ta'ala and be in obedience. So an angels or a world populated by angels would not need a prophet to reform them or to teach them because that is their divine that is their nature. by which Allah has created them to be obedient cannot disobey. And so that is why what is implied is also of importance here or is of importance which is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sends us messengers and prophets that are human beings because we are human. And what is also implied here in this verse is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala recognizes God our creator recognizes our humanity that we are only human and we are not destined or we will not be measured to being angels, perfect creatures because a part of the human experience and a part of the human condition is that we are infallible. We are sorry, excuse me, fallible. We are creatures who will error, who will make mistakes, who have limitations. our humanity. Part and parcel of being human is the fact that we will have frailties and weaknesses and limitations and deficiencies but also we have tremendous capabilities. And this is why in the Quran we find if we explore how the Quran defines human beings we find a range of qualities a plethora of qualities and a range is more specific because on the one hand we find verses of the Quran that describe human beings right as being created as being created We have created human beings in the best of modes, in the best of fashion. Our composition, our constitution is that we are created with this tremendous potentiality. But they are also capable of debasing themselves to the lowest of the low. Right? This is a range. It is a potentiality. Right? Allah says elsewhere in the Quran that indeed we have created, we have blessed the progeny of Adamu. We have blessed them in their creation, in their constitution, in their potential, in their capabilities. that is also part of the human condition and the human experience. And I say all of this because it may seem sort of obvious, but I think although on the one hand it seems obvious to us, but we often hold ourselves up to standards that bely the fact that we are human beings, that we are deficient creatures, that we have limitations, and that we are not going to be perfect. We are not going to be infallible. That is also a part of accepting our humanity. How Allah has created us. How Allah subhanana wa ta'ala has created us. And this goes to the nature of or this goes to the the the the foundation of our nature by which Allah has created us. And what do I mean by that? a concept or a term that is discussed in the Quran extensively as well which is and also echoed in the teachings of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam right Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that indeed Allah has created us with this with this nature this primordial nature to use fancy word but Allah has created us in fra in this state that is pure that is inclined to being pure and being perfect that is the nature at the very core of how Allah subhanana wa ta'ala has also created us and this is why and this kind of explains to us why the Quran uses that range of terms on the one hand right we are creat creative, but we are also described as and weak and neglectful and given to error and given to straying away from the path of Allah. It's that entire potentiality. But at our very core, right, as the prophet even tells us that indeed every child is born in this state of this God-given pure inclination to worshiping Allah subhana wa tala to be in servitude to Allah to being that potential, right, to living up to being created in the best of modes and the best of fashions. That is how we are intrinsically created. How Allah subhana wa ta'ala has created us. Now often times people understand fra to mean that we are Muslim by birth and of course linguistically that is a possibility of an interpretation that we are created with this inclination to submit to Allah. Right? But the hadith continues and it says that it is the parent of the child then right although the child is created in this fra of Allah in this fra that Allah has created us with that it is the parents or broadly speaking environmental societal circumstances that make that child a Jew or a Christian or a magi of you know Zorasht modern day terms but that. So it is environmental circumstances that can corrupt the human nature that Allah has created us with. And so the objective all of Islam, all of our teachings that the prophet taught us, what Islam gives us is to preserve and to keep intact that fra that Allah has created us with. So you've created this creature that has the potentiality to do great things, to live up to its potential. Right? And so Islam then gives us the wherewithal, the resources, the tools if you will, by which you can preserve and keep intact that fyra, right? And it is sins and disobedience and environmental and societal circumstances that can corrupt the human nature that can uh be a corrosive force to that fra that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has created us with. And so and in the in the language of the Quran when we examine or when we talk about or we look at those environmental or societal circumstances that corrupt the human soul that corrupt that human fraed us with those in the Quranic language in the language of the Quran are the fittan or the fitnas the trials and tribulations of the world. And so if the objective of Islam and the objective of our societies and communities is to sustain and to nurture that fyra, then it is also in the nature or in the service of that preservation that we should prevent those trials and tribulations or give human beings the tools and resources needed to overcome those trials. trials and tribulations that at its very core at their very core they corrode that human fraed us with. So and these fa these trials and tribulations come in various forms. They are external and at times they are internal because as we are also while we are created in this potentiality we also have those limitations and defects that tell us we're not good enough that whatever we're doing like these are the tricks of shaitan as well. This is the tricks that the devil plays on us telling us that we're not worthy of Allah's mercy that we're not worthy of Allah's forgiveness that we are not worthy of doing good. These are the tricks of shaitan as well. These are those corrosive forces that seek to destroy and seek to corrode the fra that Allah subhanana wa ta'ala has created us with created us with. So we have been created with this fyra and it is our duty to try our best to preserve that fyra and by the ful and the mercy of Allah subhana wa ta'ala Allah God almighty gives us like I said the resources and the tools that we need to try and preserve our fra and to achieve that potential that potentiality that we are created with. So our mode, our modalities of worship, the way we worship Allah, the way we reflect on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and remember him, remember God, worship God. These are all methods by which we can preserve and keep intact that human nature, that human fyra that Allah subhana wa ta'ala has created us with. So it's an entire ecosystem that Allah has given us by which he creates us with this potentiality and the capabilities that we have but also our human weaknesses and frailties and weaknesses and limitations but then gives us the tools that we need gives us a playbook by which we can achieve and preserve and keep intact that God-given nature. and fra that Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given us. And so it not only is an obligation that Allah subhana wa ta'ala places upon us as human beings but also as individuals but also as a on a societal and communal level that our communities are meant to be spaces where these where this potentiality of the human being can be achieved. Do we institutionalize in our communities programs, content, meaningful engagement, a sense of community and brotherhood and sisterhood that allows that God-given nature to be nurtured, not to be limited, not to be corrupted, but rather to be nurtured and preserved. Right? That is the very purpose of our communal spaces. That is why we get together as community to to uplift ourselves individually and collectively. So that goes to how we treat one another in our communal spaces. That goes to how we interact with one another in our in our communal spaces. Are we creating communities that are welcoming, that are uplifting, that are nurturing, that allow human beings to live their best and potential lives? That is what we have to examine and that is what we have to consider when we look at and reflect on our own communal spaces, our own communities that we create. are these spaces in which people and human beings can thrive, not just survive, not just live, but really uh uh uplift themselves and create opportunities for that to happen. And this at its very core goes to how we engage with one another, how we treat one another, how we treat one another, not only in our communal spaces, but in our families, in our domestic life. Do we treat our children with the respect and the dignity that they need to live lives of potential and greatness? Right? How do we treat our elders? Right? We if we define human beings by their worth and what they give back to society in material terms alone, then we have limited ourselves. We have deprived ourselves of the wisdom and the lessons that we can derive and learn from our elders in our community. And so each and every one of us has been given that potentiality. But Allah subhana wa ta'ala has also given us the potential by which we can create societal and communal spaces that allow that human being to thrive that allow that potential to be achieved that allow that god-given fyra to be preserved and to be kept intact and to limit those coro those corrosive forces those fa those trials and tribulations that people are struggling ling with. And before I leave, I want to leave us with this idea or those I when we talk about communal spaces and we talk about families that we have to also recognize that people may be suffering and may have trials and tribulations that they're that they are suffering through and going through, but they don't have the support system that they need. They don't have the abilities, they don't have the the options to talk to people, to benefit from other human beings and the struggles that they've gone through. And this is why having a sense of community is so important and a sense of domestic life that nurtures and creates possibilities where our children uh and people who are suffering and struggling can come to these communal spaces and derive benefit. and have the or are given the ability to overcome the limitations and overcome the struggles that they have. This is again a part of that project of nurturing and preserving the god-given nature of the thera that Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given us to create those spaces and those opportunities and those occasions by which people who may be struggling who may be suffering who may be undergoing trials and tribulations that we don't even know about can create can can come and can can seek help can can can seek counsel, can seek opportunities and content and meaningful engagement that allows them to overcome those limitations. Right? This goes to mental health and this goes to creating again those communal programming and content and meaningful engagement on a collective level that allows those who may be struggling to seek help and seek counsel and get the help that they need. These are all part of creating that societal space and communal space that enriches the human being that gives the human being the ability to achieve the greatness that Allah subhana wa tala the potential by which Allah subhanana wa ta'ala has created all of us with and so to understand our limitations to understand the fact that we are only human to accept the fact that we are going to not be perfect that we are imperfect beings. If we approach life, if we approach the way we measure ourselves, if we approach the way we gauge how communities uh uh provide meaningful engagement to to individuals with this lens, then we will achieve famili domestic spaces and communal spaces and and measure ourselves even individually with that empathy and with the ability to understand that we are that potentiality that we have those human imperfections that we are not created to be to being angels. We're not capable of perfection. We're not capable of uh being perfect because we are only human. And accepting those human frailties and weaknesses and limitations is the way in which Allah subhana wa ta'ala has nurtured us in the Quran and with the message and the teachings of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam to allow us to not only understand that but giving us the tools and the resources that we need to preserve and keep intact that also god-given nature to being true and worshippers of Allah subhana wa ta'ala and at least have the ability to achieve our potential to achieve the range with which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has created us with. I pray that Allah subhana wa ta'ala gives us the ti and the ability to understand that understand our limitations but also to overcome those limitations with the with what Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given us by way of guidance by way of the prophetic model and by which and and also by creating communities that uplift the human being and uplift ourselves individually and collectively. Alhamdulillah.