In Search of A Weeping Heart 5/5

Salamun aleykum [wa alyekum assalam, wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu]. Before we begin, there is a request to recite the du'a shifa' al-maridh for one of our brothers in Mombasa, Brother Turab Meghji has had a heart surgery in India as well as some other mu'mineen and mu'minat who are in need of our du'aas at this time for their shifa', we can decide five times Bismil-Lahi, Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim, "Amman yujeebu 'lmudtarra idaa da'aahu wa yakshifu 's-sooo'a" (27:62), "Amman yujeebu 'lmudtarra idaa da'aahu wa yakshifu 's-sooo'a", "Amman yujeebu 'lmudtarra idaa da'aahu wa yakshifu 's-sooo'a", "Amman yujeebu 'lmudtarra idaa da'aahu wa yakshifu 's-sooo'a", "Amman yujeebu 'lmudtarra idaa da'aahu wa yakshifu 's-sooo'a". Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad. May Allah bless them with health inshaAllah.

'A'udhu billahi min al-Shaytan al-rajim, Bismillah, al-Rahman, al-Rahim. Al-hamdulillah Rabbi 'l-alameen, bari' al-khalaa'iqi ajma'een. Wa as-salat wa assalam 'ala asharaf al-anbiya'i wa'l-mursalin, sayyidina wa nabiyyina wa habibi qulubina wa tabibi nufusina wa shafi'i dhunubina Abil Qasim Muhammad. [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad]. Thumma as-salatu wa assalam 'ala aali baytihi at-tayyibeen at-tahareen al-madhlumeen. Wa la'anatullahi al a'da'ihim ajma'een min yawmi 'adaawatihim ila yawm id-deen. Amma ba'du, faqad qal Allahu tabaraka wa taa'la fi kitabih, A'udhu billahi min al-Shaytan al-rajim, "fal yadhhaku qaleelan wal yabku katheeran jaza'an bi ma kanu yaksibun"(9:82). Salawat 'ala Muhammad wa aali Muhammad [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad].

This is our fifth and our last discussion in Search of a Weeping Heart. We have been discussing all week long the importance of developing a weeping heart in Islam. And inshaAllah, I would like to conclude the subject tonight so that tomorrow we do not need to then make a conclusion on the subject. Tomorrow, as you know, is a day no less than Ashura, and we want to spend the day, inshaAllah, in paying our respects to Aba Abdillah Al-Husayn and Sayyida Zaynab, alayha assalam, and Imam as-Sajjad alayhi assalat wa assalam [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad].

Up until now, we first developed the idea that those who weep in this world out of the fear and love of Allah, they will rejoice on the Day of Judgment, whereas those who rejoice in materialism and those who rejoice in the pleasures of this world and ignore their hearts and allow it to become hard, they will weep on the brink of hellfire. From there, we had a discussion of what the human heart represents, its importance, its essence, its superiority to the human mind.

And we looked at the bond between the physical heart and the spiritual heart, as well as this heart being the real identity and the essence of who we are and that our task, our mission in life is to keep this heart pure, clean, soft and prevent it from becoming blind or rusted or hard. And we started discussing what is it that makes this heart hard or soft. And in particular, we said, by the grace of Allah, our community trying its best in doing all their wajibat and keeping from the muharramat.

Yet we see that amongst ourselves, not referring to anybody else, but we see our own selves that there is a hard heartedness that even if we were to wake up in the middle of the night to supplicate, there isn't that softness of the heart there isn't that weeping of the heart. And what are her causes? We then saw ahadith yesterday to suggest that in Islam, when a person does not have a heart that weeps, that is a sign of being wretched, that is a sign of shaqawah.

And we quoted a hadith from Rasul Allah, sallallahu alayhi wa aali wa sallam [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad] in which he said: 2 alamat al-shiqa' arba'a", the signs of being wretched are four: the eyes are always dry. They never weep, the hearts are always hard. And then he mentioned after that "Wa shiddatul hirs fi talabi 'd-dunyah" an intense and excessive greed in seeking one's livelihood or the world. And we said this hubb ad-dunyah is what we are calling materialism. And the fourth, he said was, Wal israr 'ala dh-dhum", persistence in committing sins. We also said that the intent of these lectures is not to just give you all that is there in ahadith of what makes the heart hard and what makes the heart soft, because we can mention very many things.

But the idea is to take only one, two or three things and then use that to change ourselves as individuals and as a community and see how we can implement this in our lives. So from these four signs, we said the dry eyes and the hard heartedness, this is what we are trying to overcome. And we are concerned with the other two signs, which is materialism and persistence in sin. And yesterday we started talking about sin and as its opposite is istighfar, or repentance.

And we said that because the sins that we are concerned, we are not necessarily the major sins, therefore there is something in our society that we call passive sinning, that sometimes we ourselves are not committing a sin. But the mere fact that we exist in an environment where there is so much sin being committed, we are affected and influenced by this and our hearts become hard because of this passive sinning. And we said this was the reason why the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his family, used to do istighfar 70 times.

So before we start discussing materialism, I had a question asked of me yesterday with regards to passive sinning, and in fact, it is interesting that today I had somebody else ask the exact same question again. So I have at least two people asking the same question, that given the society we live in, how do we escape or avoid passive sinning? And because I really like the way the question was put, I've actually brought it with me. And I want to read the question to you word for word, and I think, you know, my brother who sent this question, because I think it's very important and many of us may have thought about this.

The question is as follows, you mentioned passive sins as one of the main causes for hardening of the heart and identified passive sinning as being constantly in this environment and not even thinking there is anything wrong with all the evil that we see around us. You mentioned that the cure for this is constant istighfar, however, isn't it hypocritical istighfar? And how sincere can this istighfar be as we don't really have to be living in this society? The vast majority of us are economic migrants or for materialistic reasons we have come here, and are under no duress to stay here. So when we do istighfar, are we not just fooling ourselves?

Very important question. I don't even know if I know the answer to the question, but I want to share some thoughts just so that we have a starting point that we can discuss. And I know, inshaAllah, even after the Majlis, when we sit in groups, we talk about this, we discuss it, it is something for us to think as a community. Where are we going going forward? If our hearts are hard, what do we expect of our children and grandchildren? So the first thing that I just want to mention and I'm just going to mention a few thoughts, I'm not necessarily answering the question because I don't know if I have the answer.

But many of us may have moved here for economic reasons without having realized the amount of passive sining that we will be exposed to. Many of us have moved here or may have moved here initially with the intention to better our lives or to prosper in our career or for the education of our children without realizing what sort of an environment we are going to expose ourselves to. This is the first thing. So we may have simply miscalculated and thought that it will be easy to practice our faith.

The other issue is that some of us may have moved here 20, 30 years ago when this country was a very different place. There are many things that this country has now legitimized that was not legitimate 20, 30 years ago. And then there is the issue that 10, 20 years ago, the majority were immigrants and it was only the young children who are born here. But now there are adults who have been born and brought up here, so they have not migrated. Where do they go from here? They still have to live in this society.

There are some who may be living here for political reasons. They cannot go back where they came from. We assume that we have a choice and that we can leave this place. But it is possible that not everybody can leave. There are some who may be here for medical conditions. There may be some who have dependents like parents, for example, who are undergoing some medical treatment and they cannot abandon them and leave. So it doesn't solve the problem by saying that if we live in a society where there is so much sin around us, then that istighfar is just being hypocrites and we need to leave.

Then we have another thought. What countries are there in this world that will accept us? I'm willing to move. So if I stand up and say I'm willing to go. Find me a Muslim country where there isn't passive sinning, where I can live a more spiritually healthy lifestyle that is willing to take me, I could go and live as an illegal immigrant, but there is no country that will willingly take me. So that becomes another issue for us. Having said that, it is important to remember that this is not an excuse when it comes to major sins, because if you ask your marja', they will tell you that if you cannot practice your faith in this place, whatever you are, then it is haram for you to stay here.

So if by staying here, you cannot say your prayers or if by living here you cannot fast, or if because you live here you are forced to do something haram, then that is not an excuse. You cannot say that I am majbour, I have no choice. You have to leave even if it means going out and living in the woods. It sounds unreasonable, but you don't have a choice. And this is proven from the Qur'an because the Qur'an says that on the Day of Judgment there are people who will be told, why did you sin? Why? They shall say, "kunna mustaadafina fi l'ardh" (4:97), we are weak, we were oppressed, we had nowhere to go, and the angels will take maces or clubs of Iron and Fire and they will hit them and say, "alam takun ard Ullaahi waasi'a fatuhaajiroo feehaa" (4:97) wasn't the earth of a white enough for you to migrate? Because to Allah your body is not important, your heart is important. If your heart is saved, it doesn't matter what your body goes through. So if you are in a place because your body has the need to stay there, then that is not sufficient excuse to let the heart die and become corrupt. So if it is a major sin, then of course we have to leave.

I have to also admit that it is difficult, if not impossible, to attain higher levels of taharat un-Nafs, or purification of the soul when you live in a society that is immoral or surrounded by sin. So sometimes we read anecdotes about great people who attained high levels of spirituality. To attain that sort of spirituality, even if that may not be mandatory for one to to succeed in the hereafter. But if one has a desire to attain that level of spirituality, then it may be difficult, if not impossible, to live in a normal society. One would have to isolate oneself not as being a monk or cutting oneself off from society, but one would still have to seek a place. Salawat 'ala Muhammad wa aali Muhammad. [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad]. There is a request to move forward. Please, if you can please move forward, please come forward a little more, if you can recite another salawat 'ala Muhammad wa aali Muhammad. [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad]. One more salawat 'ala Muhammad wa aali Muhammad. [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad]. There is some room on the side as well, ahsant, Jazakum Allah, one more salawat 'ala Muhammad wa aali Muhammad. [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad].

So let us think of sins for a moment as physical illnesses, there are various types of physical illnesses. There are some illnesses that are very serious. And we may not have them in this country, but if we had them, we would have to leave the country. For example, if there was an epidemic or there was a pandemic, it was TB and cholera and, you know, breakoff bird flu and AIDS and a serious illness. Then you wouldn't stay here if you could get out, you wouldn't say, well, I don't have anywhere to go. You will find a place to go because you don't want to die. In the same way, Allah says because you don't want your heart today, you find a place to go. If it is forcing you to do something haram.

Then there are physical illnesses, if you want to call them, that are so common that wherever you go in the world you will not escape them. For example, a backache or a headache or allergies, if you have those sort of thing, or flu, for example, or a cold and so on, you wouldn't normally leave the country because you get backaches or headaches and say, I get too much, I get allergies or I get a headache or I get flu by staying in Canada, so I'm going to leave the country. Instead, you try and find a solution to that. If it gets to a point where it is harming your health greatly, then you look for a way to get out. But if it is simply the kind of illnesses that suggest that our immune system is weak, then before we take a step to actually abandon the country, we need to ask ourselves two things: is there a way I can strengthen my immune system without having to leave the country?

And the other thing we ask ourselves is what are the chances that the place I'm going to will not have the same problem that I have here? So you could compare passive sinning in a similar manner, because in passive sinning, we are not sinning ourselves, it is the sin that is around us. How do we fortify our spirituality, our spiritual immune system, so that we don't get this spiritual allergies, and spiritual flus and spiritual headaches and backaches? If we are committing the sins, then this is bird flu, then this is AIDS. This is... Then you have to leave the country. But if it is, our immune system that is weak, can we corrected individually first and then as a society so that we don't have to move? And then the second issue is, let us suppose we have the ability to leave. Where should we go where this passive sinning does not exist. Do you know of any place?

Show me. Maybe you might say Iran maybe or Qom. I know there are some interesting comments. I didn't catch them, but, you know, these are the things that we can ask ourselves. You see, there are sins that are in this society. And then there are things that are predominantly, unfortunately, ma'a al-asaf, in Muslim societies, the ones that are here are more apparent. The ones that are amongst Muslims or even if you want to call it Eastern societies are more hidden, but nonetheless will harden the heart Here you will be exposed to alcohol. You will be exposed to immorality. You will be exposed to adultery. You will be exposed to nightclubs. You will be exposed to other forms of social ills, casinos and this and that all around us, which harden our hearts.

You're going to live in a Muslim country. By the grace of Allah, I've lived in at least four different countries. I've lived in a non-Muslim country that is a third world country. I've lived in a non-Muslim country that is G-7, I've lived in a Muslim country. I have seen the different ways in which we are exposed to passive sinning. You go live in Muslim countries, unfortunately, you will see discrimination. You will see innocent people being treated like slaves. You will see women being degraded. You will see one ruling family taking control of the country as if it is their father's property and milking the resources of the country which belongs to the people, to the Muslims, and using it to build their own dynasties.

So when you live in that society and you contribute to that society, you are also contributing to something that is false. So the question here is I have two choices, I can either go to work and be surrounded by people who are of illegitimate birth or who are gay or who are this or that, or I can go to a place like Mecca and Medina and work with our Wahhabi friends. And now as I work with them, because I'm associating with them and I am dealing with them, there is a softness that develops for them, because now I'm dealing with them. It's just like at work you deal with others, right? So you develop at least the seriousness of how you see them is compromised. That will also harden your heart. What would you rather harden your heart? I say to you, it is better if a kafir hardens your hearts than if a Wahhabi hardens your heart, because that kafir and mushrik sometimes does not know what he is doing. He was raised or she was raised like that in ignorance, and if they were given Hidaya, they might change. If anything, we might be questioned why did we not give them the message of Islam?

But that person who knows the truth and hates the Ahlul Bayt alayhum assalam, if he causes your heart to become hard, or if you lean towards him, then there is absolutely no excuse for that. So the issue that we need to talk about, not to labor, the point is that, yes, istighfar can be done sincerely and istighfar can be done hypocritically. But there are many little things that we can start individually as persons without being affected by the society. When I go to the grocery store or to the shopping mall to buy bread and there is loud, noisy haram music blaring, I can't control that. But in my own house, I should be able to control whether this music being played or not. That kafir, that mushrik is not forcing me to look at something haram, that is for me to control. Now, if I look and enjoy and then say astaghfirul-Lah, astaghfirul-Lah, astaghfirul-Lah, that is hypocritical.

And that is why yesterday I said, I can tell you what to do, except one thing I can't tell you. You can ask me. You talked about this. How do we do this? How do we achieve this? How do we there's one thing if you ask me, I can't tell you how to do it, which is how to become sincere. Sincerity has to come from us. That is the first condition that Allah wants. You show sincerity, then I will guide you. Then I will show you the way. Then I will forgive you. Then I will give you knowledge. Then I will give you. The first condition has to come from us. And that is only one thing sincerity khulus.

You can control, when you go out you may not be able to control the picture on the poster board on the streets, but you can control what kind of programs your children are watching on the television. You can control what websites your children are surfing. You can control what kind of pictures you are hanging on the walls of your homes. These are things my dear brothers and sisters, that also can harden the heart. You can control the kind of conversations you have at your dinner table. You can control the kind of friends you keep and socialize with. And that was the point we were making yesterday, that we need to have our identity and our culture so strong that we should not need to look up to the kuffar and mushrikeen for culture and identity.

So that when our children go to universities, when our children go to work, when they leave at the end of the day, in the evenings, on the weekends, they socialize with mu'minin, they should not have to look for friends from school and university and work to socialize. And I have seen this myself because I work in the corporate world and I see that we do not realize the value of having a community. This is also from the safqa of Aba Abdullah Al-Husayn [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad]. Otherwise, you tell me, what relationship do I have to most of you here, some of you are related to me by blood. But look at the bond we have. We come from different cultures. Some of you are Arabs, some of you are Iranians, some of you are from totally different backgrounds. But there is this love, there is this bonding as if we are brothers from the same father and mother. Where is that coming from?

I see people at work, the only friends they have, those they work with, that is their life.That is why when they get fired from work, they get depressed to commit suicide. They do this, they do that. Whereas we we are waiting to leave work so that we can come to the mosque, we can go to the madrassa, we can meet with our fellow brothers and sisters from Iman. But we need to come to the mosque for us to allow our children to build that relationship and that bond. So hardening of the heart will happen any part of the world you're going to live in, simply because the root cause is passive sinning, not necessarily active singing and passive sinning can be, can be, can be dealt with individually. It doesn't necessarily have to be in where you live. It makes it easier, of course, if you can live in a predominantly Muslim society. I'm not denying that at all. But there are things that we can do and I just want to say just one or two things, inshaAllah, before we move on.

One of the things that we need to do, and I've mentioned this once during an Eid khutba, that we need to keep in touch with our Imams by going for ziyarat as often as possible. Sometimes it is difficult because of the danger or political reasons or whatever it is. But by the grace of Allah, they are all over the world and there are so many places that you can go to. Unfortunately, we treat the Ahlul Bayt and the Imams as if they are not alive. We said they are alive, but we don't treat them like they are alive. We go as if we're going for the out of the grave of the Imam. I ask you, my dear brothers and sisters, that if somebody wants to say to you today that Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib, alayhi assalam [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad].

If someone were to say to you that he is sitting in Qom right now, who would not want to get on the next plane and go there? Would we not make it a point at least once a year to go and do salaam to our Imam? So if we believe that they are alive and we know they are alive, then let us treat them like that. If we can't go to Karbala, if we can't go to Samarra, if we can't go to Najaf, if we can't go to Mashhad, we can go to even Sham. The sister of Husayn is no less. And by doing so, we momentarily and for some time at least isolate ourselves from a society that is filled with passive sinning. It gives us the opportunity to rejuvenate ourselves, to recharge ourselves, to reconnect with the Ahlul Bayt, alayhum assalam. It keeps that freshness of their memory. It keeps... We are the ones who benefit by Allah, more than they do. They expressed a lot of desire that we should go visit them.

Yes, it is true that Imam Al-Ridha, alayhi assalam, used to say [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad] that if somebody comes to visit me, I will help them at places where nobody will help them. I will help them in the grave. I will help them in the crossing of the Sirat, I will help them on the Day of Judgment. Yes, it is true also that the Messenger of Allah, peace be with him and his family, says that a lawyer has appointed two angels near my grave, one facing the eastern world, one facing the Western world. And when somebody does salaam to me from the angel facing East, if they are from the east, the angel replies Salaam on my behalf. And when somebody from the western side of the world doesn't come to me, then the angel on my grave facing the western side replies Salaam on my behalf, but when somebody comes to Medina and does salaam to me and says assalaam aleika ya Rasul Allah, then I personally reply to their Salaam [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad]. And inshaAllah tomorrow, I will share some anecdotes with you about Aba Abdillah and about Karbala, you will see.

So this is one thing that we need to keep in mind, that if you feel that your heart has become hard and I'm saying this to myself, not to you. Look for a way at least once in a year, go visit one of the Imams and inshaAllah, you will find a way to soften the heart. The other thing that I want to mention as well is that Islam does not allow monasticism and to cut ourselves away from the society. But it has given us a great gift that we call i'tikaf. I'tikaf is where Islam solves the problem of a human beings need to isolate themselves from society so that they can worship Allah for a fixed period of time in isolation and soft on their heart. We tend to do i'tikaf only in the month of Ramadan and we do it only for three days. But you can do it even for 10 days. And it doesn't have to be in the month of Ramadan. It can be other times of the year as well.

So if we see this as a problem in our community or amongst ourselves or amongst the youth, that there is hard heartedness, then this is a solution that we have. Just like we have seminars that like we have discussions that like we have conferences just like we have retreats. We can have i'tikafs as well. And this is also a great way in which we can reduce this issue of passive sinning and hard heartedness because it cuts you away from society for a period of time and allows you to focus on the heart and its purification, inshaAllah. If you can recite a salawat 'ala Muhammad wa aali Muhammad [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad].

Now, the other issue that we wanted to talk about was materialism. Again, before we talk about materialism, there is one more thing that I want to mention without labouring the point that also causes hard heartedness. And I understand that this is a challenge for many of us, but it is something that we need to start thinking about. When I look at ahadith, one of the major causes of hard heartedness is excessive eating, excessive consumption of food. And it is important that I mentioned this because if we are sincere in trying to soften our hearts, this is something we need to think about.

We have in ahadith, for example, that's one hadith that says, "laisa shayun adharru li qalb al-mu'min min kathrati il-akl", there is nothing that harms the heart of a believer like excessive food. And then the Imam gives a reason for it. He says it is because excessive food will result in two things: hard heartedness and an outburst of base desires. This is what excessive food does.

And in another hadith as well as well, from Rasul Allah, sallalaahu alayhi wa aalihi wa sallam [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad]. He says your heart is like a plant. Do not kill it with excessive food and water. So a good way to keep the heart alive is to think of your heart like a plant. Many of us have plants at home. If you ever feel like you're in a murderous mood and you want to kill a plant or two try starving a plant and try putting excess water in the plant, you will see the plant that you put excess water in will die faster.

So think of your heart as a plant. It needs food, it needs water, but it needs to be nourished. A true believer sees the world differently. It is humility and everything he does or she does. And that is why I mentioned a couple of nights back in one of my lectures that when we see food, we see, oh, this is fried chicken. But a believer sees it. He sees the carcass of an animal. He sees himself as just as the reality is being the soul, not the body. The body is just a machine. Even doctors and scientists will tell you when you eat excessive food, you wrinkle faster, you grow old faster, your body breaks down faster. Right. So when we are putting something into our mouths and it is being digested and it is going into our heart, it will definitely have an effect. And if we think of our heart as a plant, then it is easier to keep it alive because now we realize what are the things that will kill it in excess.

It is not just a question of eating haram food. This is halal food, but excessive eating. And again, it is something that we cannot judge somebody else. If you're sitting beside me and you see he is reading is eating so much. Right. The issue is not to judge somebody else because physically we are different. We do different jobs. Some of us do more labor work. Some of us have a higher metabolism. The issue is to judge for ourselves, there's a beautiful saying from Amir al-Mu'mineen alayhi assalam, which also runs [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad], He says: " idha mulian al-batan min al-mubah, amia al-qalb ani's-salah" when the stomach is filled with that which is permissible, mubah, then the heart becomes blind to that which is righteous and virtuous. So excessive eating is not our path, it is not for us.

The messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his family, used to say we are a community who only eat when we are hungry and when we stand up after eating, when we stand up from the table, after eating, we are still hungry. This is us, he says. So if we want to be with him, then do not stretch your hand towards food except when you are hungry and when you have done eating leave some room. You should still be a little hungry when you stop eating.

It comes to the same issue of sincerity and hypocrisy. There are many, many ways to say Al-hamdulil-Lah just like there are many ways to say astaghfirullah. There is one man who sleeps hungry and says Al-hamdulil-Lahi Rabbi Al-Alameen. That is one man who eats just right and says Al-hamdulil-Lahi Rabbi Al-Alameen. Then there is one man who fills his stomach and then sits back and burps and says, Al-hamdulil-Lahi Rabbi Al-Alameen. That is also Al-hamdulil-Lahi Rabbi Al-Alameen. But that is not with khuloos, that al-Hamad is just whatever you want to call it.

And worst, the excessive eating is eating with lust because a mu'min is never a slave of his stomach. So the 6th Imam alayhi assalaam, said man kana hammuhu [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad], Al-Sadiq alayhi assalam, man kana hammuhu batnu kana qibatuhu man kharaja minhu, one whose constant preoccupation is his stomach, his value is what comes out from it. This is the words of an Imam, uh. This is what a person is worth. If he is all day preoccupied, ajesu kasuni, kalesu kasuni, food, food, food. And there are reasons for this. We can discuss at length why food holds such a grip on people, why people see it as their god. Ra'aita alladhi ilahahu hawahu? Have you seen him whose God is his lust? (45:23). So there is a man who eats a lot, but he needs that, and he says Al-hamdulil-Lah. And there is a man who eats little, but he eats with lust and he is worse than the one who eats more. And that is why I say it is not for us to judge somebody else, but this is just something for us to think about, inshaAllah. As to what are the cause.

Now, a final point that we want to see about food is that think of food and your body, even from a medical and a scientific point of view, that when we eat food we enjoyed on our tongue because of its taste. But where is the food going? There is a hole in our face that we call the mouth. We pick this food, we put it in this hole. It's going in down a gullet, down the pipe. Where is it going? It is breaking down. Some of it, of course, comes out, but some of it stays in. Where does that stink? It becomes chemicals. It breaks down. It replenishes the blood. And then where does the blood go? Primarily to the heart, which is our discussion. It is the heart which is pumping the blood.

Now, go and ask doctors how long it takes for the body on the skin of a person to change entirely. I don't know, maybe seven years, ten years or how long it takes. But as we eat and our body breaks down and the cells break down and new cells come into existence, we build a new skin. So every seven years, ten years, or whatever it is, you are a completely new human being. You are no longer what you are before.

So if a person is constantly eating haraam, food after seven years or ten years, his entire body is haram. So we need to think about this very carefully that not only does food affect our heart, but you are what you eat. You become what you eat at some point. That becomes the shell that your soul resides in. And I think that suffices as a discussion on food.

Now, materialism, this was one of the causes of wretchedness. And this has caused a lot of misunderstanding as well. Amongst some of my listeners. I've had at least four or five people come to say to me, what do you mean by materialism? How come since you started giving lectures, I feel guilty going to work or earning a living? Is it mad for me to want more money? So first, I just want to give you a dictionary definition of materialism. How does the world define materialism? Materialist materialism refers to how a person or a group of people choose to spend their resources, particularly money and time. Literally, a materialist is a person for whom collecting material goods is an important priority.

In common use the word more specifically refers to a person who primarily pursues wealth and luxury. Sometimes such a person displays conspicuous consumption. And then there is another word besides it's called consumerism, which is a term used to describe the effects of equating personal happiness with purchasing material possessions and consumption. So the way the world is defining materialism is very much aligned with the way Islam is defining hubb ad-Dunyah.

Materialism is a way of thinking what a person's preoccupation and primary ambition is to amass wealth. And you can identify a materialist in the manner in which they spend their wealth and how they spend their free time.

So when Islam talks about materialism, it uses this word called hankering, hankering after the world. We need to understand what we mean by hankering after the world over. Hubb ad-Dunya is when a person is never contented with the world or what he or she has always wanting more, always wanting what others want. As opposed to the other side, where a person may try to improve their career or may try to strive and try to improve one's financial condition. But there is contentment that if I get more, it is good. I will use it to serve humanity. I will use it to serve a lot. I will use it to build my hereafter. But if I don't get more, I am satisfied with what I have. Discontentment and discontentment is what defines materialism. In other words, a materialist is a person who sees wealth as an end, whereas a non materialist or a believer is a person who sees wealth as a means. Very often, when a lot blesses us with wealth, we see this as a blessing and a net. But in reality it is neither a blessing nor is it a punishment, because everything that a love gives us can be either one of them.

And the reality of the matter is, everything is a trial. If Allah has given you health, it is a trial. If Allah has made you ill, it is a trial. If Allah has given you wealth, it is a trial. If Allah has given you poverty, it is also a trial. Now, what do you do with that illness or the poverty or the wealth or that health will determine whether it is a reward or a punishment. How are you going to use that?

If Allah has blessed you with wealth, He has honored you and favored you not by giving you the wealth, but by making you an ambassador and a means through which He gives others. In other words, not everything that He has given to you is yours. How much will you eat o son of Adam? That is what we are told in ahadith, you can fill a valley, but you cannot fill the stomach of Bani Adam. It's a bottomless pit.

So there is this other argument that we give sometimes, and ulama' also mention that Islam is not asking you to wear patched clothes. Islam is not asking you to live like a poor man. Islam has no problem with you eating good food or wearing good clothes or leading a life of luxury or having a good house or having a good car, and so on. That is all true. But, and I leave everybody to decide for themselves, I speak for myself. What is practical and what is realistic? To me, leading a simple life or within one's means, and then if Allah gives you the opportunity to make more money, not to shy away from it, but to see that as a means of taking and building your hereafter by giving others is the right approach.

But if a person, a person's fortune was to change suddenly, let's say a person got promoted to high rank and their salary doubled, for example, or they came to a big profit in their business, if the person was to now upgrade the quality of their life, because that's natural, that as we earn more, we improve the quality of our lives. We look for a bigger house, we look for a better job. We look for a better car. We look for we keep improving the quality of our life. We eat better food, we dress better and so on. So if a person keeps getting more wealth and they keep improving and upgrading the quality of their life, but they don't share any of this to others, and yet they see I'm not attached to it. I don't understand how that works and how this person really believes that he is not a materialist. To me, that is impossible.

The only way not to be a materialist when you are receiving more from Allah is to see yourself as a conduit. To see yourself is a means that what Allah is giving me, not all of it is mine. Some of it belongs to others. And I'm not talking about khums, khums is not yours, because that is another false misconception: by the grace Allah, I give ten thousand dollars khums every year. I give twenty thousand, fifty thousand dollar khums. That you are not giving. That is not yours. That is Fatima's. Who gave it to you? [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad].

That is not yours. What have you given to Islam? What have you given to humanity? What have you given to Allah? You give from the eighty percent, not from the twenty percent that you have to give. It is not an act of love. That is, you have to. It's like when you play your prayers five times a day, you have to. If you don't, you burn in hell. Right. So you can't say that is an act of love. Love is you have to go to work in the morning, but you get up in the middle of the night and you sit on your prayer mat... Ya Rabbi! Ya Rabbi! Ya Rabbi! That is love.

So when a person comes to believe that more power, more wealth, more fame will give me peace and happiness, then that is a sign of materialism. That is hubb ad-Dunyah. That is what Rasul Allah is saying that will make your heart hard, and that is what we want to combat. So I summarize five different qualities of a materialist and we need to just look at this and say, if I have this in me, then that is the cause of my hard heartedness and that is what I need to change. The first thing is that if a person is a materialist, they do not remember death often, they forget death.

This is the first sign of a materialist and this is from a famous hadith from Amir ul-Mu'mineen Ali, salawatullahui wa assalamu alayh [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad] that whosoever hopes to live tomorrow, he hopes to live forever, min yuammilu ayaishu ghadan fa innahu yuammilu yaishu abada. How true is that. If today I hope to be alive tomorrow and tomorrow I hope to be alive the day after, when am I going to hope not to be alive? In other words, I believe I'm going to live forever. It's as simple as that. And then he says, and whoever hopes to live forever, his heart will become hard.

So Islam wants us to have a state of preparedness so that we are always thinking I live in this world for as long as a wants me, but my heart desires to go to Jannah, I am ready to go. And we want to come to a point where, along with all my plans, we all have plans of what we are going to do tomorrow. Does any one of us have this plan that tomorrow, in case I am not alive, then this and this needs to happen? That is the state of preparedness. We want to come to a state of preparedness that we are so ready, so prepared, that it's not just a matter of saying that I might die at any time, but I am aware and conscious and actively prepared that I might not make it home tonight. So that constant remembrance of death is what softens the heart, and that is what we need to... And that is why there are many, many ahadith from the Prophet and from the Ahlul Bayt, alayhum assalam, to say. That, by Allah, we do not fear anything about you after we are gone, the way we fear about you for two things: far fetched hopes and prolonged desires.

This desire, never ending desire and far fetched hopes. To have hope is one thing, to have far fetched hopes about this world. I still want to do this before I die. I still want to do this before I die. I still want to go bungee jumping and I still want to go scuba diving. And I still want to do this and I want to do this, which is what is keeping the hard part. By all means, if you get a chance to go, I'm not saying it is haram, but to be driven by this far fetched hopes and prolong desires, this is one of the reasons that cause hard heartedness.

The second, which ties into the first one, is that if a person prefers to live longer in this world rather than to attain martyrdom and to go to Jannah, then that is another thing that would cause hard heartedness. So that's the other reason we need to ask ourselves, do I, at this point in life, prefer to be alive in this world or do I prefer to be in Jannah? And that will also tell us something. And there are many, many ahadith that show this that a person might say with his mouth that I want to go to and I want martyrdom, but the truth that is in the heart will come out at the time of death. Many incidents, people are dying, they are being asked to read shahadah, they are not saying Shahada, and some of them were doing Hisab.

Allama Dastaghaib gives one example. He says there was one Baqqal, he used to sell grocery. It was like a convenience store. I was selling vegetables when he was dying. People were saying to him, la ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad ar-rasul Allah, qulu, he was saying five, six, two, three ninety nine, two ninety nine. Allama Dastaghaib men mentioned this. He is still attached. This will haunt us not now at the time we die if we're not prepared. So these are the things that cause hard heartedness.

The third thing that cause hard heartedness is when we are willing to part with something of our religion for the sake of this world. And this is a constant reference in Qur'an that people who sell their faith for the world. And that's why Imam Ali, alayhi assalam, says: the price of your soul is Jannah, do not sell it for anything less than that, do not shortchange yourself.

There is one beautiful hadith from Imam Hasan al-Mujtaba, salawatullahi wa assalamu alayh [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad]. He says the sign of a ghafil, the sign of a person who is heedless, is that he gives up coming to the mosque. He stops coming to the mosque. If you see a person is not attached to the mosque and he claims to be a Muslim. That is a sign of being heedless and that will cause hard heartedness. So what of a person who comes to the mosque and then because business is prospering or the world is calling to give up the mosque? Of course it will harden the heart. It is, again, not meant to be a criticism.

It is just self-evaluation that if a person sells anything of the hereafter for the sake of this world, and that's why Allah praises a certain group of people in the Qur'an: "Rijaalul laa tulheehim tijaaratun wa laa bai', 'an dhikr Illaah" (24:37), men whom neither trade nor business can divert from the remembrance of Allah, He says there are people like this, believers. These are my people, people whom you can test in any way you want, give them business, give them trade, give them opportunities, give them power, give them fame, give them anything. You cannot divert them from the zikr of Allah. They are single mindedly focused on that. Everything else is a means. The goal is Allah. Anything besides that will harden the heart.

The fourth thing is if a person wants more wealth or more power or more pleasure for the sake of it and it becomes an end rather than means, we have mentioned this. This is another sign of being materialistic, which will cause hard heartedness. And in relation to that as well, we say that when a person does something, they should always try and find a way. Our bodies have needs. Our bodies need pleasure. Our body needs certain fulfillment, but find a way to change that so that it becomes a means and not an end.

For example, Imam Zayn Al-Abideen, alayhi assalam used to say in one of his du'as [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad] he used to pray to Allah and says: "audhubika ya Allahu min kulli ladhdhatin bi ghayri dhikrik", I seek refuge with you o Allah, from every pleasure that is without Your remembrance. So even in pleasure, even when you are eating remember Allah, and change your intention and succeed in the hereafter and you still enjoy the pleasure of this world, this is the thing that we don't understand.

That you are going to work anyway, change your intention, bring about sincerity and go as if Allah wants you to do jihad in His way by going to earn a lawful livelihood for your family. Now, you're still going to work. You're still going to earn, but now you're getting rewarded for it. Otherwise, it's like staying hungry the whole day, but not fasting. Your niyah is not there and you stayed hungry anyway. So if I'm eating food and it's going to give me pleasure, if I change my intention and say I am eating so that I may acquire strength to worship Allah, it will not reduce the pleasure of the food. Trust me, I will still enjoy the food. But now I get rewarded for eating the food and it does not harden my heart because now the food is not an end, it's a means. So anything we do of this world look at it and say, is this an end or a means for me? If it is an end, how do I change it and make it a means?

And lastly, the sign of a materialist is when all our free time and all our extra savings is used in pursuit of finding more wealth and more pleasure. This is the single most thing that will harden the heart. As long as all our free time is only in pleasure: playing games, talking to friends, roaming around the malls, and all our extra money is just for investment to make more money. We will be graded as materialists and it will harden our heart. So again, you do something for us to look individually and say we all have some free time in our lives and we all have some excess savings in our life. How much of it is only dedicated for more wealth and more pleasure and how much is for anything else? And that will tell us ourselves the cause of our hard heartedness and the cause of whether we are materialistic or not. Salawat 'ala Muhammad wa aali Muhammad. [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad].

So we want to conclude this whole discussion that we've been having for five days. We have talked about the causes now, we know that the things that we want to take away from this inshaAllah after this week, from next week onwards, as individuals and as a community, is combat this passive sinning, this habit of eating excessively and all the different forms of materialism. But my original subject was in search of a weeping heart. And so I want to end a bit with the virtues of weeping once again.

There was a book that I mentioned a couple of nights ago that was written by a doctor that was called the harpsichord, Dr. Paul Peirsol. He mentioned something very interesting about the heart and weeping. And I found out even after I had come up with the subject that I wanted to discuss. It's not like it was an inspiration to the title even of the subject. He says that as a doctor, he collected samples of tears from people and he analyzed them. He found that people's tears when they come from sadness, they are different from the tears that come ordinarily. Like, for example, when your eyes are irritated or when you're cutting on onions, for example, he said. If you're chopping onions or if your eyes are irritated in these tears that come out of your eyes, he took those tears and he took the tears from a person who cries out of sadness or crying deep within from the heart, and he compared them.

He said the tears that came from sadness, from true grief, from the heart or from true happiness as well. He took the also happiness aspect. It had protein in the tears, which the others did not. And from that, he concludes that because of the content of that protein, the tears that come out from happiness or from sadness, that is from within the heart, it cleans some toxic chemicals in the body and takes it out through the tears. So it purifies us from within as well. We think it's just two years. And so from this, we understand that not only does crying, not only does a soft heart cause tears to flow, but tears in return causes soft heartedness. They complement each other. And that is why we need to find ways in which we can find this.

And so you will find in Islam, this is beautiful and unique, that it constantly mentions weeping, that a person is closest to Allah at two times: when they are in prostration and when they are weeping, when they're crying to Allah. And it is mentioned many, many times in the Qur'an. "idha tutla alayhim ayat Ar-Rahmanu kharru sujjadan wa bukiyyaa" (19:58) this is in Surah Maryam, that when the signs of Allah are mentioned to them, they fall down in prostration, crying. This is what we want to become. Why do we not fall down in frustration and cry when we read the Qur'an?

And again, in Surah al-Isra, he say "inna alladheena ootul 'ilm, min qablihi idhaa yutlaa 'alaihim yakhirroona lil adhqaani sujjadaa"(17:107) , that those who have been given knowledge in the past when the signs of Allah are recited to them, they fall down on their faces in prostration. "Wa yaquloona Subhana Rabbina in kana wa'du Rabbinaa lamaf'oolaa"(17:108), they say glory be to our Lord, the promise of our Lord will surely come true. "Wa yakhirruna lil adhqaani wa yabkoona wa yazeeduhum khushoo'aa" (17:109) , and they fall down on their faces crying and it increases them in all and in fear of Allah.

And that is why the Messenger of Allah, peace between his family [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad]. He says if a person is able to weep one drop even the size of a fly for every drop, Allah will construct for him a palace in paradise that will be made of rubies and pearls. And in this palace he will set for him rewards which no eye has ever seen, which no ear has ever heard: "Wamala khatar ala qalbi bashar" and that which has never occurred to the heart of a man, He will give that to a person.

And the imams have said: " wa jattu an-Noor fil buka wa as-sajdah", we have seen Noor and Light in a person who prostrates and cries. And so this is what we want. We want a free heart. We want the penitent heart. And I apologize again for for for the time. But there are verses of Qur'an that I want to end with just as an inspiration and a conclusion to this from Sura Qaf, which is chapter 50, verse 30 to 35, Allah says about the people of Hellfire. First, he says, "Yawma naqoolu li'jahannam halim talaati wa taqoolu hal mim mazeed" (50:30), on the day when we say to the fire of hell are you filled up? And the fire of hell says, Are there any more? "Wa uzlifati il-jannah lil muttaqeena ghaira ba'eed" (50:31), and we display paradise then, and bring it close to the believers. "Haadha maa tu'adoona li kulli awwaabin hafeez" (50:32), this paradise, this beautiful land that you reside in for eternity, this is what was promised to them for every one who has been turning to us time and time again and protecting themselves from sin.

"Man khashiya ar-Rahmaana bilghaib, wa ja'a bi qalbi muneeb" (50:33), this paradise is for those who feared Allah sincerely and secretly from within, and has come back to Allah on the Day of Judgment with a heart that is penitent with a heart that is repentant. "Udkhulooh bi 's-salaami dhalika yawm ul-khulood" (50:34), they shall be told enter in peace. This is the day of eternity. This is the day you enter in this abode and live in here for eternity. "Lahum maa yashaaa'oona feehaa wa ladainaa mazeed" (50:35), for them in this paradise shall be whatever their hearts desire and with us is even more after that.

And so this then becomes our inspiration that inshaAllah we look for ways to soften the heart and acquire these qualities so that we too as well may benefit from this in Jannah. Salawat 'ala Muhammad wa aali Muhammad. [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'aali Muhammad].

Last night we started talking about the Ahlul Bayt, alayhum assalam, in Sham, and we paid our respects to the little daughter of Husayn, Sakina Bint Al-Husayn. We showed how she was tormented and how she cried for her father, night after night, until she passed away. In her own way, she created a revolution in Damascus because after her passing away, we are told that Yazeed became extremely worried.

The people of Damascus, there was not a man or a woman who was not crying for Zaynab and for Sayyid as-Sajjad. They became aware now, of who these people were. They had not known that this was the Prophet's family. They were kept in the dark by Mu'awiah and Yazeed. And we are told that the people of Sham begin putting black cloths on their houses and black flags on their houses. And Yazeed increasingly became worried. He tried to change the situation and control it. One of the things he did was he took the Qur'an and divided it in thirty parts. And he started telling people after salat al-jama'a they should sit and read the Qur'an.

But the people were still not accepting it. They were still talking about Imam Husayn and they were still, and this is the sira of his father because he had put Qur'an on the spears. So he was thinking he will use the Qur'an again to win. But now he was not contending with Ali. He was contending with Zaynab. She had created a revolution he could not stop. Hind, the wife of Yazeed says that one night I saw Yazeed alone in the dark. He was hitting his head on the wall. He was hitting his head on the wall and crying "mali wali Al-Husayn? Mali wali Al-Husayn?" What did Husayn do to me that I killed him? What did Husayn do to me? She says to him, or Yazeed, what is this condition of yours I see? He says, I cannot sleep. When I sleep, Rasul Allah comes in my dream. He says to me, Yazeed, why did you kill my Husayn? Yazeed, what did my Asghar do to you that you killed my six month old infant?

And Hind says to Yazeed: o Yazeed, why do you not free the women then? Why do you not let them go? And Yazeed begins to see that this is something that might save him. Marwan Ibn al-Hakam, also one of his visirs, come to him and says to him or Yazeed, Damascus is in uproar. You must let these people go. They are taking over from you. Whatever is left of the Bani Umayah and Ahli Sufyan will be lost. Yazeed calles Imam Al-Sajjad, alayhi assalam. He tells him: oh Ali Ibn Al-Husayn, I have freed you. Ask for whatever you want.

Imam Al-Sajjad, alayhi assalam, says to Yazeed, Oh Yazeed we do not want anything from you. We want the heads of our fathers and our brothers and our uncles. O Yazeed, we want the things that Fatimah had given us, that your people looted, we want the handkerchief of Fatimah, we want the spindel of Fatima, we want the dress of Fatimah. Yazeed says, I will give you a lot more than this. He says, I don't want anything. I want the property that was taken from us. I want the cradle of Asghar that your people took away. I want the earrings of Sakinah that you pulled from her ears. Give this back to me!

Yazeed gives this back to him. He says you are free. Go tell your aunt you are free. Now, Imam Al-Sajjad, alayhi assalam, comes. He had chains and shackles on him. By Allah, the way they put shackles and chains on this Imam, history testifies that when you put something on a prisoner around his neck, you open it and then you close it, but for this Imam, the push this through his head, down into his neck. And when you put a collar or a bend of iron on someone's neck, there are needles on it, that point outwards for this Imam, they were pointed inwards. He had such scars on his body that he carried it for the rest of his life.

Zaynab sees a new face now. I don't know if you recognized Ali Ibn Al-Husayn when he came back to her. My dear aunt Zaynab, we have been freed. We can return to Medina now. Zaynab says, I will not go until I have done matam for my Husayn. She becomes the bani of this Azadari. She becomes the founder who is our inspiration. She becomes the start of this revolution. She says to the people of Sham, we must cry for Husayn! Our houses set aside. The women come and start crying for Akbar and for Husayn and for Ali Al-Asghar.

All of them come to Zaynab. She tells them of what happened in Karbala. These are the people who kept us thirsty for three days and three nights. Yazeed did this to my brother. Yazeed did this to my son. The news is spreading in Sham, the people of Sham are coming. When the women come to cry, they see that all the heads have been taken by the different women. Leila has the head of Akbar, Umm Kulthum has the head of Abbas. Zaynab has the head of Husayn. There are two heads that nobody is claiming. So somebody says, has the mother of these two children died? Is she not alive? Zaynab said, These are my Awn and Muhammad. I am crying for my Husayn, then I will cry for my sons. After three days, Yazeed finds out that again his kingdom is shaking.

He calls Imam Al-Sajjad and says: O Ali Ibn Al-Husayn, you cannot stay in Damascus. You must leave now and go back to your homes. Yazeed then points a man called Bashir bin Nu'man and says to him, take the qafila of Husayn. Take the women of Husayn back to their Madina, treat them with honor and respect. Let them do as they please. As the qafila begins to leave, they are all dressed in black. The whole qafila begins leaving towards Medina and Karbala. As they are going out, Zaynab says, I must go to the prison once more. I will not leave until I go to the prison again. Rabab throw herself on the little grave in the prison.

Sakinah, you always wanted to go back to Medina. Sakina, it is time to return. Sakina, you used to stand at the door of the prison and look at the birds and say, my brother Sajjad, where are these birds going? And when you are told it was evening they were going home, you used to say, when will I go back to Fatimah As-Sughra? This time Fatimah as-Sughrah is waiting for you. When there is no reply, Zaynab calls the women of Sham. Oh women or Sham! We are leaving our amana with you! Do not abandon her! "Fa zuru qabraha wa la tansuha", oh people of Sham, visit her grave and do not leave her.

The qafila begins to proceed. As they come to a fork in the road where it goes towards Karbala and Medina, Zaynab says: I want to go to Karbala first. From here, the qafila is going to Karbala. From Madina, the eminent companion of the Prophet, Jabir bin Abdillah Al-Ansar is coming to Karbala. Jabir is the first zahir of Husayn. Jabir reaches Karbala before the qafila of Imam Al-Sajjad reaches Karbala. Jabir at that point is an old man, he is blind. He has a slave with him, called Atiya. Atiya says Jabir was first went to Furat, he did ghusl al-Furat. Then he said to Atiya take me to the grave of Husayn. He went to the grave of Husayn. He said, O Atiya, put my hand on the grave of Husayn. He put his hand on the grave of Husayn.

Then he began calling: Ya Husayn! Ya Husayn! Ya Husayn! Ya Husayn! When Jabir had called Husayn a couple of times and there was no reply, he said, Ya Husayn! Ahabibullah yujubu abibuhu? Oh Husayn, does a friend not answer a friend? And then Jabir said, But oh Husayn, your head has been cut off. How will you reply Jabir? Jabir begins going around the grave of Husayn. A ssalamu aleyka ya Aba Abdillah, wa ala alarwahi allati allat bi fina'yk. Jabir begins to do salam to the other shu'adahh. Atiya says to him, Our Jabir, there is a cloud of dust on the horizon. These might be the people of Ibn Ziyad. Jabir says, go and see. It might be my Mawla Ali Ibn Al-Husayn.

O Atiya, if this is Zayn Al-Abideen anta hurrun fi-Llah! I have freed you in the name of Allah. Atiya goes to see which this qafila is, we are told, that Atiya comes back slapping his face and crying, saying . Qum ya Jabir! Istaqbal harama Rasul Allah. O Jabir, stand up and welcome the qafila of Rasul Allah. Oh Jabir, stand up the haram of Rasul Allah has come. Jabir stands up and he begins going towards Imam Al-Sajjad. Assalamu alayka ya Ibn Rasul Allah! After how long Imam Al-Sajjad has found somebody to do salaam to him. This is the Iman who was taken in Kufa and Sham and there was no one to say salaam to him. Jabir! Imam Al-Sajjad begins taking him around Karbala and showing him the different signs of Karbala.

Jabir ahuna qutila rijaluna, Jabir, this is where my father was killed. Then he took him somewhere else. Jabir, hahuna dhubihat atfaluna. Jabir, this is where our children were slaughtered. Jabir, ahuna subiyat nisahuna wa ahuna uhriqak qiyamuna. Oh Jabir, this is where our tents were burned. This is where our women were imprisoned. Zaynab throws herself on the grave of Husayn and faints. She cries, Oh, Husayn or Husayn, I could not bring your amana with you.

I would say oh land of Karbala. You should stand up and welcome Zaynab to Karbala. Ask Zaynab, why has she become so old? Ask because I know why has become so bent? Ask Zaynab why has it hair turned white? Uchle unse Karbala kasta kamar Zaynab nati. O Karbala, Zaynab's back was not bent, why is it beant this day? Or Karbala, do not look for Sakina on the grave of Abbas. O Karbala, if you can hide the little grave of Asghar, nannisi qabr Asghar katum chupalo Karbala. Kiatar apne asum sokoge madare beshirki. O Karbala, Rabab will cry in a manner for Asghar you will not be able to bear.

Ala la'natullahee 'ala qaum adh-dhaleemeen. Wa saya'lamu alladheena dhalamu ayamun qalabin yanqaliboon. Ilahi, bi haqqi Muhammad wa Ali, wa Fatima, wa al-Hasan wa Al-Husayn, wa tissati min dhurriyati al-Husayn. Oh Allah, we ask you to accept our gathering here, and we ask you for the forgiveness of our marhomeen and shifa'a of those who are ill and to hasten the appearance of our Imam. Rabbana taqabbal minha. Innaka anta as-same'u al-Aleem. Ma'tam al-Husayn.