4 Tools for Breaking from Self Delusion | Usuli Khutbah

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:10]Alam allayikum.

[00:00:35]Shadow, I shadow.

[00:01:01]Madame Salam.

[00:01:29]Hallelufer.

[00:01:50]Allahbar.

[00:02:05]No more.

[00:02:42]Subhan Allah. Alhamdulillah.

[00:03:08]Today I want to talk about specifically when the results of seem or do Allah always go against the core messages of the Quran.

[00:03:47]For example, when people are caught between two decisions to pursue a career in what they're passionate about but is not lucrative or to pursue the safe career or for example In relations, whether to stay with someone, to go to severize or relations within a community.

[00:04:35]Or when for example feeling the pressure of the darkness in this world and a desire to change it whether to upend one's life to pursue and strive in a solution for that or to remain the course and focus on the self and focus on taking care care of their children, their spouse.

[00:05:19]To talk about this, I want to first talk about an example outside of Islam.

[00:05:29]And I cite and a lot of this is due to the work of Matthew Rimsky who is a journalist that dedicated the majority of his efforts to studying a rather famous Buddhist group called Shambala International which was founded by a Chyam Jung.

[00:05:59]Chungpa Chungpa.

[00:06:04]And aside from the fact that this individual who founded Shambala International is was an alcoholic who used to have his students record his have his students record his rants and record his experiences when in blackouts as if they were mystical experiences.

[00:06:37]who was a serial sexual abuser of his students.

[00:06:44]Who married seven young women and was constantly surrounded by women who were serving him, even taking care of things around the house.

[00:07:05]Aside from all of that and his this group Shambala International now has someone who is alive Puma Chodan who if you look at the content of the theology of what they're teaching it is essentially a method of prioritizing personal enlightenment over any kind of humanitarian movement.

[00:07:49]It is a theology of quietism rather than resistance.

[00:07:57]It is one that pushes you to accept and anesthetize your suffering. Suffering is inevitable.

[00:08:04]And so, let me show you how to deal with it and how to breathe through it.

[00:08:17]And it does not look in fact it is not just that it does not look but it gets you to look away from who might be causing that suffering or any kind of inequality within society. It does not look at the material conditions of a people who are suffering.

[00:08:39]And it is one example of how Asian movements, Asian spiritual movements, Asian spiritualities are used to further the ends of capitalism.

[00:09:06]It focuses on placating people while getting them to not look at the larger picture.

[00:09:25]This is not a new thing in human history.

[00:09:30]And I argue to you and if for those who are not new will know that this is not a new idea within our space but immediately and not even immediately after the death of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam but during his life though we see the effects of it after his death.

[00:09:58]There were attempts to mobilize and manage Islam to serve the imperial cause. Before it was even an imperial cause, there was a movement to change, manipulate, present Islam in a way that gets you to not look at the injustices of the ruler, but becomes a rationality.

[00:10:36]to rationalize your own suffering, to accept it.

[00:10:48]Allah is in control. Allah picks the rulers.

[00:10:52]My job is just to take care of my family. Allah loves when I have children.

[00:11:00]I accept the world just as Allah wills it to be.

[00:11:05]And the problem is that it uses scripture.

[00:11:12]It uses parts that are in the Quran but presents it in a different light for a different purpose to achieve a different goal which is the goals of a humanmade system of dominance and inequality.

[00:11:34]And when you face someone with their option, the when you face someone with this, their brain goes between two poles, black and white. Well, are you saying the Quran doesn't say that? Are you saying Allah that the Quran doesn't say Allah is in control? No.

[00:11:54]Life is more complicated and nuanced.

[00:11:59]And you have to understand your own comfort.

[00:12:08]So let's get into a little bit of Quran of what the Quran wants from us.

[00:12:19]In surah al hash verse 18 it says oh you who believe fear Allah and let every soul look to what it has sent forth for tomorrow individual selfaccounting this verse and this sentiment which is repeated in the Quran is often used to say don't look to the ruler just focus on yourself.

[00:12:50]And I posit to you that it is not saying to not look at the ruler.

[00:12:56]But it is saying this in a very different context.

[00:13:00]Inah verse 12. It says, "Oh you who believe, avoid much of suspicion. Not all of suspicion, much of suspicion.

[00:13:09]Indeed, some suspicion is sin. And do not spy and do not backbite one another.

[00:13:15]Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would detest it and fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is accepting of repentance and merciful.

[00:13:26]This these three things, suspicion, spying, backbiting, they're not separate. It is a progression.

[00:13:41]Suspicion leads to spying. Spying leads to backbiting.

[00:13:47]And it is a sentiment which is given to us in terms of how to deal with each other and again to bring the focus onto the self.

[00:14:02]When we look at our culture today, even the culture of se celebrities which is so normalized to look at who are they dating, what are they doing, what are they thinking, what is the wrong thing that they did. It has become so normalized. But this is it's not okay.

[00:14:23]Allah wants you with each other to assume the best.

[00:14:31]But it says avoid much of suspicion because the door needs to be open to not be stupid and delusional.

[00:14:48]To still be able to look at what especially those in positions of power are doing.

[00:15:03]And most importantly, it is talking about something that is going on within the self.

[00:15:11]And to dive deeper into that, consider surah bakar verse 44.

[00:15:18]Do you enjoin righteousness upon others while you forget yourselves though you recite the scripture?

[00:15:27]So we have this type of person who believes in God, who is praying but is always looking outward and feels a sense of righteousness and satisfaction and begins to forget themselves.

[00:15:48]In surah kf verses 103 to 104 it reads should we tell you about the greatest losers in their deeds those whose efforts are lost in the life of this world while they think they are doing good work.

[00:16:05]And this is terrifying because and elsewhere in the Quran it talks about this as well that when people are going down a certain route and feel a sense of righteousness over what they are doing convinced that they are doing something that's good Allah seals them into that behavior seals their hearts.

[00:16:35]removes the ability for the person to see the wrong that they are committing.

[00:16:51]So what we have, what the Quran is introducing to us is that self-d delusion exists.

[00:17:14]And I am sure that everyone most of us I am constantly falling into this trap and constantly pulling myself out of it.

[00:17:28]Feel I am on the right.

[00:17:34]I am doing the correct thing. I feel good about what I'm doing.

[00:17:40]They are so wrong.

[00:17:45]But alhamdulillah I also know that as a human being I enjoy comfort.

[00:17:56]I am stuck in my ways and I know and I pray that Allah help me to see when I feel good about something when I am convinced of something but it is actually leading me astray.

[00:18:27]What is the solution to this problem?

[00:18:32]Because as we know from the Quran, the whole point of all of this, our goal is to purify our soul.

[00:18:48]That's the winner in this life. the one who leaves it with a purified soul.

[00:18:56]That's the goal.

[00:19:02]So what are the two dangers?

[00:19:08]The first danger is how Jia verse 23.

[00:19:19]Have you seen the one who takes his own desires haha as his god? Allah has left him astray knowingly sealed his hearing and his heart and placed a cover over his vision.

[00:19:34]The Quran is not talking about an atheist a cafir.

[00:19:42]It is talking about someone who is devoted, who feels sincere, but the object of the true object of their worship is themselves.

[00:19:59]The outward form looks like religion, but the inward is self worship.

[00:20:12]The other danger is because this makes someone resistant to correction.

[00:20:23]In my opinion, that is the seal.

[00:20:28]When someone becomes arrogant over their position, arrogant over their Islam, arrogant over what they are doing, is convinced I I did a lot of work on myself.

[00:20:42]I figured this out. Let me tell you how to figure it out.

[00:20:52]That is the cover which will make it very difficult for the person to see if the route that they are going down is one that is going to lead them astray.

[00:21:08]So Kev makes it difficult and resistant to to correction and makes it so they filter everything through the lens of self- validation.

[00:21:23]How does this make me feel?

[00:21:29]What is Allah telling me and versus what Allah is telling you?

[00:21:36]How is what pushes you to pursue what is spiritually satisfying rather than what is actually true.

[00:21:58]It pushes you to pursue what is spiritually satisfying. What then?

[00:22:03]Rather than what is actually true.

[00:22:08]Look at the example of Lliss who use scripture in the same way. I am not going to bow to him. I am made from fire. He is made from clay.

[00:22:25]which it says that in the Quran this was was knowledge given from God of the state of which he was created versus the state of what Adam was created and use that to basic which when you think about it it's ridiculous I mean really think about that I am going to tell God you created this from this and this from that and so I'm not going to do what you're saying.

[00:23:07]How often do we do that?

[00:23:11]That's part of the delusion is that we don't see how often we do that.

[00:23:18]How often we pick and choose and mold Islam and Allah's word to do what we want to do what we feel comfortable towards to get someone else to do what we want to manage someone else into a position that we feel comfortable about like the last I gave about where I mentioned parents These two mechanisms of ha and kib of following your whim which in this context when we're talking about believers I am choosing to focus on pursuing what is spiritually satisfying and arrogance.

[00:24:27]The things to ask yourself if I'm as I want to give something tangible to people is does your religion make you more humble or more certain of your superiority?

[00:24:42]Does it open you to correction or does it close you to it? Are you open-minded?

[00:24:50]Does it make you focus on your accounting or are you judging others?

[00:24:59]Is it a mechanism to avoid guilt or is it a mechanism to truth?

[00:25:12]Another thing that I will offer which has helped me personally a lot is in situations where I feel resentment towards somebody or I become angry with somebody or I am fearful or any of the I don't want to say bad emotions but the aha problematic I think I need to look at myself. Let's be careful here emotions because emotions are just information after all is I ask myself four things especially when it comes to someone else.

[00:25:55]I ask myself where in this situation am I being selfish and selfish is what do I want?

[00:26:06]What do I want from them? What do I want from this situation? what do I want by getting them to act differently or acting according to what my expectations said they should have act acted and it is completely divorced from whether I think that my resentment is justified or not whether I think I'm right or they're wrong it just is I'm taking inventory the second thing is where is my dishonesty in this situation am I lying to myself am I using the Quran to saying they should be acting morally in this way but really this is about me wanting something out of them.

[00:26:43]Am I dishonest in the sense of I am I think the most the in terms of I am acting out of accordance with what is inside of me which is a form of manipulation. For example, I think the most obvious example is when we don't like something, but we don't want a certain outcome, so we plate.

[00:27:10]We put a smile on our face. We say it's to keep the peace.

[00:27:17]Doesn't mean smiling is not good. It doesn't mean you make an issue out of everything. But am I being honest with myself about what I am okay with, what I am not okay with.

[00:27:31]The third is self-seeking, which is very tied to selfishness in the sense if selfishness is what I want out of the person. Self-seeking is what did I do to get that? Did I manipulate the person? Did I lie to the person? Did I become angry with them because I want them to act a certain way? Again, this is not about whether this is justified or not.

[00:27:59]And the fourth one is what is my fear in this situation?

[00:28:05]What am I scared of?

[00:28:09]Am I scared of being alone?

[00:28:12]Am I scared of how I'll look?

[00:28:19]Why do I think these four things and they've served me for a long time as imperfectly as I have done them?

[00:28:34]Because if I don't, I play the right or wrong game.

[00:28:40]Because if I don't, I start using Allah and the Quran as a shield. especially as I have become more religious as I've gotten older.

[00:28:51]This person shouldn't be doing that.

[00:28:52]They they're breaking this this uh tenant of the Quran. They're doing this.

[00:28:57]They're doing that. They're so in the wrong. And I use it to justify while all of that other stuff that I've not looked at is going on. Maybe I'm right about the Quran. Maybe I'm right about the other person, but it's separate.

[00:29:12]I can be right about them and still not be looking at myself because I can also I can be right and I can also be wrong in other facets.

[00:29:33]In the next I want to come back to how I started this about ask Allah for forgiveness.

[00:30:12]Subhan Allah. Alhamdulillah.

[00:30:25]When talking about this, I wanted to be very careful.

[00:30:33]Because life is not black or white.

[00:30:41]And going back to the examples that I gave at the beginning of the about it might be that what is right for one person is to go into a career of finance.

[00:30:56]It might be that it is wrong for them.

[00:31:00]It might be that it is right for them to go into Islamic studies. It might be that it is right for them to go become homeless. That's not the point.

[00:31:14]My belief in Allah is that he is not a figure in the sky looking down on us waiting to see if we're going to pick the right thing.

[00:31:28]He didn't put two doors in front and this isn't some game show where behind one door is ruin and behind the other door is what he wants.

[00:31:43]And if you read the Quran, I think you would be convinced of that too because what is evident is that Allah wants you to deliberate to struggle to grow closer to him and so he gave the Quran.

[00:32:06]But when becomes a mechanism where that seems to trivialize the Quran because my problem is is that if you ask these people and I am only speaking to these types of people not out of judgment because I myself find myself doing this kind of thing all the time.

[00:32:31]It is a very human thing.

[00:32:34]But it is important to be honest about it.

[00:32:38]If you ask them if they've read the Quran, they haven't.

[00:32:46]If you ask them if they know what it says, they don't. They plan to. They sincerely want to.

[00:32:59]So, And it's good to pray obviously if you are in a position of feeling stressed of it is good to pray.

[00:33:12]But that feeling now I have certainty this is what I'm supposed to do.

[00:33:25]In surah verse 16 it says we have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him and we are closer to him than his jugular vein.

[00:33:37]I think that there is an important nuance in this idea because it says Allah knows what is in your heart.

[00:33:49]Your closeness to Allah does not mean that you can be just feel fine being in certainty that your inner inclination is actually from Allah.

[00:34:07]If it did, why have the Quran? Why have 114 chapters?

[00:34:14]Why have all of this commentary?

[00:34:17]all of these verses, all of these pages.

[00:34:21]Why have a prophet who is so nervous to speak from his self, from his own opinions, but keeps turning people back to the Quran?

[00:34:35]Why not have a prophet that just says, "Well, Allah told me do this. Allah said this is the right answer." Because human beings delude themselves.

[00:34:46]Coming back to the example of why did I use the example of um Shambala International and Pima children because this was done with Islam long before this was ever done with Buddhism.

[00:35:03]I mean I don't know the history of Buddhism. Maybe it was done with Buddhism before but it was done before this example of Shambala International.

[00:35:11]We coming from a long history of Islam being used to serve the Umayads, to serve different imperial forces, to serve the Saudi Arabia, to serve the UAE.

[00:35:25]Human beings take systems of belief and use it to control people and use it to feel good about what they're doing and use it to serve the powerful.

[00:35:36]Islam has been used in that way.

[00:35:39]So be careful and be careful when it comes to something like that it is not just becoming a mechanism to mobilize your own surrender and placation to corruption.

[00:36:11]To put it simply, make sure that and your religion in general because this is one example, but any of your rituals, any of your slam, Islam, be vigilant against it, that it is not becoming something to just make you feel better in a situation where you should not feel good.

[00:36:33]But whether that be in a personal relationship, whether that be with a parent, with a spouse, or in a government, or in a society, you have the Quran.

[00:36:49]And again, I will sound like a broken record, but if you are a successful Muslim, make it profitable, make it sustainable for people to grow closer to the Quran, to lead a life. That is where your money should be used.

[00:37:17]feed the Muslim that wants to grow closer to Allah because it is not profitable.

[00:37:27]It is very difficult and there are a lot of well-intentioned great organizations out there. But it also it starts to attract people who want to prey on other people who see that Islam can be used to manipulate other people and to take advantage of other people.

[00:37:50]And this is because it is not fed.

[00:37:55]It is not supported aside from spending millions of dollars on a chandelier.

[00:38:06]Ya Allah, forgive our sins and guide us on the straight path.

[00:38:12]Help us to see the error of our ways.

[00:38:16]Help us to see past our own delusions.

[00:38:20]Help us to accept and to support each other and to lift each other up and to avoid suspicion and to avoid backbiting.

[00:38:35]Help us to bring your outcome and not the outcome of our ha.

[00:38:42]Ya Allah help us to not see enemies around us but to see the friends.

[00:38:48]Ya Allah, help us to not see just the darkness around us, but help us to see the light.

[00:38:56]Ya Allah, help us to build beauty and not just curse the shan.

[00:39:36]All Alhamdulillah.

[00:40:47]is Fore!

[00:41:18]Fore!

[00:41:20]Foreign! Foreign!

[00:41:30]Fore speech.

[00:42:17]Allah above.

[00:42:26]So now warm work.

[00:42:53]Allah.

[00:43:16]Alhamdulillah.

[00:43:41]What a speech.

[00:43:59]Allah Allahbar.

[00:44:37]Hello.

[00:44:47]Hello.

[00:44:57]Hello.