In this lecture #MuftiMenk highlights the root causes of #depression in the #materialistic #society and how #spirituality that devoting to the religious teachings only can remove depression by bringing happiness & #serenity in our lives. He also says that the #religion we follow Islam is a way of life. It does not have rules and regulations only connected to one aspect of living but in fact it includes every aspect of living and if we were to live according to Islam we would actually be very happy people.

Mufti Menk Quoted “Many of us are searching for #happiness, many of us are searching for contentment; #Contentment lies in adopting what the Almighty says we should be adopting; never be #selfish when we are selfish we cannot be content. Happiness lies in making others happy.”

In this lecture #MuftiMenk highlights how to achieve the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. He says that we have to acquire #knowledge and #character & #conduct with #spirituality through #sincerity to earn the pleasure of Allah (swt).In addition, he mentions the hadith of the prophet Mohammad (saw) “Whosoever treads a path going to seek #knowledge, Allah makes the person’s path to #Paradise quite simple & quite easy.

Mufti Menk Quotes: “if we want to earn the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wata’ala we need knowledge; we need to know what sincerity is and you need to sincerely know what sincerity is. If we are sincerely searching for the method of sincerity, we will be able to be sincere correctly because sincerity with knowledge is true sincerity. But when someone is sincere with no knowledge they may not be able to be sincere.”

#MuftiMenk highlights when, how, who and for what we need to do istikhara in light of Quran and hadith in this lecture with English subtitle. In life, we need to make some big decisions; sometimes we’ve all had decisions whereby we don’t really know exactly which way to go whether it’s #marriage– sometimes we don’t know if it’s going to be successful sometimes it’s a decision of a huge business sometimes shifting from one area or city to another, etc. Two main things one is known as consultation and two is Istikharah. Istikhara is a type of consultation but it means to seek guidance regarding the better of two issues to seek from Allah (swt) ‘s guidance as to which of these two things is better. That’s the meaning of #istikhara to ask Allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala’s guidance where we are confused and we are trying to say o Allah guide us towards one of the two.

“if we have the consciousness of Allah in us Allah will guide us regarding all our affairs to what is best for us not necessarily to what is most successful in terms of business or our social life but it will be best for us.”- Mufti Menk

#MuftiMenk highlights the beautiful benefits of #Istighfar (the act of seeking forgiveness from Allah) in this lecture. He says that Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala has kept certain duties on our shoulders that we need to fulfil these. One thing that is of extreme importance that He has found very beneficial in his own life and obviously derived straight from the Sunnah of Rasulullah (saw) that is to ask Allah’s forgiveness genuinely every single day. Do not let a day pass without asking Allah’s #forgiveness.

Mufti Menk urges not to reduce istighfar to a mere service by the mouth. It should be genuine. We should feel it in our heart – oh Allah forgive me. “Seeking forgiveness is such a great act of worship and even if you have not done anything wrong just by mere virtue of asking Allah’s forgiveness your status is being elevated; it’s being elevated you get closer to Allah (swt).”- Mufti Menk