Revive Your Heart: Putting Life in Perspective

subḥān Allāh
!
So now this last 
āyah
—such a beautiful 
āyah
—if the ummah understood this
āyah
, if we just contemplated this 
āyah
, we’d be a lot better off than we are now.
But if you avoid the major sins which you have been forbidden, We
shall remit your (trivial) offences, and cause you to enter an
honourable abode.
(Al-Nisā’ 4: 31)
Allah says: If you people can, side-step, avoid, get away from the most
grievous sins, the most egregious sins, the major sins that you’re being
prohibited from—
kabā’ir
, the plural of 
kabīrah
, is used in the Qur’an for major
sins like murder or blasphemy, saying inappropriate things about Allah, 
kufr
.
These are major sins but which major sin did Allah highlight before even talking
about 
kabā’ir
? Only two of them: financial dealings and murder. Meaning how
you deal with each other is a pretty big deal to Allah. He says if you can avoid
this—
in tajtanibū kabā’ir mā tunhawna ʿanhu
—if you can avoid the major
transgressions that you’re being forbidden from—
nukaffir ʿankum sayyi’ātikum
— He will then, in that case, bury away from you your other sins.
Look, we’re all human beings you’re going to wake up late for 
ṣalāh
one day
—it’s going to happen. You’re going to lose your temper one day and say things
you shouldn’t have said; you’re going to get into a fight eventually with
someone, some quarrel; it’s going to happen. Your tongue is going to slip and
you’re going to say something about someone you shouldn’t have said, maybe
even behind their back. Maybe you’re not going to be super honest one day and
you’re going to lie. We’re going to make mistakes. These are 
sayyi’āt
, these are
sins, evil deeds that all of us commit, we are all human beings, none of us are
angels; we’re not perfect. Allah says if you can watch out for the big stuff, lead a
good life and especially watch out for the big sins, I’ll help you take care of the

---

little stuff.
Don’t get overworked about the little things. One day you missed a prayer
and you’re just falling into depression like: ‘
Astaghfir Allāh
, I’m so burning in
Jahannam
because...’. No, no, no, calm down. Allah will take care of once-in-a-
while mistakes you just make sure you’re not doing the major sins. You know
what has happened in the ummah? Why am I highlighting this? We have flipped
this equation, we have turned this equation on its head. So you know what we
do? The way we earn money, forget about it! The way we deal with each other,
forget it! But man when it comes to the little things! You will question other
Muslims; you will investigate the halal restaurant with twenty searches, and then
go to the town records and find out where they are slaughtering their meat. But
where you earn your money, you won’t even think about— 
subḥān Allāh
!
I’m not saying that halal and haram is a small thing, what I am saying is
there is a perspective. And the perspective is, the first thing you need to worry
about is how are you earning your money? That’s first. Second, are you hurting
other people? Then it’s the other regulations. You’ve gone to the masjid, and
maybe you come from a part of the world where the 
kufi
on your head is really
important to you. So you see a person praying next to you and he’s not wearing a
kufi
, and you say: ‘
Astaghfir Allāh
, he’s praying without a 
kufi
, his 
ṣalāh
won’t
even get accepted,’ because it’s really important to you. You know what? It’s
important to you, but Allah (