NYU Islamic Center Podcasts · Islamic Center at New York University

Prophetic Advice to Abu Dhar Al-Ghufari, Part 11 with Dr. Sheikh Faiyaz Jaffer

·30 min·1 clip

One particle of arrogance can block paradise, unless the heart repents.

The sermon opens with invocation and praise. It stays in the familiar rhythm of the lengthy sermon. The speaker returns to the advice given to Abu Dharr and asks the room to keep taqwa in view. He treats arrogance as something small that can still bar a person from paradise. That warning sits beside a larger lesson about greed and delusion. Worldly attachment, he says, keeps the heart busy with what will not last. To make that point concrete, he tells the story of a man who has spent years in worship. The man looks back and sees how much of his life has been wasted. He raises his hands in tawbah. Another story follows right behind it. A man leaves home intending disobedience, but dies before he can carry it out. The contrast is meant to unsettle. The sermon keeps the focus on sincerity over simple tallying. It also insists that a final turn back can matter more than a long stretch of habit. The talk then shifts to a listener's worry about loving a horse, clothing, and possessions. That exchange keeps the teaching anchored in ordinary life. It asks where affection becomes pride. It asks how easily appreciation turns into attachment. It asks how quickly attachment can harden into arrogance. The speaker keeps circling back to the transient world. He links that passing world to the sins and transgressions people fall into. He also brings the focus back to repentance. The movement is patient and cumulative. The ending returns to blessing, prayer, and a plea that life and death resemble Muhammad and his family.

As heard by us

A steady warning about arrogance, repentance, and the things that quietly own us.

The sermon returns to a plain warning: arrogance can hide in small habits, repentance can arrive too late, and attachment to passing things can quietly throw a person off course.

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Why you'd press play

You want a sermon that turns everyday attachments into a spiritual audit.

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