So today we're gonna begin on page one officially and this is Introduction to Purification. So the way this text is, this is a classical Arabic poem written by Imam al-Malud and what Sheikh Hamza has done is he's translated everything in English so we have the verses of the poem and then there's commentary that he provides. And so inshallah we'll reflect and at any point if you guys have questions or insights or input, feel free, let's keep this like engaging. You know I want it to be a dialogue or discussion. So I'll read from the poem verses, is poem verses one to eight. I begin by starting with the heart of beginnings for it is the highest and noblest of beginnings. Have courtesy with God, the high and the majestic by practicing modesty and humility, dejected out of shame and humility, humbled in awe imploring him by giving up your designs for his, emptied of covetousness for what his servants have, by hastening to fulfill his commands and by being wary of the subtle encroachment of bad manners. If you, the spiritual aspirant, realize your attributes of servitude, you will then be assisted with something of the attributes of the eternally besought. Realize your abject character and impoverishment and you will gain dignity and wealth from the all powerful. There is no salvation like the heart's salvation given that all the limbs and organs respond to its desires. Courtesy, the heart of purification. Imam Maulud begins his Arabic didactic poem with a play on words that is lost in translation. Beginning in Arabic is badu and the word for heart, qalb also means to reverse something. Reversing the letters in the word badu results in the word adab, which is the term for courtesy. And that is where this treaties begins since courtesy is the portal to the purification of the heart. So again, adab, in order to do this process of cleaning the heart of spiritual disease, we have to understand and define what adab is. So now we're gonna begin with that, right? Adab in Arabic holds several meanings. In addition to courtesy, adab, a derivative, or excuse me, adib, a derivative of adab, for example, has come to mean an erudite person, someone who is learned as high manners and courtesy are associated with learning and erudition. However, the idea of courtesy is firmly established at the root of the word adab. Imam Maulud starts his treaties with courtesy since excellent behavior and comportment are the doorkeepers to the science of spiritual purification. One must have courtesy with regard to God, behave properly with respect to his presence if he or she wishes to purify the heart. But how does one achieve this courtesy? Imam Maulud mentions two requisite qualities associated with courtesy, modesty, hayah, and humility, lvud. So in order for us to achieve adab, which is a prerequisite of purification, we have to first achieve the two prerequisites of adab, which are modesty and the humility and modesty. So these three, or these two, work to help us to achieve that state of adab, which is necessary if we're gonna do this proper, right? So now let's talk more in depth about these two words because they're used so often in different ways, but in this context, it's important to understand. Hayah, in Arabic, conveys the meaning of shame, though the root word of hayah is closely associated with life and living. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam stated, every religion has a characteristic of that religion. I'm sorry, every, excuse me, every religion has a quality that is characteristic of that religion, and the characteristic of my religion is hayah, an internal sense of shame that includes bashfulness and modesty. As children, many of us have had someone say to us at times, shame on you. Unfortunately, shame has now come to be viewed as a negative word, as if it were a pejorative. Parents are now often advised to never cause a child to feel shame. The current wisdom largely suggests that adults should always make the child feel good, regardless of his or her behavior. However, doing so eventually disables naturally occurring deterrents to misbehavior. So let's unpack that for a little bit because, again, as a teacher who's worked with young children, also as a parent, and someone who's kind of seen the spectrum around child-rearing, parenting, you find, I'm sure many of us, even in our own experiences, right? We've seen the devastating effects of someone who doesn't understand this, right? When you negatively speak to a child, you talk down to them, and you shame them without this context of doing it, again, with the right Nia, right? It's one thing to just want to shame for the sake of whatever the case may be. Sometimes people become, they can't regulate their own emotions, right? So it's like, I'm angry over a situation, and because I don't have the ability to regulate my emotion, I take it out on you, the individual or the child in this case. So parents often do that, educators, teachers do that, adults, grandparents, right? We see, unfortunately, the misuse of this concept of inculcating internal shame, right? And that's where we've gone to this other extreme of now all shame, categorically, is seen as bad. What we're being told here is actually, you have to be careful, because if you disable, at a young age, a child's internal ability to see good and bad, right? To see that the choice that they made or the action that they did has consequences that are negative, and to sit with that emotion of remorse, right? Of guilt, of feeling bad for what they did. If you disable that, then you can create the opposite, or you can create something that's quite negative, right? Which is someone who is deluded, who doesn't see their own, you know, the harm that they inflict on others, who was told maybe by, you know, it's kind of like misapplied compassion, right? Because a parent or an adult who thinks like, no, we should never, ever, you know, discipline a child when they do wrong, and you should never just, it's gonna damage them. That is an extreme view that also has consequences, right? Because you're disabling this important human quality of being able to be self-accountable for yourself. And that's why if you look around, you're seeing this very common in our culture now, right? Where people just don't, where they behave totally in their own self-interests with a very little regard for how it impacts other people, right? Have we not witnessed total entitlement in this culture? And this is one of the things that the US unfortunately is known for by a lot of people outside of the US. They just look at us as a bunch of entitled brats who are always operating for our own self-interest because we were never, you know, this is the nefs, right? And this is why from a spiritual perspective it's important to understand that, you know, that we are triune, right? We have three parts to us. And if we don't know how to control those parts, right? And how to govern ourselves, then we can actually be quite dangerous, right? So you see people just on the road, look at traffic. How many people do you see on a daily that are so entitled? They will drive at ridiculous speeds. Weave in and out, right, of lanes because they have somewhere to be, right? They don't care about the consequence of their actions.  That's not how things work. And so if we go with this idea that all shame is bad, right? This is unfortunately the consequences that you can create these types of, you know, situations where people are oblivious to the harm that they inflict on others, or they just simply are apathetic. They really don't care. And that is a byproduct. It's, I mean, it's a spiritual disease, but it comes from, again, this miscategorization of shame as being something like, again, a negative, a pejorative, something all across is bad. No, there is, from our spiritual perspective, human to human shaming, right? There's, of course, boundaries around that. And it should always be done in a healthy, productive, like when you're criticizing, for example, right? There's negative criticism that's just meant to tear someone down. And then there's positive criticism that is important for the individual to hear in order to be better, right? So the parent or the adult's role when they're, you know, using these, you know, certain terms or phrases, or however they're choosing to discipline a child in a situation, the intention should not obviously be personal, right? The nefs of that adult shouldn't be a factor. It's not about my feelings in this moment. It's about what is in the best interests of the child, right? So when you have that positive intention, and then obviously you have taqwa, right?  Because you fear the consequence of God in possibly abusing your power, right? If you're having all that awareness, then you will be very careful with how you discipline that child.  It's about them recognizing that what they did was bad. Then you're helping to cultivate a conscience, right? You're helping to cultivate something very important for them in all aspects of their life. In relationships, they're gonna need to feel what it feels like to make a mistake and how to correct it, right? And that's the other part of it, which, I mean, it's not, I don't think it's mentioned here, but like, you know, when you're in that situation when you're disciplining a child, that you leave them feeling the, you know, feeling that remorse for whatever was done, but also there's a path to fix it, to redress that, right? So it's not just you're bad and I'm gonna label you like these, you know, that's not our way. It's to teach them right and wrong, but how do you fix yourself? How do you address this wrong, right? Because that is ultimately from, you know, from our, again, our, from a spiritual perspective, the way all of us will learn. If Allah swt left us without feeling hope, right, that we could become better, right? Then how many of us would feel like what's the point, right? But it's the fact that time and time again, he's telling us, right? Whether you're reading the Quran or different stories or hadith that no matter where you are, you know, even if your sins reach the foam of the ocean or reach the sky or the hadith of the man, for example, who killed 99 people, I mean, what is, why, think about why, first of all, was that hadith relayed, right? And then preserved for all these centuries, right? There's a reason because Allah wants it to reach those who feel that their sins are so bad, that they've, they're just so corrupt, just such terrible individuals. This is how Shaitan, you know, messes with us. He wears us down by, by, you know, giving us or attributing value to us according to our deeds, right? And so, I think they're going to do that. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. So we left off talking about, right, the importance of not seeing all shame as bad, because some shame is actually useful in that it helps us to develop a conscience and we become aware of ourselves and the fact that our actions when they are out of line, that they do require an appropriate response, right? And that can't be developed if you just gloss over everything someone does or says in order to spare them that momentary feeling of discomfort, right? So for young children, it's important that they do feel that momentary discomfort as long as you're not harming them. We don't harm, we don't inflict harm when we shame. It's a matter of teaching. It's a matter of therapy. It's a matter of discipline. So, and then, so he goes on to say here, some anthropologists divide cultures into shame cultures and guilt cultures. According to this perspective, shame is an outward mechanism and guilt is an inward one, which alludes to a human mechanism that produces strong feelings of remorse when someone has done something wrong to the point that he or she needs to rectify the matter. Most primitive cultures are not guilt-based but are shame-based, which is rooted in the fear of bringing shame upon oneself and the larger family. Islam honors the concept of shame and takes it to another level altogether, to a rank in which one feels a sense of shame before God. When a person acknowledges and realizes that God is fully aware of all that one does, says, and thinks, shame is elevated to a higher plane to the unseen world from which there is no cover. At this level, one feels a sense of shame even before the angels. So while Muslims comprise a shame-based culture, this notion transcends feeling shame before one's family, whether one's elders or parents, and admits a mechanism that is not subject to the changing norms of human cultures. So on this point, some of us may come from cultures where we were taught what will the people say? And so, and I think girls, we tend to hear this more. We're more policed sometimes in many of our cultures than the boys are. So if you grew up in a household of total double standards, where your brothers were allowed to do certain things that you weren't, because what you were told was what will people say, right? Although that should not be the conclusion of how we understand shame, it is necessary in that until someone develops that awareness of God, that it can be helpful for children and for adolescents as they're developing to direct them to the social consequences of misbehavior, right? Because it's kind of, again, a way of disciplining that nuts, that if it's not given certain parameters or certain boundaries, that it may harm its children and cause harm to others. So that's why providing that lens of looking at what will people say is temporarily useful in that stage of life, right? But as we evolve and as we grow in our understanding, as we develop our own relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, it has to move beyond the people, right? If you're stuck at the level of what will the people say, the danger of that is that, what happens when there's nobody watching, right? And this is how shaitan can dilute a lot of people. And you have a lot of people who have the problem of duplicity, right? Of having, wearing masks. So in certain spaces, they're one way and then in other spaces, they're a different way because maybe this point of shame around what will people say was all they were really given. And so that can actually grow or lead to many more problems for the individual because then they are under this delusion that as long as nobody else knows or as long as no one else sees, then it's okay. And that's, these are all very, very subconscious, internal conversations that we're having within ourselves because, and who are the operators here, right? Who are the ones that are having these conversations? Well, that's where we have to go back to our own nature. Yes. Yes. Absolutely, no, it's so on point because unfortunately a lot of parents will get stuck on, again, disciplining the child and not really focusing on, does the child really understand, right? The gravity of what they've done or is it just in the moment, you want them to feel so bad for what they did? And we personalize things. Sometimes parents, depending again on our own experiences are on upbringing, because a lot of times we're just repeating what was done to us, right? So learn behaviors and then we repeat those same cycles.  And there was no conversation, broader conversation, right? To really help you understand the consequence of that action, right? In a healthy way, then what happens is, like so many children do, when authority is not present, then the mischievous side comes out, right? And I've seen this as a teacher in classroom settings, right? So everybody's on their best behavior because the teacher is in the room, but as soon as this teacher steps out, there's no self-governance happening because the child was not properly taught to have this broader understanding, right? That it's not about just getting in the good favors of the adults around you and just trying to be pretentious, because that's a pretense, right? Of model behavior, like I do everything according to what is expected of me. That's, if that's all it is, and it's just a show, it's a performance, then when the people that you're trying to impress are no longer there, then your real side comes out. That duality is very, very dangerous spiritually, but a lot of people, unfortunately, this is how they have been raised to think, right? That it's all about just basically towing the line and staying on good behavior as long as the adults or whoever you're trying to impress coworkers. I mean, if you think about how many people slack off at work, right? In professional spaces, you will have people when the supervisors, managers, or if it's that day where the top heads are coming in, you know, everybody's like suddenly, you know, on their whatever devices and they're really into their work and their desks or their cubicles or whatever, just perfect, but when those authority figures aren't there, then what happens, right? That's the true self. Like in the absence of people that you're trying to impress, how are you? That's why a good indicator of where you are spiritually is not how you are in the masjid or at halqa or on hajj or anywhere that you would think, you know, is going to reveal your spirituality. The true self is revealed when you're alone, right? When you are by yourself and nobody is there, how are you behaving? That's why it's so important to again understand that when we're going back to this issue of shame, the conversation has to evolve away from just what are the social consequences of misbehavior. That is very limiting and it actually, as I said, can contribute to other spiritual problems, not only the problem of duplicity of dual natures of having one mask for one, you know, but the other side of it is also another disease which we'll get to soon, ostentation, right? Ria, and that's one of the diseases that we'll cover.  And it's one of the most common, subtle, and dangerous of the diseases of the heart, like it's actually considered minor shirk because when you are doing things like increasing your spiritual efforts so that people are impressed by you or think that you're more knowledgeable, you know, you kind of, again, in certain spaces you hold yourself in a certain way, but then outside of those spaces you're very different. Those are all indications of spiritual disease, right? Because look at the Prophet's life, you will not find him, he was very consistent, regardless of who he was with, right? It didn't matter whether it was with his family, with his companions, with heads of states, with servants. The Prophet's life was the same and that's because he was more concerned with Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala's opinion of him than trying to either, you know, try to impress people or avoid their judgment, which is what we human beings have to grapple with, especially in today's world when so much of our interaction is through social media, right?  Like you actually have a presence, Instagram, Facebook, Snap. How many of you are just not? Like you have no social media presence? That's impressive. Mashallah, may Allah protect you. Because more and more people are, because I mean, COVID aside, but also before COVID, it's just kind of the way the world is going, right? It's like in order, even in professional spaces or relationships, like you're moved, if you've moved away from family or friends, sometimes the only way to stay in touch is through these different mediums, so people have to participate even if they don't want to. But there are, I know people too who've held out, and I'm always impressed by that, mashallah. But if you're on social media, then you can see how this is a concern, isn't it like the presentation that a lot of people have on social media? Have you ever felt a little uncomfortable, maybe like scrolling through someone's page or not even a person, but like just kind of seeing the way that like Muslim be, I should say the culture around certain, like for example, the spaces, right? There's certain, like Muslim Twitter has its own sort of culture versus Muslim Instagram, versus Muslim Facebook, right? But it's kind of similar in the sense that the way that people behave on these spaces seems to be very much focused on image, right? There's a huge concentration on image. TikTok, all of these different spaces, you'll see very polished presentations. Like if you have people who are influencers, right? Even that whole category is you'll see that so much of their focus is on putting an image forward that sells something, that sells an idea that I have either, I'm a model parent, wife, I have a perfect home, like spotless, there's nothing wrong with my life, you know? Or I have an amazing social life. Or I travel and see the best places, right? But there's a lot of focus on look at me and how fabulous my life is and how amazing my life is.  Like that's a very big part of who you are. And then you couple that with this need for validation, for attention, right? You can see where this is going. But this is why we were warned of these things so long ago that you have to be very careful with your intentions and with the way that you interact in public. And this can be one-on-one with, you know, individuals, like in this, you know, onsite, like here as we are, or it could be in spaces like that thousands of, you know, people can access whatever it is. If you're putting yourself out in a public way, be very mindful, right? Of what you're saying, how you're presenting yourself because the danger is again that you could be, you know, you're polluting that intention, that purity of intention that is so essential to everything that we do and say as believers. So that's the danger, the other side of not inculcating a healthy understanding of shame, right? Of not incorporating this lens of looking at, well, your every action, every word, every deed is known to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta'ala. How do you operate with that knowledge, right? That's the most important central information that should dictate your every action and every word that Allah is watching you at all times. You can never escape Him. But if you don't have that awareness and you're thinking more about Auntie Sonso because she talks a lot and I don't want her to know or, you know, or Uncle Sonso, or whoever it is in the community that you're worried about, then what's gonna happen is again, Shaytan's gonna trap you into this thinking that as long as they don't know, I'm good. But that's not necessarily the case, right? Because when we immerse ourselves in sins, it's a very slippery slope, but it's also very dangerous because you have no idea when the veil will be removed. Allah could very well remove that veil and He has for many people unfortunately throughout history, there's many cautionary tales of veils being removed from people who thought they were getting away with something because nobody knew, but then Allah is the one who knew and He removed the veil and now everybody knows, right? We've seen it in our own time too, unfortunately, with some of these, you know, scandals and things that have happened in our own community. It's been unfortunate, but you have to think about that. SubhanAllah, you know, those people who were doing those things, they thought they were, they had some delusion, something that told them that they were gonna get away with it and Allah decided to remove that for, you know, inshallah, I mean, alhamdulillah, to prevent harm, that's a good thing, but still this idea that we, as human beings, can fall into these traps is really important to understand. So that's why having a healthy understanding of shame and not falling into what the predominant culture tells us is really important. We have our own standards and I think what's happening is sometimes we hear things like in the culture around us and because it's like, it's so commonly, it's so pervasive and it's so widespread, we sometimes may think that that's a better way, right? But in fact, when it comes to things that are very clear cut like this, we shouldn't just, just because it sounds right, like it sounds right to say, you should never shame a child, right? That sounds right, but then if you think about the spiritual consequences that we just laid out, then you realize actually, look at what that philosophy has done, look at what that understanding has done in this culture, right, where you see a lot of entitlement and a lot of behavior that shows very little self-accountability. So is it really wise? No, contextualize it to what does our tradition say? Our tradition says everything within limits, but in order to have a healthy understanding, the most important factor is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that's why even when I do parenting classes, I always try to focus on the parenting, on the parent and myself included, slowly kind of removing, withdrawing ourselves from the, as a focal point of our children, right?  Again, based on the model of parenting you ascribe to, that may be the way that you try to get to your child.  But at a certain point, you have to know the wisdom of removing yourself from the equation. Good, in disciplinary times, but also in positive times. And what I mean by that is like, even when you're happy with the child, not focusing too much on yourself, right?   But if you can slowly with retreat and then remind them of Allah, right? As you're praising them or as you're disciplining them, you're going to help them to cultivate an awareness of God that when you're not there, it will hopefully kick in. That mechanism will kick in. So later in their teen years, for example, when they have the first opportunity to, I mean, this is very real phenomenon, unfortunately nowadays, the younger and younger, it's happening, but children who get a device for the first time. You know, if you've spent a lot of time helping them to understand that Allah's with you at all times, he can see you and you wanna really be protective of yourself like our teachers, you know, have taught us like in their own parenting style to tell the children like to guard your heart, you know, protect your heart, protect your eyes to constantly infuse these ideas from a very early age. So the child realizes because Allah, you wanna make Allah happy. He gave you the blessing of eyesight. He gave you the blessing of hearing. So reminding Allah always, always infusing his remembrance in your guidance, right? So that when that child gets the opportunity for the first time to see something haram or like, you know, it happens. Their friends are sending them things. They may land on a page that's inappropriate that maybe that voice that you've helped to awaken within them, right? Stir something in their heart where they look away, they turn it off and then they come and tell you. And that's why when it comes to this relationship it's so important like with my own children, for example, very early on I taught them, tell me the truth. It's going to be much better for you than to deceive, to be deceptive.  Sometimes children, they don't wanna get in trouble. It's natural, they're scared. But if you teach them early on to have open communication, right? And what happens is when they're in those situations later on, hopefully all of those things that you've taught them will kick in and they'll remember, I should tell my mom the truth, right? So Alhamdulillah, like, you know, I have two boys, been telling that for the very day one and they to this day, Alhamdulillah wa shukla ma'ala protected, but they will come and report to me if they do something wrong because they understand that I'm not going to shame them. I'm not going to, you know, use, weaponize that information against them and make them feel horrible. But actually, just as we are taught, right? When we make mistakes as adults, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la tells us to come back to me, right? Toba, the concept of Toba is constantly reinforced because he doesn't want us to feel what shaytan would want us to think which is I'm doomed, right? I'm done for, I'm horrible, Allah will never look at me with love again. That's what shaytan fills our minds with, but Allah's constantly telling us, no matter how many mistakes you make, keep coming back, right? If I wanted to create everyone, you know, perfect worshipers that never made mistakes, he would have done that, but he didn't. He made us with the ability to make, you know, to return to him. And so these are the ideas that he's constantly reminding us of, but we can do something similar in terms of how we talk to one another, creating safe spaces, right? When you create a safe space for family, for children, for friends, for your spouse if you're married, what you're saying is I'd rather you be honest and have open communication than be deceptive and think that there's, you know, no other recourse because that's, again, just gonna, things will break down at that point, but if there's honesty and you create those healthy spaces, then inshallah you can work through whatever it is. So we can do that in so many different areas with friendships, with marriages, with children, but all of it comes down to, do we understand this concept well? That first of all, we all make mistakes, all of us, and when a person makes a mistake, whatever their age, whatever the case may be, that we should show compassion. This is the prophetic way and that's why the Prophet Sallam received people of all different, I mean, there's so many stories where he would bring people into a state of calm and inner peace even though they felt that shame, right? Because his way, he's the universal prophet of Rahmah, like he's teaching people to be compassionate, so we have to learn that. But again, this mechanism is really important to inculcate at an early age in order to have it in adulthood, which we all need it, of course. So Imam Mollud also mentions that one should have Dhul, right? Which literally means being lowly abject or humbled. The Quran mentions that people who incur the anger of God have this state of humiliation thrust upon them. This humility or humbleness assumed before God is required for courtesy. Interestingly, the word Munkasiran is translated as dejected, though it literally means broken. It conveys a sense of being humbled in the majestic presence of God. It refers to the awesome realization that each of us at every moment lives and acts before the august presence of the creator of the heavens and the earth, the one God besides whom there is no power or might in all the universe. When we seriously reflect on God's perfect watch over His creation and the countless blessings He sends down and then consider the kind of deeds we bring before Him, what can we possibly feel except humility and shame? These strong feelings should lead us to implore God to change our state, make our desires consonant with His pleasure, giving up our designs for God's designs. This is pure courtesy with respect to God, a requisite for spiritual purification. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said, none of you fully believes until his desires are in accordance with what I have brought. Being aligned and at peace with the teachings of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, which embody the legacy of the prophetic teachings of Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, Alaihi Wasallam, entails striving to free oneself of greed and refusing the ethic of doing something for an ulterior motive that is essentially selfish and dissonant with the teachings of God's prophets, Alaihi Wasallam, a person should not seek anything from God's servants. If one wants anything, one should seek it from God, the sovereign of the heavens and the earth. The basic rule is to ask God and then work. That is one should utilize the means, asbab, that one must use in order to achieve something in this world. Imam al-Malud then says that one should hasten to fulfill God's command and be wary of the subtle encroachment of bad manners, namely, faults that one is unaware of. Hadith states, one of you will say a word and give it no consideration, though it will drag the person who uttered it through hellfire for 70 years. People often become so disconnected from prophetic teachings that they unwittingly inflict great harm upon themselves. It is comparable to a heedless person who finds himself in diplomatic circles laden with protocol, yet he makes horrendous breaches of protocol without realizing it. With regard to God, the matter is obviously much more serious as one's soul may be harmed by one's own breaches. In this case, the protocol involves knowledge of God and what he has enjoyed and prescribed. So this is really important and I hope it's clear what is being said here. Again, in order for us to really embark on this journey of self purification, we have got to have adab with God. If we want to have adab with God, we have to understand healthy sense of internal shame and also have the humility to see ourselves in this abject low light. In this way of seeing like I'm always deficient, but yet God is so great, right? I'm always short. I'm distracted in my prayers. I lose my temper. I'm impatient. I don't have good adab. I forget things all the time. I miss the mark, but God is so generous that he continues to guide me. This is the greatest gift. Seriously, think about the world right now and how many people have no guidance. They're walking around in shells just empty because they weren't raised with purpose and this is why a lot of people are struggling because they don't have purpose. If you look at the modern world, it's so sad because at least, yes, with all the other problems in the world that existed before modern times, there are always problems, but I think one of the things that we can appreciate about pre-modern people is that they believed in God and they had a drive, they had a purpose. They woke up feeling like life had meaning, but when you have all of these ideas, right? These very secular ideas, these very ideas that are totally divorced from faith and tradition, these post-modern ideas of just basically rejecting that there's objective truth, that life is meaningless, there's a lot of cynicism, a lot of just empty, like what's the meaning of it all? These are the kinds of ideas that a lot of our fellow human beings are raised in because the cultures that they are raised in have lost faith and you find it more and more, right? Look at Europe, look at, even here in the US, I mean there's Pew studies that show like levels of religiosity have plummeted in just the past few decades, it's so sad and that's why, I remember I did a panel here at the MCC with Rabbi and a priest, I believe, or a pastor and we were talking about like engagement from the community and they were both just saying that it's so hard to keep their doors open because the people that come to their congregations, both the Rabbi and the pastor were like, in the 50, 60 above, like the boomer generation, have very few young people, families are basically non-existent, so their congregants are of a, it's kind of like a dying breed. So when we were telling them, I mean I was like, please don't, don't give us dying, but we were telling them about how, masha'Allah, we have youth programs and we have, and this was before COVID, like we had thousands of people coming for salat al-Juma, I mean it gets really packed here. They were both stunned, they were shocked, like really? Like you guys have that many people and we're like, yeah, we have a lot of our congregants or young families, like young couples, they couldn't believe it because church doors were being closed, I'm sure you've seen, right? How many, they're not an operation anymore because people have left faith. This is a very common problem now in many different parts of the world, so what that, you know, unfortunately has done is it's created this world of nihilists or nihilists who are just, life has no meaning, and you raise families like that and then imagine living in the world without thinking that there's more beyond this world, like that's actually really tragic to me, right? It's tragic to think that there are people out there who just think this is it and then we die and that's it, we just become worm food and there's nothing more, but alhamdulillah we have guidance and we have a medicine that a cure all, right?  Because when everything seems shaken and like turbulent, you just remember that this is temporal, it's ephemeral and Allah's in control and it's all gonna be over and then there's more and that more is what I'm planning for, right? And that solid belief is what helps us to carry through. So alhamdulillah, being in a state of total gratitude to Allah, for the blessings of guidance, for all the blessings that we have, but realizing that even though we're short and we fail and we falter, that he still continues to pour into us his generosity, you know, I remember, I don't know, maybe 10, 15 years ago, things that, you know, when you're young, it's like until you experience certain things, it doesn't hit you. But how many of us take, for example, our health for granted, you know? Just if you've ever been knocked out or like had a cast or back problems, right? If you've ever experienced like something where your mobility was affected, how much more appreciative of your mobility were you, right?  I remember I had chronic back pain a few years ago and there was one time where I had pulled my back and I was out for three weeks. Like, it was such a difficult struggle. Oh my gosh, I couldn't sit.   How do you do certain things? It was so difficult and I honestly wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to walk or sit up again because the pain was so excruciating. Alhamdulillah, Allah is so kind because he helped me heal from that, right? When I came out of that, oh my God, did I look at like my mobility in such a different way? Because you know, to have, it's one thing to kind of, oh, my back hurts, but to not be able to even sit up was really, really very, very difficult. So you see people going through health issues. That's why that, I don't know if it's a hadith or a saying, I think it might be a hadith, that health is a crown that only the sick can see, right? Like we're all wearing crowns when we're in good health but the people who really appreciate that crown are those that are looking at you like, wow, do you even know what you have? And I remember one of my very close friends, may Allah bless her, she got a terrible reaction to something and awakened this triggered and autoimmune response that just devastated her and really caused wreak havoc on her whole body but she was prevented and to this day, she can't make sajda. But I remember when she told us that, I just cried. And if I think about it, I'll get emotional because she just said like, what I wouldn't do to make a sajda again. And how many of us are like chickens just rushing through the sajda because we don't realize there are people who are so, like they wish they could just do that action again. It was removed from them, they're withheld from it but we have it. So this is what this abject state looks like. It's fully becoming aware of the fact that God has given us so much and we're unworthy of it but he's so generous and then what that does is it makes you feel so indebted and so in love with him, right?  So what it does is it makes you just feel so like connected in such a deep way that you seek out opportunities to gain his pleasure. And that's how we then move into this concept of having other with God, right? Because once you get to that point of I feel bad when I make mistakes and then I realize my own lowliness now how can I gain the pleasure of Allah? I need to have adab with Allah. So how can I do that? And that's why this analogy of not being aware of yourself or not having this realization is like someone being thrown into a formal environment, like the analogy was given it's comparable to a heedless person who finds himself in diplomatic circles. So if you find a person who is thrown into a meeting with the president and congressman, right? And if you've watched any films or anything that kind of show how aristocratic people or people in high political office behave, right? They conduct themselves a certain way. There's etiquettes. Even if certain cultures have very specific etiquettes of how you sit, how you eat, you have to dress a certain way, right? But imagine a person who's thrown into that with no idea that there's a protocol, right? That there's protocols, which are codes of conduct. They're just kind of thrown into that environment. How are they gonna walk around? Are they gonna fit in?  Most of us, because we don't know the adab with God, that's how we are. We're kind of like, you know, walking around like that person totally doesn't, because we're not paying attention to, or we're not asking the right questions. Like what are the protocols? What does God expect from me? How should I behave? And that's what purification of the heart teaches you, right? It teaches you to take a very deep look into understanding your own weaknesses, shortcomings, and aligning them with what God expects of you, and ridding yourself of those things where you're not aligned in those diseases. So, alhamdulillah, we'll stop here because there's a lot more in this section and we can continue, inshallah, next time. But are there any questions or anything anybody wants to share, any comments? Anything? Any reflections? Yes? Yes, alhamdulillah. Oh man, I can't tell you how many cases I've been involved in with that. It really hurts my heart to hear those things, but I know that they exist, and that's a form of spiritual abuse. So, we should know, and if anybody's ever had experience where it was, whether it was a parent or an Islamic school teacher or a grandparent who's ever used religion to shame you and been really cruel or physically harmed you as a child, that person was really out of line, and that is a form of spiritual abuse, and they certainly were not speaking on any level of authority from the deen. No matter how many Quranic verses they taught you, or tried to force down onto you, it's, they don't know what they're talking about. And we have to really, you know, because these are very traumatic experiences. I once had a young girl, and this was after a talk I gave, very, I mean, it always sits with me because I think about where she is now. But she came up to me after a talk, and she was like, I need to speak to you. And I said, okay, so we kind of huddled a little bit, you know, away from the crowd. And I don't know if she was speaking on her own behalf or her friend. You know, sometimes people will come and say, I have a friend, but you don't know. But she said that one of her friends had been cutting, self-harming. And then, you know, as I probed further, she said that it was because her mother, from a very young age, used to abuse her. And it was unfortunately, because of, you know, her mother had very high expectations of her children, I guess, when it came to memorizing the Quran.  But she said, yeah, ever since she was three years old, her mother would basically beat her if she made mistakes with the Quran. And she would even run after her in the house with like a knife. And so I'm just standing there like, I cannot believe that, you know, someone could do that. You're like, this is the book of Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is the most merciful of the merciful. We start with Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. And you're gonna, because of a child, a three-year-old, there's no accountability on a three-year-old to memorize the Quran, right? But this poor girl was so worried because she said that her friend was suicidal. And I mean, it was a very complicated story. And I tried to give her the help that she needed. But I just, it's always stayed with me like, how could someone do that? But then you realize, as we mentioned, a lot of these things are learned behaviors. So the cycle of abuse and violence, usually it's learned, right? So somewhere that woman, and we're not, you know, excusing it because of that. It's just a fact. Somewhere, maybe she was given the same discipline, you know? And if you look at, unfortunately, some of our schools back home, how many of us have heard the horror stories, right? Of how they discipline, you know, using actual physical punishment. This is totally haram. You cannot do that. You can't hurt children. So these types of things we have to be clear about. And we don't, you know, make excuses for that kind of behavior. It's totally unacceptable. Children have to be very, we have to be very delicate with how we treat them. But we also have to know that children are like, you know, they're nufus, the nufs. They're little nufus that kind of like, you know, how our, like Imam al-Ghazali and our other great scholars described, it's like a wild animal that has to be tamed, right? So the discipline, the tarbiyah, is the taming process. But even that is done with compassion. It's not done with force and abuse, right? You can tame an animal. You know, when I was expecting my first son, I used to watch a lot of animal play, and I love animals. But I remember watching, you know, these trainers, whether it was with dogs or others, and you would take the wildest, most, you know, virile, or is that the right word? What is it when they're very, feral, sorry, not virile. Feral, like animal, that's wild and what have you. And you just give them the proper trainer who knows how to break the fear in that animal. Because, you know, a lot of times they're victims of abuse too. That's why, like, you know, dogs or cats, when you see them really like hissing or barking, don't presume that that's a natural disposition. Dogs are like man's best friend. They're amazing, you know, animals, are amazing. Cats as well, but when you see that sign, they were likely abused. But when you put a person, I mean, an animal like that with a trainer who understands how to reach the animal, what can happen? I just saw a recent little video on an animal like that. It was a cat where it was the same situation, completely, you know, destroyed by some human and made to be very, very skittish and just not very, you know, like approachable, but give it some time, love, and then you see a total transformation. Children are the same. You have to tame that inner beast within them. Yes? Mashallah, that's a very good question. I'll just kind of paraphrase it for those who are watching online. So the question was about how to teach our teenagers modesty when they're seeing other Muslims also behave immodestly without allowing them or without, you know, leading them to be judgmental, right, so to be more mindful of themselves but also deal with these types of, you know, inconsistencies, right, because it doesn't make sense. So it's a very good question. I think, you know, these conversations have to start very early. Sometimes, you know, we wait, it's not that we're doing it intentionally, but kind of like when problems arise, then we address these bigger conversations, right? But if you, I mean, from a general sense, I would just say for parents who are sending their kids to public schools, for example, or even Islamic schools, some of these things, let's be real, are happening even in Islamic schools. If you're going to send your children to environments where they're going to be exposed to certain things, then the preparation for those types of things have to happen before they see it, right? It's not just, oh, now that you've seen it, let's address it. So that would be a general advice, but once they've seen it, and then going back, and that's why I think, you know, having conversations around human nature, which are very like equalizing, it allows, when we talk about the nature of human behavior and how throughout history, you will find very similar, like history repeats itself, human beings are very predictable, right? A lot of these things are not new, it's just that they, we have different contexts, right? But it's not like being shameless, or being maybe overly sexual, or whatever the case may be, is something that is a new phenomenon. It was done differently, more discreetly maybe in previous times, but the fact remains that human beings have weaknesses, right? And so when you approach these topics in a way of, how did Allah SWT create us, that we are created with, that's why I like looking at, for example, like the great philosophers, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, they kind of give us a comprehensive view, right, of the human being, and of course our own, Imam al-Khazali and others who used and incorporated similar ideas, but like understanding the triune nature of the human being, that like I have these conversations, I'm reading currently, for example, with my boys, I'm reading from, you know, Plato, the Republic, because Socratic way of teaching is really good way of teaching children, right? To ask questions, to kind of get their minds thinking, and sometimes we think like, oh little kids, they can't get this stuff, but that's not true, they actually can learn very well if you kind of trigger their own internal like inquisition, like, you know, like think about this on a deep level. So anyway, we're talking about these ideas, and so in part of the Republic, Plato talks about, you know, the, what he defines as the human, and then the beast and the pig, right?  But there's, this represents, these are the three ways that the triune nature of the human being is presented. So we have the intellect, right? The akal that we're taught, which is what should govern our behavior. Then we also have our appetitive soul, right? Our concupiscent soul, which is where our nefs, where our appetites, our base appetites reside. And then we have our irascible soul, or the beast, right? The dog, which represents our emotions. So when you help children understand that we all, every single person, even mom, or sorry, mama and baba, and grandma and grand, everybody, we all have these three parts of us. And how do they work, right? Appetites, for example, are essential. We need to eat, we need to drink, we need to sleep, and we procreate, right? For the purpose of, you know, maintaining our, it's an impulse for the race, right? The human race. We have to procreate in order to have children. So that's a natural desire that human beings have given us. And we can go into extremes in our appetites. So when you kind of have a conversation like this where it's more philosophical, as opposed to, like, you know, kind of getting into specifics about students on their campus, and like just kind of talk about it as a general. Like this is all human nature. And then go into, again, more descriptions like emotions, right? We have emotions for a reason. They're useful, but they can also be weaponized. Like anger. Anger is a very useful emotion, but if you don't know how to control anger, right? Then it's kind of like having a wild dog on the loose without a leash. You need to be able to control those emotions. That's where self-regulation is important. And then how are, who's governing? If you're, if you know that you have three aspects to you but you don't know how to govern yourself, then maybe, and there are people nowadays, think about it, how many people are being led by their appetites, right? How many people are being led by their emotions? We have a society that's run amuck with emotions. There's so many emotions. Everybody's triggered. Everybody's angry all the time, right?  It's so irrational, but they're in a heightened state of emotion because they haven't been taught that your emotions are useful but they're also dangerous if you, if they're controlling you, right? You shouldn't let emotions control you. You shouldn't let your appetites control you. The aqal has to, the reason has to be governing.  If you allow your base desires to drive you, like so many people, you will find yourself harming yourself. So when it comes to inappropriate behavior and modest behavior, that is, it could be both. It could be both the emotions, right? And the appetites governing. And what does that do? How many people have gotten themselves in really horrible situations because they let their emotions lead or their desires lead? So you have unwanted pregnancies, you have heartache. I mean, how many young people do, have we known in our life who suffered immense heartache because their emotions led them down a path to have a relationship they weren't ready to have, right? That was not gonna be something long lasting.  It's not just a physical thing. So when we can approach these topics from this type of a lens that just speaks to human nature and the dangers of human nature, when it's not, you know, given, when we don't have these understandings clear, then the child can, you're reaching their intellect. You know what I mean? And that's, I think, a much better approach as a parent. I mean, I always try to reach my children's intellect when I'm trying to teach them something because if I'm speaking from emotion and fear and anger and a feeling of how could you betray me, that's not gonna reach them because remember teens, and this is just FYI, we all I'm sure remember are going through this ourselves, there's a point when adolescents, they switch their loyalty. Their loyalty goes to their peer group, right? And parents have to kind of deal with that, like wow, all my life I've served you and taken care of you and now just because you're friends as something, you know, my opinion doesn't matter, yeah. It's natural because why? They have to start to individuate from you and in order for them to do that, which is a natural occurrence in adolescence, they have to start to form their own ideas independent of you. So in fact, sometimes they will deliberately go against you because what you're saying doesn't fit what they want to explore or maybe what everybody else is doing, peer pressure, all that stuff is real. So just to, because it's an impulse, they'll just go against you. Whereas if you try to approach their intellect and really speak to them about what would be the benefit of having a boyfriend? Like that's a kind of, again, a Socratic method of inquiry. Like why would you want a boyfriend at 12, 13, 14? What would be the benefit? Help them to come to their own conclusions.  Okay, so what if that boyfriend wants to pressure you into doing certain things that you're not ready to do? How would you handle that situation? You know, like let them explore the concept that they're kind of grappling with in a way that is not just fear-based where it's like, no, no, no, it's wrong don't even think about it, shut it down. But actually help them to see that there's more harm in what they're being drawn to. Yeah, that's something that we have to be very clear about. Like, Allah is so forgiving and so raheem that if that friend makes toba, inshallah, they won't be punished. But not to ever make the opposite statement that says, yes, absolutely, they're going to hell. Because you just don't know the toba of a person who, you know, especially in that age where they're so fragile and they're learning, like adolescence is a very complicated time. I work with teens, I know what, from the conversations I've had, it's just so difficult and we have to be compassionate. But when they're asking questions like that, they're literally, it's a test, right? It's a test to see, basically, are you going to, you know, is there, and unfortunately, especially if they're being influenced from other groups that tell them, we're all inclusive and compassionate and love and there's nothing wrong. You know, they may be looking to see if you're going to be offering them something that doesn't quite fit that, right? So you wanna be very careful not to fall into those types of situations where you may inadvertently confirm something that isn't really true because we can't judge anybody. We can say what's haram and what's not permissible, but we can never say that a person will be punished because we simply don't know. So when they ask very direct questions like that, be very clear that nobody can say if someone's gonna be punished or not. What we can tell you is it's displeasing to Allah, but Allah's also so merciful. And if a person makes a sincere toba, inshallah, it can be wiped away as if it never happened. And that's the kind of compassion that you wanna reach them with. But I think, sorry, I give you a very long answer, but the reason why is because these conversations can't be just had quickly and just, try to quickly resolve it. You have to actually approach it in this way of, I need to reach the intellect inside this teenager because they are intellectual beings, right? And they're being sold on an idea by the popular culture that tells them, especially young girls, that your value is only good as far as how sexually attractive you are or what you can offer in that way. So there's this hypervigilance on being alluring and it's seductive and attractive. And we have to break down all of those narratives for them and help them to see why they're so destructive and to look like, for example, I mean one of the things that when I talk to teens, like I talk about like who are some famous singers, right? And so they'll, I mean now I haven't met with them in a while, but like conversations before, they would mention certain people like Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, right? Demi Lovato, these are singers we all know. So then you say, what's their relationship like, history like? If you know anything about any of these three, you know that they have a streak. They're like serial, you know, in terms of their relationship history, it's known about them, right? But what are the majority of their songs? Heartbreak and love, are those authorities that you would wanna listen to when it comes to the realm of relationships? Like really, think about it. If a person doesn't have a good track record in the art of love, right? And their every song is about being miserable and being heartbroken and hating on their exes. Why are we holding them up and then aspiring to, you know, to looking at them like, oh my God, they're so cool. They're so, it's such a like a Psyops, like a psychological thing that we're all being, you know, tricked into thinking, so these are the types of intellectual sort of approaches to conversations that we, if you have with teens, especially as a parent, you're gonna get garner more respect from them if you try to speak intellectually to them as opposed to being emotional, using threatening language, being angry, don't do that, please. Cause that's literally handing them to their peer group and saying, shut down conversation with mom and dad, never approach them again. So creating those safe spaces is let's talk, let's unpack this, let's think about this. And then also there is a time as a parent, I'm gonna have to do it too, I have a 13 year old now, where we have to hand the baton off to a mentor that we can enlist that will have, be able to have these conversations. Cause I can't tell you how many parents have come up to me and said, oh my God, if you said this to my child, you know, they would take it, but for me, and it's true, I will literally say verbatim what their parents have said and they'll take it for me, but not their parents. So that may be another easy approach is just to get a good mentor who's a few years older to have these conversations with her so that she can see that this isn't just mom trying to clamp down and control you. This is wisdom that will benefit you. Like when I talk to teens, I talk about like, or women in general, like we should know about female sexual power. Like it's something that we should understand because when you understand that, then you realize that it's a responsibility. It's a power that we've been given. And if you wield it without awareness of that power, then you cause a lot of harm. But the approaching topics like that, instead of just shaming women and saying, why are you wearing makeup? Why are you dressing like that? It doesn't go anywhere. It's just, it's not a helpful way to approach those topics. So I hope that was clear. Any other questions, ladies? Yes. Yeah, right. Now everything you said was on point. And I think I would just, I would say part of, what we have to remember as adults is that teen culture is so different. Like for boys, for example, I'm sure if anybody has sons, you know like in boy culture, there's so much competition. They're really trying to establish like, kind of an authority, right? Like who's gonna be the alpha? Who presents that way? So there is a lot of competitiveness. So that's why you see a lot of bullying and like kind of trash talking in boy culture, right? With girls, it's also about, there is a sort of competitive edge. So sometimes the impulse to want to judge is very strong. And they're looking to judge. So when you tell them don't judge, it's kind of like, okay, because it makes them feel good better in themselves when they can find something to look at another person who maybe they feel threatened by. Maybe that, maybe there's a girl who's prettier or who has something to offer that I don't. But if I can find a reason to judge her, oh, look at her, she's not modest, right? So this is all part of again the, I mean, these are very, very spiritual realities that have to be addressed when we talk about like diseases of the heart. Like, you know, that's why this text, I always say like, this should be done so much earlier than what we're offering now. We approach this as adults. I think like seriously elementary is where we should start because if a child understands like envy, right? From a very young age, and you're constantly reinforcing envy, then when they're in this age where envy becomes very like prominent in their heart because they're trying to figure themselves out and then they see others and it's kind of like a popularity thing. You know, like who's getting more attention? Who all the adults like, who the boys like, right? There's too much of that pressure, but maybe if they've had this education about, you know what, this is all signs of envy and you have those stories or stories that we can share with them about, you know, the dangers of being envious. Like all of those things can help them to navigate those experiences, but if we're not sharing those things, you know, or just kind of trying to approach it, like I said from a very emotional place, like, oh, you shouldn't do this or you shouldn't do that or we say, I just feel like the conversations have to be deep and that's why when our children enter the age of adolescence, we have to make time for them. Like don't wait for just problems to address them.  That is gonna make a much more bigger impact than you just waiting for them to come to you and complain to you about a situation and then in the moment you give them a few words. That is not as the same, right? So I feel like making the time to really have experiences with your children while you're infusing these teachings is going to actually get through to them and stick much better than just, like I said, kind of giving a band-aid solution because, you know, a problem arises and I just want a parent right now. That's the parenting hat. But we need to befriend our adolescents and befriending them requires spending time with them and having really deep conversations and appealing to their intellect. Really important. But thank you for that. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah wa iyaki, masha'Allah. All right, we have, I'm so sorry, gone over time so we'll end in dua, insha'Allah. Bismillahir rahmanir rahim wa al-asr. Inna l-insana la fi khusr illa alladina amanu wa amir al-salihaati wa tawasub al-haqi wa tawasub al-sabir, subhanakullahi wabih. Alhamdulillah, shadu an la ilaha illa anta. Nasdaq firuq wa natyubu ilayk. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa bariqa ala Sayyidina wa Maulana wa Habibirah Muhammad. Salli allahu alaihi wa sallim wa alaihi wa sahli wa sallim tasliman katheera. Alhamdulillah, jazaq mula khil in everyone. Thank you very much. Insha'Allah, we'll see you next week for, I'm sorry, not next week, next month. Next month insha'Allah, last Thursday of every month. All right, insha'Allah, thank you. Thank you. Alaykum as-salam.


So Sanjay has a question. Hey folks, does anyone know if there's a way to generate design documentation from a Power Automate Flow configuration? There's a link I've found where one can supposedly create a flow from a Visio process flow, but that doesn't seem to work. So yeah, there is a couple of ways, and I know Norm's not here today, but he did put out a flow documenter that a friend of his made, and the link will put it in the chat. He is actually a separate documenter that will allow you to document it, but it actually uses the same toolbox that the other two links that I'll drop into the chat as well. So it's called the XRM Toolbox, and the first link is actually to the toolbox, and the second one is actually to an article that shows you how to use a toolbox. So really, this is entirely possible. It just requires a toolbox to do it. There's no direct link from Power Automate to document a flow in Visio, which I think is dumb because it's a Microsoft product. You should be able to document any flow. But this is one of those things where just a matter of time, a Microsoft sees third-party tools out there, they'll likely go and add the functionality as the platform matures. We would hope. Eventually. Yeah. Eventually. Well, I just buy it from somebody.  Yeah, by the way, that first link is fellow MVP Renee Motary, so good friend based in Singapore. So yeah, we'll share that within the blog and out on YouTube as well. That calls back to the days where we had SharePoint Designer. You guys remember when you could do a Visio stencil for SharePoint Designer and it worked? Yeah. You don't ever know that it's all broad adoption, but yeah, it was an attempt. Well, and I've actually had someone reach out to me, and this is a while ago, but they wanted the ability to take teams and be able to document teams in Visio, the hierarchy of teams. Because they wanted the ability, they had all these people, they wanted the individuals mapped out, kind of like in an org chart, if you will, kind of a deal. So they're like, hey, how can I take the information from teams and put that into Visio as kind of showing people here, this team with these people, this team with these people, yeah, yeah. So that makes my head hurt, like maybe in Excel, I might be okay, but Visio makes me scared for that. Yeah, but you can use the, you can export that to Excel and import it into a Visio org chart. It'll generate it for you. You're good, but they're looking for the one-click solution, Sherry. One-click. Is that exists? I want to think that I want something and I want it to happen. Yeah. I don't want to in those moments. Yeah. The whole lens will do that now. The whole lens, yeah. They put probes right into your brain and they, I'm sorry, Christian looks like he wants to say something serious. Sorry, my serious comment here is, I think also the RENCORE tools also generate documentation. I think SPCAF might generate, so it depends on what the requirement is, but sorry to get serious and take it back to what the question was actually about. But I'll dare you focus us. I'll dare you. That's what happens when you schedule a call on a holiday week, guys. Yeah. That happens. Great way to backhand it to slap me for doing a scheduling and recording this week.  That has to go in the video. Yeah. That was too good. That really was too good.


The American Broadcasting Company presents Pat Novak for hire. The sign out in front of my office says Pat Novak. It's about the only way to make a living down on the waterfront in San Francisco. Because if you ever tried to practice the Ten Commandments down here, they'd steal nine of them and frame you with the other. So I rent boats and do whatever else comes in handy to make a buck change pockets. Sometimes the hustle pays off. Sometimes you get lumps instead. Last week it was neither of these. I hung around my place at Pier 19 day after day and nothing turned up at all. This one I began to wonder if people had forgotten how to phone. A babe gives me a jingle. She sounds nervous and talks about trouble. Asked me to come up and hold her hand. I ended up at a joint on the Marina Slant of Webster Street. It was probably important stuff once in the way a gold plated living. Now it's just a tired wooden boarding house with about 30 people filling up space designed for a dozen. The paint was peeling off the walls. The garden had been on its own so long it was beginning to look like a jungle. When I rang the doorbell I had to give it even odds a zombie would open it. I was nearly right at that. It was Hellman, a detective from City Homicide with a disposition made up of equal parts of a hating people in confusion. Right then though he wasn't himself.  He looked like a cat who learned to open the icebox. Sorry Novak we don't want any fish today.  You're wrong again and as usual somebody had some sort of bad luck. As bad as you can get. Dead huh. You're too late this time Novak the killer's already in the bag. And you've got the drawstring. I'm not complaining.  Put the brush away Hellman. If you've got the killer it's even money it turns out to be four other people. I don't know the department managed before you dragged into town we stumbled but we got by. You can say that about a wine bomb. I can make it fit you stumble on out of here Novak. Yeah yeah the first who done it. The landlady she evicted a guy named Burke hard. He didn't live here he rented a room for some kind of an office. He was a freelance bookkeeper. She said he made too much noise working his machines at night. Did she confess it's open and shut Novak. No room for your chisel. She confessed maybe you can pin it on her. What do you mean pin it on her. The way you work you couldn't prove Warren's governor. That's not my department but keep on being smart and see if I can prove you'll fit in one of our cells down in Kearney Street.  I don't want any part of anything you're near including this way. I'll buy that too and I'll breeze out of here when the press shows up. Don't worry about giving him your best profile.   Gee that's good Novak.  Look Novak I'd you like a tip on a horse. I got a hot one in the fifth of Del Mar tomorrow. I got a tip for you. Get out of my hair before I have to comb you out. Novak that's no way to talk. I could be a friend. The guy was small even for a midget. Since the rooming house was so full of interesting people I decided I didn't want to go away after all. So I went back up the steps was just going to try my luck when the door opens from inside. The guy with a welcome is either middle aged or he's done a lot of careful living.  You notice it because he acts like he forgot his face when he went into his act. The rest of them is as mysterious as an attic in a B horror picture. I didn't need any puzzles right then so I started to brush him off. Especially when I noticed the suit. It was so ragged it looked like he was made up to put the bomb on the town. Then I decided to play it for the last. How would you like to make some heavy money in a hurry. I quit buying oil wells. I'm not fooling would you. Who are you named Jack Lansom. I'm Burke's assistant who used to be. He looks like quick easy money for an undertaker. For you too. Sure why not. And how Burke has some papers in his home safe that I don't want poured over by any flat foot snooper. They're my papers. Burke just kept them there for me. I want you to get them. I don't see any splints on your legs. I can walk. I can't leave. I'm just going to question all the tenants. So what do I do. Go to this address. It's on Knob Hill. Here are the keys. It's wall safe not a combination. Just two locks you have to open at the same time. The papers are in a sealed envelope marked Lansom private. Get it and bring it here. I don't know. When a guy dies the feds move in. They'll want to list his stuff or taxes. These aren't financial papers. They're just some private letters and things. I don't like flirting with the FBI. How would you like to flirt with one thousand bucks. If the stuff's worth that much it must be hot. I need those papers. Do you get them for me or do I phone somebody else. I could change my mind. Here's a hundred dollars. There's nine hundred more when the stuff's in my hands. You had me fooled there. You don't dress to fit this kind of though. So I save my money. Are you going or not give me the keys. Lots of luck. No back to get a glass of water and run yourself. It looked like a cinch. I flagged a cab up to the place on Knob Hill. It turned out to be one of those society page joints. All glass brick and snobby's doorman. Getting up to Burke's floor was as easy as walking up six flights of back stairs. The hall was empty and the key fitted. It was all so easy I began to get nervous. And you would too if you walked in on her that way. She was a toy size brunette with a perfect kind of face that could mean anything from nice people to quick death. She was smooth and beautiful. As you can say that about a whirlpool. If my break and in bothered her you'd never guess it from looking. Hello. Tasha had on a chair. I've been working the wrong districts. I'm glad you're here. Why for instance. Girl gets lonely in a place like this. A Berkey's out and I don't know when I'll get back. You forgot something there. Folks call me Blanche. What's your name friend Pat Novak. As you go with the lease I'm in and out. Berkey doesn't like me to tell it though but everybody knows it. So what kind of secrets that the nice surprise you when I walked in like that Berkey has a lot of friends they come and go I'm used to it for a bookkeeper Berkey does all right. He's good at figures don't you think. If he had my account I'd be nervous. Don't you know he just came into a lot of money. But there's a comfort to his quiet. Me too. Have a cigarette this time in the box on the coffee table. These are cigars. Oh. Oh yeah well I have some in my purse. Never mind. I'll settle for a drink. OK well I'll be. What do you got. That's kind of hard to say offhand. Let's look in the kitchen and see. It ought to be up here. But it isn't. I knew a girl that way once. But he must have moved the bottle. Look around. Try those cabinets. I'll get there. Wait a minute take it easy. What's the matter. Jumpy. Leave him and miss. Is Mr. Novak in. Yeah I mean. You and your horse are both out. Mr. Novak it's a good horse. You always come in crowds. That's Pinky. He's been on my tail all night. Aren't you curious about why I'm here. You must be a friend of Burke. What did matter. What do you mean. When you get tired of playing with those doors let's admit you don't know where Burke keeps his. You don't know where he keeps his cigarettes. You don't know anything about the place because this is the first time you've been here.  Put it down I'm just curious. And you can still fill in my question. Why not say I wandered into the wrong apartment. You don't seem anxious to get out. Maybe I like the company here. Come on in the living room he probably has the liquor in there. That isn't what you were after. Why don't we settle for my being lonely. The town's full of lonely babes.  I know a cure. Do you. Let me guess. I guess when you can be sure. Like this. Now I know. Fill me in on the rest of your visit. I'm busy. All right I could be. All right let's close the post office. Do you get the papers. I could. Man don't usually treat me that way. They'd live longer if they did. Look baby. I'm not swinging any bats until I know who's pitching. You'll give with where you fit in or do I have to bend it out of you.  And then he gets tired of men she can twist around her fingers. Yeah sure I'm fascinating. Give. Don't flex your muscle. I'll tell you. Denver Red sent me. You sure it wasn't Pittsburgh Peter Chicago Clark. He's real. You're too particular about what you call a man. He owns a nightclub called the knife and fork out on Geary Street. Then what. He sent me to get some papers Burke has hidden around the place. A small envelope. Did you find it. Here it is. You want it. You give up easy. I don't have to do this sort of thing to get along I told Red that. What else are you going to tell him. You took the papers away from me. What you got a better idea put down your flap sister. What if I didn't go back to him. What if I went with you. I don't like your recommendations don't worry. I won't pretend I wouldn't drop you as soon as I found a better man. What do you want eternity. I haven't got time for that. All right. So I go back to red. It is telephone books and half and things like that. So watch him. Here's the booze. Let's drink to something rather. Why not. Yeah sure you won't change your mind. About anything. Why don't you leave me your phone number. I got a better idea. Sucker. She timed it but nice. I hardly started to get my hand up before she hit me with a bottle. The room began to spin and I tried to stand up but my knees gave way. I could hear her footsteps a long distance away running. And the door closed. I shook my head and some of the cobwebs went away but not enough for me to get started. At the time they did I knew it was too late. I looked around and the package of papers was gone. The more I thought I how easily I'd been done in by that day no matter I got. And I remembered no one was supposed to know about the papers except Lansom. Decided I better check on the play. I got on the phone and talked my way through a flock of bars until I ran down an alcoholic friend of mine named Jaco Madigan. I got a timer around San Francisco who knows more about the town than the city planning commission. He sounded good over the phone which must have meant they were watering his drinks. Let's see my boy how I am curious. I'm sitting in on a racket that's beginning to develop too many curves. You sound like you're in a girl scout camp.  You nasty immoral. Put down the horn for a minute. I want you to do me a favor. If I had a daughter you were even in the neighborhood. I'd lock her in the cellar. Those boy scout leaders are thinking about a girl scout a minute ago. What did they do? Pull a switch. Anyway boy scouts don't camp. They hide. Look I just got sat by a dame who stole some papers. Up in Mount Tamar Pius they hide. Her name's Blanche. She's tied in with a guy named Denver Ren. He run the knife and fork club out on Geary. Oh those poor kids. Matt Mountain is almost straight up too. She just left here. She ought to be heading for Denver Reds Place. What are the papers? I know you don't own them. They have some stuff in them that'll put the heat on a guy named Jack Lansom. He likes it cool. A thousand dollars worth. Oh speaking of money there's a friend of yours here. Hello Patsy. This is Pinky. Imagine me talking to you on the telephone. Imagine I've gone deaf. Hey Jocko if you can hear this pull that punk off the line. Okay he's gone. He said he had a horse for you. Look dummy up to that guy. He's been floating around all night. Night be floating too if you'd be nice to him. I'll grab a cab and go out to the knife and fork club. Blanche shows up to see if he can find out what she does with the papers. Are you buying the drinks and the cab fare? Yeah, yeah, yeah. What are you going to do? I'm going back and see Lansom. This was supposed to be a closed deal and will you hurry? The day will be there and gone. Don't worry about me. You couldn't keep me away from the place. I'm growing wings. Yeah why the sudden lather? Well if you're buying the drinks there's no use of my scrimping. I'm suddenly developing an awful longing for some good well-aid scotch. So long lover. I ducked out of the place and started along the street looking for a cab. I was growing foggy and I couldn't see very well. In fact I could see so little I didn't notice the car driver. I could hear the driver all right. All right Bob, inside the car. You must not like arguments. Don't think it won't shoot either. Get in.  You can say Patsy twice.  Thanks for the ride. I'm Reynolds, gong Reynolds. Ever hear of me? Yeah, you sell pipe drinks. If you know that much you know that shoveling the snow ain't no job for a preacher. So you're tough, then what? And you give me Birch the Lendlow. What is this, a mass meeting? You pass it over or do we have to go out in the country and get it twisted out of you? You're wrong twice, I haven't got it.  Someone beat me to it. Who, Murphy? Murphy. Yeah, the bookie. Did he get it? A dame, she said she was working for Denver Red. Out of the knife and fork? That sounds all right. Hey, what's up? You don't know? Uh-uh, I was hard to pick it up. Yeah, sure. Yeah, I believe that. Take it or leave it, but let me out of here. Don't get nervous. Where did we hit a quiet street? I'm broad-minded, let me off anywhere. I said a quiet street. Before you go, I'm gonna search you. How do I know you ain't lying? I'm beginning to wonder myself. Reynolds was a nice guy for an opium petler. No bumps, no scars. He even dropped me near a car line.  The house was dark except for a light in one of the upstairs windows. Just as I was leaning on the bell, I hear someone coming up the steps behind me. I wish you'd stay put, Mr. Novak. Now, what about that horse? He's a beautiful animal, affectionate. Look, I'm tired of this shadow-wack. What's your pitch? Straight over the plate, Novak. I'm doing you a favor. Somewhere I may need one from you. I'm far-sighted. Well, I'm nearsighted. Come here. Light up and be somebody. Watch your ragged. Put me down, Novak. I can try. Going in for kidnapping midget, Novak? Put him down and come on in. I don't want to draw a crowd. Make this the last time I see you, Pinky, or I'll fix it so you wish you had. What was that? I don't know. I'm beginning to get curious. Forget it. You got the envelope? No. Don't sound so cheerful. Why not? Somebody changed my mind. Too much competition. Keep it understandable. What do you mean? Every tough monkey in town is after those papers, and Denver Red has the inside track. Who else? Tell me about the others. Why didn't you tell me? I didn't know about them. I know how you feel. I didn't know a lot of things either, but I'm beginning to learn. Start talking. Burke used to keep books for a lot of guys around town. That's where he really got his money, covering up the racket profits from the revenue boys. Don't stop there. That's all I know. That's not enough. All right. All right. I don't know, but I can guess. Burke must have photo stats of some of the records and used them to blackmail the gangsters. So it's a free-for-all with me in the middle. I didn't know about it. Honest, I didn't. You didn't know, but I get slapped, sapped, and held up. Good for me. You say Denver Red got the papers? He can have them. I'm bowing out. Your hundred dollars is nothing. Don't you see? Get the papers and we'll both be rich. Richer than anyone in town. No dice. You want them, you'll get them. I'll give you five thousand dollars. How much down? Here's the rest of the thousand. I promised you. Is that fair? I don't know. We're going to be rich, you hear? Rich. Yeah. The richest man in the cemetery. Lancin must have thought I was the biggest sucker in the city. I was through with the papers as soon as I discovered how hot they were. I could have told him, but when I saw how anxious he was, I figured I might as well use his shakes to get the rest of the thousand dollars. I hit it out to the knife and fork, but my only plan was to get Jaco off the hook. After that, I wanted a lot of time in the country until things cooled off. The joint was out near Golden Gate Park, one of those community center places where you get everything that'll go in a stomach including bicarbonate. The brunette doll was nowhere in sight, but I saw Jaco over at the bar wrestling with a double-sized highball eased over beside him. Well, if it isn't the boy scout, Patsy Novak.  Don't you worry, my lobes are functioning smooth as ice in a glass. What can I do for you after you pay the bill? Did the dame blanch you up here? Yeah, about half hour ago. What kept you? She's pretty. And so's the tiger. Where is he? She and your friend Denver Red went upstairs. He has an apartment up there. Now that's the way to live. If he bore the hole in the floor and ran a pipe down to the bar... Did you see the papers? No, and do you know a guy named Reynolds, Gong Reynolds? We've met. He was in here. He looked around and ducked out. Did he go upstairs? Reynolds and Denver Red are two of the most powerful gangsters in town. If they've got anything to do with this, you better cash in your chips and get out of the game. Yeah, don't worry. I'm all washed up with this. I heard something else, too. This guy, Lanson, is no country boy either. Measure him for me. The grapevine has it he used to be a member of Murder Incorporated, the Brooklyn outfit. He got out before they grew into big-time operators. Three of a kind. What do you know about Murphy? Don't tell me Murphy's in on this. Murphy's got the horse wires sewed up. He sewed it up with bullets. Let's get out of here. I will in a minute. How do you get to Denver Red Shack? The entrance is outside, but what do you care? Let's get out of here. In a minute. Patsy, they're hotter than summer in Panama. Leave them alone. I'd kind of like to see that envelope. Try the post office. It's full of envelopes. Yeah, not this one. You coming with me? No, Patsy, if you've lost your mind, you've lost it alone. I'll be getting to wonder about that. Well, so long, lover. I worked out of the place without causing any fuss. Eased into the apartment entrance. The place was quiet. And so quiet you could hear me breathing as I worked my way up the stairs. There was a carpet in the halls, but even then I was careful. I listened at the door, and there wasn't a sound inside. After a while, I tried to knob. The door opened. But a fog outside, you could barely make out anything in a place. Something told me to back out and forget it. There was something I wanted to know. I held my breath and listened. All I could hear was the jukebox faintly from the cafe below. And I fell for the light switch. Don't move. You're covered. What are you waiting for, Helden? A payoff? You, baby. Keep your hands up. Where's the gun? I ate it. I guess it wasn't much good at that. You didn't have any bullets left. You counted them? I counted the bullets in the body. Six bullets. One load. Who got it? Or do I have to guess? Denver Redden is Dame. Name's Blanche. Now what? Yeah, I know her. She used to roll stroke or in my life both. She looks the type. You want to tell me about it or do we go downtown first?  Who made those holes in them? Termites?  They might get hungry again. You got all the brains, Novak. You better shake them up. You're going to need them. You ought to get a refund on that crystal ball, Helden. That's not a bad idea. Or maybe I can swap it for a television set. I'd like to see you on those San Quentin broadcasts.  You can't pin this one on me. It's pin, Novak, but good. In fact, it's a hat pin. Try making sense.  This is my hat. Now all you got to do is get rid of the five people who saw you wearing it earlier this evening at the boarding house. You're clear. We were halfway down to the Hall of Justice before I could talk Helman into giving me another chance. Murphy was really the one who cinched it. I picked him up by phone at one of his bookie joints with Helman listening in on an extension. Yeah, it was short and sweet. I heard the name. What's it in you? This may not be my business, but I got a good reason for wanting to know. Spread it out, Novak. I got work to do.  What's it to you, Novak? Yeah, you did then. Yes, I'm not, I guess. Didn't give his name. Down's full of him these days. He wouldn't be a nut if Burke had something on you. Hey, what is this? Burke's got an autonomy. I pay my taxes. What is this, Novak? Some new form of shakedown? Yeah, Murphy. But you're not up the tree. Thanks a lot. Hey, it could fit. I get a chance to prove it. I can't let you go, Novak. But what if I should bend over for a minute to pick up this pencil and the door open and off? Try it and see, Helman. Just once. After that, I began to figure my bad luck had run out for the day. I jumped a cab and went down to the waterfront, but not to my pier. There was a guy at Pier 23 who was a friend of mine. He had a gun and a rowboat in my bar at Bootham. I pushed off without being too careful because between the wind and the cross-chop, nobody was going to be here in anything. Even with everything on my side, it was a long, hard row. When I hit the bottom of the ladder at the end of Pier 19, I had to sit in the boat to let my heart slow down. It was blacker than inside a Helman's dress shoes. I took my time edging down the pier. I was just about to slide into my boat house when I tripped the booby trap. I did a brody and somewhere along the line, I lost my gun which put me even up with Lawson. He turned on the lights. Now, Vic, you have to sneak up in your own office. You ought to pay the rent regularly. Say the gags, you'll fix up this welcome. I was all alone and didn't like the idea of being caught from behind. What would you do about a frontal attack? I've got this gun, but since it's only you, I don't have to worry. I wouldn't say that. I think you've got all kinds of worries. Everybody has got something. And you've got rentals. Where is he? Take it easy. I just saw him earlier tonight and he mentioned your name. Let's keep that for the society column. I'll take the envelope. I didn't get it for the simple reason that there isn't any envelope. That fall on the head makes it soft? You told me you saw it. Nothing important. Just some regular business letters. Nothing to stand up in court. I still don't understand this. You don't make sense. And I don't make dough either. I don't have the envelope. Or do you want to search me? I'm not getting that close to you. You're going off in some tangent that I don't understand. So we'll just sit and wait till you get ready. Or until rentals get here. That's supposed to scare me. Look at it this way. You don't mind if I talk? I can listen. No, you sit there. With your back to the door. That's right. Now I'll just warm the place up by closing the door. Now, you were saying? Suppose that the envelope was a foamy. After I am on my way, you call up all the big-time hoods in town and tip them off. Now tell me why? The boys start pouring out of the woodwork to give me the business.  Then you can pick up where he left off. I'm not boring, am I? Not at all. Go on. Everything was as cozy as an upper berth until Denver Red gets his girl into Burke's place before I make it. You're everything but consistent. Now you'll be trying to tag me with the stiffs down at the knife and fork. Thanks for the cue. You knew that if Denver Red spotted the envelope for a foamy, the news would be all over town and your racket would be kaput, so you killed him. Nice figuring. You should have been a bookkeeper, too.   So since you know everything else, you might as well know the caliber of this gun. See? I've looked into things like that before. Everything has to end sometimes, so don't touch that phone. I ordered that call just in case. I said don't touch it. You'll be here in worse bells than that if you don't let me answer it. Okay. But watch your language. Novak speaking. For a minute I thought you was out. You're the hottest man to get hold of, but I guess it's because you're a busy guy. We'll say something. That's right, Reynolds. Huh? This is Pinky, Mr. Novak. Remember? What a name. That's up to you, Reynolds. What's he saying? You want to talk to him? You still where, Mr. Novak? And Mr. Novak? Give me that phone. Now look, Reynolds, I'm not taking any talk off you. You'll pay up or else... How about that horse? You want to get out of him? I think I can toss a sawbuck into his feedback. Oh gee, Mr. Novak, you'll never look where. Okay, Pinky. Who's the goat? Pinky, I said what's his name? Pinky might have forgotten, but Lansom's memory was good. I handcuffed him to the chair and told him Reynolds would be down in a half an hour. Then gave him Hellman's phone number. He confessed to everything after sitting alone in my office for a while. I know how he felt. When the feds got the news, they moved in with a fine tooth comb, but they never did turn up anything. Nobody ever did. I'm pretty sure of that. But now and then I get the idea, maybe I'm wrong. So I start nosing around for those papers. I never find the things. I usually find Reynolds instead. He's beginning to get gray. Who killed the bookkeeper? That was a landlady. Yeah, Hellman got her a room, too. We heard on tonight's presentation where Ben Morris is Novak, John Galbraith is Inspector Hellman, Jack Lewis is Jaco, and Mary Milford is Blanche, with Herb Ellis, Jerry Zinnerman, Kurt Martell, and Dick Ellers. Special music by Otto Claire. Listen again next week at this same time when over most of these stations, the American Broadcasting Company presents Pat Novak for hire. This is ABC, the American Broadcasting Company.


I'd like to ask you, think about your brain for a second. Why would I ask you to hand write down information? Any ideas? Any thoughts there?  All learning depends on great systems that work well, especially cognitively your memory and your attention. And writing down something is going to facilitate that a bit, right?   It was two. It was three. And he said, no, the only way we can have a common and shared understanding is if we document it. So do write things down, okay? Write them down for your own good, but for everybody else's good.


Hamilton. Shoot slow, it's blocked. Gelena will get there. Dinesh Gelena. Tees up. Dobre! It's a great goal by Alex Dobre. His third Premier League Cup goal in as many appearances. And a huge celebration to the crowd here. Neil, great goal from Dobre. And Conor on the touchline, barking orders on his team saying move the ball, move it quickly. Genesini. Sadie's in space here. Sadie, what a goal! He's lit up this FA Youth Cup tie. It's a superb take from the striker. This is 18th goal of what's been a prolific season. And it's Asi Bournemouth for Barnett Neil. Oliver now drives into the area. Oliver's low cross. It's Pardo! Neil to Asi Bournemouth. And Luke Pardo, who's been threatening for a goal throughout this first half, finally gets his name on the score sheet. Really good finish. Rico's corner, in towards Meppen. Right across the six-yard box. And Voddy Clear from Asipila Quetta. Back in from Lerma. And the flag stays down. It does it goes up in the end as Gosling is cleared off the line anyway, but the flag's already up. Unfortunately, Gosling caught it was in. Was Gosling offside? I'm not sure if he was. And then the ball gone over the line. All right. Oh, tell you what. I'll tell you what. Hang on, just calm down for a second. Because Gosling, I think, is onside. And that ball, I think, has gone over the line. What's Graham Scott saying? He's got his finger to his ear. He's getting the message. He's picking up the ball, Graham Scott. And he has given the goal! Vick has scored for Bournemouth at Chelsea. Can you believe it? Not the first time he's been involved in drama here. A last-minute equaliser, a couple of seasons back.