Abdal Hakim Murad – Being Attentive to Others

Cambridge Muslim college training the next generation of Muslim

thinkers Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala Rasulillah.

We're early he was so happy. We're Manuela.

So we've now plunged into the limpid waters of the fasting month

and our customary attachments are suddenly broken. That's like

diving into the sea, suddenly, there's no more breathing and you

are no longer quite at ease with your immediate environment, as

brings many benefits, some of them obvious, even medical others,

harder to discern more spiritual somehow when we are detached from

the immediate need for grazing and snacking. And thinking about the

next indulgence we are more in the moment to be more mindful, we are

more present with nature we are more present with other people

with the moment with God insha Allah it's a time of attentiveness

and of seriousness. We know this is the time when Sophie dirty

Shayateen the demons are

are chained up. When Adam winard in and a herald cries out Yeah,

bar real Hey, hello, are you about here shall Oxford

and the Herald cries out you who seeks what is good, rise up, and

you who seeks what is not good? Hold back.

This is a an angelic voice, which is speaking to us. And somehow we

do detect that voice at this time. So if we do use this opportunity,

let's remember that the fast is not just the nil by mouth, obvious

regulations, but it's an inward thing.

That is to say if we are more in the moment, and more attentive to

others, we need to be more watchful of what comes out of the

mouth as it were in terms of speech. The effort to listen the

drawbacks of the tongue. This is particularly important in Ramadan

and some of the self

Sofian authority for instance, used to c'est la vie Bertozzi

docm, backbiting briksdal fast, he was a great jurist, and that's

what he meant.

The Wrath of Allah and the wisdom of the Ummah is not made that the

conceptual view it would be difficult, but it is a warning.

Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam manlam Yaga real kedi Baba

Khalid zoar, whoever does not abandon telling lies and bearing

false witness, Allah has no need of his leaving off his food and

his drink. What's what's the point? What comes out of us is

more significant morally spiritually than what goes in.

So it's a time when we're attentive to others and also a

time of mercy, of course, the month of Mercy beginning with

mercy and a month of

being forgiving of others, because we're aware of our own frailty and

our own weakness holder called Insano. The IFA Man is created

weak, we become more aware of the weakness of others ever Islamic

charity will tell you you know now what it is to be hungry, so give

money to famine relief. And of course, that is one of the

benefits of cm but empathy with other people what philosophers

have called inter subjectivity somehow being them imaginatively

is the basis of all ethics and Ramadan really does help us with

this. So when you are aware of others, you are aware of their

weakness, and perhaps you can find reasons why they do the things

that you don't approve of. It's easy to say, I dislike what such

and such a person is saying, or the person who is married, or the

way he earns a living or his opinions on religion or the way he

rules his country. It said, most of our most of our color, most of

our conversation nowadays is about that. When you are able to

empathize and try and put yourself in that person's shoes and

understand the reasons why that person has become like that, then

you become more human.

This idea of insan to be human, is to do with one's intimacy, which

means that we really uniquely among the species can try to

imagine really what it is like to be somebody else. My cat can't

imagine what it's like to be me. But I have some capacity even to

imagine what my cat must be feeling when he's hungry or hasn't

been letting all night and we are empathetic creatures as a part of

Being in San Ramadan heightens that sensibility and should be an

ethical time.

We should find ourselves watchful, we should guard the tongue, use

the teeth as a cage, as the scholars say, imprisoning that

wild beast.

So one of the

verses that comes to mind here that religion really is all about,

all about forgiveness, is how the law for what more will off will

our read on Yuja healing

which is, hold fast to forgiveness.

Take what is customary and enjoin others to what is customary and

good and turn aside from the ignorant.

Now this is one of the verses of the virtue called Hilma mildness

which is a Ramadan virtue has to be

it the the awful here means Allah is saying Hold fast to

forgiveness. In other words,

overcome your lower desire to find fault with somebody else, or to

gratify your sense of being superior, better, richer, smarter,

more pious, whatever it might be.

Forgive them through this empathy and also make things easy for

them. If Andrew say in his Tafseer says that one of the meanings of

awful here is the test healer.

And this is from the important prophetic principle. Yes, Cyril

want to ask you best you want to natural. Make things easy for

people. Don't make them harder. Give them good news. Tell them

nice things. Don't repel them. It's in the sea of little Umrah.

It's in the imperative. It's a prophetic commandment we are

commanded to make things easier for others and this is true for

the jurists with his fatwas as it is true for the ruler as it is

true for the banker as it is true for the parent as it is true for

everybody make things easy for others, and this should be part of

the understanding the mutual Rachmat. durafirm of the Muslims

in Ramadan, we know what people are going through. We all have the

same metabolisms. We know what it must be like but then they haven't

eaten for 12 hours tempers perhaps a short

be forgiving, but also make things easy for them.

isn't just a list a number of other meanings which are

interesting here. He says one of the meanings was before the cat

was made obligatory. Take only a moderate amount of, of wealth from

them. In other words, take what is surplus to their requirements

never take from anybody, anything that person absolutely needs. And

then the verse ends were outed anugerah healing. In other words,

somebody thinks ignorant and stupid. It just smack his head.

Turn aside. Murder Al Quran, were either not at all be in love we

Maruka Rama This is the sign of the ibid the rock man in the

Quran, when they pass by stupid activities, people wasting their

time they pass by with dignity as people of honor. And this is a

better way of calling people to something that is better than just

getting in there and insulting them and then telling them that no

good wastewater is part of the hikma of Dawa just to show dignity

rather than to condemn and to attack people and it's very

effective.

And lead to anarchy, the NASA a sofa hat, the sofa him. In other

words, it wanders. It says what this means is when people are

behaving stupidly, you don't take them to task for their stupidity.

Whether it be something that they've said, or something that

they've done, they're fit I work with them and show them help them,

show them gentleness, show them generosity show them mildness and

this is the obligation that is imposed because this verse is in

the imperative at all times we had to be mailed to people in the

month of Ramadan we must cultivate this even more severe loss upon

Allah Tala as we embark upon this month because people have

awareness of understanding of mildness in sha Allah and be here

except all of our fasts, medical or fecal coliform income. Assalamu

aleikum wa rahmatullah.

Cambridge Muslim College, training the next generation of Muslim

thinkers