Ali Ataie – Using Our Intellect to Appreciate the Ramadan Fast
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AI: Transcript ©
Staying with the themes of previous kutbas that
I've given,
I want to take the time today to
analyze exactly what Allah says
in the Quran
about fasting. We are in the blessed month,
alhamdulillah,
because we get questions sometimes that are mind
boggling.
Questions that are ajeeb and kareem
for Muslims.
Somebody asked me recently,
is fasting something that is found in the
Quran,
or is it something that these mullahs and
moolawis
invented?
This type of question is mind boggling to
me. First of all, it depicts that we
have a very low opinion
of our olema, that we should respect the
scholars. It's very important that this is a
disease of our age, that there's a there's
a mistrust, there's a distrust of our ulema.
The prophet
He said respect the scholars. They are the
inheritors of the prophets.
Whoever respects them has respected Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala
and his messenger.
So sometimes
we Muslims, we get stuck into this sort
of progressive
mindset, so called progressive.
We get to this like postmodern
intellectualism.
So we start to say things without knowledge.
We start to say things like, you know,
fasting, that was for back then because there
was a shortage of food
in the desert,
so I don't have to fast.
This is when our aql, our intellect, gets
in the way of our istislam,
of our taslim,
of our resignation and surrender and submission to
Allah
We have to accept sometimes that there are
things that are beyond our intellect.
That we just submit because that's the meaning
of al Islam, It's to submit. When Musa
alayhi salam was at the edge of the
Red Sea, when he was fleeing from the
Fir'aun,
and the Fir'aun was following him and his
tulud and his forces. Nabani Israel, they said,
We're done because they thought about it from
the standpoint of Akel. We're standing at the
Red Sea. There's nowhere to go.
We're done. They're going to destroy us. What
did Musa alayhi salam say?
No way.
With me is my lord. He's soon going
to guide me.
And then Allah
says,
that we have we give wahi. We reveal
to Musa, alayhis salaam,
strike the sea with your assa, with your
staff.
Musa
didn't say, wait wait a minute. What is
that going to do?
Strike the sea with my staff? He didn't
think about it. He didn't let his aqal
get in the way of this mourjazah.
This is a mourjazah
of a prophet, alayhis salatu wa sallam. Sometimes
we have to resign ourselves to the will
of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and to the
orders of the prophet, sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
There's a hadith and a Shamade at Tirmidhi.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was invited
to a meal, a gathering by a man
named Abu Urbeidi.
And Abu Urbeidi cooked this sheep for the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and a group
of Sahaba were there. And the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam says, Abu Ubay. He says,
now with me at Pirah,
give me its forequarter,
the shoulder. The prophet
he like to eat from the shoulder of
the sheep.
Serve me the 4th quarter. So Abu Urbeidi
gave him the 4th quarter. And the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, he didn't eat much.
He took a few bites and then he
passed it to the sahaba, and they would
eat from his leftovers. This is how they
would get tabaruq. Blessings from the prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And then he said
to Abu Ubay, now give
me the 4 quarter.
So he gave him the other 4th quarter,
and he took a few bites adding his
salah to a salah, and then he passed
it to the Sahaba. And then he said,
now,
give me the 4 quarter.
And Abu Ubaid said,
How many 4 quarters? How many shoulders
does a sheep have?
Maybe he lost count.
The prophet
said, I swear by the one who holds
my soul in his hand. Lo sakat,
if you had been quiet
if you had been quiet,
then now wept any at dirach madawt.
Oh, come on, father.
If you had been quiet, you would have
served me a 4 quarter every single time
I had asked you.
We can't have paralysis from over analysis.
They made wudu back then because they were
dirty
of stuff in the lung. What are you
talking about? If you took a 1 hour
shower and you scrub yourself for 1 hour
and then you step out of the shower
and you broke wind, guess what? You have
to make wudu. It's because you're dirty?
No. We have to resudate ourselves to the
will of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. So what does the Quran actually
say about fasting? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
Assuratul Baqarah, ayah number 183.
You ayu adinaaamanu.
And when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala uses this
al nadinaa'amanu. Is it Mosul? There's tasis. He's
talking about the believers. Al Mu'minun, the Muslims.
He's not talking about everyone.
There's some, again, postmodern intellectual Muslims,
so called progressives, who say that every time
Allah says,
he's
talking about anyone who believes in God.
Anyone who believes in any God. So he's
talking to the Jews and the Christians. He's
talking to Hindus. He's talking to Buddhists.
No. How do we know that? Because when
this ayah was revealed to the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam in Madinah, did he impose the
siyam on the Banu Israeel in Madinah?
Is there al Ladina Amalu? Did he say
you you Jews have to fast now? No.
Has there ever ever been a Muslim polity
in the history of Islamic history that has
imposed siam on a group of non Muslims
living under a Muslim polity, a Muslim government?
No. So aladdin aamanu is for the Muslims.
Al Muqminun. Who are the Muslims? Do we
mean Muslims? We're all we're all submitted to
God. Everyone. The Hindu is submitted. The atheists
are submitted. Al Islam. There's an al Islam.
That means there's taksees.
This is a rarefied form
of Islam. Al Islam.
Whoever desires a religion other than Al Islam,
this rarified form of submission. What is Al
Islam?
Belief in the Quran and then the finality
of the prophecy of the holy prophet Muhammad
sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
Kutiba alaykumusiam.
Kutiba
from kataba means to write or to prescribe.
When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, kutiba, that
means it's been ordered. It's wajib or followed.
Like he says in Surat Al Baqarah aye
number 216.
Prescribed upon you is pital. Pital is the
3rd form mastah,
which is associative. Not prescribed upon you is
to go attack the oppressors.
No. To defend yourself, ital. To fight on
the battlefield,
if need be, even though you detest it.
Allah
says,
Maybe there's something that you don't like but
it is good for you because Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala knows the hikmah. He knows the
wisdom behind it. So you say to yourself,
what is fasting? I don't understand it. Why
do I make wudu? Why if I break
my wudu, I have to wash my feet?
What does that have to do with anything?
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, he knows the wisdom
behind these things. So fasting based on this
ayah. Kutiba alaykumusiam
yani patamallamu alaykum assiam. But this is Badni
al Latmachul. Khutiba is in the passive voice,
which adds to the eloquence of the Arabic.
So the the Hurkom of fasting then is
folly. It is compulsory upon every Muslim. Muslim
that has aqal, that has a sane mind,
that has balooth, that is an adult, and
has er, has knowledge of the fast. They
must fast.
It's interesting.
I heard from a Muslim lady recently in
her late thirties. Born and raised Muslim. She
said I'm doing so good this year. I
just have a light breakfast and a cup
of coffee in the afternoon.
I'm doing so good this year. I'm doing
so good. You're Muslim your whole life. You
didn't just convert to Islam. You've been Muslim
your whole life. It's haram to eat during
this time. This is far. Right? The prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam, he said, far of the
Allahu alaihi wasallam. This hadith.
This is Khalil in the Quran. We have
to fast. It's Farb. What does Farb mean?
What does the qurban of farr, the legal
ruling of farr mean? That if we do
it, we're rewarded by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Even though we're supposed to do it. This
is a mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Even though we're supposed to do it and
we do it, we're rewarded by Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. But if we don't do it,
then we become liable for the wrath and
anger
of Allah
This is what we have to keep in
mind. Tutiba'alekin al siyam. What does siyam mean?
It means to stop something in its archaic
meaning. That the Arabs say, Qad Samat Eshamt.
The sun has stopped, meaning it's reached the
meridian, the Zawar.
It's going to descend now. That's what Gohur
starts.
Right?
To to stop something.
Abstinence, abstention.
What do we stop from doing? We stop
from eating and drinking.
We stop from emanations with our spouses,
and there's other things we stop as well.
Look what you're talking about. It means to
stop. This is a time in which the
lisit, the the halal becomes haram upon us.
What did the salaf say? You'll never reach
true taqwa
unless
you unless you leave them permissible for the
sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. What does
that mean? Imam Shafi'i said, things that are
bubah are haram upon me because I am
a shaydiri.
What is bubah? Like you spend 2 hours
a day working out. You don't have to
do that. Spend 30 minutes, 45 minutes. If
you go over, even though it's permissible to
do that,
the ulama, the khas, the elite, they'll say
you're wasting your time. Even though you do
it, it's gonna be permissible.
So this is a training program
in which we want to mimic the khas
and the awliyah and those who are near
to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And al Anbiya
which we leave the misfits. We leave the
permissible.
We leave the permissible that discipline the soul.
This is Siam.
As it was prescribed upon those before you,
Islam did not invent Siam
or sown. This is found multiple times, for
example, in the Old Testament, the New Testament,
when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam went
to Medina. But before that time, even before
Islam, before the Beata, the Jahidi Arabs, they
would fast on Yom Yashurah.
They would fast on the tenth of Muharram.
And this was almost seen as a wajib
amongst their community
that you have to fast on this day.
And there's some adar. There's some reports that
don't have strong Sanad that mention things like
the ark of Nuh alaihi salam, the docked
of Jabal Doodi on Yom Yashurah. Issa alaihi
salam ascended on Yom Yashurah. Allahu Alam. These
things don't have strong standard. But for some
reason,
the the pre Islamic Arabs, the Qurays were
fasting on Yom Hashuah. So when the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam, he went to Madigan to
Manawara.
He noticed that Bani Istrair was also fasting
on this day. So he said, Mahadhar.
In other words, why are you doing this?
And they said, this is to commemorate
the exodus of Musa, alayhis salaam from the
grip of the Firaun.
And the prophet, salallahu alayhi salaam, he said
we have a greater claim upon Musa, alayhi
salaam.
So he ordered us to have a fast
on this day. Although, this
is a sunnah bu Aqada, the fast of
Yomishurah.
And he also said to fast on the
9th day as well to differentiate yourselves from
the body of Israel. To fast on the
9th 10th or the 10th 11th.
This is a strong sunnah of the prophet
salallahu alaihi salam. Actually, Abu Hanifa says Magru.
Just to fast on the only Ashurah now.
You have to fast on 2 days consecutively.
Right? So this is something that was ordered
beforehand.
The New Testament, Al Ahlul Jadid. It says
that Isa alaihi salam. Of course, this is
not a strong source. There's no Sannat. It's
in the wrong language.
Right? This is FYI for your information.
Right? So don't talk to me after the
khutbah and say, brother, you shouldn't put the
the Bible in the Khufa and stuff for
Allah.
This is according to their own sources.
This is FYI for you. Eastside, a salam,
would fast 40 days on end in the
wilderness. You go into the wilderness, and back
then, they would fast, and they wouldn't even
speak. It was haram to speak.
For the previous ummah, it was haram to
eat and speak. You have to take a
vow of silence.
For them who can be madly yawma insiyyah.
As Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us that
Maryam alaihi wa sallam said, I have vowed
a fast to the Ar Rahman, to the
most gracious. I'm not allowed to speak to
anyone today. This is how they used to
fast.
So this is something that was made obligatory
upon those who came before us. La'alafum
tatafum.
In order for you la'ala. Right? This is
tawakkur. This is for expectation.
Expecting you to become people of taqwa.
This is the expectation
from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
To become people of taqwa.
Qammin sa'imin laysafinsiamahi
idazhamah, the prophet, salawahu alayhi, sallam, How many
people fast, and they get nothing from their
fast except hunger. They complain all day. I'm
hungry. I'm hungry. They get these grouchy moods.
You can't even be around them. Non Muslims
notice it. I heard a non Muslim yesterday.
She said my cousins are Muslim. They fast,
but I can't approach them when they're fasting.
They're so moody.
I said, it's tough for them. I have
to be extra happy for her. I'd be
extra cheerful. Put on a big happy face
because all their Muslims are being grouchy when
they're fasting. This turns people away from Islam.
We're hindering people from the path of Allah
Subhana Wa Ta'ala.
The aida from tat tafun. What is the
objective? What is the the hadaf?
What is the the objective? The aim of
fasting then is to become people of taqwa.
And the ulama say there's an axiom that
the reality of something is known by its
objective.
The objective the objective of fasting is taqwa.
Therefore, fasting is highly exalted
in the eyes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
in no anthropomorphic way. It's a figure of
speech.
That's why the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam is
the greatest of creation.
He's the greatest human being, period. The greatest
of of creation, a khalq. Why? Because his
only objective was what? Was who? Was Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
That was his only objective.
So taqwa,
in pre Islamic times because these words taqwa,
obviously, these were around before Islam. What does
taqwa mean before Islam? That meant to parry
a blow. If someone lunges towards you with
a sword and you parry the blow, that's
called a taqwa.
It means a shield. Wifaia.
Wifaia. A shield. What are you shielding yourself
from?
You're shielding yourself away from the disobedience
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Because there are 7 inroads to the heart.
There are 7 inroads to the heart. It's
not just the stomach. Yes. If we eat
and we satiate it, the ulama say, then
the nafs, it becomes restless, and it wants
to disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So we
deprive the stomach, but the stomach is only
1 in 1 inroad to the heart. And
there are a few things, and I'm talking
primarily to the Shaba'at. There are a few
things that the prophet salam alaihi wasallam, he
did not like for people physically. I have
to mention these things. There are a few
things that the prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, he
pointed out he didn't like about people physically.
He didn't like a shaved face with a
huge mustache
that's covering your mouth. He didn't like that.
Don't have this look. The prophet, sallallahu alaihi
wasallam, he didn't like it. Right? And some
this is an ancient Persian type of look
that many Iranians still have. I can pick
on the Iranians because I'm from Iran.
Don't have this look. The prophet didn't like
it. Also, a mohawk. I see Muslim children
all the time with mohawks.
What are the parents doing? It's no sun
a mohawk. It's a fauxhawk.
It's it's fake. It's not really a no.
It's a mohawk. Don't have a mohawk. The
prophet
did not like that look.
The prophet did
not like tattoos.
He didn't like this. This is haram in
our sharia. One time my brother texted me
from another state. He said, I'm in a
tattoo parlor. How haram is a tattoo? I
said, haram is haram.
How haram? Haram jitam.
Very haram. What's the difference? It's haram.
Right? The prophet, sallallahu alaihi, said he did
not like a big stomach.
He didn't like his big stomach. The prophet,
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, he had 3 folds
in his stomach
when he was in his sixties. He had
a 6 pack, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. He
didn't eat a lot. Sallallahu alaihi wasallam. So
this is one of the ways which protect
our heart. What we eat, we preserve our
stomachs, but there are 7 inroads to the
heart.
The next is the eyes. When we're fasting,
our eyes have to fast. We do. We
have to do this all the time, obviously,
But when we're fasting, it's it's more prevalent.
It's at the forefront of our brains. It's
on our purview when we're fasting to guard
our eyes. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
said, Tell the believing men and women to
cast down their gazes.
Don't stare at people. Right? The prophet said,
when you if you look at something beautiful,
look at the haram.
For a man, the first gaze is for
you. But if you keep staring, and you
don't turn away, if you keep staring at
the haram, he said, Bin Al Ma'ala, your
iman is going to be pulled out of
your eyeballs as long as you're staring
at the Haram.
As long as you're staring. But if you
said if you avert your glances, you look
away, and you get that bitter feeling. The
men know what I'm talking about.
It's that bitter feeling in your heart. Oh,
I wanna look again. I want to look
again. I want to look again. The prophet,
sallallahu alaihi, said, bitter feeling that you get
that's converted into a nur,
into light, which becomes the light of imam.
And you taste the harawa to imam. You
taste the sweetness of faith.
So we guide our eyes
from looking at the Haram.
Imam Sukhayb said the greatest barometer of iman
in our times is al computer.
The computer
is the greatest barometer of our iman. Because
when you're in your room with your computer
and you think to yourself, this is absolutely
private. I have absolute privacy.
Believing in absolute privacy is kufr.
You're never private.
Wahuamakum
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is with you wherever
you are.
Wherever you are, we have to be careful
about this. This again is a disease of
our age.
We have to guard our ears from hearing
the haram. Get rid of these 99.9%
of the music you you hear on the
radio is Haram. Don't listen to it. It
makes you forget things. It puts you into
into states that are not even reality.
Listen to the lyrics. We have to realize
this. The youth have problems with this. Get
away from these gadgets. Listen to the Quran.
Listen to the the the the hadith of
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
And he said, well, I don't like doing
that. Well, the nafs has to be trained.
And after a while, it becomes part of
your habit. That's why you have Ramadan.
To get away from these gadgets. To train
the nafs. So that becomes part of our
habit, our adaat. So that we love listening
to the Quran. We love, reading the Quran.
We love listening to,
speeches and lectures that deal with Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala and his messenger Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And then the hands and the feet of
the next 2,
and then the * and the tongue. The
prophet
Whoever can guarantee for me that that is
between his jaws, meaning his tongue. The tongue
is not making ghiba.
A ghiba to a sheikhimina zina.
He's not making ghiba. He's not slandering people.
He's not backbiting people.
He's not lying about people. He's not speaking
excessively.
The prophet, salallahu alaihi, said did not speak
excessively. And when people people spoke to him
excessively, he would have tafafl, like he's not
even hearing that. He would ignore that. He
didn't like that, sallallahu alaihi wasalam. People have
chatter mouth, chatting all the time. They can't
have a moment of silence with their Lord.
They get uncomfortable. It's like looking at their
watch. We never look at our watch. We're
watching TV. A 4 hour movie marathon probably
with video.
Right? They have these Musa Sadat during Ramadan.
They put them on specifically during Ramadan. All
night long. These cliffhangers, you have to sit
there and watch 4 hours. Forget about the
Torah Wiekh. Forget about Sata Taisha. They sit
there after they're eating and they watch 4
or 5 hours of these
these TV shows that have cliffhangers. You have
to watch it next week. You have to
watch it next week.
All shows are like this now, if you
notice. Reality television.
I guarantee He says, I guarantee for you.
If you guarantee what is between your jaws,
your tongue,
right, and between your thighs, fakhilei,
meaning the *,
then I guarantee for you, Ajahnah.
I guarantee for you
paradise.
Nasrullah Aphiahu Salamah. We ask Allah
to give us soundness and well-being, and they
give us a tawfiq
to implement these words. And then Allah
says,
ayanamna
adoodaaz.
A few days.
Fasting. It's a few days
because, no, it's so long. It's too hot.
I can't do it. I can't do it
too much.
I can't do it. Then we have Muslims
going on these almond shaped diets.
They have 2 almond shakes, one for breakfast,
one for lunch, and they have, like, 500
calorie dinner, and they do this for their
entire life. That's hard.
I tried to do this one time. I
got to dig 2.
Fasting is easy. Ayamu ma'amudah. It's just a
few days. Why are we complaining? Why do
we convince ourselves that Islam is something hard?
It's not hard.
Allah does not want to cut us into
hardship.
He doesn't want to do that. He wants
us to glorify Him,
and this is not something that's hard. Even
in the summer months, don't tell yourself this
is hard. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says,
If you should be sick or traveling,
that means sick, legitimately sick, you're ill, you
don't have to fast. You can make those
days up later.
Or if you feel sickness coming on,
you don't have to fast. You can make
those days up later. But what you can't
do is intentionally make yourself sick or be
neglectful,
be negligent and make yourself sick. Like we
eat suhoor. I've seen I've been around people
around people who eat suhoor. And so what
is mustahar?
It's a recommended practice to eat the predawn
meal and to delay it just before a
budget. It's mustahar. It's a beautiful practice to
do.
But people have
these 5 course meals, and then they get
stomach issues, and they've got diarrhea during the
day, and they say, Ana Maria.
I'm sick. I'm gonna eat now.
So you spoil the for the sake of
a mustachal.
We should have discipline. For they have a
porterhouse steak for suhoor,
and they don't drink any water. It's oh,
it's it's Adan. Oh, I didn't drink any
water. So the next day, they're completely parched,
and they convince themselves, I'm sick.
I'm sick.
No. We should have discipline. We should eat
the suhoor, but have discipline
and hydrate ourselves. It's very important. Or if
you're on a journey, in the opinion of
Abu Hanifa here, the opinion of the Hadithi
school here in Abediq is to rely upon
opinion that you have to start the day
as a Musaqa in order to qualify as
a Musaqa. You have to start the day
at Fajr as a wasata, and there's other
there's other opinions, wallahu a'na. But then Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. And people ask me all
the time about this issue. We'll mention it
briefly. We had a 5th seminar about a
week ago. What happens if I accidentally break
my fast? So what if I intentionally break
my fast? We have to know these things.
This is basic fiqh. We have to know
the fiqh, the the essence of our religion.
Fiqh in an etymology means means the the
essence of something.
That That if you break your fast, kata'an.
If you should accidentally break your fast, this
is why we have to be careful. Let's
say you're making wudu, and you're rinsing out
your mouth, and you accidentally swallow some water
because the reflex of swallow when you're fasting
is very powerful. We have to be very
careful. Or you're brushing your teeth. People always
have these questions about toothpaste
or or toothpaste mafia. Can I brush my
teeth? Your toothpaste? Yes, it's my crew. Be
careful. And so I swallowed some toothpaste. Don't
brush your teeth with toothpaste, Yaki. Just don't
do it. Your breath is gonna stick anyway,
and that smell is beloved by Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. But mister Jones at my work
doesn't like it. Okay. Keep your distance from
mister Jones a little bit.
Right? It's gonna smell regardless.
So if you break your fast accidentally,
you drink some water and you know you
are fasting, then you have to make holdah
of that day. You make of that day,
but you can't continue to eat. It is
makur tahriman
to continue to eat. You have to stop
all eating. You can't say, well, I broke
my fast. Bring on the, samosa.
Bring in the kabli.
No. You can't.
You make up that day. There's qaba. This
is called qaba. Right? It says kata'an. If
you should do it nasiyan. If you should
forget, let's say you completely forgot you were
fasting and you had 3 samosas,
and you're done, and then you remember, Allah,
I was fasting.
You don't have to induce Fomit.
No. Allah fed you. Alhamdulillah.
There's no Qadaw. You don't have to make
it up. If you completely forgot you were
fasting,
but if you break your fast,
ta'i'amwota'am
edema.
Amedema.
On purpose.
Right? Willfully. You're not being forced. No one's
compelling you. And you do it intentionally,
then you have to make up the day,
and you have to do the kafarah.
You have to do the expiation.
The expiation, we need to study these things.
It's fasting 60 consecutive days or feeding 64
people Masakhine
2 meals a day. The same 60 people
or freeing a slave, which is somewhat obsolete.
60 consecutive days. And if you get to
date 58 and you break it, guess what?
You have to start over again.
So we have to take these things seriously.
Right? We have to know the 5th. Allah
says. But if it's hard for you, if
you can hardly fast,
then you can pay the fitya, which is
hafasah of wheat. It's very small. You make
a payment to Amun Iskim. You feed the
poor. And this is for who?
This is for
sheikh Fani or ajuz haniyah,
a very elderly man or woman. So you
can't say, well, I'm a senior citizen. I'm
62 years old, but I play an hour
of basketball every night. I don't have to
fast.
I'm 62. The law says they have to
pay the fidya. Or someone who's chronically ill.
Someone who's chronically ill has, like, really hardcore,
diabetes.
Right? They just can't do it. The blood
sugar won't let them fast, then you pay
the fitya, but everyone else has to fast.
My respected brothers and sisters, don't make excuses
for yourself. At Islam,
wal aqal, wal puroo, wal im. These are
the shurru. You're Muslim. You're an adult. You
have sound mind, and you know you have
to fast. Then you have to fast. It
is fagr. It is fumdha'ayn
upon all of us to fast.
And then he says,
but if you give more, that is better
for you.
But if you fast, that is better for
you.
If only you knew. It's better to fast.
If only you knew.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said in
a hadith putsi, this Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
speaking in the first person on the tongue
of the messenger Muhammad
Every action of the son of Adam is
for him except fasting.
That is mine.
Fasting is mine. Live.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, and I will
reward him for it. And this reward is
beyond your
your imagination because only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
knows your fasting. So even if you're sick,
if you look at the khaz, if
elite, the elite of the elite, even when
they're sick, even when they're fighting in the
tiktad,
they're fasting at the battle of Mu'tah.
Jahad ibnu Abi Talib, who is the brother
of Imam Ali, one of the older brothers
of Imam Ali, Karamalahu Wachai. In the Battle
of Mu'tah against the Byzantine Empire in the
north, The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was
not there at the time, but he received
the Rhoiya Yaqabah, a vision, an awakened state
where he was able to follow the battle
while he was in Madinah.
And he said that Jaffa, his arms have
been amputated
in the battle. He was carrying the niwah,
and his arms have been amputated. He had
70, wounds to his torso.
70 times they had punctured his flesh on
his torso. They found him face down in
the hot sand. His face was laying in
the sand.
No arms.
Brother, Bimam Ali,
Bimam Jaffa.
So they turned him over.
They turned him over, and they want to
give him water. They taste to give him
water, and that's Sodom.
I'm fasting.
He was fasting.
SubhanAllah.
Because these people understand
that fasting is better. If
only you knew.
Means Allah is saying if only you knew,
fasting is better.
And then Allah
says,
Ramadan.
That the month of Ramadan is the month
in which the Quran was revealed
and the whole Quran was came down.
It came down to the first heaven. And
then,
and then it came piecemeal to the prophet
over the next 23 years. Hudan al naf,
a guidance for all of humanity.
Again, we have this this postmodern
Muslim intellectual mindset today that's found in Western
Academy
that says all religions are talking about the
same transcendent reality. It doesn't matter which religion
you follow. They're all the same. Right? And
they say things like the Quran is contextual
for the Arabs. It speaks to them psychologically,
culturally, theologically.
What kind of revision is garbage is this?
Do you read the Quran?
What does Allah say in the Quran?
No.
This is for the entire
whole of humanity.
For everyone.
This Quran is a guidance for everybody.
Clear signs of guidance, and the Quran,
a criterion
by which we judge
truth and falsehood. The Quran is our judge.
The Quran is our barometer.
Whoever witnesses
the month, let him fast. And there's 2
ways of doing this, and this shouldn't be
a cause of fitna, and these two ways
were done by the salah.
One way is
You actually sight the moon. You sight the
moon. Right? And if it's the 30th of
Shaban or the 1st of Ramadan and then
and the cloud is and and there's clouds
in the sky, then you then you take
Ramadan as 30 and you take Sha'aban as
30 days. Halas. It's very easy. Bhiroyatihila.
Or you can calculate it. And this is
something that the salaf used to do.
These people in the past, these were brilliant
polymaths.
Biruni, Imam Qazali, even though Chemiya, These people
were unbelievable
geniuses. You don't think they thought about calculation?
No. They thought about calculation.
But in the end they said the sunnah
is better because you give the barakah of
the sunnah. But both ways are permissible. We
shouldn't make an issue out of this. Wallahi,
we shouldn't make an issue. It's dividing our
community. Both ways of practice, calculation.
This is 2 ways to make shahada of
the moon. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
continues to say,
Again, if you're sick or on a journey,
he repeats this subhanahu wa ta'ala to let
you know that this is not hard.
He does not want to put you in
difficulty. He wants to make it easy for
you. Look at the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam. This hadith in Bukhari. One of my
favorite hadith
and then broke his fast intentionally in Ramadan.
He came to the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam, You Rasoolullah,
I had * with my wife. What do
I do? The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
said fast 16 consecutive days.
Say, Darul Salallahu,
I failed on day 8 or 9. I
can't do 60 days. The prophet said to
him, go free a slave.
I can't afford
it. He said, go feed 60 Messekhim.
I have nothing.
The prophet
himself went out and got a huge basket
of dates
The man said, wallahi
wallahi.
There is no people more poor,
more poverty stricken
in the city of Medina except Ahli, my
own family.
My own family is the most poverty stricken
people in Medina.
The prophet smiled at him and said take
it and feed your family with it. Right?
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam is trying to
find
a way for this man, but that doesn't
mean we're negligent about our facts.
No. This is something we have to take
very very seriously.
This just demonstrates that the prophet is
He's deeply concerned about us sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam. And
in order for you,
and in order for you to complete the
period
or to come and to make tabeer to
praise Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala because he has
guided you. I've heard from Muslim youth a
lot
that they're they're envious of non Muslim. They
get to eat. They get to have fun.
I have to fast. They're envious. I want
to do that.
Allah singled you out amongst the dudu
map, amongst darknesses, and gave you a nur
called al Islam. This is the greatest nirmah.
The greatest nirma that we don't have we
don't have sugar. We don't make sugar to
Allah
We envy non Muslims because they get to
eat their own. You're gonna eat in a
few days, Yafi. Be patient. Usbur. You're going
to eat a lot.
Right?
So we should thank Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
La'ala Khun Tashkurun.
Perhaps you might give thanks.
We're running out of time, but the very
next verse,
you know,
the verses in every surah because a surah
is a literary unit. There's cohesion in every
Surah. Nothing's haphazard.
This next verse is related to what came
before.
When my servants ask you concerning me, say
I am Kareeb.
I am close. Don't listen to these anti
Muslim
propagates who tell you that the God of
Islam is is a is a distant God.
He's not a personal God. He's a remote
God. Wants to crack the whip on your
back. You're a slave and he's your master.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is a is a
close God. He's imminent. Not in the sense
that I'm close, like I'm close to you
in terms of space time or dimension.
He's close to us. He is buddy in
the relational sense. In this in the sense
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will never forsake
us as long as we don't
forsake him subhanahu wa ta'ala. That he is
close to us, and we should know this.
And this is a call to make du'a
during this month.
I hear the supplicant
whenever he calls upon me. Make dua.
Our prayers, salawat, are their 5 prayers, those
are in Arabic, and we don't move on
those things. We don't change. We're not the
Catholic Catholic church. We don't we don't say,
okay, pray in any language you want. No.
They're in Arabic because this is our tradition
from the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, and this
unifies Muslims, and the prayer has a discipline,
and they're done in Arabic.
But after your prayer, the next 23 and
a half hours a day,
be in suffocation
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the language
that you know best.
Don't make rules for yourself. I can't make
dua because I have to be sitting on
my sajada in a certain place in the
Musaddah. I have to have my kufi on.
I have to have a 5 o'clock shadow.
I have to have my clean fob on.
I gotta raise my hands up. Then I
have to be in wudu. In fact, I
have to be in bursa. No. You don't
need to do that. You can make the
duas driving in your car, eating your
food, sitting in your cubicle at work, constantly
be speaking and talking to Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. Constantly.
Speak to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Constantly.
The Sahaba had to put stones underneath their
tongues when they're in the bathroom
to remind themselves to forget
to remind themselves to forget when they're in
the bathroom. Because they're constantly making du'a. They're
constantly making adkab, making dhikr of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
We should be speaking to Allah
throughout the day.
So let them answer me.
And believe in
me. Perchance they might be guided spiritually.
Irshad is spiritual guidance.
We ask Allah to give us spiritual guidance.